One Little Word (OLW) and Thanks Bloggers!

During the winter break I was able to catch up on a lot of reading
(blog reading mostly).

I came across a post by Farley over at Oh' Boy 4th Grade about finding the perfect word to motivate you during the upcoming year.  The original brain child of OLW is Ali Edwards.  Check her out here. 

Much better than a resolution, right?  Who keeps those anyway? (Not me!)

As I continued to read the feed on Google Reader,
I kept noticing OLW (not OWL~which is what my brain keeps wanting to type).

So many bloggers out there are embracing this idea of OLW not only in their own lives, but for teaching, too.

Holly from Crisscross Applesauce In First Grade shared her idea of how to incorporate OLW with her students.  I used stole this idea from her (it was a freebie).   Basically, once the students come up with their word, they write it on their party hat. She had actually gotten the idea from Cara Carroll over at The First Grade Parade.  Isn't the blogging community fab?

Isn't it adorable?  Head on over there to get your own OLW freebie!

My students really embraced this idea.  So much so that some of the students are still mulling over the idea and we have decided to finish this activity later in the week. Awesome!

On another note: I just have to say how truly happy I am that this community has welcomed me ;)  I've enjoyed reading you for years (from the sidelines...never really speaking up) and I should have gotten off my duff much sooner.

Thanks for being so sweet :)  (That sounds like a yearbook signing quote if I've ever heard one...)