Students don't seem to have a valid perception of distance, size, or direction. In many occasions, a student from the back of the room will point wildly at the blackboard, asking what I mean by that word.

It does little good to explain that there are a lot of words on the board and that I have no way of knowing which one she is referring to. She believes she has made her request quite clear, and is frustrated by the lack of an instant response.

I often explain that the only person who could point that far was Moses' maidservant, whose hand reached out to him (Vatishlach et amata) in the Red Sea. The rest of us have not been able to copy that ability.