Having April Fool’s day fall on the weekend just seems wrong to me. My favourite pranks, always, were the ones I played on my high school morning classes. I could rant ridiculously about their unseemly behaviour, their shameful marks, or their pathetic attitudes. Even better, I would spring a surprise test on them that accounted for an absurd proportion of their grades, or lay out for them the details of an impossibly lengthy and complex project to be completed within days. And let me say this: I kept eye contact and I never cracked a smile. I was ferocious.

Until it was time for tee-hee. The battle between relief and indignation on my students’ faces was almost as fun to watch as the just-ended one where disbelief duked it out with resentment. And then I’d go for a very short walk and a good long chuckle. I don’t miss everything about teaching school, but I do miss that. I hope I’ve been forgiven.