Teaching One thing becomes clear enough...teaching as the orderly and scripted conveyance of information...is simply a myth. Teaching is much larger and much more alive than that; it contains more pain and conflict, more joy and intelligence, more uncertainty and ambiguity. It requires more judgement and intensity and energy than, on some days, seems humanly possible. Teaching is spectacularly unlimited. When students describe us, the picture becomes even denser and more layered. Teachers are good and bad, kind and mean, unjust and fair, arbitrary and evenhanded, thoughtful and stupid. For our students we embody the human world and we are, next to parents, among the strongest representatives of and guides into the world. The hopes and dreams of youth are in our hands, their goals and aspirations are shaped through their encounters with us. Positive memories of teachers are reserved for particular and special people; the teacher who touched your heart, the teacher who understood you or cared about you as a person, the teacher whose passion for something - music, math, Latin, kites - was infectious and energising. In any case, teachers are a large presence in the lives of students; we take up a lot of space and we have a powerful impact. This is why I chose teaching, to share my #life with young people, to shape and touch the future.' This writer read my mind