Within the culture of academe, it is unfashionable to speak of "loving" students. [Some scholars such as bell hooks might get away with it, but even she uses the more sophisticated, more respectable (i.e., less "loaded") term "eros."] Thus, teachers never have to confront this unspeakability: institutionalized codes discourage such thoughts, much less utterances, from ever taking place. What do I do in this climate, given that much of my pedagogy (and, I believe, much of the success of my pedagogy) is predicated on precisely these feelings? I BREAK THE SILENCE and go on to talk about it anyway, recognizing the inadequacy of language but still remembering what I feel and think when I stand in front of my classroom. I look around the room and see all the smiling faces of my students as we begin a discussion. Every time, I'm struck by how cool they are and how much I love them.

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