The Teacher-Genie Grants One Wish
A student opens a copy of Euclid’s Elements and a dark spirit emerges from the pages of the book.
Teacher-Genie: I am the teacher-genie. I will grant you one educational wish.
Student: What? Really?
Teacher-Genie: Really.
Student: I can have whatever I want?
Teacher-Genie: That’s the deal.
Student: I want an A in Geometry class.
Teacher-Genie: It is done. You have an A in Geometry class.
Student: Whoa. Awesome. This is fantastic news. Now I’m at the top of my class.
Teacher-Genie: That’s… not exactly true.
Student: (confused) What? Why?
Teacher-Genie: All the other students in your Geometry class have A++++’s. You are actually at the bottom of your class.
Student: (outraged) This is a horrible miscarriage of justice.
Teacher-Genie: I gave you an A, though. I gave you exactly what you asked for. Check your report card. You have an A in Geometry.
Student: But now it doesn’t mean anything!
Teacher-Genie: It never meant anything.
Joshua Gibbs
Joshua Gibbs is the director of The Classical Teaching Institute at The Ambrose School. He is the author of Something They Will Not Forget and Love What Lasts. He is the creator of Proverbial and the host of In the Trenches, a podcast for teachers. In addition to lecturing and consulting, he also teaches classic literature through GibbsClassical.com.
