I’ve noticed recently that there has been a lot of discussion about New Year’s resolutions. It’s that time of year, of course, but a new twist that I’ve seen is that many people are giving up on the idea of resolutions and shifting the focus to goal setting. I’d tend to agree with them. Resolutions are absolute, and going in this direction immediately sets one up for failure. Goals, on the other had, can be adjusted as the circumstances change. They can also be open ended.

In considering the goals I wanted to set for myself, I did a little research. 43things is a popular website where people list and share their goals with each other and the world. Based on the things people had entered as of this posting, these are the top ten goals of all time at the site:

1. lose weight 33286 people
2. stop procrastinating 24797 people
3. write a book 23013 people
4. Fall in love 22576 people
5. be happy 19980 people
6. Get a tattoo 18360 people
7. drink more water 17204 people
8. go on a road trip with no predetermined destination 17071 people
9. get married 16598 people
10. travel the world 16577 people

I’m struck by two things as I look at this list. First, the goals are vague and very broad. Second, the list is surprisingly eclectic. I could probably spend a lot of time trying to analyze the fact that “Be happy” is right next to “Get a tattoo,” but I think I’ll leave that to the sociologists.

The research I did wasn’t much help to me. So I just spent some time brainstorming about the things that mattered most to me, the things that I’m passionate about, and that I felt God was guiding me to do, and came up with the first version of my goals for 2009. These are specific, measurable, and all are intended to be completed by the end of the year:

• Read the entire Bible
• Read 25 other books
• Publish an article
• Write 250 blog posts
• Write a new Interactive Fiction game
• Lose 30 pounds
• Take a week long family vacation
• Have a 3 day retreat with my wife

I read an article by Gene Donohue in which he wrote, “unless someone is critical to helping you achieve your goal(s), do not freely share your goals with others.” I have to disagree. I think that unless you are extremely self-disciplined (which I am not), sharing your goals is the only way to have any chance of following through on all of them. By daring to share my goals publicly, I’m opening myself to the possibility that anyone who reads this blog may ask me next week, next month, or later this year how I’m doing on one of them. And I’d better be prepared to answer. Just that knowledge will be motivation for me to not put this list aside and forget about it after I’ve written it. That’s the power of social networking.

But don’t be surprised if you see version 1.1, 2.0, etc. as the year goes along, either!

I’ve decided that one of my goals for the new year is to look at people with different eyes. I’ve blogged recently about how this affects me in my career as a teacher; I have colleagues who quickly pigeonhole their students into categories like “smart” or “lazy” or “troublemaker”. Everything they do from that point on is seen through that filter. Of course, since only certain qualities make it through the filter, from that point on, everything the children do just confirms the bias, strengthening the filter.

The only cure for this vicious circle is to remove the filter. See people with clear eyes, and treat them the way I’d want to be treated. Cynics will say that this Christian approach to relationships is old-fashioned and naive. But it works, as attested in this story from March. (Thanks, by the way to Alec Couros for drawing my attention to this via Twitter!)

So I’m going to make every effort this year to see everyone with whom I interact—students, colleagues, friends, family—without filters, without assumptions, without preconceptions. In a lot of cases, I’m going to have to consciously remove the filters, and in all likelihood it will take more than one attempt to do so.

I can already hear those cynics again, telling me that I’ll get taken advantage of if I do that. Very possible. But if I can improve one relationship, or help change one other person’s attitude, or make one person’s life a little better, then I don’t see the problem. I’m not going to be stupid, certainly. If someone’s track record indicates they really are lazy or untrustworthy, then I’ll be cautious. But I won’t automatically funnel each new act or choice that person makes into the same category. I’ll first consider the possibility that they may be capable of changing and growing.

After all, it’s what I’d hope from them. I have made and continue to make mistakes and bad choices in my life. It doesn’t mean that everything I do from here on out will be a mistake or a bad choice. I want to start treating other people with the same consideration.

