I’ve been putting off writing about my plans for 2010 way too long. I typically have my goals listed before the new year rolls around, but I needed a little more time to gather my thoughts for this year.
My list of goals usually has too many things on it, and those goals change throughout the year. This year, I’m going to try and keep it simple.
Be healthier
I’m steering clear of the “get in shape” line and getting back to what’s important — health. This means I need to eat better and exercise more.
I’ve already dropped nearly 10 pounds in January by just eating better.
It’s not all about physical health. I need to get out and enjoy life more than I did last year. I spent more time than necessary behind a computer screen, and that’s not good for the ol’ social life. Just in case I’m feeling unmotivated, I’ll keep my copy of Yes Man near the TV. That movie always gears me up for a whirl out in the real world.
Become an English teacher
Last year proved to be rough in the job hunting process. I had never walked out of an interview and not gotten a job until last spring. It wasn’t the last failed interview either.
I’ve learned from my experience and have wedged my foot into a few doors over the past year. This time around, I’m going to give it everything I can and land a teaching job.
If you feel like wishing me luck, I’ll take all of it I can.
Build an online empire
Honestly, I want to blog more this year. Of course, I tell myself this a few times a week.
One of the reasons I don’t blog as much is because it becomes tiring. I sometimes spend hours working on a single blog post. Doing that on a regular basis isn’t much fun.
I need to reorganize some things around this site. The biggest change I’ll be making at some point this year will be the incorporation of a few custom post types. This will allow me to build the type of site I’ve been thinking about for the last couple of years and post content in ways that better suit my passions in life.
I’ll post more about my thoughts on this (and probably some tutorials on how I’ll be doing it) in a future post. For now, I’ll give you a preview of a possible new home page.
I also want to try my hand at a few art-directed posts, which I hope will keep my creative juices flowing.
No more goals?
Sure, I have loads of smaller goals. While the smaller goals are sometimes just as important as the larger ones, they’re usually steps that lead up to the major plans. So, I wanted to provide an overall outlook at what I want to accomplish this year.
Good luck with your achievements 2010!
You have done a great job with nice blog posts, themes, plugins etc, keep the good spirit up!
Stefan, Sweden
Thanks. I’ll keep the posts, themes, and plugins coming.
Justin,
I’ve taught English here in Brazil, and it was a great experience. I stopped because it was taking a lot of my time, for not much financial return.
If you want to become a teacher, you should do the CELTA course, which is an intensive one month training, and at the end you have a certificate that will open the doors of schools internationally (if you want to travel, that is).
I’m holding off on teaching abroad for a while. I spent 14 months teaching in South Korea, which is just too long to stay away from home. I might do it again though if I don’t get a teaching job here in the States.
How did I missed that post? Have you posted here that you came to states again? I am still thinking that you are in S.Korea teaching English to schools kids. So, you went back to your home and that’s great to see
You are damn good at writing Justin. I spent 6 hours one day going through each and every article. It’s so interesting. I always wonder how come an English teacher code with such a brilliance! I am doing computer science graduation and still find it hard to code
I wish you the best of luck in your interviews, and landing that teaching job. In the meantime I`d like to sponsor some of your custom post types work, as it’s an important part of my WordPress/Hybrid plans and the kind of WP/Hybrid sites I want to launch too.
I`ve send you a mail about it.
John Myrstad
I still owe you an email back. I’ll try to get my reply to you by tomorrow.
I’ve watched “Yes Man” and like you, I also find it really motivating. Surprises are always around the corner! The best of luck with your 2010 goals and also in landing a teaching job.
I’ve probably watched it a good 10 times since it was released. If nothing else, it at least gets me motivated for the day.
Follow your dreams and watch what life will teach on the way. I’m a tad bit older and used to be director of the HR department of a school district. We desperately need passionate dedicated teachers. But, make no mistake, it’s a rough gig the first couple of years. OJT is the norm so whatever you learned in school is only going to help you a bit. See if you can get some student teaching a summer or something like that. I wish you all the luck with that. If you’re interested in one of the big urban districts, I have contacts in all of them. Drop me a line.
Health is absolutely KEY. Without it, none of this other stuff will happen or be enjoyed. Take it from someone a little older and creakier in the joints. Eating right, staying flexible and ensuring enough strength and endurance for a brisk walk is enough to change your whole quality of life (not that I’m a good example right now).
