We got used to the pattern.
When he came into the classroom, he’d have his satchel casually on his shoulder. He would place it on the desk and get only that which he needed for the session. Then he would never refer to his satchel again. Bearing in mind it was for the best part of an hour and fifty minutes, it was incredbible while went for a break midway through, he would still not refer to or touch that satchel.
Yet he had this pattern five minutes before the end of the session of nonchalantly putting the satchel over his shoulder. We weren’t allowed to pack up or look like we were packing up. And he didn’t pack up anything either, but he would put it on and then go thorugh a review of what we did in the session and what we needed to bear in mind for the next one. With each correct response he received he’d put something imaginary in his satchel. Once he’d got all the answers he was looking for, we’d be free to leave and then he’d pack up himself.
We got so used to how he operated, we even made it a competition to see how quickly we could satisfy him with the responses to questions. We knew he knew and he didn’t adjust himself for us as such, but we soon got tired of answering quickly because it was fun timing the state of the session by when he would pick up his satchel.
In the same way that we knew the time by when he picked up his satchel, so we would make our own internal preparations andshift our thinking from hyper session mode, to time to move on mode. We would never be caught out by end buzzers and bells because he had primed us so well.
It would be a big shame now, if we haven’t noticed when the satchel has been picked up.
(Photo by Álvaro Serrano on Unsplash)
For His Name’s Sake
Shalom
C. L. J. Dryden
Life With CD 