Whenever I got discouraged before, I would sit in front of my forty little people and start to divide the class into sections of eight. I would encourage myself by thinking about the eight little people that are awaiting me in the next season of my life. A fifth of the furniture, a fifth of the books to mark, a fifth of ‘homework not done’ letters to write…… So the list goes on. My 'teacher dream' had became a prison with walls built out of heavy structures, seemingly meaningless admin and very strict policies.