Teacher Man

McCourt, Frank. Teacher Man: A Memoir. New York: Scribner 2005. Print

First Sentences:

Here they come.

And I'm not ready.

How could I be?

I'm a new teacher and learning on the job.

On the first day of my teaching career, I was almost fired for eating the sandwich of a high school boy. On the second day I was almost fired for mentioning the possibility of friendship with a sheep. Otherwise, there was nothing remarkable about my thirty years in the high school classrooms of New York City.


Description:

I think these introductory sentences to Frank McCourt's Teacher Man are the perfect words to pull readers into this delightful memoir. Immediately, you are presented with author McCourt's fear of the first day of school, his not-so-understated terror of being ill-prepared and unqualified, along with teasers about outrageous events that occurred on his first two days. With the statement that McCourt taught school for thirty years, any reader interested in schools and teachers must lick their lips in anticipation of reading many, many more stories about his unusual adventures in the classroom.

Teaching is the downstairs maid of professions. Teachers are told to use the service door or go around the back. They are congratulated on having ATTO (All That Time Off). They are spoken of patronizingly and patted, retroactively, on their silvery locks....Dream on, teacher. You will not be celebrated.

And what adventures he has. After a bit of background from his first 27 years of life as an Irish immigrant, McCourt starts his teaching career in inner-city schools due to his lack of experience. There they call him "Teacher Man." He finds the only way to get through each period and keep the kids' attention is to tell them stories of his youth in Ireland. Not exactly a topic on the curriculum for vocational schools, but he survives for awhile until he just gives up and tries to pursue an advanced degree in Ireland at a Protestant university (he's Catholic) with not too surprising of results.

Finally he lands a job in a prestigious school, one of the best in New York and maybe the country, where students are motivated and preparing for major tests towards their hoped-for acceptance into top Ivy League colleges. Needless to say, his Irish stories and tendency to be distracted into unconventional tangents again land him in hot water. His classes are extremely popular, but he wonders whether it is because he's such a great teacher or because he is such a pushover grader and wandering lecturer? And worst of all, he cannot fulfill the principal's expressed direction to show students how to diagram sentences (which McCourt had never come close to mastering). He soon finds there are other problems with teaching.

If you asked all the students in your five classes to write three hundred and fifty words each then you had 175 multiplied by 350 and that was 43,750 words you had to read, correct, evaluate and grade on evenings and weekends. That's if you were wise enough to give them only one assignment per week....If you gave each paper a bare five minutes you'd spend, on this one set of papers, fourteen hours and thirty-five minutes.

His lessons include a disastrous field trip to a questionable film where the students are boisterous and refuse to leave when the movie is over. Then there is "the art of the excuse note" where students get to create, read, and discuss excuse notes they write which are supposed to be from their parents. There is the lesson where everyone brings in a cookbook and reads or sings a recipe, often accompanied by another student and instrument. And, of course, there is his fallback lesson of his stories told in his wonderful Irish brogue.

Sprinkled into his reflective narrative are encounters with various personalities, from his wife to administrators, fellow teachers, parents, and some very challenging students. He needs to get the attention of each of these  people in different ways, but has only varying success,  blaming himself for not handling situations and encounters better. Like when he ate one student's sandwich in class. Or when he struck another in the face with a rolled up magazine. Or when he called a student's parents with a report of misbehavior and learned the father had severely beaten the student as punishment.

In all, he taught in five high schools and one college, including a vocational and technical high school and a high school of fashion industries.

My arithmetic tells me that about twelve thousand boys and girls, men and women, sat at desks and listened to me lecture, chant, encourage, rumble, sing, declaim, recite, preach, dry up. I think of the twelve thousand and wonder what I did for them. Then I think of what they did for me. 

Those of us who were at one time (brief for me) teachers can identify with many of the situations and students McCourt describes. But with his direct, honest writing style, McCourt relays this information about his world of education so clearly that probably anyone could feel his self-doubt and lack of expertise in handling the daily challenges that arise in Teacher Man. A strong, sensitive, and funny memoir.

Happy reading. 

Fred

Other book recommendations
About The First Sentence Reader blog

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If this book interests you, be sure to check out:

Cordell, Esme Raji. Educating Esme: Diary of a Teacher's First Year.   

