Just keep swimming… – Marcela Cintra

The feeling that all our efforts to motivate, help students learn and get organised were in vain is common among teachers, especially towards the end of the year/ term. There is usually that one student in class who brings all the joy, does all the homework, and has all the answers. Many of us take that one for granted, many wish all the others were like him/ her. Many of us neglect the one who is not interested, the one who hardly ever brings homework or participates. It takes a great deal of strength to shift the focus and look at all learners in the most neutral way possible. What better magical opportunity to start afresh than a new year?
In order to get prepared for the groups that are going to (re)start we may choose to nurture new habits (or old ones version 2017) and focus on our learners even more. Here are some suggestions to inspire the new beginnings of the academic term:

1. Get organised and prepared to keep planners, notes on groups and specific learners (to give you data and basis for structured feedback), lesson plans, meeting notes and professional aims on track. An idea is to get folders for easy access or a binder with subdivisions for the categories that matter to you and your learners.
2. If you are tech savvy or willing to go digital, keep your files clearly named and backed up either in a cloud (e.g. Google docs, Dropbox) or a flash drive. For easy access and edition, choose file extensions that are compatible with mobile devices if you think this will help. The most important thing is that you choose what you feel comfortable with and that you make an effort to use them for at least a month in order to evaluate if that suits you and your routine.
3. Choose the time during the week (e.g. a morning when you do not teach) when you are going to plan lessons, consider your learners’ progress and actions you need to take. Respect that time and focus during this period to ensure you do not postpone planning or correction to be done when you are supposed to rest, exercise, spend free time as you wish. That may also help prevent the so-feared burnout (for tips on how to avoid it, you may also refer to https://www.britishcouncil.org/voices-magazine/how-can-teachers-avoid-burnout).
4. Spend time considering the learning goals you have for your learners and what they will need most help with. Strategically organise and plan the steps you will take to involve learners and help them achieve goals. Clear aims and good understanding of your learners are the first steps to success.
5. About the learners, spend time studying who they are, where they need to get, how much they need to learn and improve, what works best for them and what new activities and techniques can be brought to class. Listen to them and talk to them as well. Listen to understand and learn about and from them; talk to explain and address their needs and questions or issues and broaden their horizons. Treat them as unique individuals even when teaching large groups. That may reinforce the notion that the lessons matter and that you are focused on helping them achieve goals if they are willing to work hard as well.
6. Encourage teamwork in the classroom among learners to maximise their learning opportunities and share responsibility for the learners’ success. Act as a team player both in the classroom and in the staff room. Being a role model is not always easy – it takes consistency of attitude rather than a polite and engaged talk – but it usually brings the greatest results in education (Bucher, 1997).

The year is just beginning and it is the best moment for us to remember all the successful moment from the previous year and ‘just keep swimming’. Not because we forgot, like Dory, the moments when we were not very successful, but because we believe that all our work is worth the effort to help our learners. Being a successful teacher takes patience, persistence, repertoire, willingness and emotional control (to deal with what we identify as failure, for instance) to be and encourage growth and learning (that implies change in some way).  As Rudyard Kipling (as quoted in Kennedy, 2013: 46) would say: ‘No printed word, nor spoken plea, can teach young minds what they should be. Not all the books on all the shelves, but what the teachers are themselves.’
References:
Bucher, A. A. (1997). ‘The Influence of Models in Forming Moral Identity’, International Journal of Educational Research. Vol. 27 no. 7.
Kennedy, K. J. (2013). ‘Education: Social Elevator or Holding Area?’ In Hughes, P. (ed.) (2013). Achieving Quality Education for All. New York: Springer. Pp. 43-49.