1. Decrease dramatically the amount of time between a student giving me a piece of writing to look at, and when I give it back, looked at.

2. Keep the sarcasm to a minimum. It’s not funny, it’s cheap. Nobody’s growing from it.

3. Read more and better books. Resist the allure of legal thrillers, at least most of the time. A three-to-one ratio of good book to trashy book sounds about right.

4. Seek out new stories, essays and poems to bring to class to use as models. Mix it up. Be wary of old reliables becoming stale reliables.

5. Listen better. What a student’s trying to do with his/her writing isn’t necessarily what I’m trying to do with mine. Resist the urge to turn students into writing disciples. Try to help them find their own way.

6. Sharpen what I’m trying to say whenever I talk. Seek concision, not verbosity. Every minute I spend fumbling, searching for my point, is a minute no longer available for students to write in class.

7. Recognize whenever something that’s bothering me outside the classroom is creeping inside and affecting how I interact with students. Check myself.

8. Recognize whenever something that’s bothering me inside the classroom is creeping outside and affecting how I interact with my family. Check myself.

9. Be patient. Sometimes dead air means ideas are percolating. Resist the urge to fill every empty space with my own commentary.

10. Clean out my book-bag once a week. Stuffing junk in there and letting it fester is how important materials get lost.

11. Try to sleep more. Tired Jeff is impatient, sarcastic Jeff.

12. Recognize both the importance and privilege of what I’m doing. I wouldn’t want any other job and I should act like that. Students should know I love what I’m doing without my telling them. Nonetheless, it doesn’t hurt to tell them. Concisely.

13. Bring it. Every hour. Every day.

Jeff Kass teaches Creative Writing at Pioneer High School in Ann Arbor and at Eastern Michigan University in Ypsilanti, and directs the Literary Arts Programs at the Neutral Zone, including the VOLUME Youth Poetry Project, which meets every Thursday night at 7pm. He will post new blog entries every Tuesday and Thursday morning throughout the school year.