Really Good and Leaves

Thursday, November 2. 2023

I subbed in special ed today and was treated to a master class in language arts teaching. It was fabulous. The teacher I subbed for team teaches for two hours each day with an absolutely terrific teacher. The building sub was in the room when I arrived, and he said he had prep first hour and chose to spend the hour in this class. I thought that was interesting, and that perhaps there were a lot of behavior issues that needed to be addressed and he was there to help. Within 5 minutes, I realized he was there just to watch a master work.

They started with some grammar – correcting mistakes in sentences written on the board. That is a pretty standard language arts activity; what surprised me was how many people wanted to answer and how well they did. The day’s lesson was on perception. They did a couple writing activities and everyone participated with enthusiasm. ENTHUSIAM from 8^th graders being asked to write. How cool was that?

It wasn’t the activities that were great. It was the teacher. It was the way he talked, how he put things, that made it great. Every student seemed to be engaged. Everyone participated. I wanted to memorize everything he said and how he said it. What an absolute joy!

Then I came home and moved leaves. I know it looks like Keith is moving leaves, but I helped.