A Night Teachers Dream Of

My class tonight was amazing. I've finally been "back in" long enough that I can get enough lead time to actually choose a book, and this was the first time in years I've used any of the readings from my favorite textbook for discussion. I had assigned a short piece from Machiavelli, and tonight we did an in-class exercise on Lao-Tzu to compare the two extremes of government. Even though students had told me they had zero interest in government or politics, they were genuinely interested and involved in the discussion. Not one student kept quiet, and the discussion had a respectful tone throughout. Not only did they develop an appreciation for the subjects they thought they didn't like; they also learned and gained new perspectives. Without a doubt, this class meeting was in my top five all-time classes. That's saying a lot!