The Master Teacher Blog

Now can be a good time to pause and reflect on the current state and preferred direction of our lives and work. With distance from day-to-day professional pressures, problems, and other stressors, we can gain some perspective and consider the larger picture within which we live each day.

Of course, it can be helpful to have some structure to engage in this sort of reflection. Having a sense of where to look and what to consider can help us to be more efficient and gain greater clarity. Whether you are personally looking for self-reflection activities, an administrator looking to engage your teachers in professional development sessions, or a teacher looking for opportunities to have your students work on self-reflection, here are five reflection activities that can be good places to start.

Our Personal Mount Rushmore

A useful initial activity can be to reflect on who would have a place on our personal Mount Rushmore. Like the actual Mount Rushmore, we might identify the people who have helped us to become who we are. Selecting just four or so people might be a challenge, but the idea is to limit inclusion to those who have had an outsized influence. We might also consider what it is about these people that make them worthy of such a place of honor and influence.

Our Personal Board of Directors 

Another activity is to reflect on who is or should be on our personal “Board of Directors.” In this activity, we might identify people in our lives who have the greatest influence on our decisions, provide support, and give us guidance. This activity can help us to be more aware of who is having an impact on our lives in real time. Of course, our reflection might also reveal that we need more people on our board of directors and/or that there may be people on our board of directors who may not be giving us good advice or providing support and who should be removed and replaced.

Our “True North”

This reflection is to identify who in our lives helps us to find our way through uncertain times. They may be the person or persons to whom we turn when we face a moral dilemma. They may be a source of wisdom on which we depend. Or they may provide the emotional support we need to think clearly and decide where to focus. They may not be the person who tells what to do as much as help us to figure out what is best.

Our Life Movie Cast

In this reflection, we imagine that we were making a movie of our lives and need to “cast” it with people who have played various roles in our life story. Who might be the supporting actor or actors? Is there a hero or heroine other than you? Who would provide comic relief? Who fits the role of mentor or guide? Might you identify an antagonist? The idea behind this reflection is to consider the narrative of our life and who is influencing it in what ways and to surface “plot shifts” we might want to make.

Our Shield of Safety

We also have people in our lives who make us feel safe. In this reflection, we might consider who we deeply trust. Who makes us feel seen when we feel invisible? Who makes us feel valued when we doubt ourselves? Who is there for us when we feel vulnerable and need reassurance? These are special people in our lives, especially when we most need support and protection.

This series of reflections may help us to better appreciate those in our lives who have had or are having an outsized influence. They are people who make us who we are. We also may have identified some people we have taken for granted or who may not know what they mean to us. Now is a great time to reach out and let them know how important and special they are. Don’t delay!

We know when working with students that the absence of boundaries does not necessarily lead to freedom, flexibility, and creativity in their work. Often, the lack of boundaries leads to chaos, conflict, and distraction, and in many ways, failing to set boundaries in our lives can lead to similar outcomes. Without boundaries, we often find ourselves uncomfortable, ineffective, and frustrated.

Tony Martignetti, writing in Fast Company, explains that boundary-setting is crucial to being productive, building trust, and finding satisfaction. Martignetti argues that boundaries are less about having to say “no” and more about being able to say “yes” to what we value. Martignetti’s observations about boundary-setting might be summarized as:

• Good boundaries are structures, not barriers. Boundaries help us to decide where to place our energy, what to avoid, and what to let go.
• Effective boundaries are less about time and more about attention. We might think of boundaries as dictating how we spend our time, but boundaries work best when they help us decide where to allocate our mental and physical energy.
• Thoughtful boundaries do not constrain; they clarify. Boundaries can help us to sort out priorities and set goals.
• Sustainable boundaries do not block energy; they protect it. When our energy is in short supply, clear boundaries can preserve what we have and help us to use it where it makes the greatest difference.
• Strategic boundaries do not undermine commitment; they focus it. Gaining clarity about what we value and how we want to live can create new levels of productivity without unduly exhausting our energy or undermining relationships.

