But anyone who has spent a little volunteer time in their child's classroom knows that when those teachers are on, oh baby, are they on. Almost any other job I can think of offers a reasonable amount of time for a completed thought, an uninterrupted task, and when you sell the widget, you make a profit. None of your co-workers wet their pants, throw up on your desk, burst into tears or demand to show you their lost tooth. A teacher may get the occasional lecture completed, but interruptions are generally encouraged. Teachers certainly hope to get through that lesson each day, but curious young minds have a way of shredding the most precise plans.
Teachers know that is often when the best learning happens.
It seems to me that being an educator is the ultimate multi-tasking challenge. At the same time, they are looking at the book with one eye and glaring at some potential troublemaker with the other, often stopping him or her in his or her tracks. It's almost like watching a really skilled juggling act on the old Ed Sullivan show. What's spinning here, however, are young minds instead of plates on sticks. Often we take the many miracles that teachers accomplish for granted, but not last week.