I decided to celebrate the imminent end of my first semester back in full-time teaching and the end of my first year trying to provide teaching insights on this blog by I identifying five lasting lessons. I suspect these lessons are idiosyncratic and reflect my own journey as a teacher, but I am sharing them anyway in the hope one of these lessons resonates.

Teaching Remains a Singular Joy. I cannot thank my students enough for the opportunity to teach them. As scholars, we all try to make a difference, to have impact on the development of the law, legal theory, and, ultimately, justice. I am grateful for the opportunity I have to think and write. I also have loved the opportunity to work with my colleagues to make the law school better. But my most memorable moments over the past three months have all involved interactions with students, especially those moments when something I have said has helped, supported, succeeded in teaching, or even inspired my students (yes, I do dream this might happen sometimes).

Mistakes and Non-Successes in Teaching (at Least for Me) Are Inevitable. I have been surprised and dismayed by the moments in the classroom where I have found typos and other errors in my syllabus, in my slides, and in my books. I have been frustrated when I could not find a way to reframe a concept in an additional way that might help more of my students understand and apply it. I have been saddened when I have discovered that a student did not feel comfortable sharing with me that they were struggling in my class.

Today’s Students Will Forgive a Lot If You Are Humble and Readily Acknowledge Errors. Students do not expect us to be perfect, and they understand that humans are flawed and make mistakes. In fact, if we catch our own errors and apologize for them, almost all students will not change their opinions of us. In fact, even if we have to be told that we have made a mistake, most students will forgive our error if we acknowledge it, take ownership for it, correct it, and, if appropriate, apologize.

I Cannot Be Transparent Enough with My Students. Every time I think I am over-explaining why I am doing what I am doing (which I try to do– especially if I am doing something my students have not experienced in another class), I discover, based on feedback from a student, that I could have explained my rationale even more. That fact requires me to have a well-developed theory of mind regarding my students. (Theory of mind refers to “Theory of mind” the ability to imagine another person’s understandings, beliefs, knowledge and emotions and how those states can differ from your own set of understandings, beliefs, knowledge and emotions.)

One of the Greatest Challenges in Teaching is Hold Our Students to High Expectations but with Kindness and Communicate Belief in Them While Being Honest About Areas for Improvement. The first year of law school for many students is a shock; prior to law school, they only knew academic success, and their success did not require them to push themselves very hard. If we are doing our jobs right, we are pushing our students to reach and grow a lot. At the same time, we know that self-efficacy and cognitive hope require students to believe that they can succeed and see a pathway to succeeding so an endless stream of challenge and honesty can leave students feeling lost and incapable. And every student is different in terms of their resiliency in the face of critique. I at least aspire to discerning what each student needs on an individual level, but I have no way of knowing whether my efforts to understanding each student succeed. But I believe that being consciously reflective about balancing act between high expectations and kindness and between belief and honesty is worth the effort. It is on my mind every time I am teaching or meeting with a student in my office. Have a found the optimal balance? Not yet. But I keep trying.