An affix is a part of an additional element you can add to the beginning (prefix) or end (suffix) of a root word to change its meaning.

One of the most common prefixes is “un” which means not. Add it to roots to create opposites; happy becomes unhappy; usual becomes unusual. The most common suffix is -s which makes a singular word plural. But other common suffixes include -less, -ment, and -tion.

Affixes are like habits.

Some affixes, like habits, are a step in the positive direction, while others not so much. Add super- to human, and you get superhuman. Add -ful to wonder to get wonderful. But add -mis to spell and you get misspell; attach -less to home to get homeless.

Like many people, I set off each new year wanting to instill some new positive habits in my life. To embrace the new year, I set out to exercise every morning before work, add more vegetables to my diet, and drink at least eight glasses of water each day. The exercise bit lasted a whopping three days. I still don’t eat as many vegetables as I probably should, but I am getting better about it. And after purchasing a new water filter, I am pretty close to hitting those eight glasses.

Don’t aim for perfection. Aim for progress.

In my suffix reading resource practicing the -able, -less, and -ment suffixes, the included reading passage centers on an adolescent kid who finds out their mom is having a new baby. This throws this teen into a tizzy anticipating an end to a careless adolescent existence. The theme of the story is to not prejudge something as being bad just because it equates to change. Essentially put the pessimism aside. In fact, the new baby turned this insolent teen into a pile of love.

Engaging in our negative repetitive thoughts is likely our most insidious habit of all.

As a teacher, you may often feel that you’re not up to the task of providing your students with the kinds of tools to help them on their educational journey. Understandably, with the demands of teaching seeming to grow more by the year, anxious or negative thoughts can appear to be an ever-present companion.

When these thoughts become hard to bear, I suggest you remind yourself of the following: research shows the most effective traits of successful teachers have to do with the relationships they build with their students, not the content they provide to them.

As a teacher, it’s about what you are — compassionate, relatable, and patient.

In what ways are we jumping to conclusions, anticipating the worst, or closing our hearts prematurely? Up to 80% of what we worry about never comes to fruition.

Take a moment and reflect back on a time or two in your own life when you jumped to conclusions or worried unnecessarily, and in the end, everything was fine?

And amidst those anxious thoughts, compassionately remind yourself that if all you did today was be a kind and present adult in your students’ lives, that, my friend, was enough.