It was Friday, January 2, 2010 at 5:30 a.m. Beep! Beep! My alarm beeping right on time reminding me to get up and get ready to head to my job. I quickly got out of bed and started my normal routine: take a shower, do my make-up,  get dressed, make my bed, get breakfast ready to take it on the go, and then leave the house to head to work. As I went to go take a shower the I realized I was out of shampoo. I ran around my house like a chicken with his head cut off trying to find some. Finally I had found some but noticed I was 15 minutes behind schedule. Normally, I would make it out of my house to go work by 6:30 but today was a little different; I didn’t leave until 7:00. I had to be at work by 7:30 and I live 30 minutes away from my work so I was cutting it close. I ran out of my house with my heels on and got in my car in a rush. As I was cruising down James St. all of a sudden I heard sirens and saw blue and red lights flashing behind me. So I reluctantly pulled over because I was being stopped by a state trooper.  He claimed I was exceeding the speed limit by 10 mph. By time the officer had finished looking at my license and registration he gave me my $200 ticket with a smile. Thanks to this pleasurable delay it was now 7:30!

Red light after red light!!! I don’t know how it’s even possible to hit every single one on the way to work. By the time I got in the parking lot it was now 7:40. I parked my black Volvo, got my computer and papers out of the back seat and ran into my classroom. When I put my keys into my classroom door to unlock it guess who was there to greet me? Principal Smith with a concerned look on his face. I walked in embarrassed and all my students were yelling. Quickly I set my stuff down and then Mr. Smith, the principal said “Mrs. Johnson may I see you in the middle pod please?” I went to go walk into the pod and as I was entering I could hear all my 2nd grade students saying “Oooo. Mrs. Johnson is in trouble.” “Are you okay, you are never late to class,” asked Mr. Smith concerningly. “Yes, I’m fine just a rough morning,” I responded. With a smile on his face he replied “Okay just wanted to make sure, get back in class your students are waiting for you.” Have a good rest of the day.” “ Thank you sir,” I exclaimed, “You have a good day too.” I replied.

When I walked back into the classroom to a bunch of chatter. “Shhh,” I said waiting for all 21 of my students to quiet down. “Listen up for you name while I take attendance.” I called out each name and they all responded with here. “Perfect attendance today!” I said excitedly. I explained to my students the agenda for the day, which consisted of a lot of test… which meant a lot of grading for me. The first test was the timed math test. Each student was on different math facts. They are timed for one minute and have to complete the entire page and only miss one in order to move onto the next math fact. Next, we did my students favorite part which was the science experiment. We had been working on the water cycle so for the experiment we set a cup of water outside and a bottle of water outside and hypothesized which one would have more condensation.

It was 11:30 and it was time for the kids to go to lunch. After lining them up we walked together to the cafeteria and then I went back into my classroom. Reaching into my bag to grab my lunch I realized I had forgotten it. I sat in my rolly chair at my desk doing computer work and putting in my grades while my stomach growled reminding me of how hungry I was. After a hour I had to go get my kids from the cafeteria.  I walked outside my door and my kids were standing there waiting for me. My teacher friend Mrs.Vaughn brought my kids back to my classroom for me. I thanked her and brought my kids into my classroom. The plan for the rest of the day consisted of my students doing centers and taking a reading test, but I was having such a rough day that I told my students that we could just watch movies and play board games. They all cheered and said “”Thank you Mrs. Johnson we love you.” That put a smile right on my face.

I played the movie The Little Mermaid, which is one of my favorite Disney movies, and I popped my class some popcorn and relaxed. From then on the day seemed to go by fast. 2:45 rolled around and the bell rang.

“Have a great weekend kids be safe,” I said. “You are dismissed go to your assigned places.” All my kids had exited my classroom I began to finish up putting in grades so I could go home. As I was about to shutdown my computer I felt a light tap on my shoulder, I turned around and it was one of my students name Lily. With her big blue eyes, cute little pigtails,and her pink tutu I couldn’t help but smile.  “I love you Mrs. Johnson you are the best teacher ever,” she said to me while giving me a hug and then ran out of my room with her pigtails flopping up and down. That made me so happy knowing that I left such an impact on one of my students and that she considered me to be her favorite teacher. I walked out of my classroom with all my stuff in my hand and entered my car to drive home. The 30 minute drive was much more pleasurable on the way home, my music was jamming and I didn’t get pulled over by a cop! Got all my stuff from the car and unlocked the front door. When I opened my door I was surprised to smell cooked meal and roses from my husband. The day that started off so bad had definitely went into an opposite direction.