It was Friday. We were studying how to solve systems of equations with three variables by substitution. And we had finished the lesson 10 minutes early. I was bushed. (I had been sick earlier in the week and was still fighting it off. My voice had barely lasted.)
I stopped writing at the document camera and looked at the students.
“I don’t know about you, but I’m tired!”
There was a murmuring of agreement and consent for the statement that they suspected was coming next.
“Let’s call it quits,” I declared. “It’s Friday, after all. And the lesson’s done. I give you back ten minutes.”
They all immediately took out their phones. A still silence descended on the room. I turned on the lights.
One of the students was still looking at the board. He had been following closely during the whole lesson — quite a feat, since there was a lot of … algebra… involved.
“That was fun,” he said.
“It was fun?” I asked. “Hey that’s great.”
He quickly walked it back.
“Well, not fun fun,” he said. “It was interesting.”
Good enough for me.