Monday’s the Hardest day of the Week!?!?

Monday…Monday…Monday…sleep all about it….

Teacher:  I mean no, wake up. Get ready. Get to work and teach those young minds. Yaaaay!!! Sleep 5 more minutes!

 

Student:  I mean no, wake up. Get ready. Get to school and learn.  Yuuuuppppppiiiiiieeeee!!!  Snore! 5 more minutes mom…… Just. 5. more. minutes.

 

 

Why are Mondays the hardest day of the week?  This is not the case for only the educator, but also for the students.  It is even more difficult for the educator to get students motivated on a Monday than any other day of the week.  There are various circumstances to this.  One can be that a student was visiting his/her father on the weekend and he/she is back with their mom, and will not get to see their father until the following weekend. Another can be that a student was watching a movie past their bedtime on a Sunday night.  It can be the transition of having two days off and then starting the school routine again.  There are so many factors that play into this "Monday Madness".  Now the question is how can we as educators not only motivate ourselves, but also motivate our students on a Monday? Why not ease into the day especially on a Monday, why do we as educators have to follow a rigid schedule?  Some things to consider making Mondays a little easier on everyone is; starting the day with a community circle.  Check in with students to ask how their weekend went, how are they feeling.  If the student chooses to pass because they do not wish to share, then everyone in the class should respect that.  Instead of having a math lesson right in the morning why not do a read aloud and maybe discuss the story as a group.  Now for the math part, why not have a math lesson on patterning outside? Oh yah, outside the dead of winter! In the snow!  You got that right! Get the students to get ready, bring out the paint and the paint brushes. Oh, and do not forget the iPad after all this is still a math lesson and you want to document what your students did.  Think about it, the students will have so much fun doing patterns in the snow with paint.  Monday is not looking to be the hardest day after all.  As educators, once we think outside the box and put students first, we make days like Mondays not only fun and easy for our students but also for ourselves.  As we incorporate these strategies especially on difficult Mondays; students will no longer have the mentally of "I don't want to go school" after having two days off they will look forward to Monday.  As educators we can also be optimistic about Mondays because of the excitement we know our students are going to feel knowing that Mondays are not going to be the typical day of sitting at a desk doing work. Lessons will take place outside on school grounds and inside around the school building, even neighborhood walks.  Let us make our hardest day of the week Monday not only fun for our students but fun for us as well!!!!      

AvonitP@NU