I’m not a happy camper right about now. I just got back from a gifted IEP “meeting” for one of my children, and I can’t believe that in a district known for its outstanding academics we were subjected to a group presentation about our “individualized” plans.

As a gifted support teacher, I read about things like this every day. But until now it has always been in a school district far, far away. In the district where I teach, gifted services have been strong for many years. Still, my colleagues and I have advocated for further improving the way we serve our gifted students, and to the credit of my administration and our teachers, things have gotten steadily better year after year.

Tonight, the gifted teacher at my child’s school stood before us and read aloud the goals he had for our children for this year. The curriculum was actually quite impressive, and I’m satisfied that it is going to challenge my child in many areas, giving him experiences he wouldn’t otherwise have. But nothing in the plan mentions (let alone addresses) any of his unique qualities, abilities, or needs. I’m not even going to get into the fact that the contents of the GIEP are supposed to be confidential….

I couldn’t help laughing at the irony of this statement that came at the end: “Now if you will all turn to the last page of your packet, please check the box that indicates your approval of the individualized plan I just went over with you and then sign at the bottom.” He then proceeded to collect all the packets from the assembled masses.

Our form is not yet signed.

I’ve been trying to work out ways to integrate what I currently consider two different sides of my life into one–to let the strengths and benefits of each side feed into the other and create a synergy that elevates both of them to become something they can’t be on their own.

I’m talking about my online blogging/social networking life and my professional one. David Warlick wrote today about some of the potential for using our online interactions in teaching and professional development. But I struggle with making them work together. So often it feels like a square peg in a round hole. How do I find and connect with people online who are going to help me be a better teacher?

Right now, I have two blogs and accounts on Facebook and Twitter. I hardly ever post to Twitter, but I’m very active on Facebook. All of the people I connect with there are people I know from the “real” world, though. A lot of my time there is spent in recreation–partly because I’m not quite sure how to go about connecting with other professionals and making it more of a learning tool for myself.

I comment on education blogs from time to time, when I have something to say, and I’ve tried to link in with some of the professional organizations that have a presence on Facebook, but I can’t seem to get beyond the stage of just being another member of a huge group. I don’t even really know where to begin to look or how to get connected.

I experimented with Second Life for similar reasons–I even managed to end up with two different avatars, somehow–but once I was in, I didn’t know where to go, how to find what I wanted. I wandered around a bit, tinkered with a few things, but never really got immersed like Warlick seemed to.

So how does one network in a new country when you know no one and no one knows you?

This morning I read an interesting article in the Washington Post about the playground policies at a Virginia elementary school. I was a little surprised at my reaction: I wasn’t shocked that this happens—I’ve seen similar things first hand. As the head of our school safety committee, I know the kind of thinking that can lead up to this, and I understand the mindset that can bring you to a point where you need to consider banning an activity like tag at recess.

I don’t necessarily agree with the decision—I think it was probably taking things too far, and without knowing all the details, I suspect there were other ways to deal with whatever problems might have been going on. I also know from experience that this kind of problem is generally a symptom of something deeper (perhaps poor supervision on the playground, or something rooted in the school or community culture that was getting expressed in the kids’ play at recess). Banning a playground game seems to me like fixing a mildew problem in your bathroom by not taking any more showers.

What did surprise me, though, was this:

Now, a committee of administrators and teachers has devised a plan to reinstate the game. After a week of “reorientation lessons on playground safety” in physical education classes, classroom discussions of safe recess behavior and monitoring by teachers on the blacktop, students are likely to be yelling “You’re it!” by tomorrow.

It really took a committee (of administrators and teachers, no less) to devise this plan? They had to develop a week’s worth of “reorientation lessons”?

Children need unstructured play time, and this is one of the purposes for having recess in the first place. They also need adequate supervision. The focus of this entire plan was on what was “wrong” with the children. What about the adults who were responsible for monitoring the kids’ play? What about the parents who have the responsibility to instill character values in their children? Where is this kind of approach to school safety likely to take us in the next few years?