Lions From Lambs

There’s a rhythm to every school year. The early weeks carry their own kind of electricity with fresh notebooks, new faces, new teachers, and the excitement of a clean slate. Parents are checking backpacks, kids are showing off new shoes, and teachers are decorating classrooms like they’re setting up for a Super Bowl party.

But by mid-October, that spark starts to fade. The first grading period has wrapped up. The novelty has worn off. We’ve all found our seats, literally and figuratively. And that’s when it happens…the slump.

If you’ve been in education for any length of time, you know exactly what I’m talking about. That lull that settles over classrooms and hallways after the first big wave of energy has passed. Students who came out swinging in August begin to cruise. Teachers start glancing at the calendar more often. Parents who were overwhelmed by the rush of fall schedules, start easing off the gas. The entire ecosystem of a school begins to slow down. Not in a restful way, but in a way that quietly chips away at momentum.

Make no mistake – momentum matters more than motivation.

This is the most dangerous time of the year for students. Not because of any one test, project, or subject, but because of what the mind starts to believe during the lull. Kids begin to coast. The “good enough” mentality creeps in. Assignments are turned in late, grades dip slightly, and nobody panics because, ya know, it’s still early!

But the harsh truth is that how they perform now will determine how much ground they’ll need to make up later. A small slump in October becomes a mountain to climb in December. A few missed homework assignments become a pattern. A dip in focus becomes a new normal. And before long, the student who began the year proud of their straight A’s is now staring at a C wondering what happened.

Momentum doesn’t just affect grades, it affects identity. When kids feel like they’re slipping,” they start to see themselves as someone who’s behind. And that identity shift is far more dangerous than a low test score.

The good news in all this is that slumps are predictable. Which also means they’re preventable. This is the time to recalibrate expectations and reignite focus, both for the adults guiding kids and for the students themselves.

For teachers, that might mean shifting gears slightly. Run short, high-energy review sessions instead of long lectures. Celebrate small wins again, the way we did in August. Revisit classroom goals. Post them and talk about them. Make them visible throughout the day. Reconnect with why you’re even here. Why are you a teacher? Recharge your energy for your profession. When you show passion, students mirror it.

For parents, it’s about getting back in the game. Communication is always at the forefront. Have conversations with your child. Ask them what they’re learning, not simply what grades they got. Set up a consistent study space at home again if it’s recently become a storage area gathering dust. Offer encouragement, not interrogation. Remind your kids that their effort now is what sets them up for success in December.

When a child sees both home and school re-engage at the same time, it reignites the seriousness of the mission. Kids don’t stay focused because they’re afraid of consequences; they stay focused when they feel surrounded by purpose.

The school year is a marathon – not a race.  We are all the runners making our way through, and now we are approaching the midpoint of the course. The crowd’s energy at the start line has faded. The finish line is still miles away. The body’s tired, the mind’s wandering, and the only thing keeping us runners moving is discipline. That’s where we are in the school year, mile six of a marathon.

It’s discipline, not excitement, that carries winners through the middle miles.

If students can stay steady through this stretch, through the noise of fall sports, Halloween, Thanksgiving anticipation, and the holiday distractions already creeping in, they’ll be untouchable by spring. They’ll return from winter break sharper, more confident, and ready to dominate the second half of the year.

But if they let go now, even for a few weeks, they’ll have to spend January rebuilding instead of advancing. That’s why this stretch right now is where success is forged.

Every teacher laughs about it because it’s true. We all come back from winter break a little disoriented. I will sit at my desk on that first morning of the Spring semester and ask myself: what exactly do I do, again? Two weeks away feels like two months. Kids will arrive having forgotten their passwords. It’s like rebooting an entire system.

But when a class, or a student, finished strong before the break, the reset doesn’t sting as much. They pick up where they left off. Their mental gears start turning again faster. They’re not clawing their way back from sluggishness.  They’re resuming momentum that they built months earlier. That’s why I always tell my students:

“Finish the first half of the year strong, so you can hit the second half like a sledgehammer.”

Excellence isn’t built in August when everyone’s excited. It’s built in October and November when nobody’s watching, when the excitement is gone, and when effort feels like a choice instead of a habit. That’s how you build a winning year, not with bursts of brilliance, but with steady, disciplined momentum.

This is the season of quiet excellence. Of putting in the reps when everyone else is coasting. Of doing your best work without the fireworks and applause. And it’s the lesson our kids need most. Greatness isn’t about moods or motivation. It’s about diligence. The daily discipline of showing up, staying focused, and pushing through the slump is what separates the elite from everybody else..

So whether you’re a parent, a teacher, or a student reading this, please hear me clearly: lock in now. This is the stretch that separates the good from the great. When January comes, and everyone’s trying to find their rhythm again, those who stayed disciplined through the fall won’t be searching. They’ll be leading.

Be vigilant. Be deliberate. Finish strong.

Raise Lions, Not Lambs.