I love coding, but I also need breaks. For my eyes, for my health, and for my marriage. I congratulate you for figuring this stuff out early in life.
On the social scene, the best advice I could ever give a young man is never take yourself or others too seriously. We get all stressed out over things that will mean ABSOLUTELY NOTHING in 6 months. We all do it and it’s a shame.
All the best
Know anyone in the Alabama school districts? That’d be helpful. I’ve got a little experience teaching in Korea, but I know it’s an entirely different ballgame teaching in high schools in America.
And, I’ll try not to take everything too seriously. That’s always good advice.
You want to teach? I’ve worked in education for 20 years or so. I can offer my experience and a suggestion or two, for what it’s worth…
I have an MA in the Humanities from Cal State, which offers it as a distance learning program ( http://www.csudh.edu/HUX/ ) . The masters degree has helped open a lot of doors for me over the years. I was able to finish the masters in one very busy year, supporting my wife and child, while doing two part-time teaching jobs at a couple private enterprises. The program offered access to fantastic professors, was relatively inexpensive, and with my MA, I went on to work for many years at a major university.
I appreciated having a regular paycheck, enjoyed teaching from time to time while working on the administration side, and I learned a lot, mostly about web development — and the difficulties of working under incessant academic political pressures and territory battles. After being transferred to five different departments while doing essentially the same job around the university (the university’s web coordinator), I struck out on my own.
Now, I work in online education at ShowandKnow.com and our private-school-partner, Royal Scholars Academy.
With your skills, I suggest thinking about trying to do for English what Khan Academy, one of our content partners, is doing for Math. More about Khan in our most recent newsletter: http://showandknow.com/?page_id=2792.
In a recent NPR report about Khan, he lays out his business plan, something you may want to think carefully about — as a potential income stream in itself, and as something to help you stand out if you really do want to pursue in-class instruction as a job/career. The NPR report is here: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=121978193
I’ve learned that you’re never unemployed, just self-employed (especially when you are a web developer!).
If you set something up like Khan, FWIW, we will definitely include you as a content provider on Show and Know, at no charge. Best wishes, and good luck in whatever you choose to do.
Thanks for all the links and information.
My main interest right now is getting into a classroom and teaching high school.
I also have a secondary interest, which is the study of high school and each of the sub-cultures (groups, lifestyles, etc.) within that environment. This stemmed from an intro to writing class in college that completely changed my life. We spent an entire semester writing our own ethnography on a specific group of people. The professor was one of those professors that’d walk with you after class and invite you into his office just for chats. He introduced me to this fascinating world on the study of the various sub-cultures in schools. Now, I read every ethnography I can get my hands on.
Hey Justin, just wanted to let you know how much I appreciate your very positive, friendly, and helpful support for Hybrid projects. And I’d like to suggest you read Danny Wallace’s book, Yes Man (if you haven’t already), which the movie was based on. Danny even started an accidental cult of happy followers called “Join Me” a while back. He’s a fascinating guy and deserves all the credit for the Yes Man philosophy!
Sorry, no connections in Alabama schools. Family in Huntsvile, but that’s it.
Good luck on your goals for the year Justin!
I hope your 2009 goals were met and exceeded, especially the income part which I thought you were wayyy low on.
You have been a huge positive influence to many of us in the WP community these last couple of years, from developers to bloggers. THANKS!
Ron-PT
Hi Justin
All the best for 2010. Making your intentions this public means you’re serious! I taught English for fourteen years, first in a state secondary school in the U.K., then in American Schools overseas.
Couple of suggestions:
1. Identify your non-negotiable values about education (and English education) – the ones that were you to compromise them you’d be selling your pedagogical soul to the devil. Air them at interviews, just as you have here with your resolutions. Better (much, much better) not to get the job than work in a school that doesn’t share your basic beliefs.
2. When you’re in the job stick to these core commitments. They’ll inevitably be challenged by students, management, politicians, colleagues, but if you renege on them you’ll be miserable. The best teachers – the ones that maintain integrity, motivation and respect – are tenacious ideologues at heart.
3. Don’t have too many values or you’ll be impossible to work with! That was me for a while, but I’ve mellowed with age…
Hope it works out for you.
