Today is day one…

March 18, 2013

The first day of spring is just around the corner and all across the nation nature is celebrating new beginnings. Bluebonnets are blooming in Texas, humming birds are appearing in Alabama, and prairie dogs are emerging in Montana. Warmer weather and longer days bring restitution and revitalization to everything winter left in hibernation.

Now imagine if you brought spring’s spirit of newness to your own endeavors. What if you considered today to be day one of your own journey? No expectations, no preconceptions of what you can or cannot do; just a clean slate to accomplish whatever goals you started off this year wanting to achieve.

The beautiful thing about this time of year is that it’s almost intrinsically designed to give the opportunity to start over. This is especially true for students and their academics. Mid-terms exams and grades grant students the chance to measure their progress in their classes; allowing them to take pride in the areas they have excelled and take responsibility for the areas that need improvement. Similarly spring break grants a much needed hiatus from the chaos of school helping students to come back to their studies refreshed.

Even if the first half of there semester has gotten away from your students, there is still time for them to finish this academic year strong. Take time to sit down with your students and go over each of their classes with them. Ask them what areas they think they are shining in, and which areas they fell need improvement. Together make a strategy for success. The key is to set realistic expectations. It might be impossible to turn an F into an A, but that doesn’t mean that failing grade cannot be transformed into a B.

Make sure your students understand that their teachers are their greatest allies in improving their class standings. Teachers love helping their students succeed and are often more than happy to offer suggestions or extra credit assignments as a means to facilitate not only better understanding of certain concepts but also improve less than optimal grades.

Just as the arrival of spring brings forth the dawning of a new season, the half-way point in a semester commences the opportunity for academic change. There is still time for improvements. This is also true for students whose schools are on the trimester schedule. Even if it is too late to change certain grades, lessons from the previous terms can be applied to the beginning of the last trimester.

Regardless of what day it actually is, start this next phase as if it was the first.

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