The classroom

After Psalm 25:1-10

Noisy and shoving,

we crowd

into the room;

the teacher stands,

frowning and mute.

Noise and shoving

continue. I catch

his eye as he catches

mine.

The question asked.

My nod responds.

I want to know,

I want to learn,

I want to hear

his instructions

to know the truth

of what is right.

Photograph by Church of the King via Unsplash. Used with permission.

What a teacher knows

The education courses

and seminars and programs

at conventions can’t teach

the teachers the one critical

skill she needs: how to calm

and control 20 seventh-graders

while she simultaneously

tries to fix the only resistant

technology in the classroom:

the video player.

Photograph by Petr Kratochvil via Public Domain Pictures. Used with permission.