live blog: a day in the life

*Note: This is not a true live blog. I don't have time throughout my day to keep updating my blog. I just thought it would be interesting to chronicle a day in the life of a high school English teacher. By interesting, I mostly mean that I had a random idea to do this, so here goes.

6:10am - Slept in 15 minutes today! This means a little scrambling. Shower.
6:20am - Dry hair, make up, brush teeth, get dressed, etc. No breakfast (I know, I know - it's the most important meal of the day...)
7:08am - Left the house 8 minutes later than I like. Observed to myself on my quiet drive that the sky was quite overcast, but there was a sort of golden glow to everything. Prayed that I wouldn't get a headache today.
7:22am - Arrive at school. Pass through teacher's lounge to check mailbox. Head to classroom. Log in to computer.
7:24am - Read through emails. Open grades. Shuffle through some miscellaneous papers. Prepare work for my student aide.
7:30am - Warning bell. Open 1st hour attendance.
7:35am - 1st bell. Students begin trickling in. I told my students that next year, for their graduation gift to me, they can get me a dik-dik. One of my students told me that if I want one, I'd better step up my game.
7:40am - 2nd bell. 1st hour, American Lit. Two students tardy, one student absent. I check homework - Great Gatsby chapter 1-3 worksheet.
7:45am - Student who was selling bagels for junior class comes in. We begin going over the worksheet. I'm frustrated at a few points because the students are tired and not very responsive. I continue prodding, and succeed in getting them to act more alert.
8:15am - Done with worksheet. We start reading chapter 4 of GG.
8:25am - Stop reading, tell students to finish through page 74 for homework. Idle chit chat for the last couple minutes while passing back a writing assignment.
8:30am - Bell. Send my attendance. Enter some grades. This is my prep hour.
8:40am - Decide to get some Timmy Ho's, because hey, it's Hump Day and it's dreary outside. Get an iced mocha cappucino. Sweet, delicious, sugary calories.
8:55am - Back at school. Stop by teacher's lounge, pick up copies of receipts from prom junior/senior banquet and bagel sales.
9:00am - Back in my room. A male student opens my door and pretends to throw a dodgeball at me. To my credit, I barely flinch, but merely hold lift my hand to catch the ball. The student laughs and runs away. I continue grading&entering, whilst slurping upon my cappucino.
9:28am - Have successfully entered 2 vocab assignments for both freshman classes and Romeo & Juliet Act IV questions for both classes.
9:30am - Bell. The same two students who are always there RIGHT at the bell enter immediately. I make small talk with them.
9:35am - 2nd bell. Third hour, English 9. We finished Romeo & Juliet yesterday and have questions for Act V today. Students work on these in groups. When they're finished, I give them an assignment to create a modern cast for R&J. They love this, and keep giggling as they're mentioning names of Twilight actors and trying to come up with "that one guy from that one movie..." Toward the end of class, a girl turns hers in, smiles and says, "That was a pretty fun assignment, Mrs. P." *swoon*
10:25am - Bell. 10-minute break. I grade a few "Gatsby quote" responses from my juniors.
10:35am - Bell. 4th hour, American Lit. Check and review the Gatsby worksheet. Students this hour are much more engaged, and ask some good questions. I'm pleased. Read the first part of chapter 4.
11:20am - In the last few minutes of class, two of my freshmen come in to see me. The male student asks, "Are we doing anything in class today?" I say, "How do you think I'm going to respond to that question?" The brazen boy says, "No?" I told him to leave, come back and try again. They return, and the boy wisely keeps his mouth shut while the girl says, "[Art teacher] wants to know if we can miss class to help clean up the art room." Excuse me?! Now, don't get me wrong - I'm a music minor, a band nerd, a "Gleek", if you will (sidenote: actually don't watch that show anymore; it got far too trashy) - I love the arts. But I'm annoyed. Seriously annoyed. I, however, try to be understanding, bite my tongue to avoid releasing a snarky remark, and tell the students they may be late, but they'll need to scramble to make sure their work gets done.
11:21am - Feel annoyed that I said yes. Wish I had said no. Debate emailing the art teacher to retract my assent. Decide that would be a bad idea.
11:25am - Bell. Stew a little more, then decide to get over it.
11:30am - Bell. 5th hour, English 9. All students but the two aforementioned are present. Explain the assignments and get the groups started.
12:00pm - Realize my two students aren't back yet. Shoot an email to art teacher requesting their prompt presence.
12:10pm - TWELVE. TEN. = Half an hour late. = 10 minutes of class left. The 2 students return from cleaning the art room. All my frustration floods back. Try to be as patient as possible while explaining the assignments to these two students...
12:20pm - Bell. Lunch! I cram down a peanut/almond/granola bar. A freshman comes to make up her To Kill a Mockingbird test... a month late. Realize I'm far too gracious. Finish grading 4th hour assignments. Junior class treasurer comes to count the day's bagel money. Enter total into Excel spreadsheet.
12:55pm - Bell. 6th hour, prep. Type up this little ditty. Start grading student reflections on their outside novel for the semester. There is a freshman math class in my room this hour, so sometimes I like to see if I can remember how to do what they're learning. The answer is most often, shamefully, not really. SOHCAHTOA.
*Edit
1:45pm - Fire drill! Should I admit on the Internet that I'm staying inside? I don't have a class, and I've been being really productive with my grading. So here I am, lights off, door closed, admitting to the Internet that I stayed inside during the fire drill. Um, while I'm confessing, I might as well just admit that when I was in college, I skipped a fire drill in the middle of the night. Another story for another time...
*Edit
2:00pm - 7th hour, American Lit. We had fun at the beginning of class trying to figure out what "second cousin once removed" really means. If you can figure it out from the chart we consulted, please let me know. Went over the Gatbsy sheet, didn't get to the reading, so they have extra homework tonight.
2:45pm- Bell. End of the school day. I'll stay for a bit to grade a few things, but thee gray sky is really affecting my mood right now, so I think I'll leave shortly to go cuddle Zooey.