HECHINGERREPORT | Sixth-grader Audrianna Lesieur had just finished arranging 23 words on scraps of paper into five columns when Val Seamons appeared at her side. “Why is this over here?” the veteran teacher asked. Audrianna scooped up the word in question and anxiously scanned the columns for its proper home. “Where’s your ‘Confidence’ strength?” Seamons asked. “Tell me why it’s here.” As Audrianna lifted her bowed head, her classmate William Maestas chimed in, “You can do it!” With that, she ably defended her original choice, and Seamons bustled down the table to the next student.