Building healthy New Year habits with your students

Amy Malloy
Amy Malloy
Students sat outside on grass studying and smiling
Reading time: 3 minutes

Balancing mindfulness and planning ahead

Here we find ourselves already in a new year. I wonder if, like me, many of you might be wondering how that has happened. January is a time of year traditionally associated with analyzing the past and making resolutions for the future.

In the classroom this might also involve looking forward to assessments and exams at the end of the school year. Maybe you’ve made New Year’s resolutions that have already fallen by the wayside. 

The focus of this blog is learning how to stay in the present moment. So let's take a practical look at how to manage this time of year with your students and with ourselves as teachers (and humans), while also effectively planning ahead for the future.

Building healthy New Year habits with your students
Play
Privacy and cookies

By watching, you agree Pearson can share your viewership data for marketing and analytics for one year, revocable by deleting your cookies.

1. Mindfulness of daily habits

Mindfulness can be a broader concept than just focusing on the breath. We can also extend awareness to our daily habits and look at what is making us feel good and what is draining us. This helps us ensure our daily routine is actively supporting our mental health. 

Here’s what you can do to help your students be more mindful of their daily habits.

  1. Invite your students to make two lists: one list of everything they do every day and another list of things that make them feel happy or relaxed. This can be a nice activity to try in English if you’d like to work on daily routine vocabulary and likes/dislikes. 
  2. Ask them to see how many of the activities they named in their happy lists are also on their everyday lists. 
  3. Then ask them to see if they can find a time in their schedules to include one of their happy list activities on a regular basis. For example, they could add listening to their favourite song on their way to school to their everyday list. 

This activity encourages children to be more understanding of what makes them feel happy or less happy on a daily basis. In this way, we gently teach them to be more aware of their emotions and how to take an active role in supporting their own mental health and self-care. Ultimately, we teach them that the choices we make day-to-day are as important as a resolution for the rest of the year.

As they learn more mindfulness activities in school, these might even start to appear on their everyday lists too. This will protect their minds against everyday stress and assessment pressure.

2. Planting an intention seed

New Year’s resolutions seem to play a large role in society, and it is interesting to notice how guilty we feel if we don’t stick to them. 

We traditionally make resolutions at the start of a new year, but this is completely arbitrary - and it hasn’t always been this way. In fact, the concept of setting an intention for the new year dates back to at least 4000BC. Back then, these resolutions were traditionally made in March, at the start of the farming season. But when Julius Caesar made the Roman calendar, he decided that each year would begin in January. 

The Romans felt it was more appropriate because the Roman god Janus represented new beginnings, endings, gateways and transitions. It’s strange to think this ancient decision now affects how we run and organize our lives and our personal energy all over the world. 

January is actually a time when nature is still in hibernation, with trees bare and seeds still under the ground (in the Northern Hemisphere, at least). This can make it feel difficult to commit to fresh starts and, for some, feel overwhelming to look ahead.

So instead of resolutions, try inviting your students to simply set an intention of what they’d like to feel or achieve over the course of the year. And rather than pushing for it or expecting it to happen straight away, invite them to treat it like a seed in a pot of soil which they are watering each day with one little step at a time. 

This might be a little bit of revision for a test every day, for example, or tidying their room once a week so it feels nice to play and do homework in. 

3. Mindful walking

A lovely way to get your students to connect with nature’s calendar is to take them outside for a mindfulness walk. You could link it in with a class plan to introduce nature or town vocabulary, or organize it during lunch or break time for multiple classes together.

  1. Take students outside*. Invite them to stand quietly looking at the ground. 
  2. Invite them to notice the contact of their feet with the ground. Tell them to start walking slowly, noticing the movement of each foot as it leaves and then meets the ground again. 
  3. Once they are in a gentle walking rhythm, invite them to start looking around them, noticing the world around them. They should keep a gentle focus on the rhythm of their feet moving along the floor. 
  4. Once back in the classroom, invite them to spend five minutes writing down or talking about what they noticed on their walk (in English)

*If outside simply isn’t an option for your school, you can try a mindful walk through the corridors.

