class time

To those interested in learning about what it is like to be a teacher or about complications that arise in the field or about the state of education here & abroad, consider reading one or both of the following books:

1.  Educating Esme ~ Diary of a teacher’s first year   by Esme Raji Codell

2.  To Miss With Love ~ One inspirational teacher.  One extraordinary year.  Hope & heartbreak on the front lines of an inner-city school.   by Katharine Birbalsingh

An excellent description of the second book’s main points can be found here:  http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/bookreviews/8362188/To-Miss-with-Love-by-Katharine-Birbalsingh-review.html

Educating Esme was entertaining & inspiring.  To Miss With Love was quite an eye opener…the author brilliantly captures the big picture & consistently reaches for what is best for each pupil.  Excerpts from the book:

• “parents are everything…”
• “I think it’s our job to help all children, whatever their class or colour, to achieve their potential.”
• “I feel for those poor children, both bright and not so bright, who are being taught, or indeed not taught, in a system of political fantasy…”

Praise for teachers.  And, by the way, if you are a parent, you are a teacher, too!  24/7 by example & environment & dialogue…

“A teacher affects eternity:  he can never tell where his influence stops.” 

~ Henry Adams

Tags: books about teaching, Educating Esme, first year teaching, Katharine Birbalsingh, school systems, schools