According to the Sorting Hat, “ambition” is a Slytherin characteristic. In Julius Caesar and Macbeth, ambition plays a part in our heroes’ downfalls. But is ambition all bad?
After all, ambition is a necessary ingredient in pursuing your goals and holding high expectations for yourself.
When I was brainstorming and trying to think of my annual word of the year, I cycled through countless options. In considering my health, I thought about the word “active,” which led my teacher brain to consider the word “activate.” I also considered “family”, “focus,” and “reflect.”
Ultimately, I returned to the word ambitious because it best captures what I want for 2024.
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Ambition #1
First, 2024 will be the year I become Dr. Moore. As a lifelong learner, I began considering my doctorate about five years ago. Along the way, I ended up completing my National Board Certification, becoming a dog mom, and limiting my Diet Coke consumption. However, the desire to continue formal education never really paled.
Eventually, I started working on my doctorate at my alma mater. The work has been rewarding, fascinating, and grueling all at once. When I started the program, I thought I would research classroom interruptions or Tier 3 reading interventions for high school students. In the end, neither of those topics proved fruitful.
Instead, I became fascinated with college athletics in the United States. I did not play college sports, and I do not watch college sports, so it would be an understatement to call this a surprising area of research. However, in our legal topics course, we read about the recent Alston Supreme Court decision, and I was hooked. Along the way, I learned about economic cartels, monosopony, antitrust law, and how to cite congressional testimony according to APA standards.
Because I spent so much time engrossed in this topic, I even included some sports books on my end-of-year favorites list. In those titles, you will find information about systemic racism, wild allegations, scandals, greed, corruption, and childhood dreams. Something about the American athletic ethos really compels me.
All of that is to say that this year, my ambition is to finish strong. Two courses, a presentation, and at least a few hours of small talk are all that separate me and the finish line. For these reasons, I chose ambition as my word of the year. I want to finish this program with integrity, pride, and enthusiasm.
Ambition #2
My second ambition for the year is to grow Moore English. Last year, the talented Kristen Doyle helped give the blog a facelift. She added a storefront (currently on pause) to the website, too, and I have been slowly working to get all my resources listed in the storefront.
This has been a slower process than I expected. Before I migrate a resource, I like to give it an update based on my most-recent use experience. That always takes longer than I expect, but I feel like it’s an important part of delivering high-quality resources.
Additionally, Moore English is always based on what I need for my own classroom, and balancing my own teaching against my doctorate and business can be challenging. In the second half of the year, my ambition is to reset this balance. There is so much that I envision for Moore English, and that’s where I want to focus in the second half of the year!
Former Words of the Year
I have been choosing a word of the year since I started Moore English. These words have been my shepherd, focal points, and guides for the past few years. Read about each one below.
- 2019: Gratitude
- 2020: Sustainable
- 2021: Sustain
- 2022: Water
- 2023: Protect
