To Topple a Tyrant
December 3rd, 2006It’s less politically correct now, so I use it less, but I used to regularly inform my students that my classroom was a dictatorship and not a democracy.
With that sort of attitude, how could some poor intern hope to get teaching opportunities from me? Of course we planned some, but other than that I assumed she would spend most of her time observing. Unable to surrender control, I was.
It started with a sore throat Tuesday night. At Youth Group Wednesday night I “helped out” by collapsing into a typical youth room chair— an armchair that had long since grown too shabby and broken for an actual house—and managed to remain awake the entire time. I took Nyquil that night (the best part of being sick, of course) and went to bed early, but woke up at around one in the morning with symptoms which I will avoid describing here, lest I drive away my vast readership. It was about then that I decided…”I can’t teach tomorrow…my intern will have to do it…”
She did a great job…and the control barrier has been breached, though at an uncomfortably high price. I’ll try to make sure that my temporary relinquishing of my powers is extended to cover her entire time with me.