Ok…as you lay awake, wide-eyed and nervous as the first part of the school year is in full swing, I want you to know something: It’s all going to be fine!
Try to ignore that weird dream you have about waking up late and realizing you have NO PLAN (yeah…bet you didn’t know we all have that dream). Instead of focusing on all of the planning, prep, and things that need done, I want you to try and take a step back and look at some ways you can make this year the BEST YEAR EVER!
Plan Ahead…Yes, ACTUALLY plan ahead:
I know every summer, the thought of “I’m going to get my first semester totally planned before the end of June!” goes through your mind. Then summer, vacations, friends, family, or a bunch of other stuff just seems to takeover….IT’S OK!
Even if your school year is already started, there is still time to get ahead of the game. If you can just plan a week and a half ahead it will change the way you teach. Planning ahead does a few things: It reduces your daily stress, frees up your weekends, and makes your instruction better because you know where you (and your students) are going! Even if you don’t have every worksheet printed, or every question prepared, just having a plan will reduce your daily stress and let you focus on what you want: your student’s learning!
You can read about how I did this in my own classroom here.
Increase Accountability for Your Students:
A very smart mentor of mine once told me that they could always tell if a teacher was good by how much work they were doing when compared to the students. Something (with all of the evaluations, standardized tests, and new initiatives) that is hard to remember sometimes is that learning should be done by, and be the responsibility of, the students.
Now…don’t get me wrong, I absolutely understand that learning occurs through thoughtful planning and quality instruction, but in terms of “work” most of it should be done by students. In fact, In my classroom I never tried to do or say anything that my students could say or do themselves. There are some very simple changes you can make to give your students more of a voice. Doing these things also increases ownership of learning. When students own and are accountable for their learning and actions, the results are amazing!
Change Something!…Seriously Anything!
It is always easy as a teacher to get into the “groove” and keep doing the same thing year to year. I want to seriously challenge you as a professional to try something new. Making changes and trying new things at the lowest point in my career is what lead to the best years of my life in the classroom and saved my love of teaching.
Whether is is a new management technique, some new software or apps you want to try, or a new way to instruct that’s more engaging…just make a change! You will be amazed how trying something new and seeing it work (or sometimes not so much) can force you to reflect and analyze your instruction. This isn’t always the easiest thing to do but, it can revitalize and excite you about teaching again, which is better for you and your students!
So those are my 3 tips to make this year better for you. If you have any I would love to hear them! Please share by emailing me or leaving comments below!
