Real Talk for Real Teachers

It's one thing to hear suggestions about becoming a better teacher from administrators who clearly became administrators in a desperate move to escape the classroom, and from outside consultants who are paid to take a cursory look at schools and offer up some changes that will prove lucrative to said outside consultants.

It's another thing to hear thoughts from a man who has given up his life to education. Rafe Esquith. Thirty years in the classroom. Students who return year after year to share their successes. Devoted. Rigorous. Fun. A great teacher.

Yes, I would listen to such a man.

And what does such a man, such a teacher, have to tell us, us real teachers? What is his real talk?

Here's a little. (I'm not going to share too much because, if you like it, you really need to support Rafe and help him save money to buy a new kitchen for his wife. No administrator is ever going to use this book in an inservice; we need to support our own kind, folks.)

You are going to have bad days. (Really? Even Rafe? He tells us, yes.)

Haters. (If you've ever worked in a school, sadly, you know this is true.)

And, most shockingly...Leave some children behind. (Remember: that's RAFE saying this. He does not shy away from truth.)

Go ahead and buy the book. You will not regret it, I think. It will help you. And you will help Rafe's wife get a new kitchen.