I only took the morning. In fact, I finagled two appointments in one morning so I could handle these issues with one morning off instead of a few hours or even two half days. See how teachers think? We hate being gone. Even in my current job, where I don’t have to prepare plans for a substitute, I don’t like being away from school.

I was rather pleased to manage my schedule in such a way as to minimize time off. But I couldn’t feel too smug; look what I faced when I got to school. This is my gradebook. The puffy A+ symbols mean that students have submitted work to be graded.  The only classes with nothing to grade are those that haven’t started yet.

Daisy’s Gradebook

The load was significant, too. Most of the section gradebooks had at least ten portfolios or tests in them.

I filled up my WSRA – Teaching Wisconsin to Read coffee mug and I hit the ground running, er, clicking. By the time the day was done, I had replied to seven parent emails, graded two science portfolios that came in the mail, and –well, see for yourself.

Daisy’s Gradebook – later

That’s a beautiful sight, those blue A+ icons. Now let’s see if I can be ready for Friday, when the first writing portfolio, a personal narrative, is due.