ABSTRACT
I once had a student teacher who was conducting a lesson for my seventh grade class. I remember a student raising her hand and asking about the definition of theme. The student teacher identified it incorrectly, actually confusing the concept with simile. (Don’t ask.) The kids who knew better began a classroom rumble that could have led to a Language Arts rebellion had I not interrupted politely and clarified; after all, we were doing some test preparation and the last thing these kids needed was to get their content derailed at this point in our preparation. Afterwards, I asked the teacher why he hadn’t looked up to me for help or, better yet, asked the students. He answered, “I didn’t know you could.”
