Beginning again: 7 suggestions for a brand-new school year
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I have always had a love-hate relationship with the new school year. On one hand, as a student, I was excited about learning new things, meeting new people, and finding new challenges. On the other hand, I dreaded learning new things, meeting new people, and finding new challenges. The start of the academic year feels exactly the same from the opposite side of the classroom. This month, I offer 7 suggestions for relaxing into the new academic year and make my short white paper “7 deadly mistakes new professors make and how to avoid them” available to you for free. You could say it’s a 7×7 post.
The academic cycle lets you begin anew every year. You can try new things and make changes to old practices to see what works best. You have new students to introduce to a topic that may feel old hat to you, but is eye-opening for them, so you can be inspired by their excitement of discovery. You’ve (hopefully) taken some kind of break in the recent past and can return refreshed. Let the excitement overcome the nervous anxiety of beginning again.
Here are my 7 suggestions for a brand-new school year, no matter your position:
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Be optimistic.
Notice all the skills you have and what abilities you developed in the previous academic year and know you can grow them even more. Optimism aids in building supportive social networks, those folks that can help “jolly you along” when times feel rough. Optimism feels better and is literally better for your health, than pessimism. It leads to better cardiovascular health, longer life, faster recovery from all sorts of stress, including those related to disease or bodily injury.
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Keep a sense of humor.
Nothing keeps things in perspective like laughing to reduce tension. Put some funny cartoons where you and your students can enjoy them. Keep a list of quips coming from your students. It also doesn’t hurt to remind yourself that you don’t have to implement every piece of advice you are given.
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Reflect on last year.
Think positively about what went well, and notice what did not, without beating yourself up. You can allow yourself to say, “I am learning just like my students are, and I am getting better with every passing year.” You may have a few pragmatic recommendations to make for yourself: “I am going to have my students do more in-class writing exercises;” “I am going to reduce my grading load by providing more extra credit assignments instead of mandatory assignments;” “I am going to set limits on how students contact me, and when I will respond.”
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Commit to balancing your life.
No matter what you do at school, whether you are a graduate student, an academic teacher or an academic administrator, you are more than your job. Make the time for friends and family. They will be there when you are done with your career…or not. Relationships take tending, just like gardens. Give yourself some way to renew and refresh on a regular basis. Personally, I find yoga and walking the beach two of the biggest restorers of my sanity. Quiet time for reflection is difficult to find in the middle of a chaotic list of time demands. It’s amazing what can come out of just a short period of mental freedom.
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Pledge yourself to learn something new.
Maybe it’s a new technique in the lab, maybe it’s reading and teaching a new novel, maybe it’s finding a conference addressing how to handle difficult faculty or other human resources issues. Learning something new stretches our brain and literally gives us new neural pathways and capacity.
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Stay curious.
There is so much to know in the world, and curiosity can lead you to some exhilarating places. Learning begets learning, and that can keep you young at heart. This does not just mean being curious about knowledge. You can be curious about your own reactions to things that happen, notice the stories you tell yourself and wonder what might have triggered a certain interpretation. For instance, a student announces aloud that they are bored, and you immediately tell yourself, “I am a failure as a teacher.” Notice the negative self-talk and try reframing that to “I am learning how to be a better teacher.”
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Practice gratitude and kindness.
It’s all too easy to get captured by negative emotions which will increase your cortisol and leave you tense. Small acts of kindness to others whether it’s simply smiling hello and saying “welcome to my space.” Notice when others show some appreciation for you, too, and save that up as a future emotional boost when you feel low. As Neurologist Judy Willis says, “A mood boost in time saves nine hours of whine.”
There you have it. Seven easy steps to help yourself as you begin the new academic year. May you start it refreshed, excited and eager to go back to school.
If you are a new professor, we have a free white paper 7 deadly mistakes new professors make…and how to avoid them just for you. Download this now, and learn to navigate the early career stages of a young scholar.
Tags: academia, academic, attitude, confidence, happiness, happiness at work
