Among Schoolchildren

 

Among Schoolchildren
Among Schoolchildren
by Authors: Tracy Kidder
Released: 01 September, 1990
ISBN: 0380710897
Paperback

Sales Rank: 48,615
List price: $13.95
Our price: $11.16 (You save: $2.79)
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Among Schoolchildren > Customer Review #1:
The best book Ive read on education.

In all the talk about education issues these days, its easy to forget that whats really important is the relationship, the energy, between students and teacher. When the teacher closes his door and is face-to-face with thirty kids--THATS where its at. Its not test scores or textbooks or innovative curriculum--its what happens between PEOPLE in a classroom. This book shows that dynamic relationship between eager, active kids and a caring, active teacher. Its not all pleasant, and successes are sometimes small, but a pervasive caring underlies it all. As a teacher, this book reminded me that sometimes the best thing I can do for my kids is to leave all that paperwork, go for a walk, go to bed early so I can be there for them the next day.

Among Schoolchildren > Customer Review #2:
Experience is key

When I did my student-teaching, I spent the entire year in the same 3rd grade class. The final 3 months was when I student-taught. In reading Tracy Kidders Among Schoolchildren, I was consistently reminded of the ups and downs that progesses throughout a school year. Kidder was able to capture Chris Zajacs experiences and weaved it into a compelling story that kept me hooked. Her students reminded me of my own experiences teaching and the difficulties and triumphs you can have. At the end, Zajac was tired but happy. Thus she gave creedance to the phrase, "happy-tired". Teaching is not a type of job that once you go home, you dont think about it. This is a profession where your life is affected by those you interact with 9 months out of a year. Then you wonder, just as Chris Zajac did, "Did I make a difference?", "Is he or she going to make it?", "What else could I have done?". One thing I have to say is this is not a book of solutions in dealing with troublesome students. Its more about life as a teacher in a poverty-stricken community that could very well be your own.

Among Schoolchildren > Customer Review #3:
Accurate but poorly written

Kidder leaves out important parts of Ms. Zajaks story. Why, for example, would a teacher let a child like Robert stab himself, hit himself, and commit other self-destructive acts, without sending that child for an evaluation? Too much of this book is praised without looking seriously at Kidders failure to cover the entire story. Ms. Zajak spends too much time with the Clarence issue and not enough time with her other students.
As a teacher in a small, inner-city, 99% Hispanic school in Chicago, I agree that the issues addressed in this book are real. The students in todays classroom have the same problems as Ms. Zajaks students had in the 80s. This book offers few productive solutions. This book was assigned reading for both my undergraduate and graduate education classes. Most of the students in my graduate classes; many of whom are adults with children of their own, rather than young, recent graduates; felt this book was poorly written, mildly depressing, and written in such a way as too make Ms. Zajak look like a woman on the verge of "teacher burn-out". What parent would want their child to be taught by a woman who has never left her home town for more than one month? Is that an example for her students?
Most of my graduate class agreed that this book is too freely praised, and that another perspective on teaching should be offered in contrast to Kidders.

 
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