I taught several courses this summer. My two weeks at the end of August were open, but I went right into another class on September 4th. Although I have worked with students in a number of different courses in our program, for the previous and present 84-hour course, I'm teaching the same thing. I am going in during the same days of the week for the same number of hours. I am using the same textbook. In fact, even my daily-work packets are identical. Moreover, a similar number of students are attending.
Nothing seems the same this time around, however! I'm awestruck by the enormous uniqueness in tone and study habits when teaching a different set of individuals. The unique people of a class are the variables which even educational administrators might fail to appreciate. What happens in a class is very dependant upon the mixture of students and their special motivations.