The Christian EducatorA publication of North Valley Baptist Schools

The New Year

By Rhett Kiser

Fall brings with it cool weather, warmer clothing, fun fall activities, the end of summer, and the beginning of school.  Does it also bring an excited anticipation for the school year?  Some students do look forward to a new school year because they desire more time with their friends.  They may not be excited for the right reason, but at least they are excited.  Other students would prefer their lives to continue in a permanent summer vacation!  A mother may be excited for more time without the kiddos underfoot, and a father may look forward to cheering on Junior’s first sports game!

What about us teachers?  Do we feel a desire to “get back at it”?  Can we hardly wait to mold and shape a new crop of students?  For some of us, this is a resounding “Yes!”  For other teachers, the new school year can be a bit more challenging.  Regardless of our personal feeling toward the beginning of school, we must, for the sake of our students, get excited.  If we show apathy toward our classes and the students, we can only expect that same attitude from our students.  We cannot expect our students to be excited if we are not excited.  What can we do to get excited, get get excited?!

Fake it! Put a smile on your face and tell your students that you are excited about the lesson for that day.  Tell them you cannot wait for them to learn what you have in store for them.  While in Bible college, a professor would exhort, “Fake it ‘till you make it.”  If you start acting excited, you will start to believe you are.

Find it! Find new ideas to implement into your lessons.  Make your lessons come to life.  Borrow ideas from fellow teacher and coworkers.  Just because it was not your original idea, does not mean you cannot use it.  Your students will think you are creative and excited about the lesson.

Form them! Form quick and lasting bonds with returning and new students.  Find out what they like and dislike.  Be observant about how each student learns and develop a method to teach to that student.  The students will believe that you are excited about teaching to them, and that will help them, in turn, to become excited about learning.