Teaching: It's Harder Than It Looks

by Gerry Dee

Overview

Hilarious, cringe-inducing stories about teachers, students and parents, from CBC star of Mr. D, one of Canada's hottest comedic talents.

Gerry Dee is a rising comic star whose humour has been compared to Bill Cosby's. He spent ten years working as a teacher and survived (barely) to tell his tales. Told from the honest point-of-view of a not-so-good, often-very-bad public school teacher—the kind who teaches hungover (and lies about it), loses his students' exams (and lies about it), and stages an impromptu baseball game in the middle of history class just to kill some time, Teaching: It's Harder Than It Looks is Mr. D at his best. 

This book collects Gerry's funniest anecdotes about teaching, about students and about their parents. As Gerry's ode to school life, it's sure to bring back a memory or two, whether you were the teacher's pet or the class clown. Throughout, he offers tongue-in-cheek "Teacher Tips and Tricks," uncomfortable notes to parents, awkward report cards and all manner of memorabilia of school days.

He's extremely funny, on the page as well as in person, and he's the kind of personality who will reach out beyond his own core comedy audience to a broad demographic of educators, parents and students who relate to his humour and experiences.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780385677479
Publisher:	Doubleday Canada
Publication date:	05/14/2013
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	288
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

GERRY DEE is an award-winning Canadian comic. Every year, he plays more than 150 often-sold-out shows across Canada and internationally. His DVD No Reading Ahead is one of the top-selling stand-up videos in Canada. His latest one-hour special Life After Teaching aired on CBC in January, followed by his series Mr. D, where he plays the starring role. Gerry can also be seen on The Score, where he plays Gerry Dee, Sports Reporter, interviewing (kind of) some of the world's great sports figures. Gerry is often compared to Bill Cosby, with a little more edge. He was born in Scarborough, Ontario, and currently lives in Toronto.

Table of Contents

Foreword Russell Peters ix

The First Day of School: A Welcome Address from Your Teacher xiii

Part 1 The Learning Curve

Chapter 1 The Pathetic Substitute xx

Chapter 2 First-Year Teacher 20

Chapter 3 Bachelor of Waste of Education 38

Chapter 4 The Younger the Students, the More Your Can Lie 54

Chapter 5 The School Bully 74

Part 2 It's Harder than It Looks

Chapter 6 Stuck with the Smart Kids 84

Chapter 7 Laughter Is the Best Medicine 100

Chapter 8 Phys. Ed. Teachers Versus the World 112

Chapter 9 Sex Education 126

Chapter 10 Parents-Meet the Teacher 134

Part 3 School Property

Chapter 11 Monkeys with Backpacks 154

Chapter 12 School Dances 170

Chapter 13 The Library 180

Chapter 14 The Joys of the Cafeteria 194

Chapter 15 The Staff Room 204

Chapter 16 Dress Codes 214

Part 4 School Survival Strategies

Chapter 17 Marking Strategies for Busy Teachers 222

Chapter 18 Cheaters Never Prosper...Much 230

Chapter 19 Mr. D's Student Guide to Cheating and All Manner of Scams-and How Teachers Can Catch Them 240

Final Assignment: What I Have Learned About Teaching 256

My Final Report Card: The Real Mr. D 260

Editorial Reviews

This book has a clear ring of authenticity. . . . Aspiring teachers would be well advised to read the book before going to a faculty of education. It contains the kinds of revelations you will never find at teacher’s college. . . . Buried in those wacky, ribald stories and lists of “off-the wall” tips, you will find shafts of light and a few undeniable truths about the teaching life.”
—The Chronicle Herald

From the Publisher