"Window in Sun", oil on board, by Fred Bell

Teaching Journal
Day 88, Wednesday, February 4, 2009

I noticed that a girl who was the ‘teaching assistant’ in her class today spoke with great dignity and poise. She held her head high, said each word slowly and meticulously,  and made it a point to compliment many of her classmates for their contributions to the discussion. In some ways, she showed more composure and self-assurance than any other TA this year. It was impressive to me -- and, I hope, to her.

* * * *

We had shortened classes in the morning, but for some reason, my 30-minute classes seemed more profitable than many of my full-length ones. The kids were on the alert from start to finish, much good work was done, and we reached all the goals I had set forth in my planning. Perhaps this is what happens when a teacher makes a good thing come in a small package, or cuts a long story short, or makes short work of a lesson, or gets through a class in short order. Whatever it was, it was a short and sweet experience for this teacher.