Yesterday’s post was a reminder that summer is rapidly coming to an end, and the start of a new school year is just around the corner. This realization typically stimulates reflection about how you can ensure this school year will be the best ever. Here is a second post that offers some tips on how to make this happen. Please feel free to post additional tips and hints in the comments section!

To have a really great year, it’s important to keep expectations realistic. Every teacher knows what it feels like to knock yourself out to do a great job on a particular lesson, only to have this overwhelming feeling that it isn’t working. It’s hard not to get discouraged when you feel like you’re floundering.

Don’t expect each lesson to be perfect the first time you execute it. Doing anything new requires practice in order to reach mastery. Making mistakes is part of the learning process. The important thing is to spend time reflecting on what aspects of the lesson you would like to be better, and then come up with a plan to make that happen. In fact, teaching should be a continuous cycle of planning, executing, reflecting, revising, and repeating. Just try to do a little better each time you do the lesson. Remember that you are a learner, too. You and your students are a learning community, and you are all working together to increase your understanding and improve your skills. Achieving success is a process, and a group process at that!

Think about this, too. The longer you’ve been teaching, the easier it will be to diagnose and prescribe solutions for improvement. In some cases, though, it might be better to stop the lesson and move on to something else for awhile. Later, when you’ve got the time and space for productive reflection, you can do a better job of analyzing.

Remember to take time to remind yourself that you are doing your very best. When a lesson does go the way you want it to, be sure to give yourself a well-earned pat on the back.