For every teacher I know, the end of summer vacation means rising nervous energy, anxiety and excitement. It means getting ready to begin a new experience, with new students and sometimes a new curriculum.

To start the school year, or anything new, it is obvious that we must make plans. We need to determine where we want to go,andwhat we want to accomplish, in order to fulfill those objectives. But we often ignore the emotional side of getting ourselves ready. We need to use mindfulness and compassion, both for ourselves and our students.