7:45 am – arrive at work – “How is this possible to be at work less than an hour from when you showered after your morning run?” one may ask. It’s possible because I don’t care how I look by Thursday.

7:48 am – chat with seniors who come in to finish up hall decorations which are spread throughout the room

7:58 am – check on long-term sub to make sure he’s still breathing (he is)

8:03 am – start the coffee IV which will last throughout most of the morning

8:07 am – space desks apart so students will have less distractions (and less opportunity to cheat) during their midterms

8:20 am – stand in the hall and greet students by name as they walk in the door – “Hello, Grace. Good morning, Kashev. Take a deep breath, Megan. How’s it going, Nic?” (I also probably tell a couple of jokes to Mrs. Perry during this time).

8:30 am – look out over my class as they are all standing and saying the Pledge of Allegiance and thinking about how I love hearing young people say the Pledge. I love this group of kids!!!

8:31 am – “Put your phone up front and pick up an exam.”

8:32 am – realize the exam is run off incorrectly even though I checked it but I am not a detail person so these things are always happening to me

8:33 am – ask Mrs. Perry to watch the kids while they work through the part of the exam they have and I run off the rest. Poor Mrs. Perry; she is always covering for me.

8:45 am – grade, fill out professional leave requests for two upcoming events, schedule a parent conference, return a couple of emails, and grade some more

9:48 am – pin a card on a costume (it’s best not to ask)

10:06 am – sneak into Mrs. Perry’s room for a cup of coffee since I have drained my pot

10:15 am- check in with AP kids on the status of their group projects – they need more time

10:20 am – write passes to class for the sophomores who are just finishing exams

10:38 am – principal comes in to observe me because what better time is there for an observation on an exam day during homecoming week . . . . . it is what it is

11:10 am – go to grab something from the copier (next door) which is currently not working; I k̶i̶c̶k̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶c̶o̶p̶i̶e̶r̶  turn the copier off then back on which fixes the problem

11:45 am – lunch is early due to exams and I meet with two colleagues to discuss GHP nominations

12:15 pm – administer midterm #2 of the day with a correct copy of the test this time – far less exciting

1:10 pm – eat some chips at my desk which is apparently very noisy since the majority of the class is looking at me

1:13 pm – all I do is grade, grade, grade no matter what, what, what

1:32 pm – email Mrs. Vance who is on planning because I’ve had too much coffee and need to go to the bathroom but I have kids testing – why do I drink so much coffee?????

1:52 pm – intercom to my room “Mrs. Barber, your conference is here”  – Arghhhh – I still have kids testing

1:53 pm – move students who are still testing to Wisenbaker’s room (he owes me a favor or two)

1:57 pm – sign Brooke out of school to go home because she is choosing not to retake a math test during 4th (don’t judge me as a parent and I won’t judge you)

1:58 pm – conference with a parent and I’m now regretting that I didn’t devote more time to my appearance this morning

2:24 pm – arrive back in my room which is filled with seniors working on homecoming decorations

2:25 pm – tell seniors I can’t help them or talk to them because I need to grade

2:27 pm – quit grading and start talking to seniors

2: 52 pm – debate what to do with sophomore exams since the grades are lower than they should be – is the test fair? Too hard? Why am I teaching sophomores when I normally teach seniors? Did I eat all of the chips? (I throw out a few questions that several students miss to raise grades to what I feel is appropriate).

2:54 – 3:30 pm – instruct senior powderpuff girls on signing the banner; this takes a long time since they are coming in one at a time. Is this part of their plan to keep me from working?

3:18 pm – enter sophomore grades

3:31 pm – discuss a grade with a sophomore who is upset about the exam (“don’t worry because I still need to enter the writing portion and you’re a good writer”)

3:33 pm – second sophomore in to discuss the exam

3:35 pm – sophomore #3 arrives

3:36 – go to the workroom to hide from sophomores

3:37 pm – discuss semester averages and grading with a new teacher who had a few questions

3:48 pm – organize my desk – I’m not really sure what possessed me to do this – maybe I’m getting sick

3:52 pm – finalize GHP nominees

3:55 pm – speak with a frustrated colleague

4:01 pm – run out the door and hop in the Prius

4:07 pm – Scott: Anything out of the ordinary today? Me: No, pretty normal day