Summer can be a great time to reflect on what we value, how we want to live, and how we might set boundaries that maximize our effectiveness and productivity without compromising our health, relationships, and happiness. Here are some ideas to get started:

• Spend time reflecting on what is most important. Clarifying our life and work values can help to set priorities, sort areas of conflict, and guide the establishment of boundaries.
• Revisit current boundaries. Reviewing where current boundaries are working well and identifying boundaries we are ignoring or not following can help us to decide what to keep, what to fix, and what to abandon. If regularly bringing work home and sacrificing family time and relationships is a source of stress, this pattern might be a good place to start.
• Identify “pain points.” We might think about times and circumstances when we feel the greatest guilt, frustration, or exhaustion. They can be good places to focus our boundary-setting work. Often, these situations represent a conflict between what we value and how we behave.
• Reach out to a colleague or friend who seems to set and manage boundaries well. Discovering what works for someone who shares our general circumstances might provide options we can adopt or adapt to fit our needs. As examples, learning how a colleague establishes and manages limits to work hours or has a shutdown routine at the end of the day can provide options and practices we choose to follow.
• Think of boundaries as guidelines to respect, not unbreakable rules. Depending on the boundary, there may be times when we need to flex to accommodate unusual circumstances. Inflexibility can create as much stress and conflict as not establishing a boundary. For example, we might establish a manageable limit to the number of committees and work groups we join, but an emergency or special task force that needs our expertise may lead us to make a temporary exception.
• Notice when frustration, anxiety, or resentment begin to grow. When these feelings persist, they may be signals that it is time to revisit a current boundary or establish a new one. Circumstances can change from year to year, month to month, and even week to week. Boundaries that worked for us in the past may no longer serve us well. As examples, technology we used to control may be starting to control us. Or the time we have blocked out for self-care, family, or relaxation may no longer work for us and needs to be adjusted.

We need boundaries to sustain our energy, mental health, and productivity. Boundaries can create as much freedom as they provide limits. However, we need to establish them with care. The key is to find what works for us and allow our boundaries to give us the structure, clarity, and confidence that can keep us fresh and sustain our enthusiasm and commitment.

Reference:

Martignetti, T. (2025, May 19). Healthy boundaries at work matter more than ever. Here are 7 steps to build them. Fast Company. https://www.fastcompany.com/91334582/healthy-boundaries-at-work-matter-more-than-ever-here-are-7-steps-to-build-them

Conversations about bias are not new, but there has been a more recent trend addressing the implicit biases that we develop naturally through the experiences we have, the experiences we don’t have, how we interpret our experiences, and what we learn from others. Biases influence what we believe about people and what happens to and around us. They influence our expectations, interpretations, and interactions with others, including our students.

Biases are invisible yet omnipresent. They subtly and persistently influence how we see and engage with our students, and as an extension, they can shape how our students experience learning in our classrooms. Our biases can influence our students’ emotional state and psychological development, and they can hold the potential to undermine our efforts and our students’ learning. Let’s explore five of the most common biases that haunt our classrooms and how we can counter them.

Expectancy bias. Also known as the Pygmalion Effect, this bias allows our perceptions of students’ potential to drive what we expect, how we support, and how we evaluate the work and behavior of students. Multiple research studies have shown this bias to have a significant effect on how well students learn and perform. This may be good news for students whom we perceive to be talented, but it is very bad news for students we perceive as having low potential. Expectancy bias can also influence student behavior. Students whom we perceive as well behaved can more easily be given extra chances and the benefit of the doubt, while students perceived as mischievous, sneaky, or otherwise prone to misbehavior are often blamed and punished more frequently and harshly.

How to counter: We can avoid expectancy bias by having high expectations for all students and not allowing past performance to shape our beliefs about their future potential. We might commit to supporting all students to build their potential. We can also focus on individual student progress rather than comparing the performance of some students to others.

Gender bias. This bias involves different perceptions about female and male students. As examples, girls are assumed to share characteristics such as being more likely to demonstrate good behavior and skills in reading and writing but not being as likely to demonstrate strong skills in math and science. Boys are seen as more prone to mischief and leadership roles and not as strong in communication and relationships. While there may be some natural gender-related tendencies present, girls and boys share more characteristics than not. Girls commonly demonstrate strengths and interests often attributed to boys, and boys often excel in areas that are perceived to favor girls.

