FEBRUARY 2021 - AudioFile
While Kay's audiobook on discussing race focuses on skills for teachers, its theme is important for everyone, and David Sadzin’s narration engages listeners beyond the target audience. The title comes from Frederick Douglass's call to action, placed in the context of classroom learning. Students are too often given "light"—the "February soup" of Black History Month’s disconnected facts. Sadzin makes the case for "fire"—thoughtful learning environments that involve real student engagement. Kay critiques the "magic teacher” trope in popular culture, the belief that all teachers are young, iconoclastic, and naturally skilled, asserting that true learning requires planning and attention to detail. Sadzin's delivery is consistently focused, creating a rich learning environment that makes this listening experience vital. S.P.C. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2021, Portland, Maine
Kelly Gallagher
Thoughtful, timely, and beautifully written.
Sonja Cherry-Paul
This is the book we need to shift the "tried and tired" practice of touting empty rhetoric about race to a practice that puts us firmly on a pathway toward achieving racial equity. Matt is a master facilitator and shares the tools every teacher needs to hone their practice to make conversations about race commonplace.
Teaching Tolerance - Erika Smith
A reminder to educators to not sidestep or oversimplify conversations about race, but to engage students in them as scholars with voices and experiences that are just as important as those of the adult in the classroom.
Cornelius Minor
I found myself thinking, "How different would the field of education be if Matt Kay had advised John Dewey? How different would I be if Matt Kay had been my teacher?" The answer: radically so. He is that important, and his work on race is that essential.
Teach Me, Teacher Podcast - Jacob Chastain
I’m in love with Matthew’s book. He writes with clarity, passion, and backs up everything he says with experiences or history that hits you right in the chest. As an educator in the world today, we owe it to our students to listen to what Matthew Kay has to say.
From the Publisher
"I found myself thinking, 'How different would the field of education be if Matt Kay had advised John Dewey? How different would I be if Matt Kay had been my teacher?' The answer: radically so. He is that important, and his work on race is that essential." —Cornelius Minor
"A reminder to educators to not sidestep or oversimplify conversations about race, but to engage students in them as scholars with voices and experiences that are just as important as those of the adult in the classroom." —Erika Smith, Teaching Tolerance
"I can’t recommend this book highly enough for its scaffolding and stories on how to create a classroom culture that supports serious conversations about difficult topics....Having read this book, in many ways I feel I can’t return to the teacher I was....This is not a book to be skimmed in one sitting, but instead to be digested, then acted upon." —Sarah Cooper, Middleweb
"I’m in love with Matthew’s book. He writes with clarity, passion, and backs up everything he says with experiences or history that hits you right in the chest. As an educator in the world today, we owe it to our students to listen to what Matthew Kay has to say." —Jacob Chastain, literacy coach and producer, Teach Me, Teacher podcast
This is the book we need to shift the "tried and tired" practice of touting empty rhetoric about race to a practice that puts us firmly on a pathway toward achieving racial equity. Matt is a master facilitator and shares the tools every teacher needs to hone their practice to make conversations about race commonplace. —Sonja Cherry Paul
"Thoughtful, timely, and beautifully written." —Kelly Gallagher, author of In the Best Interest of Students and Readicide
FEBRUARY 2021 - AudioFile
While Kay's audiobook on discussing race focuses on skills for teachers, its theme is important for everyone, and David Sadzin’s narration engages listeners beyond the target audience. The title comes from Frederick Douglass's call to action, placed in the context of classroom learning. Students are too often given "light"—the "February soup" of Black History Month’s disconnected facts. Sadzin makes the case for "fire"—thoughtful learning environments that involve real student engagement. Kay critiques the "magic teacher” trope in popular culture, the belief that all teachers are young, iconoclastic, and naturally skilled, asserting that true learning requires planning and attention to detail. Sadzin's delivery is consistently focused, creating a rich learning environment that makes this listening experience vital. S.P.C. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2021, Portland, Maine
