Teacher Hungover on the First Day of School

Note: This is the first blog post I wrote for the EdTech startup company I worked for when I left teaching. I wanted to document it here because I think it still rings true for teaching, but also for any career or job change. Enjoy

Every year I show up hungover on the first day of school. An intoxication not produced by the consumption of liquor, spirits, or tainted fruit.  It’s produced from the lingering memories of the previous year.  As new students walk into my class for the first time I would get nostalgic about the students I had the previous year. When I meet my new students I slowly start to remember that we are starting from square one. They don’t know classroom routines and they definitely don’t know the new curriculum which we will be working tirelessly on all year long.  

This is what I call the hangover effect. I’ve been teaching for six years and it always hits me during the first week of school, but it always comes as a surprise for some reason.  When it does hit, I go through a series of stages similar in nature to the five stages of grief, but I only have three.   First I become angry, then I become depressed, and eventually, I accept the fact that I have to work just as hard this year as I did last year. The great, but difficult thing about teaching is that you start fresh every school year. 

To help me with this teacher hangover I’ve incorporated a principle that I learned from a teacher and mentor that lives in Los Angeles. He told me he adds one new thing to his class every year in order to push and motivate himself so that he doesn’t get stagnate. I’ve taken that advice to heart and have implemented something new every year in my own classroom.  Some are successful and some are not so successful, but the point is that it fires me up for the new school year. It keeps my mind busy during the summer and helps me get over my hangover quicker because the class and I are doing something that the previous class didn’t do. We’re learning something new together.  

(shameless plug for the company I worked for)

If you’d like to add something to your class this year I’d suggest finding a tech tool that you’d like to learn and integrate with your students. Great technology tools can be found in the ever-growing video library that Kyte Learning has available. My new favorite tool is EdPuzzle. Find a tool that works for you at KyteLearning.com.