How to counter: We can start by being conscious of the language we use, the assumptions we make, and the behaviors we practice that reinforce gender labels. We might make it a point to balance opportunities for participation, responsibilities, and leadership. Further, we can encourage and support students—regardless of gender—to enroll and excel in a wide variety of academic and career-related subjects.

Stereotype bias. Socioeconomic status, ethnic background, race, and other factors can play a role in how we see and interact with our students. We may hold lower expectations for these students’ learning and expose them to less rigorous curricular content. We may make negative assumptions about their likely behavior and commitment to learning. We may even press them less to perform than we do for other students.

How to counter: We can regularly check ourselves and our beliefs to be certain that we are not expecting or supporting these students’ learning less than that of our other students. We can focus on each student as an individual, value their strengths, and support their growth. We also need to review instructional materials and resources to avoid reinforcing stereotypes and to ensure positive models for learning.

Affinity bias. We sometimes encounter students with whom we feel a stronger than usual sense of connection. We may share similar personalities, backgrounds, interests, or even certain life challenges. Even without consciously deciding to do so, we can give these students more attention, encouragement, support, and positive feedback than other students. While the students who experience our affinity may benefit, other students often pick up on what they see as favoritism. As a result, they can feel unseen, ignored, or even disliked, and those can lead to feelings of resentment; meanwhile, the student who is the object of our affinity can experience separation, teasing, and jealousy from classmates.

How to counter: Being aware of our feelings and the consequence of showing favoritism is a good start. We might also be careful to provide equitable feedback and attention to all students. We could even go as far as collecting data on our interactions to ensure an equitable distribution exists among all students.

Confirmation bias. When we have a preferred approach or have done something in a certain way for some time, we can assume that it is the best way to do it, even when there is evidence that other approaches work better, at least in some circumstances. Equally challenging, when trying alternative approaches and strategies, we can find ourselves paying closest attention to information that supports what we expect rather than objectively evaluating evidence. Confirmation bias can leave us clinging to practices that are not effective or that are not as effective as other options and approaches.

How to counter: Commit to having current practices prove themselves. Start with an expectation that a different approach might be better, and collect evidence in an attempt to prove it. Allow the evidence, rather than pre-existing beliefs, to determine the outcome. However, be certain to practice the alternative approach long enough to become proficient before making a judgment.

Biases can be destructive, but they are not inevitable—and we are not helpless to them. We can educate and equip ourselves to understand and overcome their presence and their impact. Our commitment to our students can be the motivating force.

Sweet, sweet summertime! For some educators, summer break is a time to do just that—take a break. Others do not have that luxury. And for many, summer is a time for both leisure and continued work, work that may or may not be related to education. These next few months will almost certainly seem to fly by; how we spend them remains to be seen, but if we are lucky, we will have time to rest and time to learn and grow.

Summer does not always mean that we have the time and opportunity to take a course or that we can set aside the time we do have to attend a conference. When possible, these are certainly great sources for learning; they can be excellent for networking, re-energizing our passion for education, and providing professional growth experiences. However, courses and conferences are not the only ways to gain new skills and elevate our practice.

When our summer is too full, too hectic, or too unmanageable to engage in formal learning—or if we just don’t want to go that route—we have an array of other options from which we can choose. These options can flex to accommodate our schedule, and they can allow us to focus on what we want to learn, when and where we want to learn it. Let’s explore six informal, but promising, ways to feed a summertime desire to learn.

Consider setting aside time to meet with a colleague (or colleagues) whose practice you admire. Often, colleagues who have an existing relationship with us and who share common experiences can provide highly useful tips, techniques, and ideas we can adopt or adapt for use with our students. Our relationship can also make it safe to ask questions that we might be reluctant to ask in other settings. Equally beneficial, we can share effective strategies and approaches from our practice that our colleagues may find beneficial in their work with their students.

