It's Okay to Toot...

Your own horn that is. :-)

This morning I gave my students the assignment to journal about the 10 Best Things About themselves. This a hard thing for a 10 year old to do, but equally hard for adults to do who have been told bragging is not nice. However, I did tell my kids that if they did theirs, I would do one about myself, so here goes.

1. I love to talk. This can be seen in many lights, but for sure I am never lacking in something to keep the conversation going. One time I talked nonstop from my home to El Paso nine hours away. It sure made the time pass quickly.
   
2. I am creative. Sometimes this creativity comes in the form of writing, drawing, scrapping, designing, songwriting...The list is endless. That being said, I am continually admiring other people's creativity and desiring what they have instead of what I am capable of doing. I will stop doing that!
3. I am musical. I sing and play the flute. I want to do more of this, but for now my audience shall have to remain my steering wheel and my students who are regaled with many renditions of tunes I learned in elementary and high school - usually rewritten to fit whatever lesson we are learning at the time. (NOTE: To those all looking for my White Buick LeSabre weaving down the road, I do pull over before whipping out my flute for a little riff of Jethro Tull.)
4. I can dance. When I was 4, my mother put me in dance class. When I was 5, I was no longer in dance class. Years later I asked her why and she said, "Because you never practiced." My response to her was, "I WAS FOUR!" Since then, I enrolled in an adult dance class that this past weekend earned a Platinum medal. We rocked the house for sure.
5. I am pretty. At least that is what I hear, but saying it out loud seems wrong somehow.
6. I am smart. This I won't deny. The only problem with being smart is knowing how to use it for good and not for EVIL. (jk). Academic things come pretty easily for me. I guess that is why school was boring when I was a kid and why I work with kids like myself who need constant stimulation to keep from going out of their gourd.
7. I am sensitive. This is a double-edged sword. It helps me see how others are feeling, but it keeps me from hiding how I am feeling when being a little more reserved would be a little more socially appropriate. Regardless, I wouldn't change a thing about my level of sensitivity. Even though this sensitivity left me standing in the middle of Macy's at age 3, crying, telling my mother who can't figure what my problem is, "This song is so sad."
   
8. I am generous. If I have it and you need it, I probably won't have it long. Even as a kid I was always giving away things I had - I'm sure much to the chagrin of my mother who would graciously replace whatever I gave away. (Really, I learned all about generosity from my parents who were very much the same.)
   
9. I am technologically savvy. If there is a way to do something using technology, I will find it and use it. I may not be on the cutting edge as I have a life and cannot live on the computer. Although my husband may beg to differ.
   
10. I love meeting new people. Some people collect spoons from around the world. I collect friends. My students and family always ask me how many people do you know? Or In how many countries do you have friends? It becomes a great lesson in geography for my class. These are not necessarily people who will become my bosom buddies, for those the are far and few between, but it is always nice to be able to drop a line to someone in Japan or England and say hi and get a response back.
    

So my kids each challenged their readers at the end of their list of 10 Bests - What are the 10 best things about you??? They would love to hear a few.