Fashion IPDP and Mission Meet

A few days have gone by since I created my mission statement and I think it is working for me.  I like that I do stop to think if this thing/situation will make me smile.  At times I have to be creative to look for a way or reason that is hidden... but I usually do find it.  Even the Tervis tumbler that I got on the sale rack at Publix reminds me, "Have a Coke and a Smile".  I don't have to be literal - as in have a full calorie Coke, but it is a good idea to take the time to enjoy my coffee (in said Tervis tumbler).  When I'm looking at the half empty (Or is it half full?) cup, I think that I should look forward to when it is all the way empty.  That is when I will fill it with water...which is good and healthy and in turn that makes me smile.

 

Is it really possible that this is so easy?  I dunno.  But I sure do like it...and that makes me smile.

When I was jogging yesterday I reminded myself to smile.  Smile because I CAN run, because I AM running, because I took the longer path, because the music on Pandora pushes me to not quit, because the sun was shinning, because I was going to my kids' ball games, because it is a perfect quick/no excuses reason to run from point A to point B, because a few weeks ago running a mile would have been too much, because I get to go to the game in sweats and not feel like I look  dumpy...  All of that in just a few songs and a trip around the lake.  I smile because of the beautiful crooked palm tree that I just ran under.   That tree grows that way in nature - not because someone cultivated it to grow at that angle.  And I smile because I high fived the branches as I ran under them.  =)

Another thing to note:

This school year I have been working on my "Fashion IPDP" and that ties nicely into my new mission statement.

A little back story is necessary:
About ten years ago the district came up with a document called and Individualized Professional Development Plan (nicknamed "Ippy Dippy").  We used to have training sessions on how to write SMART goals and even had subs brought in so that we could use a whole school day to dig into the data and write our IPDP...submit that to the principal...revise it...work towards meeting the goal(s)...revisit it at the end of the year...file it into the TASK Box.  Ugh.  Now, we just do it online.  Some principals still make a big deal out of it and my guess is that some just go through the motions.  The truth is that it IS a good thing! I actually LIKE writing it.  (Although I hate math, I freakishly LOVE looking at data and trends.)

Anyway... back to the "back story":
In an attempt to have a lil fun with the IPDP, I decided to write myself a "Fashion Ippy Dippy" many years ago.  I started off by saying, "If I wear more skirts, I will look more professional, and that will raise student test scores."  And lo and behold, that year my students' test scores raised!!!  A lot!!!   (From a 42 to a 74)  Every year since then I've been creating a fashion IPDP. One year I said that I would change my accessories every day. Another year was to wear more flowers. But this year my fashion IPDP has been to wear fish. Yes, you read that right. My motto is from Finding Nemo, "Just keep swimming!"  Dory, the little blue fish, sweetly sang her little tune and as she and Marlin (Nemo's dad) traveled great distances.  I feel like learning is like that.  For many years I have spoken to kids and used that lyric as a bit of a cute and nice way to teach them not give up...no matter how far they were from reaching their goal.

So, this school year I have worn a Dory pin on my ID badge and accessorized EVERYTHING with fish.  I have fish pens, fish paper, fish stickers, fish earrings, fish rings, fish bracelets, fish necklaces, fish bracelets, fish décor, fish screensavers...  I have one fish, and two fish, and red fish, and blue fish.  And it HAS worked!  The kids know to look for the fish and I refer to being persistent a lot so my hope is that it will some how sink in via osmosis.

All of this to say, that my mission and my fashion IPDP (although not at all intended to go together) do blend seamlessly.  And to end on another cartoon movie quote: