Journal: 1/24/06

Yesterday was a fine day of teaching. My classes, both at Pine Point and at Three Rivers, went smoothly and productively. I had carefully planned my lessons and was able to carry them out so effortlessly that I sometimes felt like I wasn’t doing anything at all – like some stronger force was in control and was carrying my students and I along toward successful teaching and learning. That’s the greatest feeling I have as a teacher – the feeling that I am part of something vast and wonderful as I go about my work in the classroom. It’s just a small room in a small school, but when things are going well, I feel like I’m at the center of an infinite, beautiful, and graceful force called “learning”. I feel like nothing can go wrong, perhaps like Kobe Bryant felt the other day when he effortlessly poured in 81 points. He couldn’t miss, and sometimes I feel that way as a teacher. On those “81 point days”, whatever words I or my students speak, whatever activities we do, all seem utterly perfect. It’s like we’re riding on a peaceful river, and wherever the river takes us is the perfect place to be. On days like that, Kobe couldn’t make a mistake if he tried, and neither can my students and I.