Supercharge Your School Year!
Early in my career when I was teaching middle school, I would have the same nightmare every year the week before school started. There I would be standing in front of a classroom of 30 seventh graders ready to teach science and none of the students would listen to me. They were laughing, talking, playing and doing everything but listening to me and following my directions. A teacher’s worst nightmare is to have a room full of children who won’t listen and follow directions! When we prepare to become teachers the thing that they seem to drill into our heads the most is that you should always maintain control of your classroom. Heaven help you if the students get out of control.
There is a tremendous amount of pressure placed on teachers to perform as great classroom managers and instructional leaders. Lucky for me, my nightmare never really came true. Now don’t get me wrong, there were plenty of times when students didn’t listen, but not all 30 of them at the same time, lol. One of the things I wish I knew as a new teacher was to stop focusing on what I didn’t want to happen and to put all my energy and focus into visualizing what I did want to happen. There is a super power that we have as teachers that I didn’t learn about until much later in my teaching career, the power of visualization.
To reduce stress and anxiety that often accompanies the beginning of a new school year, use the power of your mind to get the outcome that you want. Here are 4 things to visualize as you start the school year:
- Your classroom and how it operates – As you set up your classroom and definitely after you are finished, spend time walking the room with soft music playing in the background and visualize what your days will be like. See in your mind how the students are sitting at their desks, working diligently, answering questions and engaging in your lesson. See the smiles on their faces as they are happy and excited to learn your subject. Visualize them following the rules, raising their hands to answer questions and getting along with each other. This may seem strange and some people may say they don’t believe visualization will work. Or you might be thinking what if I visualize and things still don’t go well? My answer to that is what if you visualize and more things do go well, or you just feel more calm when things do go wrong? If it reduces your level of stress and anxiety then it’s well worth it in my book.
- Visualize how you will handle tough situations with your students.Visualize yourself helping your students resolve conflict in a peaceful and restorative way. Visualize yourself getting your class back on track with grace and ease. See your students responding to your directives with gratitude and willingness. See yourself as a positive and calming force in the classroom, hallways, cafeteria and playground.
- Visualize how you handle your workload. Do you want to get all your papers graded and lesson plans done by Friday evening so you can have Saturday and Sunday free to do other things? Visualize yourself focused and productive. Getting papers graded during the week. Visualize yourself handling your school responsibilities with grace and ease.
- Do you want to stay happy, healthy and stress free this school year?Visualize yourself happy, healthy and whole all school year. See yourself having time to do your favorite exercise, eating healthy, laughing and enjoying life. Visualize that it’s January or February and you are still full of energy and enjoying teaching. See yourself as a calm and peaceful force that moves through the school with grace and ease.
You have the power to create the type of year that you want. While you are planning and preparing for the children, spend some time preparing yourself to have an awesome school year.
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