Blogging linkys and resolutions for the new year

I haven't spend much time on my blog in the last few months and I'm really feeling out of the loop.  More on that in a bit, but today I decided to connect with Farley's Currently, and in the process of reading other blogs, found a bunch of good linkys to connect with.  Teachers are good people, you know?!

So, here's my first one, from Fifth in the Middle which is just a good reminder for why we bloggers do what we do.

      I am the queen of forgetting to take pictures in my classroom.  I get so caught up in what the kids are doing and scurrying around from group to group, or kid to kid.  Who carries their iPad or phone with them when they're doing that?  Not me.  But I know that it's more interesting to read blogs when there are pictures -- I'm that way -- and I'm sure most teachers are too.  So, I'm going to try to remember.  Wasn't that a song from like, way, way long ago? 

      

     I reflect a lot on my teaching.  A lot.  Probably more than is healthy.  Sometimes I feel like I don't want to share something on my blog if it didn't work well, but really?  How dumb is that?  We all learn from each other, and there are very few perfect teachers out there.  And I often learn more from my mistakes than my successes, so why not?

      

     Linking up with Farley's Currently - my goodness, no matter how disconnected I feel, I do try to link up with her for this. 

The long and the short of it is that my mother passed away unexpectedly just before Christmas.  Although she was 85, she was in reasonably good health, so her death was surprising and sudden.  I'm blessed that I could be with her in the hospital, holding her hand and talking to her as she passed from this life into the next.  And I'm blessed that my family had planned to get together two days later. We spent a lot of time talking, laughing, crying, and looking at old photos.  What rich memories!  But I will truly miss her.  She was an amazing example of how to live life graciously, even when things don't always go your way. 

She also reminds me to be generous with my love, and to understand that everyone, even the person I don't want to deal with, has a story.  And that maybe, if I take the time to hear it, it will change my assumptions and appreciation about the person.

And finally, here's a great little linky by Jennifer at Simpler Kinder.  Just sharing a link because there are so many other teacher-bloggers out there, and we should connect to each other.  We are all in this together!

So, my friends, here's to a new year!  Lots to do and lots to think about.  Wishing you good health and happiness, because when you have that, you are truly rich!