This can be a really pleasant way to encourage students (and yourself) to notice what is going on around them in nature and to step outside of the timetable set for them as part of the school system. It helps their focus and perspective, reducing stress and reminding them how far they have progressed.

Staying present and planning ahead

I often have mindfulness students asking me how they can stay present while also effectively planning ahead. Hopefully, these three simple ideas demonstrate how we can actively use our focus on the present moment to improve and pace our future planning for exams and deadlines. 

By trusting in the process of calmly planting little seeds of intention and taking little steps to grow them, we can achieve just as much, if not more, than thinking six months into the future and panicking that we haven’t yet achieved what we want to have done by then. Good luck.

Read our post 'tips for student wellbeing at back to school time'.

Explore our English courses

More blogs from Pearson

  • Students working outside at a wooden bench looking over papers
    Re-engaging learners after the mid-term slump
    By Charlotte Guest
    Reading time: 7 minutes

    Midway through a language course, many teachers observe a common shift: students who were eager to participate at the start become less active and find it harder to initiate speaking activities.

    This phase, known as the mid-term slump, is a typical part of the learning process. As the novelty wears off, workloads increase and students may struggle to see their progress. However, effective teaching strategies can quickly boost motivation again; by modifying classroom activities, reconnecting with students’ motivations and realigning goals, teachers can help students regain their interest in language learning. Here are practical methods for language educators to re-engage students after any mid-semester decline.

    How do you recognize the mid-term slump in language learning?

    Look out for these common signs of the mid-term slump:

    • Reduced participation in speaking activities
    • Lower homework completion rates
    • Less willingness to take risks when speaking
    • A noticeable drop in classroom energy

    Recognizing these signs early allows teachers to introduce new strategies that help students regain focus and motivation.

    Why do students lose interest mid-term?

    Students often experience falls in motivation, enthusiasm and engagement halfway through a course as the initial excitement of learning something new fades, especially if progress feels slow. Although they may be steadily improving, students can easily get frustrated when they cannot yet communicate fluently. Any combination of the following factors can cause or exacerbate a mid-term slump, and understanding them helps teachers respond effectively.

    1. The novelty effect wears off

    At the start of a course, everything feels new and exciting. By mid-semester, routines are established and lessons can begin to feel repetitive.

    2. Cognitive fatigue

    Language learning requires sustained mental effort. After weeks of learning new vocabulary, grammar and pronunciation, students may feel mentally tired.

    3. Unclear progress

    Many students struggle to recognize how much they have improved. If learners cannot see their progress, they may believe they are not advancing.

    4. Competing priorities

    Mid-semester often coincides with exams or assignments in other subjects, which can shift students’ attention away from language study. Acknowledging these challenges helps teachers design strategies that address motivation directly.

    Strategies for keeping students interested in language learning

    Small changes to classroom routines can make a big difference in engagement. The strategies below are especially effective during the second half of a course.

    1. Reset learning goals with students

    Mid-semester is an ideal time to revisit learning objectives. Ask students what they hope to achieve before the course ends.

    For example, learners might aim to:

    • Hold a five-minute conversation
    • Master a set number of vocabulary words
    • Improve pronunciation confidence

    Clear, short-term goals help restore motivation and give students something concrete to work toward.

    2. Introduce gamified review activities

    Games bring energy back into the classroom while reinforcing key concepts.

    Examples include:

    • Vocabulary competitions
    • Quiz-based team challenges
    • Role-playing scenarios
    • Language trivia games

    Gamified activities provide a review without feeling repetitive, which helps combat routine fatigue.

    3. Rotate collaborative learning formats

    Changing how students interact can refresh classroom dynamics.

    Consider introducing:

    • Pair interviews
    • Small group debates
    • Rotating conversation partners
    • Problem-solving tasks in the target language

    These formats encourage social learning, which increases participation and confidence.

    4. Connect lessons to real-world language use

    Students stay motivated when they see how language skills apply outside the classroom.

