Journal: 2/1/06

Yesterday was a day of pleasant surprises. To start with, I was surprised to find that a moment or two of quiet spiritual reading just before class can be of assistance in helping me be a better teacher. On a couple of occasions yesterday I briefly listened, in between classes, to an audio version of a wonderful book about living in the present moment, and I found it to be pertinent and inspiring. It was just what I needed to elevate my teaching a bit, to give me that extra push that might transform me, next period, from a fairly dull teacher into a more interesting one. I was also surprised that, after suffering through a partially frustrating day of teaching on Monday, I had four splendid classes yesterday. I especially enjoyed the 9th graders, who were utterly attentive and responsive as we discussed and read a chapter from A Tale of Two Cities. On Monday, some of them had been a bit disorderly during class, causing me to grow discouraged about my teaching, but yesterday they were back to being model students, as they normally are. I even heard – and this was the nicest surprise of the day – one of the 9th graders say, “Oh, I wish the book [A Tale of Two Cities] wasn’t ending!” I’ve been teaching a long, long time, and I’m not sure I’ve ever heard a student say something like that about a truly classic book we were studying. It was a heartening thing to hear, and it actually brought a tear to my eye, later, when I reflected back on it. In a universe that surprises me moment after moment, yesterday was typically astounding