All of these teachers knew their subject matter. The questions they raised with students made it clear that it was OK not to know the details, but not OK not to pursue the answers. These teachers were enthusiastic about their subject matter, as though what was going on at that moment was the most important thing ever. They connected their content to everything they did.
One school had a science class for gifted and talented students. The science teacher lived and breathed science. One morning when I arrived at school—at 5:30 a.m., as was my habit—a car was already parked out in front. In it were a sleepy-eyed father and his twin daughters who were in 4th grade. As I walked toward the car, the girls were already bounding out the door. The father rolled down his window and said, "I hope it's all right for me to bring them. They said you'd be here, and they're sure the chicks in the lab hatched overnight. They couldn't wait to come. You know, they help the science teacher in the lab every morning."