You might join an educator group on social media. Like the first option, engaging with other educators in an informal setting can make it more comfortable to ask for advice, ideas, and suggestions that we can add to our repertoire of instructional, classroom management, and administrative strategies. Learning from others who share similar experiences can also provide us with encouragement and reassurance. Social networking can offer opportunities to share ideas and insights about what works for us.

Set aside time to read books, journals, and blogs you did not have time to read during the year. There never seems to be enough time to read everything shared with us, especially during the school year. We might have a stack of journals that were set aside for later reading. We might have heard from colleagues and others about books that they have found especially useful. Or we may follow blog sources that we have not had time to keep up with. Summer can offer the opportunity to return to these sources of information at a time when we can read, reflect, and plan.

Listen to professionally-focused audio and video podcasts. Summer break can offer a wide array of options for listening and watching podcasts. Whether driving to and from summer destinations, relaxing between summer activities, or engaging in physical activities that leave room for your mind to wander, podcasts can be a good way to catch up on issues and trends of interest, explore new ideas and thinking, or encounter some new perspectives worth considering and trying out.

Do your own blogging or podcasting. Of course, we don’t necessarily have to just read or listen to the ideas and insights of others. We can capture and share our own thinking and practice with others. While we might not initially consider this approach for learning, in fact, reflecting on our own practice, explaining useful techniques, and sharing what we have experienced can be a great way to solidify what we have learned, understand a deeper level of what we know, and discover new ideas and even better ways to accomplish our work.

Engage in your own research. We may want to find our own path as we seek to learn a new technique, overcome a persistent barrier, or uncover something completely new. Beyond what we may learn through the usual channels, we might search websites and databases that specialize in new research, report on promising practices, or engage in deeper debate regarding educational issues. This approach can pair well with a summer school course we might be teaching or a course we are preparing to teach in the fall.

Summer can be a valuable time for learning and reflection, but we do not need to rely solely on formal options and opportunities. The fact is that we can create our own! When we take responsibility for our own learning and find ways that work for us, the results can be amazing.

After the end of an eventful school year, the beginning of a well-deserved summer break can be a good time to step back, reflect, and attempt to make sense of the shifting, stirring, and often stubborn issues and challenges we face. The pace of our work can often make it difficult to see and make sense of what is happening in the world around us. Consequently, while we might busy ourselves trying to fix symptoms of problems, we might not truly understand the root causes of what vexes us.

Teachers, administrators, paraeducators, and other school staff members share many frustrations and distractions that can get in the way of serving students and supporting their learning. The challenge is to frame issues so that they can be understood and addressed. Fortunately, questions can often serve as tools to begin the process of understanding and lead us to see issues with greater depth and insight.

As we reflect on this school year and think about the next one—or the ones after that—we can use some key questions to guide our thinking, planning, and actions. Here are ten questions that may be useful to the quest.

