It is a new year and a new challenge! A 30 Day Challenge!
As I was pinning my life away on Pinterest, looking for ways to begin my school year- I am always changing my classroom- I stumbled across the idea for challenging students to a 30 Day Challenge. It was inspired by Matt Cutts’s TED talk, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UNP03fDSj1U, to challenge yourself and others to improving one’s self.
I decided this would be a great way for myself and my students to start out on the right foot. Thus, I’ve assigned it to all my students. The ideas are endless and some are even simple. For instance, could you give a compliment to someone everyday for 30 days? I could, but I probably don’t. Do you drink enough water? Raina, pictured above, is challenging herself to drink one gallon of water a day. She researched a healthy amount of water and has set it as her goal for the next 30 days.
What seemingly easy challenges, and ones that have many benefits for you and for others?!
For me personally, I am going to spend 30 minutes a day doing something fun with my kids. Seems silly, but we do the mundane everyday, and I don’t know if what we do is actually fun. Will we enjoy each other more at the end of the 30 days??? The second challenge, because I’m naturally an overachiever, is to spend 30 minutes a day outside, whether that be walking, gardening, etc. I need the fresh air and sunshine. It honestly affects my mood, and so I think it would be beneficial to see how much better I feel at the end of 30 days.
We will be documenting as we go. Depending upon what you choose to do for 30 days, you may need to jot down times, distances, compliments and to whom, etc. Keep it simple, use the calendar (August 22nd-September 30th makes 30 days) to document, keep a journal, etc. The ideas and options are endless. Below is a screen shot of an app that Mr. Wurster is using to track his distance and time for his 30 Day Challenge.
So, community members, parents, and guardians, are you up for the challenge? Pipe in with a comment if you are willing to start today! We’ll be sharing progress, via this blog, as we tackle the next 30 days!
My Highland Dual Credit American Literature students were asked to list 5 words that touch their souls. Their answers are in the comments as follows. What are yours?