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Of course, just like with any long-term project, it can be frustrating to feel like you are getting a late start, but here's the trick: don't look backwards; just look forwards instead. My husband (a former pilot) often says, "You can't use the runway behind you" — but that's okay: you have the whole runaway of life in front of you. So just focus on that, and take off!
The idea of looking-forward-not-back is a great strategy to use in communicating with students also. Some students are prone to berating themselves for past mistakes or for other kinds of failure sin the class, and they need your help in order to refocus their gaze forward. Try to help them think about what they CAN do, instead of obsessing about whatever they might have failed to do in the past. That's a good strategy to keep that in mind when you write announcements for your class or when you send emails to individual students. Try to cast each sentence in a forward direction, emphasizing what the student can do right now in order to move ahead and build some forward momentum.
The poster is another one from the Proverb Laboratory: The best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago; the second-best time is now.
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