Pushing Forward

Both of my sisters are educators in America and they’ve just finished their first four days of school, having started on Tuesday, and I’m seeing/hearing lot’s of rejoicing to have reached their first weekend.  For us it’s a different story, we’ve been back almost a month now!  So, I want to say congratulations and more importantly, “thank you!”, to everyone for a great start to the school year.  We’ve settled in and the students are off and running, it’s a great atmosphere around campus.

We’ve all been going a million miles an hour since we started back in the beginning of August.  Many of you have been into work early and stayed late every day since we’ve been back.  You’ve been working extremely hard to help prepare yourselves and your students for a wonderfully successful school year.  I know your students won’t say it, so I will say it on their behalf, THANK YOU!!!

Now, something else your students won’t say to you…make sure you stay balanced.  If you’re anything like me, then you’ve gotten yourself a little off balance in the last few weeks.  Stephen Covey, author of Seven Habits of Highly Effective People includes in his habits what he calls “sharpening the saw”.  In short, the idea behind this is that if you work yourself so hard that your ‘saw’ becomes dull than you will become an ineffective teacher for your students.  It is crucial to keep yourself fresh, healthy, and energized in order to be successful with your students.

So for those of you who are like me and have become a little too committed at the beginning of the school year please take this message to heart.  This three-day weekend couldn’t be coming at a better time, take advantage of it and find a way to sharpen your saw.  It’s a great opportunity to get out of town (even for one night), start that work out program you’ve been putting off, cook a nice home-cooked meal, or have a lazy Saturday…do whatever you need to relax a bit and refresh yourself.

Thank you for all that you’ve done to make this beginning of the school year a successful one for all of your students.  Enjoy your much deserved weekend!