85 days

I read Educating Esme, a journal written during a teacher's first year in a undergrad education course. In it, she writes, "When someone asks me, "How was your day?," I never know what to answer. I have thirty-one days every day, a different day with each child. A good day with Ruben, a rough day with Billy ... it's too much."

Although it didn't mean much to me as a college student, as a teacher I can completely identify with Esme's struggles. I sit down to write with one thought, "How was my day?" But the answer is too complicated.

I am

• frustrated with G because he seems to have given in my class


• so fond of C, who is sweet and helpful and seems to have kept her innocence in a non-innocent world


• astonished by D and M, two very loud, defiant girls who created an interpretive dance of a star's lifecycle to the tune of "The Circle of Life"


• proud of M (another M!), who stayed after school for two hours to draw an incredibly detailed picture of the solar system for my class


• baffled by C, a brilliant boy who can't stay still or focused long enough to successfully complete a project

A comparison of statistics:

Students I made cry yesterday: 1
Students I made cry today: 0

Number of lunch detentions handed out yesterday: 4
Number of lunch detentions handed out today: 0

Number of students who walked out of my class yesterday: 1
Number of students who walked out of my class today: 2

A good day? A bad day? Who knows?