Teach Like Your Hair's on Fire: The Methods and Madness Inside Room 56
by Rafe Esquith
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Book Summary Information
Author: Rafe EsquithEdition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2007-01-18
ISBN: 0670038156
Number of pages: 256
Publisher: Viking Adult
Book Reviews of Teach Like Your Hair's on Fire: The Methods and Madness Inside Room 56
Book Review: Recommended Reading for Teachers Everywhere
Summary: 5 Stars
This book by National Medal of the Arts winner Rafe Esquith will probably be a bitter pill for many school teachers to swallow. Frankly, when I finished the book, I was wondering if he does anything else in his life except being involved in creative activities with his students or preparing for them. Does the guy ever stop to take a breather? Does he ever spend any leisure time with adult friends? Does he take a bathroom break now and then? His account of his teaching practices often appears to be the educational enterprise on steroids! But I will say I was impressed with his dedication and his abilities and might suggest that with more teachers like him, we might not have the "problems" we do in our current public school system.
I spent seventeen years in the public school system as a teacher and administrator. So I know something about how the system works. I am also aware that many of my views regarding the public schools were then and still are controversial and today most likely "politically incorrect." While I find nothing wrong with Esquith's general teaching methods, curricular ideas, or classroom management techniques, there is one thing -- and only this one thing -- of which I would be critical. Never would I have permitted a student to call me by my first name or, for that matter, allowed the teachers or other school workers I supervised to engage in such a practice. Call me old-fashioned or just not "with it," but I think that sort of familiarity is just not conducive to good classroom management.
However, when Esquith gets into the issue of testing, there I am with him completely if I understand his opinions. Mass standardized testing for the purpose of comparing schools or measuring one school district against others or whatever, is, in my considered opinion, very destructive and mostly deceptive. Testing or measuring or what is often generally called "educational evaluation" is important to be sure. The problem involves the purpose or purposes for which such evaluation is done. In a school where I was the administrator for seven years, we tested the kids twice a year -- at the beginning of the year and in the final week of the school year -- using a standardized test called the Iowa Test of Basic Skills. At the time I thought this was the best instrument to test those basic skills every child ought to learn in order to actually learn, either in school or on his or her own.
We did not, however, use the results of the testing to determine how we compared with other schools or districts, either locally or nationwide. The results were never openly published. The results were used for only two purposes: (1) individual pupil diagnoses to determine what that individual was already proficient at and what weaknesses needed to be addressed during the school year; and (2) a diagnosis of our current curriculum and teaching methodologies to see where and what we as educators needed to improve. The entire professional staff was involved in evaluating the progress of our school and suggesting improvements. Even though our school was located in an isolated rural area and over 90% of our school's pupils were officially designated as "culturally and economically disadvantaged," there was not a single child reading or doing arithmetic below grade-level at the end of seven years when I left for another position in the system.
There is much that teachers might learn from Esquith's book. Certainly the success of his Hobart Shakespeareans cannot be ignored or dismissed. They are, after all, world famous. Esquith deserves the credit he is due for that. Virtually all of his teaching techniques are right on the money. As well as his general management style and the way in which he relates with his students. His emphasis on art and music education needs to be pondered by school boards everywhere. (I have never understood why art and music are the first things usually cut out by school boards when money is tight. These are the most humane of studies and yet athletics is considered more important. Oh, well...)
I recommend this book to all readers, but especially to teachers and school administrators. It will open your eyes while you watch a "master teacher" at work in that most critical of enterprises, the preparation of the next generation of human beings for a life well lived.
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Summary of Teach Like Your Hair's on Fire: The Methods and Madness Inside Room 56
Read Rafe Esquith's posts on the Penguin Blog.
From one of America?s most celebrated educators, an inspiring guide to transforming every child?s education
In a Los Angeles neighborhood plagued by guns, gangs, and drugs, there is an exceptional classroom known as Room 56. The fifth graders inside are first-generation immigrants who live in poverty and speak English as a second language. They also play Vivaldi, perform Shakespeare, score in the top 1 percent on standardized tests, and go on to attend Ivy League universities. Rafe Esquith is the teacher responsible for these accomplishments.
From one of America?s most celebrated educators, an inspiring guide to transforming every child?s education
In a Los Angeles neighborhood plagued by guns, gangs, and drugs, there is an exceptional classroom known as Room 56. The fifth graders inside are first-generation immigrants who live in poverty and speak English as a second language. They also play Vivaldi, perform Shakespeare, score in the top 1 percent on standardized tests, and go on to attend Ivy League universities. Rafe Esquith is the teacher responsible for these accomplishments.
From the man whom The New York Times calls ?a genius and a saint? comes a revelatory program for educating today?s youth. In Teach Like Your Hair?s on Fire!, Rafe Esquith reveals the techniques that have made him one of the most acclaimed educators of our time. The two mottoes in Esquith?s classroom are ?Be Nice, Work Hard,? and ?There Are No Shortcuts.? His students voluntarily come to school at 6:30 in the morning and work until 5:00 in the afternoon. They learn to handle money responsibly, tackle algebra, and travel the country to study history. They pair Hamlet with rock and roll, and read the American classics. Teach Like Your Hair?s on Fire! is a brilliant and inspiring road map for parents, teachers, and anyone who cares about the future success of our nation?s children.
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