Day 81 – Grateful for Words

By Renee Bodkin

Today I am grateful for words.  And the ability to share them.  Spoken and written.  Words give life meaning and give meaning to our lives.   We are given a gift of words.  Use them wisely.  Use them with purpose.  Use them with thought. 

I am grateful even more specifically for MY WORDS.  That I have the capacity to string them together in some cohesiveness to hopefully inspire and motivate others. 

My words in my classroom are articulated carefully… I teach special ed high school kids who’ve been beaten down and given up on.  My words are powerful.  I need to use the right words to inspire them to have hope in a future that will probably be difficult. Each day I have my students do a “warm up writing” assignment – in which they usually grumble about.  This assignment though serves a number of purposes.  1 – The more you write, the better a writer you become.  2 – Writing gives you a voice where you have to think before you speak (or should I say write).  They don’t do that often.  They say things without thinking and their words often hurt or are thoughtless.  3 – Writing helps them find words for their dreams and goals and ambitions.  It makes them real.  4 – Words give them life as they approach graduation and the unknown world of adulthood. 

Words… each and every day.  Be grateful for them.

Until tomorrow…

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Renée Bodkin

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