When I began this blog, I was super keen and thought I would do all kinds of writing and I think I did an okay job. I had stories to tell about iPads and new learning, but now that school has gotten quite crazy busy, I've realized that writing is not something I naturally turn to when I want to communicate what is happening in my world. I think I also probably thought that I didn't have really anything interesting to share. So, to get back at it, I thought I would share something that happened in my personal world that also crosses over into my school world.
I am a fairly active person and I like to talk to students about my athletic pursuits so they can see that even old people can be active and especially that even old "girls" can be active. I also like to talk to them about goal setting and that I am always setting goals and I typically have a plan to help me achieve my goals. I also tell them that I need to have a team of people to help me achieve my goals and I ask the students to think about their own goals and who their team is that helps them achieve their goals. For some students they can relate very easily to me, like Matthew, who is 10 and a swimmer and his goal is to go to the Olympics. I am quite convinced that he will make it there and he knows at this early age that he will have to work very hard to get to the podium and that he has to set short term goals in order to get to his long term goal. I love having these kinds of conversations with students because we are relating to each other as athletes and not as principal and student.
The most recent goal I set for myself was to achieve a personal best at the Vancouver Marathon. I had a bad bout of injuries last year and this year I wanted to see what my recovered body could do. I told the students in Mrs. Dow's Grade 5/6 class about my goals and that I actually had three goals for the race. My first goal in any race is always just to finish. My second goal was to get under 3:45, which has been my goal for the past 4 years. My "the stars aligned" goal was under 3:40. Well, the day came and went and I did achieve all my goals: I finished and I went under 3:40. I suffered some minor trauma to my foot: I actually loved showing this photo to the students because it is sooo disgusting!!! I also was pretty proud to tell them that I had achieved my goal with the help of a lot of people, including them.
