This is my last post for 2014, and time to thank my one little word for the year, wonder.
My OLW has been a wonderful companion, and I’m not saying goodbye. Wonder has taken up residence. It will sit beside me as I adopt a new OLW for 2015. So much has been conjured by wonder, and I am grateful for it’s presence.
Wonder allowed me to question myself and others in a way that is gentle and open. It is a nonjudgmental word, ready for whatever might appear. I believe it’s semi-magical secondary meaning edges into it’s questioning component and allows thinking to get even bigger.
Wondering first made its appearance with the book What Readers Really Do by Dorothy Barnhouse and Vicki Vinton. The process of wondering about what we notice is so powerful in reading, and as with any great strategy it bridges to all parts of life. That is what wonder has done for me.
This year, the act of wondering made reading accessible for struggling readers and helped make the process of reading more visible for the proficient.
This year, on a macro almost subconscious level, the permission to wonder allowed me to take chances, to open doors, and go places I never knew existed. Some of the places I went were inside me; some were to places that involved airports and hotels; some were to places where closer relationships and understandings exists.
Thank you to all who ventured and wondered with me: my students, my colleagues I see down the hall and in the coffee shop, my blogging community of Slicers and Celebrators, my TCRWP virtual and sometimes face-to-face colleagues, my NCTE cohorts Mary Lee Hahn, Fran McVeigh, Steve Peterson and Vicki Vinton, my husband, and my family who didn’t choose me, but love me anyway. This year has been a wonderful journey.
Looking forward to next year with wonder beside me and another one little word.
To Read To Write To Be 
This is beautiful Julienne! Thank you for sparking wonder in me this year. I love reading your posts!
When I heard Ali Edwards’ podcast about the One Little Word, she said each word does stay with you. I feel like that, too, with my word Open. I don’t want to let it go, so I won’t. I considered wonder, but decided on another word. See my post tomorrow.
Wonder was the perfect word for you, Julieanne, and does also arouse my curiosity about your next “One Little Word”. . . . What a fabulous 2014! I so enjoyed our time online and in person in NYC and DC!
Here’s to 2015! Don’t know what it will bring YET!
I love the idea of wonder being by your side. Look forward to hearing about your new OLW.
Yes to the idea that our OLWs become a part of who we are! I’m not leaving BREATHE behind, it’s helping me to welcome NOTICE!