ONE YEAR WITH AN ENGLISH TEACHER

Day 124, April 8, 2008

Today I noticed "the pond effect" again. In my first morning class, I felt somewhat ill at ease at the beginning, sort of insecure and hesitant, almost as though I was a new teacher just feeling my way in the profession. (Strange, that this feeling still occasionally comes to me after all these years.) I began to think this was going to be a very unsuccessful class, and perhaps an unsuccessful day, and I found myself settling in to a mild case of "the blues". However, before very long the students and I started settling in a different way. Like a pond that's been stirred up and then left alone, we slowly began to calm down and get to work. I started teaching in an efficient manner, and the students started being productive learners. Before long, the blues had left me and I was once again a happy and grateful teacher.

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Some of the 9th graders told me today that they can "see" Great Expectations better now that they've been to England. Georgina said seeing the Thames in person helped her visualize last night's chapter, when Pip and Magwitch encountered Compeyson on the river. Her eyes sparkled as she told me how much fun it was to picture the Thames in her mind as she read the chapter.