• How is the make-up of our student body changing? What do we know about changes in poverty levels, shifting demographics, expectations of education, career aspirations, and other experiences, expectations, and challenges that shape our students’ relationships with us and learning? How might shifts in make-up of the student body be having an impact on academic achievement, behavior, social cohesiveness, and other issues we observe?
• What forces are shaping the ways in which our students relate to each other and us? Technology, social media, and political divisions may be at play. Shifts in housing development and availability or in socioeconomic appearances might also be factors. We may not be able to change or dismantle these forces, but recognizing them can help us to understand, give guidance, and provide resources where appropriate. We might teach students more or different coping mechanisms, coach useful skills, and offer other opportunities to counter what they face.
• What rules and expectations no longer serve the purposes for which they were established? Consider that chewing gum was a big no-no in the 1950s (and in some schools and classrooms still to this day!). Hair and skirt length were flashpoints in the 60s. Some schools had policies about students’ “bold beauty” expressions in the 80s. What battles are we fighting today that need a “ceasefire” and a reset? Cellphones and smartwatches are receiving lots of attention, for valid reasons, but they are likely not the only elements to consider.
• What routines and rituals no longer seem relevant to—or serve the interests of—our students? Tradition components of student dances, pep assemblies, theme days, and some clubs might be places to start our reflection. How are we shifting what we offer to align with what students find interesting and worth engaging in? Esports, niche clubs, and student-generated activity ideas might be good starting places.
• What instructional practices no longer generate the same levels of engagement and learning? Teaching harder, persisting longer, and pushing more may not be the answer, especially when those things occur at the expense of teacher morale and student achievement. It may be time to shift approaches, let go of long-held assumptions, and explore other strategies. As examples, what if we began our instruction where students are, not where we want—or where the curriculum expects—them to be? What if we gave students more choice and voice in what and how they will learn? What if, instead of us setting goals for students, students were expected and supported to set goals for their own learning?
• How clear are we about the future for which we are preparing our students? Of course, no one can fully predict the future, but there is much that we can anticipate and plan for. What skills will students need to be successful? Where and how well are we teaching, nurturing, reinforcing, and having students utilize these skills as they learn?
• Do we need to revisit how are we defining success? Are test scores enough? Many educators, if not most, say no. What other data and indicators should be captured and analyzed? What might a comprehensive profile of success look like for our students? For our school or district? Students and learning are complex, and determining what defines success needs to reflect that.
• How are parent expectations changing? We know that in general, parent support has waned. What might be causing this shift? What might we do to better align what we do with what parents are expecting? What can be done to see higher levels of parent support, and how do we get there? Similarly…
• How are the ways in which parents and the community communicate and engage with us changing? Are periodic newsletters effectively communicating our message? How effective are the channels through which parents and the community communicate with us? Might we need to engage new or shift social media and messaging platforms? How will we know when we get it right?

Obviously, not every question on this list is relevant to your circumstance, and some of the ideas mentioned are more actionable than others. There also may be issues or topics missing from this list that you need to consider and plan for as you think about the coming year. You know your community and the issues and pressures that are likely to require attention and leadership in the next school year. Consider framing these items as questions for your reflection, investigation, and planning during the summer months—but make time to focus on relaxation and restoration, too.

This is a time of the year when educators can feel as though our energy levels have been depleted and are in need of a boost so that we can fully enjoy our summer breaks. For some of us, the school year has left us feeling utterly spent and focused only on getting through each day. As a result, we might have narrowed some of our interests and neglected activities that have excited, energized, and motivated us in the past. Or we may be looking for something to refocus, reenergize, and renew our sense of purpose and direction, especially as we look toward the summer months and hope for rejuvenation.

There is a historical figure whose approach to life can provide inspiration and guidance for living life to its fullest, staying vibrant, and being interested in the world around us: Benjamin Franklin. It must be said that there were aspects of Franklin’s life that were not admirable and are not to be emulated. Nevertheless, he was someone who fully embraced life. His contributions to science, culture, and other areas have endured. There is much we can learn from how he approached and lived his life, things that we can apply to our own lives to keep us fresh, alert, and engaged.

Richard Munson’s “Ingenious: A Biography of Benjamin Franklin, Scientist” is filled with insights and examples of what made Franklin and his life exceptional. Here are six lessons we can glean from his approach to life and the behaviors he practiced and promoted.

Benjamin Franklin was insatiably curious. Franklin had a wide variety of interests; his curiosity extended to include science, politics, literature, philosophy, history, and more. He did not fear appearing uninformed. In fact, what he did not know drove his enthusiasm for learning.

Lesson: We do not have to fear what we do not know or what people might think. Being willing to ask, explore, and experience can lead to energizing, motivating, and enlightening new insights.

Benjamin Franklin was deeply reflective. Benjamin Franklin began each day by reflecting on what he wanted to accomplish and ended the day with reflection on what he succeeded in accomplishing and what he needed to learn and improve. He believed that reflection is the key to remaining focused, moving forward, and becoming better.

Lesson: Life is a series of experiences. However, they only have an impact when we take time to reflect on and learn from them. Reflection can help us to avoid having repeated experiences that lead nowhere, and it encourages us to view every experience as an invitation to learn, grow, and move forward.

Benjamin Franklin reveled in discovery. He appreciated discovery when it was what he expected, but he delighted in discoveries that were not what he anticipated. In fact, Franklin treasured discoveries that dispelled assumptions and revealed new insights.

