ON HAVING FAITH (AND TEACHING READING) BY KATE ROBERTS

It was the last period of the last day of my first year teaching.  My homeroom was noisily exiting after what I thought was a very rousing exit speech and Alicia was the last to leave. She paused. For a moment I thought she might apologize – for the violent outbursts, or the obscenities, or the general disrespect.  Or maybe, I thought, she was going to thank me. She looked back and grinned. I smiled hopefully.