David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants

You have to really be on top of your
game when you have that many kids in a
classroom so that over there in a corner,
they’re not just talking about something
that has nothing to do with what they’re
supposed to be working on.”
But then she made a confession. She
liked teaching that class. It was one of
the best years of her career. The great
struggle for someone teaching math to
twelve- and thirteen-year-olds is to
make it seem exciting—and twenty-nine
kids was exciting. “There were so many
more peers to interact with,” she said.
“They weren’t always relating with just
this one group. There was more
opportunity to vary your experiences.