Today is Friday. Though most people, even some other teachers, view Friday as a day to coast until the weekend, you don’t. Friday is one of the toughest day of the week, second only to Monday. For great teachers like you, Fridays are make-or-break days. They determine how you can evaluate your teaching for the week. Have the students learned everything they needed to? Have you taught in a way that makes everything tie together and give your students long term understanding? Will they know enough to move on in your content for next week? If they don’t have it by Friday, you’ll have to backtrack and lose time on Monday. Sometimes you even have to backtrack and reteach until Tuesday…and all because the previous Friday did not go well. Friday is big. It is huge!
More than teaching and learning, Fridays are big because your students want to coast until the weekend. The later in the day it gets to be on Friday, the less focused your students become. They are thinking about the weekend. More so, if this is near the end of the school year for you, the students are thinking about the weekend and the summer. It gets harder and harder to contain the students and keep them engaged. Fridays are hard because you have to be MORE together with your plans, MORE engaging, MORE patient, MORE understanding, and MORE intentional about every second of class time.
No, Fridays are not easy. Not for you, Awesome Teacher. Fridays are important. You know today is a huge day for your week.
I believe in you, Teacher! Even though this is the day of MORE for you, I know you have MORE to give. Pour it out! Give it all you’ve got! Go big! This is your day, and you’ve got this! You can make this the best Friday that you’ve ever Fridayed! (Yes, I just made up a word, but I am a teacher and I am allowed to do that.)
Teacher, you are AWESOME! Give your students the MORE that you have in you for this Friday! Keep teaching, Teacher! Consider yourself believed in!
For more hope and encouragement: @DearTeacherLT