There are a few times each year when my energy and passion are renewed. The first being New Year’s Day, the second being the week of spring break, the third, and my favorite of all, the days before the first day of school. All three periods are great resets!
For me there is nothing better than the days before school year starts. The optimism is flowing through the air, the new student lists are being posted, and you’re setting up your classroom. It’s the ultimate reset!
That’s the great part of a new school year. No matter what happened last year, the challenges, the ups and downs, it’s all washed away. This school year for better (and hopefully not worse), will be different. How incredible of a feeling is that?! For teachers, that’s in August and September. It’s the perfect timing!
Last year doesn’t define you as teacher. The year before doesn’t define you neither. Nor do the mistakes you made. The state scores, your previous students, your old attitude are all things that do not define you. Reset your mentality because this year…is going to be our BEST SCHOOL YEAR EVER!
I always love coming back to school and seeing my colleagues after our summer breaks to catch up. The smiles are ginormous and our new coworkers who are equally just as excited. That’s not mention if your school is blessed with a first-year teacher, who have more energy than every teacher combined. For every person on staff, custodians and cooks included, the energy and passion has been reset.
Then there’s your classroom. For most teachers, we return to our same rooms where the memories of what worked and what didn’t flood our mind again. For other teachers, they’ll move classrooms/schools and get a brand-new canvas to work with. To me, it’s all very exciting to made tweaks and reset the classroom. By moving all your teacher supplies and furniture it gives you a chance to reset the classroom even better than the year before! …(This year I made mistake of misplacing a bookshelf to the wrong location with the help of the custodians and guess what…I love the spot! It)
Let’s not forget the most important people: the students! Most teachers will get a new class, while very few teachers will stay with their class, called looping. For me, I always build an unbreakable, life-long bond with each of my classes. It’s hard to see them move up grade levels. However, there’s just something about seeing new happy faces with all their school supplies enter your classroom for the first time. It’s a reset for teachers, students, and parents.
My summers leading into the school year bring growth through books, professional development conferences, and time away from teaching. But the ultimate reset is when the doors open for teachers for the first time. Walls are repainted, floors are waxed, signs are hanging straight, teachers are full of energy, and there’s time to plan the most extravagant lessons! It gets me so exuberant about the possibilities!
Whether you’re teacher or not, everyday has the potential to reset, realign, and restart. It begins with the first choice you make. If that choice wasn’t the right one, reset, realign, and restart again. Every day can have many opportunities to reset if you the day didn’t go as planned. But you must be mindful and alert during it because before you know it, the day is over. Reset, and keep going!
Right now seems like a great time to reset!
