One Word Resolution, a linky party

Today I am linking up with Primary Powers: The Superheroes of Teaching for a New Year's Resolution linky party. I know from past experience that making a lot of changes and goals makes it easier to quit, give up and give in. This year I will only make this one resolution and it is summed up in one word: Balance.

This year is actually my second year in a classroom, but it feels as foreign and overwhelming as my first year. As a first year teacher, I uprooted my family and moved 4 1/2 hours away from my friends and family to teach school in the Oklahoma panhandle teaching Kindergarten to a class of students that had more students that did not speak English than students that did speak English. The not speaking English part is not why we moved home. It was the high cost of housing and the moving away from all our family and friends that made it so difficult. One of my girls was a junior in high school and let me know that she intended to graduate from our hometown, with or without the rest of the family. We were so fortunate, we got to move back into our home that we love in a community that we love. I was unable to secure a teaching job that first year back and I worked in a reading room teaching guided reading groups and reading intervention groups. So.... this year, I am teaching in a small project based learning school and because of our small size, I am teaching grades Kindergarten through Fourth grade. Sound challenging? Yes. I would say that I am either brave or stupid to undertake this challenge and which one of those answers it is depends on the day! However, I love what I do. I love building relationships with these students, planning things, and the vast differences in not just learning styles but ability and where the students are at. But I spend far too much time at school and then I come home and spend every evening well into the night working on school work. I am trying to set some limits on my time at school and to be present when I am with my daughter at home, but all too often I come home and submerge myself in whatever I have left to accomplish for the next day. I can't keep doing this and need to find more balance. I cannot afford to just "leave school at school" but I can't continue to put my children on the back burner. I must find a balance that works! Now, let me just say.... I need to apply this balance theory in many areas, but this is the focus right now, the balance between work and home. I am not the best teacher I can be if I am neglecting myself and my family. It robs me of spiritual and mental/emotional health and leaves me exhausted. I love teaching, but I know I'll be a better teacher if I learn to balance school and home a little bit better.

What is your goal? Can you sum it up in one word? I am going to mount the word BALANCE on my laptop and my mirror so I see it often.