Time Project
Noiz decided to try something different with her English class this month. She
walked into the classroom with a smile on her face.
“Good morning, class!” she said.
“Good morning,” they said back.
“Stand,” the class rep said. The class stood up.
“Bow,” the class rep said. They all bowed.
“Sit down,” the class rep said. Everyone took a seat.
“Thank you,” Noiz said. She reached into her bag and pulled out a stack of
papers. “Today,” she said. “I have a little project for you to complete. You all
will write one paper for this class.” Groans filled the room. Noiz put up her
hand.
“Hear me out,” she said. “This is a fairly easy assignment. You have to write a
ten-page paper on a topic of your choice. However, this will be time-consuming.”
The class looked really confused.
“What?” they asked.
“You have one month to outline, reach, write, and turn in your ten-page paper,”
Noiz said. “That includes a page of your sources. You have to do everything in
one month. I wish you luck.”
Day One
Everyone seemed relaxed. Very little planning going on. Noiz sat back and
watched everything. Bemmer gave her a strange look.
“What is the point of this?” he asked. She looked at him, grinning.
“Time,” she said.
“Huh?” the intern asked. Noiz turned her chair to face him.
“Content is not the goal,” she said. “It’s if they meet the deadline on time.”
Bemmer blinked at first.
“So… you are testing them on completing the task before or at the deadline?” he
asked.
“Ding-ding!” Noiz said.
“Can you even do that?” Bemmer asked.
“I will try,” she said. The intern rubbed his forehead.
“I don’t know about you sometimes,” he said. The kitty just turned her chair and
smiled.
Day Two
So far, the students were still relaxed. Some were planning. Some even started
on the outline. The whole time, Noiz watches.
Day Three
A little work begins. The research and outlining mostly. There are still some
who are taking it easy. The whole time, Noiz watches.
Week One
Everyone is still relaxed and hardly working. More and more are planning. Some
are completing the outline process. The whole time, Noiz watches. She is even
taking notes.
Week Two
The number of the class is slowly growing. Those ahead of the curve start
writing the first draft of their papers. There is still a large number not doing
the work. They don’t appear to be taking the assignment seriously. It’s almost
like they don’t really think they will be graded. The whole time, Noiz watches.
She takes more notes.
Week Three
The time is counting down. More students are realizing this is not a joke. Those
that have been working on their papers all along have moved onto the editing
process. Some slackers are starting to outline while others finally get to work
on their paper. But, there are still a few not doing the work at all. They are
still not taking this seriously. They believe that the extra credit will save
them. But, they might be tricked this time. The whole time, Noiz watches. This
time, she begins counting down.
Final Week
Here we are. We are down to the finish line. The students who have been working
all along are now putting the finishing touches on their final vision. Two of
them are already finished and turned in their papers. A small amount have just
now started the editing process. More students are just now started their paper.
The lazy ones have now started research and outlining. But still, there was lazy
students who haven’t even started the assignment and think there is going to be
extra credit to save them. The whole time, Noiz watches. She graded the two
students that already turned in their papers.
Five Days to Go
Six more papers are turned in. More students are finishing up the edits to be
turned in. A third are editing their drafts. The not started camp is starting to
shrink. Most of them started their papers. The late group are still planning and
outlining. There are still some not even working. The whole time, Noiz watches.
Eight papers are graded.
Four Days to Go
Three more papers are turned in. A good number of papers are finished. The
editing process moves to the final stages. There was only one student who hadn’t
started the work. The slackers are rushing to complete the assignment. More
students are moving to the first draft. The crunch is coming. The whole time,
Noiz watches. She wonders who’s going to be last.
Three Days to Go
No papers are turned in today. More papers are finished. The final stages are
slowing down. Same goes for the editing. Most the remaining students are writing
their paper. The researching and outlining slowed down as well. That one student
just now started his outlining, but not the research. Will he fail the
assignment? The whole time, Noiz watches. She waits for the next set of papers
to grade.
Two Days to Go
Ten papers are turned in today. No one was finishing up their papers. No, the
bulk was busy trying to edit what they could to meet the deadline. The lazy
reminder rushed to get to writing their rough draft. The one student has even
started writing. He figures that he can still make in time. If he doesn’t get on
it now, he’s going to fail the assignment. The whole time, Noiz watches. Most of
the average is starting to take shape.
One Day to Go
Everyone is rushing to finish. The real panic has kicked in. They don’t want to
fail this assignment. They are working around the clock to meet the deadline.
Even the one student is working as hard as they can. Those who turned in their
assignments early are relaxing and laughing at the slackers. They almost pity
them. Almost. They should have taken the assignment seriously when they had the
time. Now, the ones who finished the work early are just waiting for their
grades to come in. Noiz herself is just waiting for the deadline.
Deadline
It’s judgement day. The rest of the students turn in their papers. Noiz looks at
each one and marks down the grades. Some the students will pass and the others
better how they have a chance to improve their grades. Overall? Noiz wants to
try the assignment out for the next semester.
Time is Ticking Away