    Try activities such as:

    • Analyzing song lyrics or film clips
    • Planning a fictional trip abroad
    • Ordering food through role-play scenarios
    • Discussing current events

    Real-world contexts make language learning more meaningful and memorable

    5. Revisit student learning preferences

    Different students engage with language in different ways. A mid-semester check-in can help teachers adapt lessons.

    Ask learners questions like:

    • What classroom activities help you remember vocabulary best?
    • When do you feel most confident speaking?
    • What topics would you like to discuss in class?

    This feedback allows teachers to adjust instruction and create more engaging lessons.

    6. Celebrate small progress milestones

    Students often underestimate their improvement.

    Highlighting progress can boost confidence and motivation. Teachers might:

    • Recognize vocabulary milestones
    • Celebrate improved pronunciation
    • Showcase successful conversations
    • Track weekly progress charts

    Acknowledging growth reminds students that their effort is paying off.

    Brain-based strategies that boost engagement

    Research on learning and cognition shows that certain teaching techniques improve motivation and retention.

    Novelty: Introducing new formats, topics or activities stimulates attention and curiosity.

    Social learning: Students learn more effectively when interacting with peers through discussion and collaboration.

    Movement: Short physical activities or role-playing exercises can re-energize learners and improve focus.

    Spaced practice: Reviewing material regularly in smaller sessions helps students retain vocabulary and grammar more effectively.

    Applying these principles can help sustain engagement throughout the semester.

    Questions teachers can ask to re-engage learners

    Mid-term feedback helps teachers understand what students need to stay motivated.

    Consider asking students:

    • Which classroom activities help you learn the most?
    • What part of language learning feels most challenging right now?
    • What topics would you enjoy discussing in class?
    • What skills would you like to improve before the course ends?
    • What type of practice helps you remember vocabulary best?

    These conversations strengthen teacher-student relationships and ensure lessons meet learners’ needs.

    How SMART goals help restore momentum

    One effective way to overcome the mid-term slump is to set SMART goals, objectives that are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound.

    For example:

  • A teacher looking at a laptop with two female students
    Why learn and love grammar in the digital age?
    By Jennifer Recio Lebedev
    Reading time: 5 minutes

    Back in 2023, I gave my first piano recital. Despite having played since childhood, I had limited performance experience. A string of negative self-talk held me back in the past:

    •  I’m bad at performing.
    • I can’t play for other people.

    But then I did it. I sat down at the baby grand, alone on the stage with my teacher in the wings, watching. My performance was not perfect, but I got through it…and my music was met with applause and positive comments afterwards. I have continued to perform each year and although I still get nervous, I know I am improving. The difference is that I am talking and thinking differently about myself and my music. This allows me to perform better.

    Does this make you wonder how much more some English language students could achieve if they let go of their anxiety, dislike and other limiting beliefs about studying and using grammar?

  • A teachr pointing at a workbook on a table inbetween two students
    Common mistakes teachers make and how to avoid them
    By Charlotte Guest
    Reading time: 5 minutes

    Teaching is a profession built on reflection. Even the most experienced educators occasionally look back at a lesson and think, “I could have done that better.” The truth is that mistakes are not a sign of failure; they are a powerful source of professional growth.

    There are many common mistakes teachers make. When newer language teachers recognize them early on, it can prevent ineffective habits from becoming routine. Whereas when experienced educators revisit these common mistakes, it can reveal subtle patterns that affect student engagement and learning. See if you recognize any of these common mistakes – and then learn techniques and strategies to avoid them.

    Why recognizing teaching mistakes accelerates professional growth

    The best teachers treat mistakes as diagnostic tools. Instead of asking “Did this lesson work?” they ask more useful questions:

    • What evidence shows that students understood the concept?
    • Who participated and who stayed silent?
    • Which activities generated genuine communication?

    This reflective approach is the foundation of professional development for teachers. When teachers regularly evaluate their methods, they move from simply delivering lessons to practicing responsive teaching, adapting instruction based on student needs in real time.

    In other words, the goal isn’t perfection. It’s continuous improvement.