Start building relationships with your students by being friendly and getting to know each other. Share the rules, rewards, and consequences so they know up front how you expect them to behave. Also, establish a routine. A routine lets students know what to expect each day in class. While moving away from the routine periodically can be effective for special days, doing it often causes students to be unprepared. Get your students' parents on board by laying out your basic rules. You can also tell them about the rewards and consequences systems. That way, parents know what to expect throughout the year. It is important that you follow the classroom rules, too. For instance, show you are respectful of each student's ideas. It will let them know they can trust you. Probably the most important part of any classroom management plan is being consistent with how you implement it. That means enforcing rules even when you don't want to, as kids will come to understand that you mean what you say in the classroom. That is, when you see a child doing well, show her you notice it by saying it aloud or smiling at her. When you see a kid starting to act up, shake your head at her, frown, or making a "tsking" noise if you're not ready to give her a warning. Another way you can reinforce behavior is pointing to where you keep the rewards system, whether it is publicly displayed or not. Write up a form letter if one of your consequences is a letter home. That way, you'll have it on hand when you need it. Keep it simple and to the point.  This letter should not express anger. Rather, it should lay out what happened in the classroom in a straightforward way.  You should have blanks for the child's name, what the child did, and the date. You can leave the blanks on the computer, or print out form letters that you fill in by hand, whichever you find easiest.

Summary: Set the tone on the first day of class. Write a letter to send home about the plan. Set the example. Be consistent. Use verbal and nonverbal reinforcements. Create a form letter for consequences.


Schedule an appointment if you avoid social activities or feel that sweating has impacted your emotional well-being. You should also consult your doctor if excessive sweating develops suddenly or inexplicably, is accompanied by weight loss, or mainly happens at night.  You might have a condition called hyperhidrosis, or overactive sweat glands. Your sweating could also be related to another underlying medical condition. Your primary doctor might refer you to a dermatologist, or a skin specialist. Sweating along with difficulty breathing, chest pain, or pain in your arms, neck, or jaws could be a medical emergency. Get immediate help if you experience these symptoms. There are countless prescription medications that can cause sweating as a side effect. Ask your doctor if any medications you regularly take might be causing you to sweat. If necessary, ask if they can suggest an alternative medication with fewer side effects. Your doctor might recommend a prescription-strength antiperspirant, a drying cream, or an anticholinergic medication. Take any medication according to your doctor's instructions, and don't stop taking your medication without your doctor's approval.  Prescription antiperspirants and drying creams are typically the first step in medical treatment. Your doctor might prescribe an oral medication if these aren't effective. Oral anticholinergic medications are systemic, which means they cause a drying effect throughout your body. They can suppress your sweat glands, but they can also cause dry mouth and dry eyes. Your doctor can prescribe an at-home electric iontophoresis machine, or perform the treatment at their office. In this procedure, a mild electric current is run through water and is used to shut down your sweat glands.  A typical regimen consists of several 30-minute sessions per week. You’ll feel a tingling sensation during the procedure; tingling could persist for a few hours after treatment. Side effects are rare, but may include skin irritation, dryness, and blistering. Botox can temporarily paralyze sweat glands for 7 to 19 months per injection. It’s used in cases of severe sweating, and can be injected into the underarms, face, hands, or feet. Side effects include pain at the injection site and flu-like symptoms. When injected into the palms, Botox can cause temporary weakness and pain. These devices work on the armpits or other sweaty areas that have a layer of protective fat. A device delivers controlled electromagnetic energy, which destroys the sweat glands in the treated area. Doctors usually recommend 2 treatments spaced 3 months apart.  Destroying sweat glands in the underarms doesn’t affect the body’s ability to control its temperature. Only 2% of your sweat glands are located in your underarm areas. You won’t feel any pain or discomfort during the procedure, but you could experience redness, swelling, and tenderness for several days. You might feel numbness or tingling in the treated areas for up to 5 weeks after undergoing microwave thermolysis. If you're experiencing anxiety-triggered sweating, cognitive behavioral therapy or psychotherapy could help you find relief. A counselor or therapist can recommend relaxation techniques and teach you how to recognize and redirect triggering thought patterns. If necessary, they might also recommend medication for an anxiety or panic attack disorder. Surgery for excessive sweating is rare and only advised in extreme circumstances when all other treatment options have failed. There are 2 surgical procedures used to treat hyperhidrosis:  Local underarm surgery is performed under local anesthesia in a dermatologist's office. Your doctor will use liposuction, excision (cutting with scalpel or scraper), or lasers to remove the sweat glands. Recovery usually takes 2 days, although you'll need to limit arm activity for about a week. A sympathectomy involves removing the nerve that tells the body to sweat excessively. In a related procedure, called a sympathectomy, the nerve is cut instead of removed. These procedures can relieve excessive underarm or hand sweating, but they can also cause heat intolerance, irregular heartbeat, and compulsory sweating, or increased sweating in other parts of the body.  If your condition requires surgery, your dermatologist will help you decide which option is right for you.

Summary: Talk to your doctor if sweating interferes with your daily activities. Discuss any medications you take with your doctor. Ask your doctor if they recommend a prescription medication. Try iontophoresis for excessive sweating of the hands and feet. Talk to your doctor about Botox injections. Consider undergoing microwave thermolysis. See a counselor if anxiety triggers your sweating. Undergo surgery as a last resort.


Traveling in groups is more social, cuts down on gas, and is better for your carbon footprint (which is the sum of all greenhouse gases created and released by your activities). Using public transit, like buses and trains cuts down on the gas it takes to get somewhere and is cheaper and better for the environment than cars. It takes a lot of fuel to fly or drive long distances, and that fuel creates greenhouses gases. Donate some money to a company that offsets those emissions. When you donate to a group that tries to offset carbon emissions, they use that money to fund projects that prevent that same emission elsewhere. That could be as simple as planting a new tree, or funding projects to reduce someone else’s carbon footprint.
Summary: Carpool to holiday events. Take the bus or train whenever you can. Donate to offset your carbon footprint if you travel.