When you return to the classroom this month feeling rested and ready to dig in, remember that your students rested too. In fact, they may have slipped right on out of student-mode. So, deliberately help them get back in the swing of things with a short review session of successful study habits. Reiterate the importance of things like active reading and effective note-taking.
And while you are at it, do your own note-taking. At the end of each day, write down what worked, what didn’t work, what kinds of questions your students had, and anything else that may help with writing lesson plans for this course next time. This is especially important if you don’t teach this specific course every term, because you don’t want to forget those surprising teaching-moments that came up and worked so well.
