Anatomy

Anatomy of a day in the life of a 1L

Monday:
5:45: wake up, work out, eat breakfast, make lunch, get ready for school
8:00: get settled into favorite sunny spot in the library with Brazilian jazz on ipod and coffee in hand. Read and brief, read some more.
10:15: Civil Procedure class. Despite having an outline of the case and having done the reading, get terrified, baffled and confused by rules of personal, in rem and quasi in rem jurisdiction. Watch Civ Pro professor pensively puff on a stick of chalk like it is a flash back to the days he could actually smoke while lecturing
12:00: microwave lunch and eat in the gazebo with friends, talk about assignments, commiserate over how much reading we have to do, pull out laptop and finish assignment for class later, head to library to print assignment, fight with printer and hole puncher.
1:30: Contracts class. Discuss really sad cases where little old men commit suicide and their heirs have to litigate to get the estate because, greedy, grasping cousins want to dispute whether the will was an enforceable contract (or as your professor likes to ask was a puppy, aka contract, born?). Despite being prepared, still leave confused as to when to apply the common law or the Uniform Commercial Code.
3:00: Global Lawyering Skills class.  Eat a sugary snack to stay awake at the end of a long day. As useful as it is, legal writing and research class tends to drag. Get the memo you worked on all last week back only to realize you missed a crucial argument in a dissenting opinion and now the position you argued has no legs to stand on.
4:00: attend an optional volunteer training (you’ve got free time, right? not like you have 6 hours of homework still ahead of you…) because you want to actually be able to get hands on experience working in the field you are passionate about. Isn’t that why you came to law school anyway?
6:00: Head into the library with two bags full of books and binders. Wish for the millionth time you had one of those nerdy, but practical, rolling briefcases so you didn’t feel like Atlas every time you lift your bags. Find your favorite table in a corner where no one can find you to distract you. Commence 2 hours of studying to the upbeat sounds of 80s pop music medley playlist.
8:00: Homeward bound. Make dinner with your partner (thank goodness for trader joe’s online easy to make recipes because you are tired and still have work to do tonight, at least you can manage to whip up a chicken tortilla soup from a box).  Touch base with husband. Listen to him describe his day. Be thankful you are not a 10th grade English teacher! Eat. Pour a glass of wine. Read cases for Property class tomorrow.
11:00: Snuggle up on the couch with hubby to watch an episode of West Wing. Predictably, fall asleep on the couch and wake up when the show is over. Brush teeth. Bed.

Repeat, daily.

Anatomy of a day in the life of a 1st year teacher

Monday
4:45 Wake up. Go running. Get back at 5:45. Put pot of coffee on to brew. Get ready, check emails, drink cup of coffee, finish grading assignments for the day. Drink coffee.
7:00 Head to school. Tidy classroom, make copies of worksheets for today’s lesson. Set up whiteboard and projector. Organize desk and think, what am doing today? Do I have enough time? What’s going to happen today?
8:00 First period starts. ELD kids. A small class, mostly hispanic. Talk about grammar and writing. Read some Gary Soto. Do some vocabulary. Have them write me a letter. Sometimes have random conversations about soccer and life.
9:15 Bell rings, kids leave. I wait by the door for second period. Greet every student by name and shake their hand. Make sure shirts are tucked in and handbooks out. Student: “Mr. Tibbs. Mr. Tibbs you’re my favorite teacher...” Me: “What do you want?” Student: “I left my work at home...” Continue to make small talk every once and while, come in minute before bell rings. Speak rather loudly for kids to sit down, get books out and start work.  Struggle for silence. Supervise. Class goes on lessons happen. I stop. Wait for quiet. Stop. Wait for quiet. Stop... Do I get angry now? Should I get my coach voice out? Stop. Give lesson. Collect work.
10:35
Bell rings. I am exhausted. Oh great another whole period. See 9:15: repeat. Oh wait. Something is different. Is that kid going to punch the other kid? (not always...but it does happen). Intervene. Send kid out. Give referral.  Take breath. Go on with class. Talk. wait for quiet. Talk. Wait for quiet. Is it lunch time yet?
11:55
Bell ring. I breath. Lunch time. What do I have to do? Correct papers, make more copies. Oh no, the principal is coming to watch me next period. I better tighten up. Eat lunch while double checking the lesson
12:25 4th period Prep. Breathe sigh of relief take a minute. I have a meeting. Go to meeting give two cents. plan, correct more papers, make sure roll is correct. It’s coffee Monday! Go with colleague to coffee roaster buy a pound of fresh beans. I feel better already. 
1:45 Bell rings. Next period. Repeat 9:15. Greet. Talk. speak loudly for quiet. Teach. Wait. principal comes in. Make sure assigned student greets him appropriately. Did I go over  the objective? Were the students engaged? Do I look good? I hope it all works out.   Teach. Wait. Try to get students to care and be engaged. 
3:05 Bell rings. One more period to go, but its Advisory. A bunch of seniors come in, talk about college stuff. Get them choosing right schools, writing personal statements. Have them do homework. Maybe read silently. Uh oh, is an assistant principal coming in. Hello, sir. We’re just getting things together. Assistant Principal leaves.
4:00 Bell rings, school is finally out. Start extra work on after school academy. Work with attending students to get their grades up. Have students do re-takes on tests or classwork. Show them grade. See what they have to do. Supervise. Teach one-on-one.
5:00: Enrichment it should be coaching fencing, but I need to wait for approval, at least on Tuesday I teach Drama.
6:00. Last kid leaves academy. Time to do prep work for the next day plan, make copies, send e-mails. What do I have to do? Will it be engaging? Is it Friday yet?
7:30-8:00 pm. Its been at least 12 hours on campus. I should go home since I am paid for 8 of them. But the kids? Take work home with me. Do other teachers work this hard...?
8:00 Make dinner with Chels. Chat a little bit. Learn all about Law School tossing questions every now and then about cases that were previously talked about.  Wonder if Law School might actually be preferable than teaching 10th graders English. Take one glance on the case book on table. Be happy with your decision to teach.  Enjoy glass of wine. If necessary do more work such as correcting, and planning.
10:30-11:00 Sit on couch. Snuggle with loved one. Watch some TV. Look lovingly at partner sleeping on lap and know everything is going to be okay. Bed.

Repeat. Daily with slight variations.