The Best Advice I've Ever Received

Those of us employed in helping professions tend to have problems with borders. We don’t know where the border should be between what we do for others, and those times when we must think of ourselves and our families. As much as I admire teachers who don’t "have a life" during the school year, we must always realize that the amount our students learn is not necessarily directly related to the amount of time we spend.

 Remember, 90% of your results come from 10% of your efforts. If you can trim out the wasted effort, you can be a better teacher, and still "have a life".

 But the reality is that good teaching is hard work. Especially early in a teacher’s career, the hours can be extreme. But compromising is better than quitting! Students will learn much more from you if you don’t give up the profession! You must learn to maintain a workload that does not make you bitter, burnt out, or less than attentive to your family.

 A good friend told me (as a professor had told him) as I started my teaching career: "don’t try to follow through on all of your good ideas in one year." Plan a few special activities or units this year. Fill in some more special ones next year. Keep adding to your bag of tricks, and reuse your old ones.

 You can be a good teacher this year, a better teacher next year, and someday, a great teacher. That’s better than being a good teacher this year, a burnt out teacher next year, and someday, a real estate agent. If you care about the quality of your teaching and the lives of your students, you’re probably already a great teacher anyway!