|
We've all had teachers we've loved and teachers we've hated. My list of teachers I've
loved includes 1) Mrs. Swan (Kindergarten): Always very nice and had great peanut and
marshmallow parties, and 2) Mr. Johnson (Professor of Communication): Didn't cringe when I
submitted my television news projects on newsworthy events such as "Dressing Up at
the Goodwill Store" and "Barry Williams --- TV's 'Greg Brady' Lives On ---
Groovy!." And, of course, among the teachers I hated were 1) Mr. Pickles (6th Grade
Substitute): His name was Mr. Pickles, and 2) Bonna Strange (High School PE): She told my
dad I was on drugs because I did my jumping jacks funny.
We could all make these kinds of lists, and I'm guessing that when Esme Raji Codell's
students come up with teacher lists of their own, she will be one of their favorites. Her
revealing and humorous book, EDUCATING ESME: Diary of a Teacher's First Year, describes
her trials and tribulations on the road to educating our youth.
Incompetent administrators won't get in her way. Neither will abusive parents, gang
members, weary teachers, angry children, dimwitted principals, and her own insecurities.
She's in the classroom to teach and she's doing it with her own style, whether it be
cha-cha dancing during multiplication lessons or performing in front of at-risk students
in the library. Throw that old teacher manual out the window (and into a garbage bin,
littering on school grounds is strictly forbidden), Esme's in town.
"Little thoughts:...Kyle performs better in math if I let him stand on his head
whenever he wants. Ashworth could be a children's author and illustrator someday, his
drawings are so bold, his writing so direct. Ruben draws muscle men in his journal but
hides from the gangs after school in the public library."
Do you want to know what happens within the hallowed halls of public school? Do you want
to know what teachers put up with, what teachers delight in, what teachers learn from
themselves? EDUCATING ESME will enlighten you.
My college friend Randy is actually fairly new to the teaching profession. He graduated a
few years ago and now is an up-and-coming history teacher at a nearby high school. I can't
imagine what a teacher must go through each and every day (the snickering kids in the back
of the room, the fights in the hallway, the noise, noise, noise, noise, noise!). But he
does it well and he loves it --- it's rewarding and challenging and something that kids
can't do without (someone to teach them and someone to look up to).
Esme feels the same way in her daily triumphs and failures in the classroom. "The
kids like the Greek myths. We've been studying them for a few weeks. They were impressed
that Cronus ate his children. I think some of them have fathers who have dispositions like
Cronus. They loved the story of the kidnapping of Persephone, especially when I ripped
open the pomegranate, fruit of the dead, and red juice dribbled down my wrists.
Ohhhhhh!"
This is a great book for parents, for teachers, and for anyone concerned about today's
education system. If they have people like Esme and my friend Randy around, there's
nothing to fear.
PS...Pay teachers more money!
--- Reviewed by Jonathan Shipley
© Copyright 1996-2010, Bookreporter.com. All rights reserved.
|
