I stopped making New Year’s Resolutions many years ago. Instead, I focus on #OneWord to help me remember what’s important, uplift me, or help me focus during the calendar year. Last year, the word was Aspire. And, when I remembered to look at the word, it did help me to push through and work on various projects. What do I want to focus on during the year 2023?

For most of my adult life, I have often said “What do I want to be when I grow up?” I have been an engineer, a project manager, a helpdesk coordinator, a volunteer personnel officer, an office manager, a volunteer treasurer, a volunteer vice president of finance, a teacher-librarian, a national presenter, and many, many other things. Those life experiences are not as separate as you might think. As a teacher-librarian, I pull on every one of my past experiences and roles to help teachers and students. My students (and teachers) learn about research, educational technology, digital citizenship, and just finding a good book to read.

This year I will experiment with different aspects of my life. I will try new things in the school library. I will work with more people locally, nationally, and internationally. I will explore what I can do to improve the situations of librarians, students, parents, and community members.

The true worth of an experimenter consists in his pursuing not only what he seeks in his experiment, but also what he did not seek.

Claude Bernard

What will you experiment with in 2023? What is your #oneword to drive you forward?