I had a conversation with B today about differences she’s observed between my classroom and other teachers’ rooms, particularly with English I classes. She said that it’s not better or worse, just different. And apparently, the students are noticing and talking about it. “And if the students are talking about it, the parents will be soon, too.”

So the question is what makes me different from other English teachers on the hall? Well, with G, it’s experience: she’s just starting in eighth grade, and though she has experience in that grade, it’s well in the past. “I’m just following the curriculum guide and the book,” she’s told H and me several times.

With H, it’s a difference of teaching styles. I’m much less old-school. I don’t read things to them and then explain it. I don’t have whole-class discussions very often. I do a lot more collaborative work with the kids. I design lessons that don’t involve me doing much more than coaching them along the way. I let them struggle and get frustrated. I answer their questions with questions.

Overall, I think I’ve somehow managed to be more rigorous than other teachers. I expect a lot more of my students, and things in my class seem to have a more intellectual feel.

“The clearlest solution,” I told her, “is just to let me teach all the English I classes.”