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Mr. Cusack’s teaching is an inspiration for finding ways around a challenge, rather than giving up on or disciplining a child.
I feel like we are aboard a ship lost at sea, wondering what dangers await us. The words sit on the page like islands in the ocean: isolated, immovable, and unforgiving. I see our perilous position, and I realize we are trying to stay adrift in a life raft, unsure of everything except the unpalatable threat of shipwrecks and danger.
Then the words—the worst ones—spew out from my mouth in utter desperation. “Our boat is going to sink because you aren’t working hard enough, Nicholas.” Like he is responsible for captaining the ship. Distress. Distraught. Utter desperation. I put the books away. Nicholas is quiet, and I am utterly exhausted. We have drowned, together.
The test of a good teacher is not how many questions he can ask his pupils that they will answer readily, but how many questions he inspires them to ask him which he finds hard to answer. —ALICE WELLINGTON ROLLINS
Walking with a friend in the dark is better than walking alone in the light. —HELEN KELLER
“Yes!” I grimace in reply. “I read this paper by Professor Brian Cambourne. It’s called Beyond the Deficit Theory.” I nod. “How about that for a title?” “What was it about? It sounds like it gives some hope with the word ‘Beyond.’ Did it give hope?” “Not really! In fact, I wanted to turn into the Wicked Witch of the West! I wanted to fire up my cauldron, hop on my broomstick, ride up and down the street, and screech ‘The information is in the library! The information is in the library!’” Acting out parts of the Wicked Witch helps my frustration before I take another sip of water, calming
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Their reading ability is an indictment of society—our society as a whole—where being different costs.