A student came into my classroom one day after school last week. She wanted help going over some problems. She found a spot to sit and took the chair down from the desk. We started working problems.
I would help her a bit and then suggest that she see how far she could get while I worked on the other side of the room packing up my teacher stuff for summer. After a while, she would ask for help. We would work together, and then she’d work alone again.
We spent much time in this back-and-forth. At least an hour, and then she came back the next day to continue. She was patient, even when the problems were difficult. I’m not sure how deeply she absorbed the material, but then ask yourself how deeply you absorbed algebra when you took it.
When we were done, she packed her things and got ready to leave. She turned and looked at me.
“You know, Mister, today is Teacher’s Day in Mexico.”
“It is?”
“So…” she said, searching briefly for the words, “…Happy Day!”
I smiled broadly and said thank you. Then she went to catch her ride.