Being a teacher, I emphasize that determination means we will spend our time learning. We have firmness in our purpose to keep going. School years are long, especially for students.

First, a brain lesson. The speed time passes is determined by active memory, based off how many years of life one can remember. Students who are 15 remember from being age 7 so have an 8 year span of memory. That means one year to them a school year is an eighth of their life. Let’s just say for me that a school year is now less than 2% of my life’s memory.

Second, I am most proud when students remain determined to spend the time on learning in spite of conditions.

For years I had the hottest room in the building, a second floor room where the sun comes over the rooftop to shine in from 11am until the end of the day. To say we cook in there is far from an exaggeration. In fact, it is literal.

I brought an egg and some tin foil to school and one afternoon during class pulled them out. Walking to back of the room with both items, students followed my movement like a cat follows a ball on a string. They watched with curiosity as I laid the foil on the tiles which made the windowsill, cracked the egg and poured it onto my foil. Without speaking I walked back to the front to continue teaching. It was about five minutes later when a nervous student close to the experiment announced, “Mr. DeWitt, it’s bubbling.” We declared that the egg officially was cooking on my windowsill without any suppled heat source. Conclusion: we were in an oven.

Hope you have a Happy Friday.