How To Be An A+ Teacher

(NOTE: Meant to be read like step-by-step instructions)

HOW TO BE AN A+ TEACHER

1. Believe in your students. 
2. Set the bar high and show them how to pole-vault.
3. If they can't clear the bar, reevaluate your coaching. 
4. When you're stressed, go ahead and litter the bathroom floor with bloody clumps of hair. 
5. Pick the clumps up and throw them in the trash. 
6. Learn from the experience and look forward to tomorrow with a smile.
7. Come to school each day armed with a plan. 
8. But be ready to throw your thick planning binder out the second story window.
9. Trust me, it'll survive the grass stains.
10. Pick it up, dust it off, and revise as needed. 
11. Care more than is safe for your emotional stability.  The FDA doesn't regulate a raw, bleeding heart. 
12. Take your wounded heart home. 
13. Nurse it, letting it lie on your shoulder. 
14. Pour memories on it; this salt will help the healing process. 
15. Don't be afraid to care again, even if it reopens the wound. 
16. Whatever you do, don't always "go by the book."
17. Remember that it was written by stuffy, bespectacled intellectuals who never set a loafer-clad foot in a classroom. 
18. Ignore these ignorant intellectuals. 
19. Instead, do what your instinct whispers is right.