Lesson: Every day features activities and outcomes, some of which are planned and expected and others that are not. We might be reassured when what we expect happens, but the unexpected often reveals something worth exploring, appreciating, and treasuring. Our choice to revel in discovery can be an excellent source of inspiration and renewal.

Benjamin Franklin was a voracious learner. He was an avid reader and prolific writer. His reading included topics far afield from his formal career. Franklin understood that exposure to a variety of disciplines and perspectives broadened his understanding and grew his knowledge. His writing offered a means to process what he learned and sharpen his thinking.

Lesson: We can access information today through multiple means, but exposing ourselves to other perspectives, views, and knowledge is no less beneficial to our thinking and understanding. Similarly, we may not write letters and depend on formal communication as much as during Franklin’s lifetime, but the process of writing, through whatever means, can still solidify our thinking and keep our minds sharp.

Benjamin Franklin was a constant networker. He maintained a wide array of friends, colleagues, and contacts. His engagement with others spanned an expansive array of disciplines, expertise, and backgrounds. Franklin saw interactions with others as valuable sources for learning, discovering fresh ideas, and challenges to his thinking.

Lesson: The social networks we form can be excellent sources of information, insight, and encouragement. When our networks include people who think differently than we think, have experiences that are different than our experiences, and who bring insights and ask questions that challenge our thinking, they can be great resources for freshening our learning and sustaining our growth.

Benjamin Franklin sought balance in life. Despite the breadth of interests and involvements that filled his life, Franklin advocated for balance and moderation. Finding time for recreation and rest from work helped him to maintain his energy and remain mentally sharp.

Lesson: Life can seem to be filled with limitless expectations and demands. As a result, we can find ourselves spending a disproportionate amount to time and energy in one area while neglecting others. Unless we commit to setting boundaries, finding balance, and practicing discipline, exhaustion and frustration will be our frequent companions as we make our way through life.

Without question, life today can be challenging. However, there are elements and aspects of life that are universal and timeless. Benjamin Franklin lived in a difference century, but much of what he promoted and practiced still has value today. Our task is to learn the lessons we need to live the life we seek.

“By three methods we learn: first, by reflection, which is noblest; second, by imitation, which is easiest; and third by experience, which is bitterest.” —Confucius

The practice of reflection is unique in that it is applicable to any learning context and with any content or skill. It opens the door to greater insight and deeper understanding. It is equally valuable for the novice learner and most experienced leader.

Reflective thinking helps students to analyze and make sense of what they hear and experience. It can assist them to make connections to prior learning so that they can gain a deeper understanding as they sequence, organize, and catalogue what they learn. Consequently, they become more active learners and are better able to retain what they learn.

Additionally, reflection increases self-awareness, helping students to assess their strengths and areas of weaknesses. Reflection can assist students to develop and test strategies to improve their learning; as a result, they become more critical thinkers and confident learners.

Further, reflection moves new content and skills from being simply what others have provided to learning that students can own. The process of reflective thinking can help students integrate new learning with current skills and insights, making them better able to learn from experience and adapt to new challenges.

The strategies we can use to encourage and coach students to become better reflective thinkers combine several familiar activities with some that are less well known and practiced. Here are nine activities that we can tap to build our students’ reflective thinking skills and habits:

