A "typical" day

Alarm goes off at 5:00, out of bed by 5:20.
Shower, beautify, dress, snack and off to work.
Leave house at 6:15, arrive at work at 6:45. (only one slow down on the way to work, car off the road, everyone has to stop and stare.
6:48 enter classroom, turn on lights, log on to the computer.
Finish grading a few assignments, put them in the gradebook.
7:05 check email and respond to a few weekend emails.
7:10 Start getting organized for the day, check worksheets, books, "props" etc.
7:20 answer questions that exchange students have.
7:22 a student comes in to ask for extra credit--never heard of it.
7:24 the minute bell rings.
7:25 the morning announcements come on and at 7:32 we say the pledge of alligence (only on Mondays, I still get choked up sometimes when we say it and I think about how grateful and proud I am to be an American.)
7:33 start teaching German I: the verb möchten, indefinite articles, food and drinks and Wo wohnst du?
8:17 Bell is about to ring, the administrator comes by to "check-in", bell rings and students are off to their next class.
8:18 erase the board, change out book and handouts, drink some water...
8: 22 German II begins: read article in German about Fussball (soccer), ask questions, administrator comes back to observe the class for a few minutes. Students complete a writing activity about a sport they enjoy doing.
9:10 bell rings, erase the board, get ready for German I again, repeat activities from first hour.
10:03 bell rings, erase the board, ger ready for German III, go out and do hall duty and run to the copy room to make some quick copies that I did not have time to do this morning, racing against the clock...oh look...no paper...and I cannot reach the reserve paper (too high)...steal from another copy machine and continue my copy job...pray that the machine will not jam.
10:08 come back into class, get them quieted down, take attendance, hand back tests, go over the "Tagebuch" assignment, review adjective endings, give out practice sheet for adjective endings after der-words.
10:50 students will not quit chatting with each other and love to hear themselve talk. Frau Bailey smiles, grits her teeth and asks them to keep their mouths shut and their pencils moving, this works for about two minutes until "Einstein" thinks up something that he HAS to tell his friend, across the room and then there is an explosion of voices.
10:56 Saved by the bell...get ready for German IV
10:58 OH! I almost forgot it is 5th hour and I need to run to the lunch room to talk to "BOB" the classring guy, the AFS students have been bothering me about this...I write a quick note.
11:01 German IV begins, I put them to work on writing concrete poetry...auf Deutsch of course.
11:05 Run to the lunch room, talk to BOB and then run back. (Yes, I left 9 German IV students alone for a few minutes, please do not turn me in to the authorities.)
11:08 Walk into a classroom of students working on their poems...it was a great sight to behold, it warmed my heart.
11:30 Students continue to work on their poems, I am there to answer a few questions about vocabulary and spelling and what not...
11:32 a student from another classroom gets sent to my classroom (buddy room is the teacher lingo for that: student is not working or is being disruptive in own class, sent to another classroom where they are supposed to work and be quiet.)
11:42 bell rings for lunch, I sit down to check my email, a former student comes in who is home from college and chats with me for about 15 minutes
11:59 collegue comes in to talk about the food baskets that we will be putting together after school, we solidify a plan
12:02 students are back from lunch and now have SSR (silent sustained reading) I grab my book and begin to read.
12:05 I tell the student who has been sent to my room to put his head up because he is not allowed to sleep in my classroom...he needs to work.
12:20 Really enjoying my book I will plant you a lilac tree wish that I had about two hours to read... but time is short.
12:25 bell rings...6th hour begins and I have my planning period.
12:27 sit down at my computer to finish writing the quiz for 7th hour, send it to the copy machine, clean up from the day, put books away, file worksheets, write on the board...
12: 56 student from Journalism class comes in to interview me about AFS and German club, talk with her while walking down to the copy machine, clear the jam in the copy machine, hunt for more paper, make copies of the quiz.
1:05 head to the bathroom for a much needed break! (talk with a teacher in the hallway)
1:10 Make sure I have everything ready for 7th hour, Becoming a Teacher...
1:15 In the hall doing hall duty.
1:21 Get students to clear their desks and hand out the quiz. Three students were absent so they must be sent to the hallway (I hate when students are absent!)
1:55 most students are done with the quiz and working on their dream classroom assignment. I grade the quizzes. (Scores are not too bad :-)
2:05 Talk to students about scholarship opportunities for future teachers.
2:11 the bell rings! School is out, but my work is hardly over.
2:12 get items together for the food baskets, take up a quiz and test that students will be taking while I am in the auditorium, grab the box to deliver to the french teacher.
2:15 stop by and talk to a co-worker
2:16 send a student to deliver the box to the french teacher
2:17 run by the office to drop off a survey to the administrator
2:18 arrive in the auditorium to compile the food baskets.
2:20-3:30 boss students around to help put the food baskets together and laugh with another teacher. We made 34 food baskets and we got 34 turkeys donated and the baskets will be delivered to familes from our high school.
3:32 return a camera to the library (that is not mine), stop by and say hi to a friend and I randomly start singing, "Ummm bop" (where did that come from?)
3:35 back in my class room, erase the board, change date and objectives for tomorrow, clean up desk, file, organize, answer email, put grades in the electronic grade book, plan for tomorrow.
4:30 have intentions of leaving...
4:45 Answer phone call from Ben, must leave classroom because I have no reception (I teach in a cave)
4:48 Start the journey home, stop by Goodcents (did not each lunch because I had too much to do, I am about to eat my arm) Order 1/2 cheese mix with lettuce, mayo, salt and pepper, yum!
5:00 on the road towards home.
5:28 arrive home, let the puppies out
5:30 Start eating food, yum...tummy is happy.
5:35 check email at home and work on Christmas presents for a few minutes between bites.
5:50 run upstairs to change clothes for the gym...supposed to be there at 6:00.
5:55 feed the puppies.
5:57 pass Ben in the garage, give him a quick kiss...and hurry to the gym
6:08 arrive at the gym. jump on the treadmill, then treadclimber, lift weights, stretch.
7:40 leave gym...see Ben in the parking lot...give him another kiss...take him to Taco Bell while he waits for his brother to show up.
8:00 Mother-in-law and brother show up, boys go workout, mom and I talk for awhile...
8:40 Battery in mother-in-laws car is dead, have to use the jumper cables to get it to start.
9:05 arrive home...let dogs out
9:07 on computer, talk to brother on the phone
9:20 begin blogging about my crazy day!
So, it is now 10:04 and I still have some school work to do. I will probably get in bed around 11:30 tonight and then at 5:20 my day will start all over again!!!!!!!!
Anybody want to take my place for a day? Doesn't it sound like fun???
But, I must say, I love my job. (Even though it is stressful and action packed...pretty much all the time.)