Volume One In A Series

My wife was kind enough to create a compilation of all of my "teacher" blogs from the past year. I found it a little intimidating, and a little satisfying. It told me that I tend to go on and on about my job - at least from time to time. The most comforting part of knowing this comes from having a marginally interesting job. A great friend of mine, and fellow blogger, has reminded me more than once that having a bad day is a blessing, as it will most certainly yield a good blog.
With this year behind me, I look forward to the fall with mild anticipation, as it will be my tenth year of teaching. Shouldn't this be easier now? I've got almost a decade of experience, so why does each day rise up and taunt me? I learned in my first year the power that knowledge has: Being smarter than all the other people in the room gives you power. I learned the power that ignorance has: Being ignorant can empty a room of reason faster than any good idea. When I give up the light of knowledge, I stumble through the darkness of ignorance - usually bumping my head in the process.
I taught a kid how to do long division yesterday. It was in summer school. He's a smart enough kid, but he never quite got the hang of the process. I worked with him for about eight minutes and then turned him loose. It was a lot like watching someone take off on a bicycle without training wheels for the first time. I know there will be some collisions with large objects and disagreements with gravity, but he's got the idea. I told him I could see that his brain grew just a little because his ears were a little further apart than when he came in.
So there it is, another teaching moment. They don't come every day, but when they do I like to wallow in them. Over on 1 painting every day Jeremiah Palecek is knocking out a new picture every twenty-four hours. That's impressive.