Any questions?

Learning. I'm a teacher. You'd think, wouldn't you, that I would have a lot to say about learning. Teachers, at least the best of us, are always learning. Always. Here's the story of a day I learned an important lesson.

I was substitute teaching in a wonderful K-8 school during the last week of August. Ragweed was blooming, and pollen was flying. The livin' was easy, unless you were a kid with hay fever.
It was eighth grade social studies, third hour, American History. The boy in the front row three was sniffling so often and so hard he was almost snorting.
That's when I made my mistake.
"Ryan, do you need a tissue?" asked the naive substitute teacher (me).
"No, thanks, I just swallow it." replied Ryan.

The moral of the story: Never ask a question unless you really, really want the answer.


This post is entered in Scribbit's Write-Away contest for September. Check her out; the submissions are always, always, fun to read.

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