I’m a planner. I like to plan my work and work my plan. I’m not very good at being spontaneous. In my first year of teaching, I was in the process of planning out my curriculum for the year and writing out each day’s lesson plans when a fellow teacher told me I was wasting my time. After the first snow day, that schedule would change. (I live in Canada. Before classes went online in 2020, snow days were a guaranteed thing.) He was right of course. I would soon learn that there are many things that can disrupt a teacher’s plans. And although it’s good to know where you’re going, you should be prepared for a detour or two. This is pretty much true for everything in life.
Now, here we are on the eve of a new year. I am seeing so many posts about planning for 2023. Plan out your year’s strategy, content, sales goals…. I’m the kind of person who likes to do that sort of thing, but I know many people who don’t. I just want to tell you that if you don’t plan out all the things for the whole year before midnight tonight, you will have another chance tomorrow or next week. The change of a calendar makes us reflect on the past and consider the future, but we can do that on January 15 or March 3 too. (You can make resolutions anytime too.) If you do plan out everything for the year, be sure to build in some flexibility and give yourself some grace. It’s good to have goals, but it’s also important to be kind to yourself if you don’t meet them. If we’ve learned anything from the last three years, it’s that anything can happen.
I do hope that 2023 will be kinder to us, and I look forward to sharing more language laughs and lessons with you. Thank you for being here this year and for taking the time to like and comment on my posts. I appreciate knowing when they have helped you or made you smile. I wish you all the very best. Happy New Year!