I decided to have a quick write on my board and let my students take a journey into a little short story. When we came back from break, I let them know that ‘I don’t get it’ time was over. They had to at least give a try. When they read their daily writing out loud now, it begins, “I didn’t really get it, but…” and they read and, holy cow, they got it all right.

My quick write: You find a closed door. Write about what is on the other side of the door and why it is closed.

I didn’t really get it, but behind that door I found my past locked away. Everything I’ve ever done wrong, every time I was mean, even some illegal things I did. It was closed because I can say it is in my past now. I’m not that person anymore.

I said,”You got it. You definitely got it.”

I didn’t really get it, but behind that door was a quantum singularity. It was like a universe where I existed in another time and place. I went in and I saw myself as the person I always wanted to be. My old self, stuck in this universe, could see my real self behind that door. It was like I was looking in a mirror, and the door provided the reflection from that universe to this one. The me on this side was looking at the me on that side, and she really liked what she saw in me. I don’t ever want to lose the way to that door.

I was stunned. Almost every student shared a remarkable story about that door. I can’t wait for tomorrow’s. It was a good day to be a teacher.