As the school bell went off in the corners of the vast Middle School, I took a swig of my coffee and walked my classroom door. With a smile, I greeted the handsome young children that entered my classroom. I felt excited today, or that just may have been the side effects of caffeine.

Chairs scraped the tile floor as the students stood up for the Pledge of Allegiance, followed by the morning announcements. The voice of the principal blared through the loudspeakers urging the students to pay money to attend the 8th grade semi-formal dance.

When all of my first period students were seated, I played a 35 minute video that debated the pros and cons of Genetically Modified Food. In my 20-or-so years teaching at the Middle School, I have discovered that videos are great for teachers and students. Students always learn something new, and teachers get a little quiet time to themselves.

I leaned back in my chair. Most of my students were enthralled in the video, but a few students were engaged in an intense debate over which NFL team was the most likely to win the 2017 Super bowl. The students did not realize that they were whispering rather loudly. I shot them a strict look, and they quickly diverted their eyes back to the Smartboard.

The video was over. I flipped on the lights and walked to the front of my classroom. I clarified some of the information in the video. Like always, a couple hands shot into the air. After answering those questions, another couple hands shot up. By the time I had finished answering all of the questions, the period was over.

During the third period, my computer had some problems regarding internet connection. Beads of sweat rolled down my cheeks, since I did not have any backup material to teach the kids. I was fortunate that my computer regained the connection in a few minutes, and so the class was able to continue smoothly.

After 45 minutes, it was time for my break. The students scattered to their elective classes. I walked to the upper school office on my floor, where most of the teachers gathered during their free time. Most of the time, we bragged over who has the best students and told stories about events that had happened earlier in the day. Today, the Spanish teacher explained the very interesting conversation she had overheard during her last period. All of us teacher had a good laugh. I walked back to my classroom to get a head start on my “homework” – quizzes that my students took yesterday.

I took out my bright red pen and began marking up the papers. Grading is a lot of work. Students always expect graded work to be returned as soon as possible. I calculated that if I spend five minutes per test, it will take me around eight hours to finish grading. Well, at least I get paid.

While grading the test, I started to regret adding the open response question. While a few students write with a neat penmanship, most of my students use a scribbly scrawl. It took me ten minutes just to read one open response!

The alarm on my desk buzzed. I prepared my materials for another period of teaching. After 40 minutes, as I was explaining to an enthusiastic student that it was impossible to create a mermaid out of GM technology, one student interrupted me. “Mr. Crough, it is 12:05,” he announced. I sighed. “Goodbye”, I said. My students sprang from their seats, and sprinted down the hallway, trying to avoid the long lunch line.

I pulled out the bagged lunch that my mom had packed me in the morning. As I was eating my delicious ham and cheese sandwich, I used my other hand to grade some more quizzes. As I was reaching for the grapes, my arm accidentally knocked over my coffee cup. Yikes! I threw down my sandwich and grabbed a stack of paper towels, which swiftly absorbed the rich brown fluid. But the damage had already been done. A dozen quizzes had been stained. At least the coffee did not ruin my iPhone.

With another 30 minutes remaining, it was exercise time for me. I cleared away some of the desks and began my regular workout routine. I started off with 50 pushups, then 100 sit-ups, followed by 5 minutes of planking, 5 minutes of wall sit, and finally 30 more pushups.

Students gradually began to pour into my classroom. I played the long 35 minute video and managed to finish grading the pile of quizzes. As I was grading the quizzes, I noticed that half of the class was not paying attention. An idea was forming in my mind. I was going to give the class a pop quiz on the material mentioned in the video. I quickly created a quiz in Microsoft word and printed out 24 copies.

The video had finished. I handed out the quizzes. Five minutes later, the bell echoed throughout the Chenery Middle School. The school day was over.