10 Important Reminders for the New Year
Dan Pink posted a great video recently: 40 Harsh Truths I Wish I Knew in My 20s. It inspired me to think of my own tidbits of advice. So here you go…10 important reminders as we begin the new school year.
1. The school year is a marathon, not a sprint.
Runners know not to sprint early in a marathon. Going fast at the beginning of a race feels good. Adrenaline is flowing and motivation is high. But a quick start leads to a crash. The most experienced and successful runners actually run their slowest miles early in the race so they have the energy and stamina they need to finish strong.
So go slowly and deliberately now. Take time to set up your discipline system with your students. Build rules together. Introduce and practice routines. Uncover materials and supplies gradually. Ease into academics and help students build their school stamina at a reasonable pace. You’ll go further and faster later on.
2. You’re always modeling.
Whether you realize it or not, kids watch you. They watch you as you talk with other students. They read your body language when a call comes in over the intercom. They pay attention to your tone of voice and facial expression as you talk with colleagues. As adults, we are the ultimate tone-setters for our students at school. For better or worse, you’re always modeling. Make sure you’re being the kind of person you want your students to grow toward.
3. Kids don’t learn from people they don’t like.
In this iconic quote, educator Rita Pearson reminds us of the power of positive human connection. We shouldn’t be friends with our students, but we should be friendly. We (probably) can’t have a deep and positive relationship with every kid we work with, but we can be a kind and positive person in each kid’s life.
4. You can’t do it all.
There’s a very good chance that you can’t do everything you think you’re supposed to do. If you’ve read my latest book, Rekindle Your Professional Fire, you might have been struck by what happened when I tracked the instruction minutes I lost one school year to all of the little things that pile up. So be thoughtful about what you’re not going to get to. Focus your time and energy on the skills that are most essential and the learning that’s most joyful.
5. Self-care is other-care.
When lifeguards are trying to help a victim panicking in deep water, they’re supposed to keep their distance try to help the victim calm down. If that doesn’t work, they’re supposed to wait until the victim is unconscious before attempting to make the save. After all, if the lifeguard tangles it up with a person hopped up on adrenaline, there’s a good chance the lifeguard will be in trouble too. If the lifeguard wants to help the victim, they have to take care of themselves first.
You can’t take good care of your students or the other people in your life who count on you if you’re drowning. So exercise—even just a few minutes every day. Sleep—it’s the great elixir of life. Eat healthy foods and stay hydrated. Find small ways of building healthier habits into your daily routine. Your students will reap the benefits.
6. It would be weird for kids to be motivated to do unmotivating work.
Wouldn’t it? Why would any kid be excited to do work that’s not fun or interesting or purposeful? Kids can’t practice self-motivation and engagement without having some power and control over what they’re doing or how they’re doing it.
Instead of using incentives to make kids motivated to do unappealing work, make the work itself better. Lean into intrinsic motivators: autonomy, competence, purpose, belonging, curiosity, and fun. Kids will learn more, and you’ll all enjoy school more.
7. Kids do well if they can.
Ross Greene knows a thing or two about supporting kids who have challenging behaviors, and this is a key idea of his work. Kids want to grow and learn. They want to be successful. Why wouldn’t anyone (deep down) want to do well? Whether it comes to academic work, behaviors, or daily interactions with others, your students want to do well. When you’ve got a kid who’s struggling, take the time to talk with them to figure out what’s getting in their way and together try to come up with some ideas to try.
8. Spend time with positive colleagues. Avoid "crabs in the bucket."
You may have some colleagues who bring negative energy to school each day. They talk negatively about students and students’ families. They gripe about administration. They shoot down ideas colleagues sugest at team meetings. They complain about not having enough time or resources. Deep down, they also want to do well, but they’re stuck in negative patterns of behavior. You might be on a department team or grade level team with them. But you don’t have to eat lunch with them or sit with them at staff meetings. Instead, spend time with colleagues who love coming to school each day and who gush about how much they love their students. For better or worse, the people we hang out with rub off on us, so spend time with the ones you want to be like.
The video below which describes “crabs in a bucket” is from the online course, Rekindle Your Professional Fire.
9. Be warm and demanding, supportive and empowering.
This is a central theme for my upcoming book (hopeful publication date: spring of 2026!). There appears to be a secret sauce when it comes to creating positive teacher-student relationships:
10. Feed the right wolf.
In a Native American parable, a grandfather is giving his grandson advice about how to handle kids who are being mean to him. He cautions that inside of all of us are two wolves who are constantly fighting. One is full of anger, fear, envy, and hatred. The other is full of love, compassion, forgiveness, and kindness. The grandson asks, “If both wolves are fighting, which one will win?” The grandfather replies, “The one that you feed.”
It’s so easy for us to get caught up in all that’s not going well. We have a great day then have a rough phone call with a parent, and all we can think about on our commute home is the phone call. Three kids get dysregulated during a lesson, and we spend 95% of our time focused on them, neglecting to notice that 22 students are productive and engaged.
Take time to notice positives. Each day, write down three successes in a journal. At lunch with a colleague, share two successes from the morning before you talk about anything else. Take time to feed the right wolf.
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