When students come back from break, it can be difficult to get them refocused after the excitement of the holidays. For this reason, I treat January as a new beginning.

I hit up the party supply store immediately after New Year's Eve to find party hats on sale (often 50 percent off). When my students come back to school in January, they each find a party hat on their desk. My students and I reflect on and celebrate what we have accomplished so far in the school year, and then we make plans for the rest of our year together.

Part of our plan includes the students making resolutions. I start my lesson by asking students, “What is a resolution?” They soon learn that a resolution is a promise that you make to yourself.

I then read aloud some of the resolutions made by my students in previous years. This gives my current students some specific ideas about making resolutions. I follow this up with a discussion about how there are different kinds of resolutions.