Real Talk for Real Teachers: Advice for Teachers from Rookies to Veterans: "No Retreat, No Surrender!"

by Rafe Esquith

Overview

The New York Times–bestselling author and world-renown teacher offers no-nonsense wisdom for teachers of all ages

There’s no one teachers trust more to give them classroom advice than Rafe Esquith. After more than thirty years on the job, Esquith still puts in the countless classroom hours familiar to every dedicated educator. But where his New York Times bestseller Teach Like Your Hair’s on Fire was food for a teacher’s mind, Real Talk for Real Teachers is food for a teacher’s soul.

Esquith candidly tackles the three stages of life for the career teacher and offers encouragement to see them through the difficult early years, advice on mid-career classroom building, and novel ideas for longtime educators. With his trademark mix of humor, practicality, and boundless compassion, Esquith proves the perfect companion for teachers who need a quick pick-me-up, a long heart-to-heart, or just a momentary reminder that they’re not alone.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780143125617
Publisher:	Penguin Publishing Group
Publication date:	06/24/2014
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	336
Sales rank:	423,455
Product dimensions:	5.10(w) x 7.70(h) x 1.00(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Rafe Esquith has taught at Hobart Elementary School in Los Angeles for twenty-eight years. He is the only classroom teacher to have been awarded the president’s National Medal of the Arts. His many other honors and awards include the American Teacher Award and People magazine’s Heroes Among Us Award. He lives in Los Angeles.

Read an Excerpt

Prologue: The Sistine Chapel and My Wife’s Kitchen
(Continues…)

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Excerpted from "Real Talk for Real Teachers"
by .
Copyright © 2014 Rafe Esquith.
Excerpted by permission of Penguin Publishing Group.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

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Table of Contents

Prologue: The Sistine Chapel and My Wife's Kitchen 1

Part 1 Once Upon a Time

Chapter 1 Badlands 7

Chapter 2 First Things First 16

Chapter 3 Everything Put Together Sooner or Later Falls Apart 44

Chapter 4 An Inside Job 58

Chapter 5 The Quiet Man 76

Chapter 6 19th Nervous Breakdown 90

Chapter 7 A Question of Balance 97

Chapter 8 Even the Devil Can Quote Scripture for His Purpose 106

Chapter 9 There's No Place Like Home 116

Chapter 10 Haters 126

Chapter 11 Keeping It Real 135

Part II Growing Up

Chapter 12 Bitter Fingers 143

Chapter 13 Middle Man 151

Chapter 14 Leave Some Children Behind 160

Chapter 15 Eyes Wide Open 171

Chapter 16 The Soft Sell 180

Chapter 17 Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow 188

Chapter 18 Thomas Jefferson's Big Mistake 197

Chapter 19 The Price You Pay 208

Chapter 20 The Undiscovered Country 217

Chapter 21 One of a Kind 223

Chapter 22 All for One and One for All 233

Part III Master Class

Chapter 23 Getting Better All the Time 249

Chapter 24 Looking Out My Back Door 253

Chapter 25 Stairway to Heaven 263

Epilogue: No Retreat, No Surrender! 273

Appendix A A Day in the Life 275

Appendix B The Play's the Thing 293

Acknowledgments: With a Little Help from My Friends 317

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

“[This] enormously valuable book will keep teachers energized.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“The only classroom teacher to receive the National Medal of the Arts, the author has taught fifth and sixth grade for more than 25 years at Hobart Elementary, an inner-city Los Angeles school where few of the parents speak English, poverty is rampant, and too often children lack supervision at home… Teaching is a tough job, but Esquith shows that its rewards can be profound.” —Kirkus Reviews

Editorial Reviews

[This] enormously valuable book will keep teachers energized.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“The only classroom teacher to receive the National Medal of the Arts, the author has taught fifth and sixth grade for more than 25 years at Hobart Elementary, an inner-city Los Angeles school where few of the parents speak English, poverty is rampant, and too often children lack supervision at home… Teaching is a tough job, but Esquith shows that its rewards can be profound.” —Kirkus Reviews

From the Publisher

In his fourth book, Los Angeles elementary school teacher Esquith (Teach Like Your Hair’s On Fire), who has become famous for transforming his classroom of underprivileged fifth-graders into classical music–playing, Shakespeare-performing superachievers, offers a tonic for stressed-out teachers. While the truly inspiring world of Esquith’s Room 56 at Hobart Elementary is on display, it’s a backdrop for explaining that in spite of teachers’ Herculean efforts, things won’t always work out perfectly. The book is divided into sections addressing new teachers, midcareer teachers, and veterans; Esquith begins by explaining the importance of involving students in the process of creating and maintaining classroom standards, and the need to make the curriculum relevant. Using anecdotes from his 30-year career, Esquith helps teachers focus on what they can achieve, not on what they can’t. He tells teachers to stay positive when dealing with difficult school administrators, meaningless standardized tests, uninvolved or unreasonable parents, and negative coworkers. Esquith also encourages teachers to maintain balance in their lives. Most surprising is his blunt admission that not everything will work, and not every student can be reached—at some point, teachers have to devote their efforts to the students who want to learn. The enormously valuable book will help keep teachers energized. Agent: Bonnie Solow, Solow Literary. (July)

Publishers Weekly

Award-winning teacher Esquith (Lighting Their Fires: Raising Extraordinary Children in a Mixed-up, Muddled-up, Shook-up World, 2009, etc.) shares the ups and downs of his career. The only classroom teacher to receive the National Medal of the Arts, the author has taught fifth and sixth grade for more than 25 years at Hobart Elementary, an inner-city Los Angeles school where few of the parents speak English, poverty is rampant, and too often children lack supervision at home. Many of his students become high achievers, going on to college and professional jobs, but Esquith explains that his main aim is to give the children he works with a moral foundation--"to teach kids to be honorable in a world where dishonor stares them in the face constantly." The values he teaches are simple (self-respect, kindness, strong work ethic, etc.), and the author stresses the importance of the teacher consistently modeling these for students. Despite daily provocations--noisy, disrespectful students, interfering parents, narrow-minded school administrators--it is the teacher's responsibility to remain calm and professional, speaking quietly and injecting humor where possible. The author describes how he treats students with respect; his classroom is always immaculate and attractively decorated, and he has a mix of extra projects available as rewards for good work--e.g., creating a multicolored rug from assorted pieces of wool or engaging in a scientific experiment. Esquith also freely gives his time for extracurricular activities, including early-morning math teams, a top-notch after-school Shakespeare program and an annual visit to Washington, D.C. Children voluntarily come to class early and stay late, and the author spends 11 hours on the job. Teaching is a tough job, but Esquith shows that its rewards can be profound.

Kirkus Reviews