The end of the academic year is a busy, busy, busy time of year. Commencement, grading, fatigue, summer plans, submitting finals grades,... so much going on.
My recommendation is to stop for 30 minutes. Get a cup of tea or coffee. Grab a sheet of paper and a pen, and write about your year in teaching. Write down what your teaching successes were and what you want to improve on the year. The hard won knowledge and experience from the academic year, from all the grading, and class time can slip away with time. But if you just spend a few minutes to write your thoughts, it makes it much easier to recall what happened. This makes it much more likely that you will see big gains the next time.
As they say luck is when preparation meets opportunity. In teaching, part of preparation is having a framework that effectively guides the next round of preparation.
Take notes, then take a break.
Congrats to all new graduates this month and next!
