Trooping on

The past two days have witnessed my first planned lesson at My school, a lesson about "A Clean, Well-Lighted Place" by Ernest Hemmingway, which I have to say is one of the more beautiful stories I've ever read. It has some awesome lines, such as "He did not wish to be unjust. He was only in a hurry." And the phrase "All those who need a light for the night." Hemmingway's understatement indicates an incredibly deep current beneath the surface and I want to chuck a Robin Williams and shout out "Dive, my children! Dive beneath the surface!" Perhaps such urges towards eccentricity will let themselves unfurl when the classroom is my own.
I noticed that the students who were involved in reading the story grew very invested in it-- and became invested in themselves and their classroom behavior. Even though the behavior problems were numerous today, there are those cracks of light, those students who get personally invested, those students who you see getting it. It's those students who have to motivate me every morning, even when I miss my daily coffee jolt.