Want a NOOK? Explore Now
The right book at the right time: an impassioned defense of teachers and why our society needs them now more than ever.
Former middle-school teacher and teachers' advocate Taylor Mali struck a chord with his passionate response to a man at a dinner party who asked him what kind of salary teachers make-a poetic rant that has been seen and forwarded millions of times on Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter.
Based on the poem that inspired a movement, What Teachers Make is Mali's sharp, funny, reflective, critical call to arms about the joys of teaching and why teachers are so vital to America today. It's a book that will be treasured and shared by every teacher in America-and everyone who's ever loved or learned from one.
AUTHOR BIOS: Taylor Mali travels the country speaking to teachers' groups and recruiting the next generation of classroom teachers with his 1,000 Teachers campaign. He lives in New York. Learn more at www.taylormali.com.
Introduction 1
Making Kids Work Hard 9
Your Child Is My Student 15
A Poet Becomes a Teacher (and Vice Versa) 25
Calling Home 33
Lightbulb Moments and Happy Accidents 41
Definitely Beautiful 51
Keeping Your Eye Out for the Teachable Moment 57
In Praise of Thoughtful Uncertainty 65
Encountering Genius 73
The Student Becomes the Teacher 79
My Best Day as a Teacher 85
E-mail, Islam, and Enlightenment (Insha'allah) 91
Lessons You Can Touch 97
The Value of What You Cannot Test 105
No One Leaves My Class Early for Any Reason 111
My Bad (Apologize and Mean It!) 115
MEG: Mali's Electronic Grade Book 119
Teachers Make Technology Work! 127
Thinking It Through: The Timeline at the Back of the Classroom 133
What Teachers Get: Presents from Parents 139
Fighting Back Against the Attack on Teachers 145
Where Do the Best Teachers End Up? 155
The Importance of Mentoring 161
Teachers Who Made a Difference for Me 167
The Quest for One Thousand Teachers 177
There Can Never Be a "Lost" Generation 191
Epilogue 195
Acknowledgments 199
Note on Poems 201
Taylor Mali
I grew up writing thank-you notes. Real, honest-to-goodness, pen-and-ink, stamped and posted letters. More than simple habit, it's about what the commitment to expressing your thoughts and feelings in writing says about the character of the writer. About the joy such notes bring to the reader. Creation of such happiness is enough rank writing thank-you notes as one of the most important things in life.
It has to do with gratitude. Being thankful for where and who you are today. Expressing that thanks to the people who helped you get there.
Teaching is a field peppered with unexpected rewards, like gratitude. Knowing what it is like to strive in this field, and what one word of thanks can mean to a teacher, I urge everyone this graduation season to thank his or her teachers.
In many ways, What Teachers Make: In Praise of the Greatest Job in the World is just one big thank-you note to my teachers. The book is dedicated to my fifth and sixth grade English teacher, Dr. Joseph D'Angelo, a massive force of erudition, martial artistry, culture, and love. It is a collection of learning experiences that made me who I am, and it documents teachers and students who taught me a lifetime of invaluable lessons.
But you do not have to write a book to say thank you. And although I hate to admit it, an actual letter really isn't necessary these days either. An e-mail or phone call will do. Or better yet, a heartfelt thanks at the upcoming ceremony. It makes a world of difference to a teacher. Almost better than a snow day.
When students have thanked me in the past for being their teacher, I have always felt that it was actually my love for the art of teaching they were speaking to. They weren't really telling me I was a great teacher so much as they were saying, "I can see that you love what you do, and that made it fun to be in your class. It was great to be taught by someone who didn't just view teaching as something they did, but who they were."
No graduation speaker will ever tell you that the future is anything but uncertain. It never is. But graduations need not only be obsessed with looking ahead; a graduation can be a day on which we turn back and trace our steps to see how we ended up where we are.
TeacherMom1
Posted May 8, 2012
WHY IS THE NOOK BOOK MORE THAN THE HARDCOVER???
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.MsStein
Posted March 11, 2013
"He died with his sword in his hand and so went straight to heaven."
This book made me weep on many occasions while I read it, but no story so much as that of the Viking Warrior. These are the things that make teaching worthwhile.
I love this book.
Anonymous
Posted November 12, 2012
If you are a teacher feeling the weight of your daily job, a college graduate subbing day in and day out wondering if you will ever have a room of your own, or just need a peek into the definity beautiful business of teaching then spend an hour or two and read this book. You will finish it refreshef and humbled and ready to face another day.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted May 3, 2012
Those you can, teach. Those who can't, legislate education reform!
Bang on insight and comments from a teaching "insider", not just the usual claptrap from the people who think they know how to teach because they have kids or have spent less than five years trying to before they wash out or worse, become incompetent administratiors.
Thank you, Mr. Mali, for giving me hope to go on in a system that continues to sabotage my best efforts, that does not recognise that NOT"everyone can teach", that promotes legislated, "teacher-proof" practices and encourages the deprofessionalizing of the teaching community!
I will carry on!!!
Anonymous
Posted May 5, 2012
No text was provided for this review.
Anonymous
Posted December 27, 2012
No text was provided for this review.
Anonymous
Posted May 11, 2012
No text was provided for this review.
Anonymous
Posted March 29, 2012
No text was provided for this review.
Overview
The right book at the right time: an impassioned defense of teachers and why our society needs them now more than ever.
Former middle-school teacher and teachers' advocate Taylor Mali struck a chord with his passionate response to a man at a dinner party who asked him what kind of salary teachers make-a poetic rant that has been seen and forwarded millions of times on Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter.
Based on the poem that inspired a movement, ...