A bit late to post my goals, but better late than sorry
My goals for the new year is getting up-and-running with my new economy blog i’m planning doing.. for a few years time 
Hope this year got the time for it 
They seem like very achievable goals to me. The job market now is rough, I know how you feel about the interviews. Just keep at it and something will come your way. And remember to write the thank you letter after your interview, very important.
Justin,
I agree with you to “Be Healthier”. I sit in front of the computer around 16 hours a day. I gain 3 pounds last year. I will drop the computer hours to about 10 hours and try to lose 3 pounds this year.
Just like most, I would love to lose weight. 20 pounds would allow this 52 year-old to beat the younger guys in tennis like I used to!
An online empire would be nice, but I’ll be happy with 10% growth as well.
Hi Justin. I somehow wondered away from the Hybrid forum and into this post and “Alabama school districts” caught my eye.
You have been so incredibly patient in helping me get through the “ins-and-outs” of developing my first site using Hybrid, (Alabama’s Coastal Connection) so thought I would throw in my two-cents here.
My husband has been teaching in the state of Alabama for nearly 20 years, and I have been with him for all 20, so if there are any questions that I can help YOU with, fire away!
I know there is a new school in Tuscaloosa, Alabama opening up for the next school year.
Good luck on your goals for the year Justin!
first time i read your blog and i like to come again and again.
Thanks
Justin, There are normally some job openings in Mobile simply because it is the largest school system in the state. Although you want to teach English, you might want to highlight your blogging experience and take a technology approach. Teachers who know and use computers are at a premium everywhere. Best of luck finding your new job.
P.S.: Why don’t you commercialize your blog. You might get the income you are seeking.
Good luck for you Justin.. be a good teacher 2010… I am waiting for the next post
I wish you all the best in 2010. Hopefully you will find a job as an english teacher too.
Great justin i am always love to read your posts
Good Luck for you Justin
I try to become healthier for the last three years *g* I hope this year i will reach my goal to do more sports and eat less fast food 
Wonderful. I notice that everything comes to a standstill until I start reimplementing goals again. they’re stepping stones to get you somewhere.
Hey, I saw the preview for your new custom homepage.
I do get that you are striving for a clean and fast blog site. However, with all of the great content on this site, it would be great to have a few more navigational tools.
We all have our own preferences, I personally like blogs that have a ton of navigational links on the homepage (like Darren Rowse) though it may detract from the aesthetic of the design. Here’s my vote to at least adding a search box on your blog .
cheers!
Great post! Hope you achieve all the goals
Justin,
I assume you were trying to get an English teaching position in a secondary (K12) program. There is usually a great need for English teachers in post secondary (community college level) programs.
Enrollment is growing at most community colleges due to high unemployment. To meet the teaching demands, most colleges hire adjunct instructors almost every semester. Teaching as an adjunct instructor gets your foot in the door and often leads to a full time position at a college.
Also there is a big demand for English and Math teachers at community colleges in the developmental division. Many adults (and sadly fresh high school graduates) need developmental classes before they can take the college level classes. Many of the adjunct teaching positions are for developmental classes.
Most states list teaching positions in all their school’s on the college’s system website. Here is the link to the North Carolina Community College System’s job listing page: http://www.nccommunitycolleges.edu/jobs/index.aspx
Good Luck!
Hey Justin, I just read your post for your 2011 Goals, then I set off to find your 2010 goals because I was curious.
“Build and Online Empire”
You say you sometimes spend hours on your posts, and doing that on a regular basis isn’t fun.
I’ve found that by far the best way to achieve this goal is to have a few posts saved as drafts. This way I’ve got a few posts I’m working on, and I can pick and choose which posts I wish to work on at that particular time (and more often than not I choose a post that reflects my mood).
I can also work for an hour or two on a post…then save it (give up on it for a while), and come back to it in a couple of days. Meanwhile I’ll be putting some time into other posts that take my fancy.
This way the posts get done, and I end up spending much more time on each post without losing concentration and fun-ness.
Some pro-bloggers I know can somtimes spend 18-22 hours on a single post this way…but not at the same time. And it really does show in their writings.
I know it’s March 2011 now, so I’ll wish you the very best of luck in succeeding this year in creating you’re online empire!
Ben.