Experience

I'm surrounded by more experienced teachers, including my wife. I marvel at their experience and their ability to use it with something new. The other day, I was stalled on one of my classes. Stalled, hell, I was completely without any idea of where to go next or what to do when we got there. I told a colleague. This is a subject she doesn't like and hasn't taught in over 10 years, yet she was able to pull a 3-day project out of thin air. My wife says it's just experience, that it takes at least 4 years.

Of course, like all schools we have a group of burn-outs who are just holding out for retirement. Fortunately, most of them are on their last year. I won't be here 30 years, or even 20, so I shouldn't hit that point.