Teacher Approved Tips: Choosing a One-Word Theme for the School Year [episode 86]

Heidi
Thanks for joining us today for teacher approved tips, a special series from the teacher approved podcast. Every Thursday, we’re bringing you a weekly bonus episode highlighting new and favorite teacher approved tips from us and other amazing educators.

Heidi
Today, though, you just have us. Today’s tip is choose a one word theme.

Emily
I don’t need to tell you teachers how stressful back to school season is. But despite the stress, one thing I really love about a new school year is the feeling of our fresh start.

Heidi
Yeah, I’m always convinced that this will be the year, I’m finally going to figure out how to love teaching writing. And this will be the year that I have the perfect sequence of math lessons. And there will be zero piles of clutter that’s collected on my desk.

Emily
Hey, it might be so you should believe that. For teachers, it’s really easy to go hard on the new year new me feeling that we usually associate with January.

Heidi
But let’s be honest, by the end of September, I am still my same old self with the sneaky piles of clutter. And even though there were some improvements overall, I usually felt like a failure. Because my ideal self just couldn’t match the complex realities of my real teacher life.

Emily
And that is the problem with making those big, sweeping goals. Sometimes we end up white knuckling our way through and feeling miserable, or we let things slide and we feel disappointed.

Heidi
Or we just give up altogether and feel defeated.

Emily
Those outcomes can make it easy to think that it’s better to not make any goals at all. At least that way we aren’t setting ourselves up for failure, right.

Heidi
But you know, of course, the downside of not working toward anything is being stuck with whatever happens to come your way. And that’s not a recipe for happiness.

Emily
No. So the solution isn’t no goals. It’s just setting the right goals. So instead of great big back to school goals, we want gentle adapt to your real life goals.

Heidi
And if you have been burned by failed goals before, like I have, maybe you don’t even want to think of this as making a goal as much as you’re setting an intention.

Emily
Yeah, I think that’s more how I think of this.

Heidi
So you’re gonna lay the foundation for the way you want your life to look in this next season. So our tip for this week is to choose a one word theme for the school year.

Emily
You’ve probably heard people talk about this in January. But as a teacher, the start of a new school year is a bigger deal to me than the start of a new calendar year. So I like to choose my word of the year when school starts. It’s a way to open the door to growth without getting tied down by the rigidity of resolutions.

Heidi
So what is a one word theme? It’s a word or phrase that captures what you want your year to hold. It can be a reminder to focus on what matters. It can be a landmark to guide you toward what’s ahead. It can even be a little nudge that reminds you to keep moving.

Emily
And the word you choose could even be all of those things rolled into one.

Heidi
So how do you choose this magical word? And there is no right or wrong way. Honestly, I usually just take a bit to reflect on the friction points in my life. I consider what I want more of and what I want less of in my life. And that’s usually enough to get me going on the right track.

Emily
If it’s been a while since you’ve taken stock of how your life is going, taking the time to reflect on what matters in this next season can give you a lot of clarity about what you want from life.

Heidi
Yeah, we probably don’t assess our lives often enough. So once I have a general sense of the kind of growth that I’m looking for, I like to try out different words until I find one that has the right feeling for me.

Heidi
I’m going on vibes here basically. So it’s kind of like choosing a pebble on the beach. There’s a million of them out there, but I want the one that fits my hand just right.

Emily
But if feeling out the vibes of different words doesn’t work for you here are some suggestions. You could make a list of things you want to work on this year and then identify some common themes that could tie that list together.

Heidi
You can also make a list of words that speak to how you want your gear to feel and then choose one of the words that feels good to you.

Heidi
And another option is to think about what kind of person you want to be and then write down words that describe that person. And that gives you a great word bank to choose from.

Emily
And if you Google it, you will find lists of lots of one word themes that other people have chosen. A lot of times that will get me inspired to pick something.

Emily
And one way you’ll know if you’ve chosen the right word is to ask yourself if you are interested, or if you are committed. If you’re just interested, you’ll probably end up making excuses instead of putting an effort. But if you’re committed, you’re more willing to do whatever it takes to bring that word into your life.

Heidi
But you do want to avoid the trap of choosing the word that you think you should choose, instead of choosing the word that will best serve you.

Emily
Yeah, you want a theme that is helping you move forward, but not something that is trying to force you down a path that doesn’t fit you or doesn’t feel right.

Heidi
And I fell into that trap for several years, trying to choose the word that was going to make everything better, instead of the word that actually fit my life. Yep.

Heidi
But also don’t feel like you have to do this all in one sitting, it can be a little overwhelming. So it may take a few days to find something that really resonates for you.

Emily
Yeah, I like to just think about it, I usually can narrow it down pretty quickly to a few words that jumped out at me. And then I just mull it over for a couple days and see which one’s jumping out to me the most.

Emily
Keep in mind that there is no perfect word. You just need to find a supportive word. Plus, you’re not locked into anything. You can change your word at any time.

Heidi
That’s what I like to call my word, a one word theme instead of my word of the year. It frees me to change at any point if my word isn’t aligned with what’s happening in my current life at that point.

Emily
Yes, lots of flexibility there. Do you set a one word theme for the school year? We’d love to hear what you choose and why so come share your thoughts on this in our teacher approved Facebook group.

Heidi
That’s it for today’s episode. Consider setting a one word theme to give yourself a gentle start to the beginning of the school year.