Emma - Ten Years Later. Princeton, New Jersey.
“Eyes up here, Year Three,” I called, tapping the whiteboard with my marker. “Who remembers the rule for adding two-digit numbers?”
Hands shot up everywhere.
“Alright, Mateo. Try it.”
He squinted at the problem on the board. “Umm… carry the… uh…”
“You’ve got it,” I encouraged. “Tell us.”
“Carry the tens?” he said slowly.
“Exactly. Well done.” I gave him a thumbs-up, and the class clapped like he had solved world hunger.
“Miss Harlow,” Jasmine piped up from the front, “can I do the next one?”
“Only if you promise not to dance while answering this time.”
She grinned. “No promises!”
The class giggled. I turned back to the board and wrote another problem.
“Okay, everyone solve this in your notebooks. Five minutes. Go.”
Chairs scraped
