We had been doing polynomial long division which spooks a lot of the kids. There’s a lot of writing involved in that procedure, and you have to be meticulously neat. They prefer synthetic division where you just write down numbers instead of all those pesky variables, and it’s easier to stay neat.
It was morning before school. My students know I’m always there then if they need help.
He was sitting at a desk closer to the front than where he usually sits. He didn’t really need help per se. He just wanted to do the homework there in case he had questions.
She came in for help, too. I must have been working with someone else, because she went over to where he was sitting and they began talking. I looked up and watched.
He leaned over and stared at her paper. He said something quietly and wrote something down. Then he pushed the paper back and gave her the pencil.
“Now you do it,” he said. “Write that down.”
That’s how it’s supposed to work!