Sunday Night Fever
Every conscientious teacher overthinks and makes those last feverish efforts Sunday night to make everything perfect on Monday. I did until I realized students would be in weekend recovery on Monday!
Rookie teachers often forget what real students are like back in the classroom. Most rookies straighten their posture and walk into the first day of class expecting a warm welcome fit for a ⭐️ teacher. Here’s a clue from seasoned teachers: get real fast!
Seriously, veteran teachers are actors par excellence. They size up the situation, look at those sleepy faces and wake them up with little ploys in their kitbag. No bells or sirens are needed.
Somehow the students feel guilty or sorry if the teacher looks oh so disappointed and begin to give eye contact. Bodies shake off their sleep like stretching weary dogs.
The rookie gets scared, but the veteran teacher begins the assignment most popular for Mondays. Writing assignments which force engagement of more than one body part.
The teacher prowls up and down the rows looking over shoulders, and some needier students ask for help or for approval. Monday is off to the races, and students look alive for another day. Test!
So so true!!
Diane, you have no idea how I wish I had this advice when I was instructing my law enforcement and firefighting academy classes! Talk about sleepyheads! Those folks, most of them, had already worked a shift before they came to class! So they were in their second 8 for the day, and had to get back to shifty that night at 11pm!
I had a classroom full of sleepyheads for sure.