The Top Of Their Game

I mourn my students from last year. Specifically, my students from last hour, last year. They were world-class chair-straighteners, by cracky! Olympic caliber. Chair-straighteners without equal. The creme de la creme of chair-straighteners. Chair-straightening mavens, if you will. They wrote the book on chair-straightening. If you look up chair-straighteners in the dictionary, you see their picture.

This year's class? Meh. They go through the motions. Put a desk foot on the tile corner. Let the other three reside where they may. Sometimes they'll push their chairs all the way in. My classroom looks like something out of a Richard Scarry book. But without the worm in the hat and bow tie. It looks busy. Nothing lined up right. Corners akimbo.

I mourn my students from last year. I'm still looking for a specific talent from this year's group. I'm sure they'll surprise me when I least expect it. Otherwise, it wouldn't be a surprise. Right?