Mondays

Who likes Mondays?  We call it the weekend slide.  It seems that students forget all rules over the weekend.  Yesterday my crew came back unusually unruly.  We've been battling some tough behaviors and I could do nothing but sit back and watch the chain of behaviors unfold.  I braced myself for a long day.

All morning long we took two minute quiet breaks with heads down to regroup.  We could work for five or ten minutes and then the chattiness and misbehaviors began again.  Back to our heads down we went.

Then lunch hit.  Lunch is my favorite time of the day.  At our school teachers eat with their classes in the cafeteria.  I enjoy it as a time to get to know students.  They share stories from their life.  Its a great time to just be together.  We worked really hard the first month of school learning table manners.  Now, I have the most well mannered class at lunch!  We have received many compliments.  I was especially impressed that yesterday I had to leave in the middle of lunch to care for a student and the rest of my class continued quietly talking and eating.  The other teachers hadn't even noticed I had left.  My class was that well behaved!  I praised them profusely that I could trust them so much.

That successful lunch time really turned our day around.  Despite the chaotic morning, we had a peaceful and successful afternoon of learning.

I hope you had a great Monday!

-Olivia