Hello

    After a long day of school, I was able to go home! All day, I managed to stay in the green zone!

    The green zone was for anyone who gets their homework done or listens to the teacher. The red zone was for anyone who does neither of those things. The yellow zone was in between. I always tried to stay in the green zone.

Beatrice

Green

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Yellow

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Red

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    As I walked through the door and into the living room, I saw my mom sitting on the couch. 

    “Do you have any homework, Beatrice?” my mom asked.

    “Yes,” I said wearily. “I have math homework.” Math homework was my least favorite thing ever!

*knock knock!*

    Suddenly, our conversion was interrupted when someone knocked on the door. 

    “I’ll get it!” I said. 

Do you want

 to hang out?

Come on, Beatrice!

    Behind the door, my friends, Patricia and Tommy, were asking to hang out.

Hello. 

    However, my mom reminded me I have homework. “You should do your homework first.” 

    “It’s fine, I’ll do it after,” I said, and went to hang out with Patricia and Tommy.

Hello. 

    After a couple hours of fun, I realized I should probably go home to start the homework. 

Bye!

See you tomorrow!

Homework

*ding!*

Hello. 

    I sat at the kitchen table and didn’t even get to the first problem when my phone dinged.

    It was a text from Sally, my other friend! She wanted to play Fortnite with me. 

    “One game can’t hurt,” I said to myself, and went to play Fortnite with Sally.

             Sally

 ————————

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         iMessage

Yes!

Do you want to play Fortnite?

Hello.

    Hours passed and I lost track of time. I glanced at the clock and noticed it was nearly 10 pm! I had to go to bed soon!

    I sprinted to the kitchen table to finish the homework. By the time I sat down, my eyelids could barely stay open, my head was throbbing, and all I wanted to do was go to sleep. 

    As much as I needed to do my homework, I literally couldn’t stay awake anymore. It would have to be a morning problem. 

    I went to bed feeling very upset. 

    “Why didn’t I just get my homework out of the way?” I thought to myself. 

    As I drifted off to sleep, I tried not to think about what my teacher, Mrs. Apple, would say in the morning.

    The next morning, I saw my mom in the kitchen. “Hi, Beatrice. Why are you so sad?” 

    I looked at her gloomily. “I didn’t get my homework done last night.” 

    “What?! Why? You had the whole night!” she exclaimed. 

    “I was hanging out with my friends,” I said.  

    “Well, next time, remember to do your homework first, then you can have fun. You need to learn to put first things first.”

Hello>

    On the walk to school, I thought about what my mom said. She said I needed to learn to put first things first. “Maybe she’s right. I should have done my work first,” I said quietly to myself.

Hello. 

    When I finally got to my classroom, Patricia, Sally, and Tommy were all there. They noticed I was upset. 

What's wrong?

Are you okay?

Hello. 

   “I didn’t get my homework done last night,” I told them. “I was too busy hanging out with you.” 

    Just then, Mrs. Apple came over. “Beatrice, what’s wrong?”

   I took a deep breath. I didn’t want to confess to Mrs. Apple. But I knew it was the right thing to do. 

    “I didn’t get my homework done because I was hanging out with my friends.” 

    “Beatrice, that’s why you should get certain things out of the way first. When you get home tonight, make sure you do your homework first,” said Mrs. Apple.

    “However…” Mrs. Apple continued. “Despite you telling me the truth, that doesn’t change the fact that you didn’t get your work done.” I held my breath. I knew what was coming. “Move your clip to the yellow zone.”    

Green

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Yellow

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Red

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Beatrice

Hello. 

    I thought about Mrs. Apple’s advice on the way home. Even though I was in the yellow zone, I could show Mrs. Apple that I deserved to be in the green zone.

Hello. 

    I was finally home, and now I could do my homework right away for tomorrow. 

    “How was your day?” my mom asked. 

    “It was good. I’m in the yellow zone, but I will get to the green zone tomorrow.” 

    “Okay, then.”

    I began my homework, solving equations left and right. But suddenly, someone knocked on the door. 

    “I’ll get it,” I said.

Hello. 

    Patricia and Tommy were at the door, asking to hang out again.