Mr. Baker passed out the final exam to his ninth period 8th grade class.

“OK guys, did I miss anyone?” He asks the class. No one raised their hand, so he continued, “It’s pretty straight forward; there’s multiple choice questions; a short answer section; the last question is a short essay question. Please write a paragraph answering the question on the back of the exam. “

Mary Smith was looking at the test and raised her hand.

“You didn’t leave us enough room on this page to write an answer to the last question.” She stated.

Mr. Baker stared through Mary, drilling holes with the daggers of his eyes.

“Mary, how many sides does a piece of paper have?” He asked.

“Two.” Mary answered looking confused. “So?” She questioned.

Mr. Baker stared even harder , wishing he had heat ray vision.

“So...perhaps, you could write it on the back.” He succinctly answered.

There were a few snickers in the class as he looked away from Mary and he also noticed a few students turning the exam over with the same realization dawning on their faces.

Mr. Baker continued, “when you’re done, turn the exam into the turn-in box, and then you may silently read. “

‘Only two weeks left in the school year’ he thought. “You have the remainder of the period to work on the exam.” He said as he walked back to the sanctuary of his desk. A hand shot up and started talking before he could acknowledge the student.

“What do we do when we are done; and where do we turn the exam in?”

It was Sean Young. Mr. Baker visibly hung his head and turned around to address the student.

“Sean, what month is it?”

The boy answered promptly, “May.”

“Right, May. Where have you been turning in your assignments all school year?” Baker asked.

“The turn-in box.” Sean answered.

“So...where do you think you turn in the exam?”

Again the dawning of realization occurred, “The turn-in box,” Sean answered.

“Right. “ Mr. Baker replied with a thumbs up. “Now, what do you think you’re allowed to do when you’re done?”

Sean screwed up his face for a split second and answered, “Sleep?”

Mr Baker hung his head again and continued walking to his desk.

“Two weeks...” he lowly muttered.