• Reflection prompts and opportunities: We can present students with questions such as, “What did I learn today that I did not know when I woke up this morning?” and “How does what I learned today connect with something I already knew?” As your students become comfortable asking themselves these questions, you can add questions that fit your particular context and students.
• Journaling and blogging: Writing by its nature is a reflective process. Intentionally organizing thoughts, sequencing events, and interpreting experiences are great ways to build understanding and clarify areas of confusion.
• Small-group discussions: Activities such as “think-pair-share” can offer opportunities for students to describe their learning and share their reflections with peers. These can also be good opportunities for students to hear and consider the reflections of others.
• Peer teaching: Peer teaching takes discussions with classmates to another level. When students teach each other what they have learned, they organize and explore their learning at a deeper and more complex level. In addition, they often receive more and better feedback on the clarity and completeness of what they share.  
• Concept mapping: Creating graphic representations of new learning can help students to explore relationships—such as hierarchies, connections, and disconnections—among elements they already know and what they have just learned.
• Creating pictures: Like concept maps, drawing pictures to represent and explain new learning gives students another way to capture their learning and reflect on its significance and implications. Picture drawing has also been shown to significantly increase students’ learning retention.
• Goal setting and tracking: When students set goals, they are better able to focus, track their progress, and reflect on areas where they are making expected growth and where they may be struggling. Goal setting is also a great way to give students greater ownership of their learning.
• Exit tickets: Well-designed exit ticket questions can encourage students to think about their learning struggles and victories. Exit tickets can nudge students to reflect on the strategies they employed, the effort they invested, and the resources they tapped to support their learning.
• Modeling: Our thinking and the processes we use to reflect can provide powerful insights for students to adopt and adapt for their own use. We are the expert learner in the room, and there is much that students can learn from us about how and why we reflect.

Obviously, reflection is a powerful tool. It holds the promise of increasing real-time learning and extending learning retention. Meanwhile, we are helping students to build a skill and habit that will give them the power to chart their own learning journey.

We spent the first weeks of the new school year establishing structures, setting up routines, creating behavior norms, and tending to other foundational processes to create stability, predictability, and efficiency for use of time and learning. Pursuing these efforts at the start of the year presents a key advantage, as success going forward is easier when we have laid the groundwork for clear expectations and consistent routines. Once structures are in place, less attention and intervention may be required to maintain focus and momentum.

However, regular attention, reflection, and adjustments can ensure that the effort invested at the beginning of the year continues to pay off. Now is a good time to assess progress and examine where things stand. Have our students settled in? Are they accepting our guidance? What steps might we take now to maintain momentum and address emerging issues and concerns? Here are eight questions to guide our reflection and inform areas that may need attention:

• Do students understand and accept classroom rules and expectations? Am I finding that students are frequently confused or surprised when reminded of expected behaviors? Do students push back on rules they are expected to follow? If so, it may be time to revisit and review these crucial elements of classroom management.
• Do I acknowledge and reinforce positive, appropriate behavior and rule-following? Students respond to our attention. Our commitment to notice and praise acceptable behavior can be an influential reminder and result in students more frequently practicing behaviors we seek from them.
• Are daily routines and procedures well understood and consistently followed? Establishing routines and procedures represents the first step in consistency and transparency. However, our commitment to consistently practice routines and follow procedures solidifies them for students and offers predictability and reassurance.
• Do I regularly reinforce student use of procedures and processes? Like rules and expectations, our noticing and praising students when they follow established routines and use the procedures they have been taught increases the likelihood that they will continue to do so in the future.
• Am I consistently noticing and connecting with all students? It is easy to fall into patterns of interaction that favor students who do well and are outgoing as well as those whose behavior requires our attention for redirection and intervention. Yet, with few exceptions, all students want to be noticed and engaged with. In fact, failure to connect with all students can result in neglected students demanding our attention in unacceptable and disruptive ways.
•  Am I listening first and controlling my emotions? When we are busy, stressed, or tired, we can fall into the trap of reacting emotionally to what students say or do before fully understanding what they intend or need. When we do, we risk confusion, conflict, and consternation that can harm our relationship and undermine our credibility. Avoiding assumptions and resisting snap judgments can make a big difference as we seek to maintain the momentum we established at the start of the year.
• Am I separating student behavior from how I see them as a person? We can easily forget that what students do is not the same as who they are. Poor decisions, emotional outbursts, and disrespectful words may need correction and intervention, but we need to avoid placing our relationship on the line in response. The fact that students need to learn better behavior is not proof that they are not worthy of our caring and respect.
• Do I give students a new start each day? Admittedly, it can be challenging to put aside what happened yesterday and offer students a new beginning today. Yet, doing so gives the student—and us—the opportunity to let go of leftover disappointment and conflict and try again. Our work is about growth and learning; holding grudges and prolonging conflict can get in the way of what we want most to accomplish with learners.

