Defense week began on a Wednesday. Ms. Nair had explained at the start of the school year that she sometimes recorded class sessions to review her own teaching practice and had done so consistently all term — always noted on the board at the start of class. By October, students had stopped registering the small recorder on the corner of her desk. She started it at the beginning of each defense session as she always did, without announcement.
The first two days were straightforward. Sonia defended an argument about whether schools should teach students to manage money, and when Ms. Nair asked why she’d used the example in her second paragraph, Sonia explained exactly where she’d come across it and why she found it convincing. Deacon went on Thursday afternoon. His topic was whether the school library should extend its opening hours.
He had clearly done his work on his argument — he answered every question directly, and by the final one, the slight tremble that had been in his voice at the start was gone entirely. Ms. Nair wrote “excellent” on his sheet. She meant it.