Nice and a little strict ...

I had avoided reading this article in our local paper this week, because I figured something about it would probably piss me off. Education articles frequently do. But I was tipped off tonight that I should read it, and was surprised to see quotes from these two spokespeople for responsible classroom placements:

Two students at Emerson Elementary on Madison's East Side, fourth-grader Lilly Jenssen and her brother, Owen, a first-grader, said they're hoping to be assigned to teachers who are nice — although Owen allowed that "sometimes strict teachers teach you more things."

I'm so proud. Those are my former students! I had Lilly for kindergarten and first grade, and Owen for kindergarten. And yup, sometimes I had to use my strict teacher voice. But mostly I was nice.

The funny thing was, the tip-off came from Owen and Lilly's parents, whom I bumped into at Mr. Ether's gig tonight. They were out on a date, while our daughter was babysitting for Owen and Lilly. Sometimes this town seems so darned small!