Creating a successful start to the year was and is important. However, monitoring emerging issues and maintaining momentum can help us to find the “cruising speed” we need in order to sustain the learning environment we have worked to create. Spending a few minutes—now—reflecting and deciding where to adjust can make a huge difference in how the coming months unfold.

When we consider who possesses a great deal of charisma, we might think of movie stars, popular athletes, and other celebrities. We might also identify people we know and with whom we work who seem to have more charisma than others. So, what is charisma, and how does a person get it?

To put it simply, charisma is someone’s “ability to attract another person through style, charm, or attractiveness.” In the vernacular of members of Gen Z and Gen Alpha, charisma is often referred to as “rizz.” Interestingly, the Oxford University Press Dictionary selected “rizz” as the word of the year in 2023, the same year that Merriam-Webster added “rizz” to its dictionary. However, for the purposes of this discussion, charisma will be the word we use the describe this element of human interaction.

Most people think of charisma as a natural trait, one assumed to be something people either innately have or do not have. While it is certainly true that charisma comes more naturally for some than for others, the components of charisma are learnable and growable—and practicing them can make us more likable, interesting, appealing, and influential. Just about anyone can increase their level of charisma.

To be clear, charisma is projected by our behaviors. It is communicated by what we say and do, how we position ourselves, and how we interact with others. Charisma is not a substitute for character, empathy, dependability, or expertise, but it is a “good to have” characteristic. Developing more charisma can help others see and gravitate toward the valuable qualities, expertise, and character we already possess.

So, how can we grow our charisma? Here are eight behaviors to develop, practice, and project:

• Presence. We demonstrate a strong presence when we fully engage with others and give our complete attention. We listen actively, respond expressively, and communicate our interest. Doing so can make the other person feel like the most important person in the room.
• Confidence. Confidence is becoming comfortable in our own skin. Of course, we may not always feel confident, but we can own what we know, our expertise, and our experience. Being curious can also communicate confidence. We don’t have to know everything, so showing that we want to explore and learn can be a way of projecting self-assurance.
• Purpose. People are drawn to those who know what they value and who live with clarity of purpose. Interestingly, living with purpose can animate our gestures, project substance in our emotions, and communicate authenticity by the words we choose.
• Expressiveness. Words are powerful, but the nonverbal behaviors that accompany our words can pack even more impact. In fact, when what we say and how we act are in conflict, most people will believe what they saw us do over what they heard us say. Letting supportive emotions show on our face, maintaining eye contact, speaking in a pleasant tone of voice, using our hands to support what we say, and maintaining an open and engaging body position can go a long way in demonstrating charisma.
• Emotional control. The flipside of expressiveness is exercising emotional control. Projecting rejection, succumbing to anger, defaulting to argument, and other disconnecting behaviors can quickly and severely undermine charisma. Controlling our emotions and responding in measured and appropriate ways can protect the connection we are trying to make and keep communication flowing.
• Empathy. Reading the emotions of others and responding with understanding and support can build strong connections and communicate value and respect for the other person. Among the powerful drivers of human behavior is the need to feel understood and respected. When we communicate authentic empathy, our charisma score goes up significantly.
• Language. Choosing words and phrases that connect to emotions and draw people in builds bridges. Metaphors, stories, and relatable examples conjure images, tap emotions, and invite connections. Experts advise that we should talk to people’s hearts more than to their brains; “I feel your pain” is far more powerful than “I understand your experience.”
• Mirroring. Matching the energy and reflecting the other person’s nonverbal behavior can be an efficient and effective way to build rapport and demonstrate charisma. Without going overboard and mimicking, mirroring can communicate connection and increase our likeability. In a broader context, we can observe people whom we believe have high levels of charisma and adopt behaviors and expressions that we find appealing and comfortable and feel authentic.

Without question, we can learn to be more charismatic. The skills we build and the adjustments we make can make us more likeable, trusted, interesting, and influential. However, we need to remember that charisma is a way to showcase our character, the depth of our expertise, and the relationship opportunity we offer—it is not a substitute for substance.