7) Be Sure to have a Major Writing Assignment Graded before Mid-Term
This advice came to me amidst dozens of other things my first department chair told me in the fog of my first year of teaching. I didn’t listen, and I paid in sweat and tears. Now I get it, and I blather on to others. It’s such unsexy advice—I’d much rather be advised on how to teach a fantastic poetry unit—but it’s utilitarian and oh so true.