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Sheila Sims Iding
Tuesday is my favorite day of teaching. Please don’t tell the other days. I don’t want any hurt feelings. But if you knew Tuesday, like I know Tuesday, you would know why it is my favorite day. Monday is full of energy and renewing but Tuesday is the calm day. Tuesday brings a sense of calmness to the week. A sense of settling in.
Monday is busy-ness with new words, new stories, new decorations, new jobs, new this, new that. Breathe. Tuesday we are settled in. We know our jobs. The theme of the week. The story of the week. The plan of the week. We are now content to settle into the week. Tuesday allows that.
And here is a little secret that most people don’t know. Tuesday is my casual day. Some offices have casual Friday but Care Corner (for me anyway) has casual Tuesday. Almost ever single Tuesday I wear denim. It’s a secret no one has figured out until now. Denim skirt…denim jumper…denim dress…denim shirt. I know…it’s so 1980’s but it is my casual dress code. Tuesday is the perfect day for casual because I don’t have any parents working groups. I try to dress a little more professional on the days that parents are in my classroom. When we go to mass, I try to dress up a bit more. So…with no parent groups…no mass…it leaves Tuesday begging for denim. Begging for a bit more casual.
Tuesday is a “no groups” day. It makes it much easier for planning. Don’t get me wrong…I love groups. I love the parents who work groups. But they take a lot of planning. Each group requires a bucket, supplies, instruction and a parent name tag…not to mention the “work” or activity. With over 16 parent groups a week…it’s good to get a break on Tuesdays.
Oh wait…I lied. We do have groups on Tuesday. We have mini-groups in the morning but they are not parent groups. They last about 8 minutes each (hence the “mini”) and they take place while a small group of kids go to reading support and the rest of us do mini-groups. Tuesday mini-groups are not only fun, they are easy. , I usually do an iPad game, they do a puzzle on the Smart Board and a spelling activity.
And here’s the best part. They take bathroom break during mini groups. We go to music at 9 a.m. so our bathroom break is a bit earlier on Tuesdays. No more rushing to get it in before parent groups. We “casually” take our breaks from mini-groups and by 9 a.m. our bathroom break is done. Yea!
Then we are off to music and I get a bit of break to answer emails, notes from parents, sort through information from the office, and work on plans for the rest of the week. Stuff I usually do at lunch I can do now at this morning break. Cracker break is also more casual on Tuesday. No kids standing in line waiting to get a cracker. I put the crackers on their desks while they are in music. They come back from music and we are ready for cracker break, reading our story together and doing a workbook page. They are so efficient at this Tuesday morning routine, we now have extra time at the end of the morning for more “casual” activities. We can do a math game (Around the the World) or the Saint game. We end the morning with a casual reading from our chapter book…usually Junie B. or The Magic Tree House. Ahhh…feeling settled into the week for sure.
Then on to lunch. REALLY. On to lunch. It’s the only day I go to lunch in the lounge. And why not? I’ve had a casual morning, have comfy clothes (denim) and have no groups in the afternoon. I am loving Tuesdays.
Storytime on Tuesday is a religious story. A different genre every day for storytime lends itself to having a certain organization to the stories that the kids can follow. Religious story day can be anything from a Bible story to a saint life to the Ten Commandments to an inspiring biography to a story with a special life lesson. I love Tuesdays for the religious stories and themes we can explore during Tuesday's special story.
The afternoon is great too because after our storytime and math, the kids are off to art class. Another break right in the middle of the afternoon. Perfect for more reorganizing, getting together homework for sick kids and preparing for “after art class” activities. Which is one of the special parts of Tuesday. It’s a block of time built in for whatever is needed that week. Special penguin activities one week, working on puppy stories another week and today…playing the fraction game with 4th graders. I love Tuesdays because of this block of whatever-is-needed time.
On Mondays, at the end of the day we have gym so we don’t have time for M&M (music and movement) but Tuesday is a special M&M day because we sing a song just for the star student. We dance, we sing, we hop to a song which let’s us yell out the star student’s name. M&M is always fun. But Tuesday M&M is special…it’s star-student special.
The other days have their charm but from denim, to casual-ness, calmness and settling in, to a break in the morning AND afternoon, to lunch in the lounge, to dancing with the star student at the end of the day...Tuesday is my favorite day of teaching.