They're Writing Today

I love the booming silence of students deep in thought.  My classroom is usually a place of witty conversation, lively laughter, and healthy debate; occasionally we even have musical accompaniment.   But today, the room is thickly hushed as the students write.  Their heads bent over their papers, they are like umbrellas above their essays.  One hand expertly holds the sheets still while the other fills the page with words.  Every so often, the writers pause, raise their heads, and look around the room. They squint, yawn, stretch --  then refocus on the page in front of them. Quiet and slow, their pens and pencils leak their thoughts onto the page. Quiet and slow.  I love the noise of their learning.