ABSTRACT
Just after Christmas I was walking down the hall in a K-6 elementary school. On the stairway I encountered a friend, a fourth grade teacher.
I said, “Hi, Ellen [not her real name, of course]. How are you today?” She groaned. “It’s almost report card time! Do you really need to ask?” I shrugged with what I hoped was the appropriate amount of sympathy. “You know,” she went on in an agonized voice, “I don’t know why I leave
grading papers till the last minute.” She looked at me as if I might be able to enlighten her.
