If there's one way to face classes first thing on Monday morning, it's this; become enthusaism incarnate.
At least, that's how I have learned how to handle a pack of students at 8:00 in the morning. They may be dozy as can be and will want little more than to crawl back into bed, and of course I'll often feel the same way too. However, my own drowsiness has yet to prevent me from going into my reverse Jekyll & Hyde routine. I may shuffle somewhat wearily from my apartment, but the moment I step into the classroom, I'll bundle my own sleepiness away into the closet, lock the door and throw away the key. I'll plant on a fat smile that will stretch from ear to eat, greet them in a booming voice, and then continue on in a tone that's often saturated with an excessive amount of glee. In short, it becomes my mission to become the polar opposite of the lethargic pupils assembled before me.
It may make me look like an over-excited abomination in my students eyes, but regardless of whether they want it or not, I will continue to serve up a fresh serving of excitement every single time without fail, especially as long as I remember to take my daily dose of T&T:
To clarify that, tea (especially, stuff so dark that it could be mistaken for a cup of coffee),
And also tunes, the peppier the better in order to get me invigorated and jazzed up enough to face the day.
But if those aren't enough to help me wake up the class a bit, then no problem. When all else fails, there's nothing like snapping them into a higher state of alertness than taking attendence. In other classes, this is done the traditional way, with the teacher reading off name after name. Needless to say, my own students are still caught off guard when I walk around the room, point to each and every one and have them call out the last two digits of their class ID number.
Did I mention that if they get three unexcused absences, they fail the course? Well they do, and are currently fast running out of ways to cover for lazy classmates.
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