Colleen had created the gestures, she explained, so that she could subtly correct students’ misbehavior without interrupting the flow of her lesson. At the beginning of each year, she taught the three gestures explicitly. For the first few weeks, every time she used one, she would say its name too. But pretty soon, she could pull off performances like the one Doug had witnessed. When she said, “The food in Mrs. Driggs’ refrigerator is scarce because the inconsiderate guests came over and ate almost all of it,” the only person who noticed that she’d also gripped her hands in prayer just between
...more
