'10 things...I want to do next year'

It gives me great pleasure to welcome my first guest poster onto this blog! Launched just two weeks ago, the new '10 things...' feature prompted my first comments in a while and a wee flurry of interest by other bloggers up for a go at it. I'm delighted to hand a platform over to Eva Büyüksimkeşyan for this post.

Eva lives in Istanbul and has been teaching English for more than 20 years. She says that she loves her job because it is challenging, it enhances creativity, it enables her to stay young and it helps her to become a life-long learner (can certainly agreed with each of those points regarding teaching!). We met at the Blogging Forum at this year's IATEFL, so she makes a very appropriate contributor for a guest post. Eva blogs here and tweets here.

So without further ado, over to you Eva.

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Some people love making lists. They have lists everywhere on their notice boards, in their agendas, on refrigerators, etc. I’m also in favour of lists for many reasons. When I make lists,

1. I feel I’m more organised.
2. I will be less stressed.
3. I know that I won’t put off the things I have to do.

Teaching is a very challenging job and we need to be organised and well-planned to achieve our goals.

I decided to write a 10 things ... list that we can prepare before the new term next year to help us be more organised.

Here is my list:

Before you enter your new class next year, make your first-aid lists. Create a folder for them.

1. Create a ‘10 things I want to do before the end of this academic year’ and highlight your aims.
2. Create your initial list of strategies to deal with difficulties and classroom management. Leave space to add more strategies as you experience your new class.
3. List the things you do to improve yourself. Have a list of people or groups whom you can rely on when you need help. A PLN list on twitter or FB is ideal for this purpose.
4. List your favourite tools and leave space to add more to your initial list.
5. List your-must-be-visited-as-frequently-as-possible list of websites.
6. Organise your files and bookshelves and have an easy way to reach whatever you want when you need.
7. List favourite games and activities and have it somewhere you see every day so that you can use them frequently.
8. Decide how you will praise and motivate your students and list a few statements you can use to encourage good work. (not the usual clichés)
9. Create a list of ‘10 things I should never do and say in my class’.
10. Make a list of ‘my strengths and my weaknesses’ and find ways to change things for better. 

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That's a highly useful list of lists, I think. Quite a few things I've never really thought of. If I even managed half of those, I'd be a far better organised teacher! I'm currently going through number 6. at the moment - being the end of two different courses, one long, one short - and it's making quite a difference to how prepared I feel for my next classes.

Over to you now readers. For the teachers among you, how do you prepare for a new term? For non-teachers, does this list translate across to your profession?