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