#teachersunday

OK, so it’s still holiday break, but we can celebrate the third #teachersunday in a row, especially to get more teachers on board after the New Year (just post a pic of your Sunday in the Twitter sphere, and/or FB). Even though it’s still break, I’ve already heard teachers beginning to plan their upcoming week. Not me; I took care of that work—at work—before I left work. In fact, I’m not even sure what’s been planned, and don’t really need to know until school begins Wednesday. Come to think about it, I don’t even really have to plan for Mondays at all because the options are bountiful. Having some Monday routines on hand are a must for teacher sanity…

Before you check out my #teachersunday activities from this week, here are some favorite no-prep options for every Monday so you don’t have to think very hard on a Friday, and definitely not during a holiday…

Weekend Talk/Holiday Talk/Card Talk + Simple Survey (e.g. “What was good? What was bad?”)
Calendar Talk
Special Person Interviews
MovieTalk (always have the next one cued & printed)
One Word Image (OWI)
Free Voluntary Reading (FVR)

Also, whatever you do, make sure it’s something without printing (do all that by Friday). Heading to the copier Monday morning is about as bad an idea as driving back to any major city on a Sunday afternoon.

: Making some house compound gin (i.e. legal infusing, not illegal distilling)

: This ambient music show is free on Sundays, and you can stream the show all week free on the app.

: OK, so watching double bass videos isn’t exactly relaxing, but #teachersunday is more about not planning for school than it is about chilling out. #teachersunday is about making sure you retain free time, and doing what you want with it.

: Calm Quincy water from a cozy corner at Aunt Pat’s.

It’s always depressing to hear how teachers spend their Sundays. For many, their weekend is over early that morning with school planning weighing on their minds. For some, that weight is felt every night of the week.

Enough, already!

This tweet from Angel Wilson appeared in my feed:

Angel is talking about super teachers; the ones who are seen to be praiseworthy models of education and teacher expectations. Those expectations are unreasonable. How about the teacher who’s effective day in and day out, but also has a personal life beyond the classroom?! Why aren’t we praising consistency resulting from a healthy, balanced work and personal life?! Students are keen to diversify their resume for college acceptance (no one wants someone too focused on just one thing, right?), so why aren’t we modeling that as well? Why are teachers working on the weekend?! And remember that we can plan so we never have to do that, right?

So, on Sundays, I’ll be tweeting (@magistermrp) pics of what I’m doing under #teachersunday and I encourage you to do the same. Join me starting next week to show the world that successful teachers are leading healthy, balanced lives by enjoying their weekend just like everyone else! Here’s a snapshot of my day:

Magister P.

Grading, Assessment, and Comprehension-based Language Teaching

#teachersunday: No-Prep Monday

#teachersunday