My Day!

If you ever wondered what the day in the life of a teacher is like read on.

This morning my alarm went off at 5:45 am. I woke with a bad sinus headache. After taking two sinus tablets I showered quickly and turned on the coffee maker, then dressed. I took a cup of the coffee with me and left the house at about 6:30. The drive to school is about 30 minutes so I arrived at just about 7:00.
I teach at a Catholic high school and on Tuesdays and Thursdays there is mass in the chapel at 7:05. I attended this morning, along with about 75 others, 20 or so teachers. The school president was present as well as an assistant principal. About a dozen students I teach were among the others. Morning mass is quick and we were finished at about 7:25. When I got back to my room there was a student waiting; Mike was a senior and my student last year. He had one of those university application forms that needed to be filled out by a teacher. It is November 1st today and the form needed to be mailed and postmarked today. Many other teachers would have refused the request, it coming so late and needing immediate attention, but Mike was a good person–if not a great student–and I excused his procrastination and took care of it for him. I then had just enough time to start up my laptop and begin class when the bell rang.
First period begins with a prayer and the Pledge over the PA system. After the attendance was recorded and submitted, I began my lecture on “Types of Chemical Reactions” for the first of my 4 Honors classes. I finished about 2 minutes before the bell rang to end class. In the last two minutes I passed out left-over Halloween candy from last night. This was repeated for the next two periods.
Fourth period began with announcements over the PA followed by a power point on the”Kinetic Molecular Theory” in Advanced Placement Chemistry. Class ended with me answering questions about tomorrow’s exam and the homework assignment that was due. Fifth period is when lunch is scheduled along with home room. My freshmen home room students arrived for their 25 minute holding period–then were released to the lunchroom. I then had 55 minutes off before my next class.
During that time I ate lunch in my room (left over pizza from last night) and stapled the AP exams for tomorrow. After a quick trip to the office to get my mail and a washroom stop I was back in my room and ready to begin 6th period Honors Chemistry, my last class of the day.
When 7th period began I checked in with the office, telling them that I was going to the hardware store nearby to get some materials. I was gone for about 25 minutes, returning with some wood glue and a box of deck screws. When the bell rang to end the day I recruited two boys from the hall to help me turn one of the lab tables over. I used the wood glue and screws to repair one of the legs on the lab table. These tables are over 40 years old and getting maintenance to fix one may take two or three weeks–not because they don’t work hard, but because they have too much to do and are short staffed for a building our size. The repair took about 15 minutes. I had a conference with a department teacher about an up-coming field trip, worked for about an hour in preparation for class tomorrow, then left school at about 3:45.
I have two students I tutor on Thursday afternoons so I got home at about 7:00–12 and a half hours after I left this morning. After dinner I sat down and wrote this. It is now 9:00pm and I am going to bed in about 15 minutes.
This was a very typical day.