Third time's the charm?

The day before my first semester of teaching, I was incredibly nervous. I'd never taught a real class before, and it had been more than ten years since the last time I took an economics class. The material was unfamiliar, the job was brand new, and I was unsure whether I'd actually be any good at the whole teaching thing. But I ended up with an excellent group of students, and that first semester, while a stressful learning experience, was confirmation that I really could do this job.

The day before my second semester of teaching, I was optimistically excited. I felt comfortable with the material, I'd figured out the lecture style that seemed to work for this course, and I was looking forward to making the course my own. While I did enjoy being able to rework things to help the students focus more on the core material of the course, that second semester ended up being stressful for a whole new set of reasons, mostly related to student dishonesty and immaturity.

Today, which is the day before my third semester of teaching, I'm just hoping things go smoothly. I know I can give the lectures well, and I have a decent grasp of how to determine which concepts this particular group of students might struggle with, but I don't want a repeat of the dramatics of last semester. I also have a larger class than any of my previous sections, so I'll have to work a bit harder to give everyone opportunities to actively participate, and I'll have to streamline assignment grading if I don't want to be swamped. It's all doable, I'm sure, but I just want it to be a decent semester, with students who remember that they're on their way to becoming adults and act accordingly. Here's hoping.