Monday, Monday

So, why is a Monday such a dreaded day?  

I think a Monday, in itself, isn't so bad.  I think the dreaded part is that it feels like it is so far from Friday.

Here in lovely Fairfax County, elementary school kids get off school early on Mondays.  It is supposed to allow the teachers to have time to "collaborate," and "plan,"  and whatever else they do.  I can't exactly say what the teachers do during their Monday afternoons, but they have now progressed to the point that they get substitutes to collaborate and plan on other days of the week.  We've got to be the most collaborative, planned group that has ever existed.  

Of course, we're also known for having a very tough school system and we turn out lots of wonderful high school graduates.  Of course, high school is a long way from elementary school.  

I'm totally against the idea of trying to teach kids that school is fun.  School is hard work sometimes, when you are surrounded by your peers, I guess, but that in itself isn't always fun.  Learning is fun.  And to learn, one must work.  I think a lot of kids feel like they have been deceived when they reach about third grade and find that those multiplications tables are no fun at all and that there is no easy way to learn them.  I still have trouble remembering some of the 6s, 7s, and 8s.  I get them eventually, but I have to think about them.