“The unexamined life is not worth living.”

                                               —Socrates

As the school year draws to a close, it’s the perfect moment for teachers to reflect on the experiences and outcomes of the past months. It’s time to acknowledge both successes and challenges, laying the groundwork for a more effective and fulfilling school year ahead. Reflection is a crucial component to professional growth in any career, and the best time to practice reflection is now—before summer brain starts to develop.

Here are some techniques for staying current and effective.

1. Ask yourself if there’s a subject area where you’re starting to coast.

One veteran teacher recommends not teaching a course the same way for more than five years. You know that lovely note-filled teacher textbook that you rely on? While that teaching resource is proof of your expert, specialized knowledge in the field, maybe you’re getting too comfortable—meaning it’s time to do more research so that your lessons take on a new energy and stay current. What’s newly interesting to you will likely be more engaging for your students. Because good scholarship and good teaching means not coasting in a subject, maybe it’s time to request a clean teacher textbook and start the specialization process over again.

2. Review your classroom management and the past year’s dynamic.

Did you uphold the school’s code of conduct and maintain a safe and efficient classroom? Are there any areas of classroom discipline that you need to research and improve for the next school year? In August, you’ll be in the perfect place for a reset—but planning the details of the reset will happen best now, when you clearly remember the nature of the problem.

3. Ponder integrating the biblical worldview into your classroom more this coming year.

Have you ever read a story where the last two lines are a moral hitting you like a sledgehammer? “And that was the day Peter learned that lying is never a good option. So, boys and girls, don’t be like Peter and tell a falsehood.” The biblical worldview is not a blunt-force moral reserved for the end of every lesson. Students should perceive it as a natural flow of the lesson—in medias res, in the midst of things. The artform that you develop for including biblical principles will be highly personal and an effective means for passing on your faith to the next generation. After all, your students are your disciples!

4.  Ask yourself how you can maintain your greatest teacher strength.

When a strength is taken too far, it can become an associated weakness. Or you can start to get too comfortable in your strength and lose your edge in that area. For example, if you’re a very merciful person, you could become too relaxed when dealing with discipline situations. You could take for granted that you’ll act justly in a situation because you have in the past—but end up making a new mistake because you weren’t on guard for your own bias. Mindfully steward your strengths for their longevity.

5. Plan one new way to invest in your colleagues.

Can you think of a way to participate more actively in your school’s team building? Maybe it’s mentoring and encouraging a first-year teacher or sharing your presentations and review materials with others. Perhaps you could develop a new skill over the summer (like a better working knowledge of AI as it relates to your school policy) and share your findings with your administrator. (You could be asked to do an in-service session on your new skill.)

6. Pick one new area for concentrated growth this coming year.

If your administrator offers yearly evaluations for faculty, you may already know a specific area to target for improvement. If you need some help in generating an area, however, asking your administrator is a healthy place to start and will be a testament to your growth mindset. The more tangible your goal the better since it’s hard to create goalposts for general attributes.

7. Begin praying for your new students.

Praying for your future students during the summer establishes the spiritual foundation for the school year. Summertime, with its abrupt change in pace and structure, can be a spiritually difficult time for some young people, particularly those with unsaved friends and family. Pray for their walk with God and their safety, asking for nothing to hinder their return to Christian education in the fall.

May the summer be a time of renewal for you. May God guide you, giving you wisdom and strength for the year ahead as you prepare for the challenges and responsibilities of teaching.