Sunday, October 8, 2017

The Hardest Time of the School Year

I always felt like October was the hardest part of the school year. The honeymoon period at the beginning of the school year always seemed to peter out around this time, as students would begin to push boundaries like never before.

If your school is on a six week grading period like the ones in my region, the first report cards are just being sent out, and how your kids react to them affects their behavior. If they passed without much effort and are content with it, they might slack off and goof around because things seem too easy. If they failed and have a history of struggling in school, they might already view your class as a lost cause and try to give up.

For students and teachers, this is often the middle of the longest uninterrupted period in your school calendar, with no holidays or special events to break things up until Thanksgiving.

If you're already seeing the signs (or already struggling), I'm with you. I've been there. My short book Teaching is Not a Four Letter Word: How to Stop Worrying and Love the Job was written for just this time of year.

It's a simple, straightforward collection of the best advice I could give to new and struggling teachers, and I believe you'll find help to get you through October and beyond.

It's available as a paperback, PDF or eBook from Lulu or as a Prime-eligible paperback or Kindle version on Amazon.