How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #4
Miss Honey was feeling quite quivery. There was no doubt in her mind that she had met a truly extraordinary mathematical brain, and words like child-genius and prodigy went flitting through her head. She knew that these sorts of wonders do pop up in the world from time to time, but only once or twice in a hundred years. (7.58)
Amazingly, Miss Honey is only the second adult to realize how special Matilda is. She can tell Matilda needs to be nurtured, not put down. What's awesome about this scene is the physical reaction that Miss Honey has to Matilda's genius. She's so excited her spine is practically tingling. It's thrilling for her to meet such a wonder-kid, which tells us that Miss Honey is an awesome teacher. She revels in her students' achievements, even if they have nothing whatsoever to do with her.
Quote #5
[Miss Honey] felt wildly excited. She had just met a small girl who possessed, or so it seemed to her, quite extraordinary qualities of brilliance. There had not been time yet to find out exactly how brilliant the child was, but Miss Honey had learnt enough to realize that something had to be done about it as soon as possible. It would be ridiculous to leave a child like that stuck in the bottom form. (8.1)
Matilda is so awesome that Miss Honey does something she would never do otherwise: visit the terrible Trunchbull. That's some serious devotion to her student.
Quote #6
"It makes me vomit," she went on, "to think that I am going to have to put up with a load of garbage like you in my school for the next six years. I can see that I'm going to have to expel as many of you as possible as soon as possible to save myself from going round the bend." (13.7)
Unlike Miss Honey (and Mrs. Phelps, too), the Trunchbull is pretty much the worst teacher Shmoop can imagine. She sees a school as a place made worse by kids, rather than as a place designed to nurture them. Can you imagine if your principal called kids vomitous? Or garbage? Can you spell fired?