I couldn’t hear the clock ticking, but I was reminded of the passing of time as Century Tower chimed every 15 minutes.

The deadline was getting closer for having the students’ last lab assignment graded and ready to return. I’d told the students that their materials would be ready for pickup at 3 p.m. today.

That seemed like a reasonable deadline when I e-mailed the students in the lab last evening.

I read each assignment, considered the grade to award, and wrote individual comments. But grading the last lab assignment was not the total mission. I also had to enter those grades into my Excel gradebook along with the points for those who participated in the portfolio interviews. Then there were a few late papers that had to be graded, as I wanted to provide each student with the lab average. Excel took care of the math for me.

An eager student arrived at 2:30 to see if the grades are ready. She was excited about the last assignment — creating a print ad for the Mizuno Wave Rider 13 running shoe. So I knew she’s interested in seeing how she did on the assignment. I told her that I still had 30 minutes until the deadline. She left but would be back.

Grade slips paperclipped to the lab assignment. An envelope prepared for each student’s materials. Then I found push pins so I could tack all the envelopes to my office bulletin board. I was pinning the envelopes to the board when the eager student returned. I happened to have her envelope in my hand at that very moment.

With a few minutes to spare, the grading was completed, the grades were calculated, and the materials were ready for pickup.

No pumpkins or mice.