Believe it or not, I am quite impressionable. Perhaps “inspire-able” is a better word. So often I am inspired by the people and things going on around me, but rarely do I act on that inspiration. That changes now.
Over the past year, I’ve been inspired here and there to perhaps start a blog. Over here, on the couch, my husband Alex blogs about our culinary exploits and adventures with food. For the past year and a half, his readership has grown and I can proudly say that he is read worldwide (every continent but Antarctica). During our opening day in-service this fall, I was inspired by Will Richardson, a “Learner-in-Chief” for Connective Learning, to challenge myself more when it comes to using and experimenting with technology. Then finally, a Gen Con friend began a blog to document his progress on the Day Zero Project. All of these people left little crumbs of inspiration for me to nibble on. Well, it sparked my hunger for something more.
But what would I write about? Gen Con friend Tony’s Day Zero Project really stayed with me. Day Zero is a challenge to improve yourself with specific goals (101) in a specific amount of time (1001 days). Simple, right? Honestly, I’ve never been one to make New Year’s Resolutions; whenever I tried, I abandoned them. But I am an obsessive To Do list maker. Every day when I arrive to my classroom at about 7:15am, I sit at my desk, take out a bright post-it pad, and write my daily To Do list. It gives me a sense of purpose, direction, accomplishment, and especially satisfaction when I cross items off. Why not create a more ambitious To Do list? Instead of just focusing on small daily tasks, I can tackle bigger projects with purpose, direction, and hopefully, accomplishment and satisfaction.
And that is how I arrived here: my own 101 To Dos in 1001 Days. My list is still in progress, but I would like some feedback. It must be the teacher in me: no piece of writing can go un-critiqued. If you’ve ever heard me say, “I’d love to do that someday,” or “I’ve never done that before,” remind me! Comment on the post and give me suggestions. Go ahead, critique the teacher. 
(To find the list, look to the right under “Pages” and click on “The 101 List.)
