Game Face

As I slowly move from vacation mode back to game time, I had to chuckle at this quote from The Boy in the Box:

There is a moment, just before curtain, when a transformation takes place, when players leave behind their ordinary beings and become their larger, dramatic selves. It happens whether the stage is large or small, the audience a handful or in the thousands. It happens whether the actors are famous or unknown. And although he could not have described it in words, Sullivan felt it happen. He even saw it in Master Melville's face just before going on - he became eager, smiling and confident.

Isn't that how teaching is? Just before the morning bell, a transformation takes place and teachers leave behind their ordinary beings and become their larger, kinder, wiser, insightful, dramatic selves. Okay...maybe not every day - but it happens sometimes! I also love how he describes everything when the show is over:

When the last bottle was sold and the last audience member had wandered off, the performers had to clean up, for the crowd had left behind food wrappers and plastic bottles and paper cups on the grass. The slow had already begun to face, leaving behind simple fatigue. And there was something else that Sullivan sensed, almost a feeling of loss, or emptiness.

Yup. I'm looking forward to getting back!