Introduction

As she walked down the hallway toward the fourth grade classroom, Polly glanced at her watch. Two minutes until the start of another classroom observation. She stops, hoists up onto her shoulder a book bag teeming with papers and curriculum materials, and turns to tell me one last thing.

“I explained to her,” she said, “that it is a privilege to be in her classroom, to be with a teacher who cares so much about kids. I also told her that it took all the courage I could muster to tell her the truth.' I said, ‘It isn't enough to love them and go page by page in the math book.’ I continued, ‘It's November, and we are going to have to work hard together ...