God is creating teachers and discussing the specifications with an angel. Teachers must meet many requirements, including standing above students but being on their level, running on little sleep and food, and having more time for students than themselves. Most challenging are the three pairs of eyes: one to see students for who they are, not labels; one in back to see what should not be seen but must be known; and one in front to reflect understanding without words. The angel is skeptical but admires how the teacher can think, reason, and compromise. A tear on the teacher's cheek represents the joy in students' success but also the pain of not reaching all children. The angel realizes tears are a genius idea, and God says tears were