There are no real kings and queens in my English classes, no princes and princesses with regal robes, no private privileges for important people, and yet I hope you would feel a touch of majesty if you visited Room 2. There’s magnificence present wherever people give of themselves in the simplest and most sincere manner, and I trust that happens fairly regularly in my classroom. When we come to my classroom, it’s my hope that we can take off the defensive armor of shyness and self-centeredness, and put on our capes of quiet wisdom. I hope we can sit with each other in the everyday radiance of acceptance and understanding. There’s dignity in dealing with each other in kindhearted ways, and a certain splendor is present when students and teacher take each other seriously in conversation. We have no thrones in Room 2, but the grandeur of giving the gift of seriously listening to each other is, I hope, all around us. My basic lesson plan, day after day, is to sit with my students in the midst of the everyday stateliness of consideration and trust.
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