Five Fabulous New Year's Resolutions for Teachers

It's time for us to start another new year and start making our New Year's Resolutions again. Americans everywhere are making resolutions like "lose weight" or "get a better job," but, aside from the clichéd resolutions of years past, what goals can we educators make to improve our lives from this point forward? Here are some really great New Year's Resolutions for teachers!

Make Time for Family - No, not your work family! You dedicate endless numbers of hours to teaching today's youth, but how often do you feel you don't spend enough time with your own children? Our families need us as much as our students do. Set the grading aside for a bit and play with your children.

Get Healthy - Do something for yourself. Allow yourself to eat healthier meals, even if you have to gobble them down in 15 minutes. Take walks, get a gym membership, or borrow your friend's Insanity DVDs. If you don't take care of yourself, your teaching will eventually suffer, if it hasn't already. You need energy to teach. Your health is important!

Take More Breaks - That's right. Allow your body and mind a chance to recover from the often exhausting lifestyle that is teaching. If you already dread going into work because you're tired, this is a warning sign. You need rest! The grading, the emails, and the lesson planning can wait while you give yourself a few minutes a day to just relax.

Stay Positive - I was watching Daniel Tiger with my son today and I heard some really great advice from Tiger's family. The advice was, "when something seems bad, turn it around, and find something good!" That Daniel Tiger even found something positive about his birthday cake getting smooshed! Smooshed cake still tastes good, right? Well, sometimes our days feel like a whole bunch of cakes getting smooshed. That doesn't mean there isn't something delicious or gratifying about something else that happened that day, does it? Surround yourself with people with Tiger's mindset if you need to, but it is so important to remain positive in this profession!

Play More - Even with your students, it is important for you to find time for play. The kids will even like you more if you make the learning fun. Break out the Kahoot games sometimes. Turn a lesson into a game. Joke around with your students. It will make teaching more fun for you and learning more fun for them. That's a win-win!

There are so many more resolutions you can make, but for this year's New Year's Resolutions, please consider at least one of the above. And do yourself a favor - follow through with your resolutions this time! After all, a happy teacher is a more effective teacher! I wish you the best in the new year and hope that the rest of your school year is as sparklingly-bright as that shiny ball they drop in Time's Square.