Typical Tuesday

Blog topics seem to always be on the periphery of my mind, and I want to post more than I do. However, I just haven’t had much to say recently. Life is kind of normal. So, on that normal note, I thought I’d share what a typical Tuesday involves for a MK teacher here.

I’ve never timed my commute, but I am guessing it takes me about three minutes to walk to work. While I don’t complete near as many books on tape as I used to, it is lovely way to start and end the workday.

Tuesday mornings start with chapel for high school students and teachers. High school here includes seventh thru twelfth grade. Students usually lead worship, and a teacher or other adult from the center speaks. We meet in the gym, which is also where church happens and all sorts of sports are played throughout the week.

I teach four classes before lunch. In the first picture below, biology students are comparing viruses, bacteria and protists. I don’t think they were all into it. In geometry today, students were completing a crossword full of the lesson’s circle terminology (do you know what a major arc is?) in anticipation of the bell. Classes are only fifty minutes.

There is a ten-minute break each morning. Students usually chat with each other and eat a snack of beef crackers. Us teachers usually find coffee or make last-minute copies.  If I am wearing my running shoes on Mondays or Thursdays (store days), I can race to the on-center store and buy eggs before they are all out.

After lunch, I have a conference period, teach one more class, supervise a work detail, and host math tutorials. During my conference today I was cutting out plant life cycle manipulatives for seventh grade science. They later mastered the difference between sporophytes and gametophytes.

Tuesday and Thursday afternoons are mail days. I have kid-like anticipation as I walk up to the mailboxes each time. This was a fabulous mail day…that wooden key means that I have a package in a bigger box!

I was able to get into a routine of working out over the Christmas break. While school is in session, it usually happens in the time between work and dinner. I either ride the recumbent bike or walk on the treadmill…it all depends on how my legs feel after teaching all day. I have come to especially love this part of my day.

After dinner with a few other teachers, it is time for me to be a student. On Tuesday nights, I have National Culture and Language Acquisition. Today we learned about the process NTM uses to find the least-reached tribes. I enjoy the information sessions better than the language days; I make a fool of myself when I speak Pidgin. Other weeknight evenings include things like Bible study, staff meetings, or Gilmore Girl-watching.

Correspondence (the fancy term for email and Facebook) also is taken care of at night. I see this view of my laptop and desk at the house a lot. If I get this blog to post this evening, it will be my third attempt, and I will have spent about four hours getting all the pictures and text uploaded. I am grateful for Internet and have learned to grade papers or read up on AP bio while the spinning icon tries my patience.

And with that, I call it a night. That’s a typical Tuesday.