The daily memories of a creative, off-beat novice teacher in an inner city school. Delightfully, passionately written with plenty of observations about her students, administration, and wonderful projects she gives to her students, including building and using a time machine in her class and having her students shout, "Play ball!" after the national anthem is piped in daily over the school intercom. Wonderful.  (previously reviewed here)

In the Key of Genius

Ockelford, Adam. In the Key of Genius: The Extraordinary Life of Derek Paravicini.London: Hutchinson. 1988. Print.

First Sentences:

I glanced again at the diminutive figure on my right, shock of blond hair weaving incessantly from side to side with the rhythmic rocking of his head; fingers pressed so hard into his eye sockets that the globes bulged outwards from behind their lids; thumbs stuffed comfortingly (yet somehow disturbingly) deep into his mouth.... 

Not for the first time that day, the whole idea of what was about to happen seemed utterly ridiculous 

Description:

Remember my big three for great books? Plot, Character, and Writing Style. Well, Adam Ockelford's In the Key of Genius: The Extraordinary Life of Derek Paravicini proves that if the plot and character are uniquely fascinating, the writing style does not have to be more that serviceable to make the book a page-turner. 

Ockelford, a music teacher, takes up the pen to describe the almost unbelievable life of his student, Derek Paravicini, and his rise to fame as a blind pianist who can play any music in any key and any style. (watch Derek play on a recent 60 Minutes segment or Musical Genius on British television.). 

But Derek has other challenges besides his blindness, preventing him from functioning in many basic ways. He cannot hold up a correct amount of fingers when asked to, cannot tell which finger is which, cannot tell left from right, and is confused by other simple everyday concepts. He cannot dress or feed himself, and only has minimal conversational skills.

Who could not want to read more about this extraordinary savant?

Derek Paravicini was born three and a half months prematurely and, due to oxygen procedures to keep him alive at an ill-equipped hospital, was rendered blind and brain damaged. But he survived and thrived, mainly due to the untiring efforts of his nanny who years earlier had nursed and been a companion to his mother. 

A difficult child to reach much less control, it was only when Nanny retrieved a small portable organ from the attic and let Adam, age 2, pound away on it that his innate talent was uncovered. Using elbows, karate chops, arms, and his fists, he blasted out faintly recognizable tunes that he had once heard, from nursery songs to church hymns. 

At his school for blind students, Derek at age 5 met Ockelford, the music teacher who sees through Derek's wild playing and recognizes the brilliant talent of this young boy. Ockelford gently eases himself into Derek's music by accompanying him with different bass harmonies, rhythms, arpeggios, major and minor keys, and styles until he wins Derek's curiosity and trust, and begins to grow. Fingering, scales, terminology, and chords all had to be demonstrated to Derek to allow his talent to blossom.

Before he is 10 Derek begins performing before school and local charity audiences. These concerts have varying results. His talents are obvious, but what he actually will do and play when seated at the piano are always unpredictable. Fortunately, Derek is an applause hound who basks in the praise of audiences. This need keeps him performing through his childhood and later adult life.

Author Ockelford clearly lays out  the key (ha!) incidents in Derek's progression and lifestyle, from early lessons of trust and music to international fame as a concert pianist with orchestras. And all along the way, Derek's rock of strength and support is Nanny, who guides him through the intricacies of society and life skills when he is interacting with other people.

A thoroughly fascinating biography of a unique savant. Derek is absorbed into music, able to remember and play any music and then embellish it to any style. But his struggles between talent and acceptable behavior drive the story forward and highlight the skills of Ockelford and Nanny to nurture the prodigious talent of Derek. Together the three create a brilliant performer, one comfortable in himself and his world of music. 

Happy reading. 


Fred

www.firstsentencereader.blogspot.com

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If this book interests you, be sure to check out:

Sacks, Oliver. Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain

Sachs relates stories of patients with usual music/brain interactions,and how music affects their brains and lives in exhilarating and tragic ways.

To Serve Them All My Days

Delderfield, R.F.. To Serve Them All My Days. New York: Simon & Schuster. 1972. Print

First Sentences:

The guard at Exeter warned him he would have to change at Dulverton to pick up the westbound train to Bamfylde Bridge Halt, the nearest railhead to the school, but did not add that the wait between trains was an hour..

It was one of those trivial circumstances that played a part in the healing process of the years ahead, for the interval on that deserted platform, set down in a rural wilderness, and buttresses by heavily timbered hills where spring lay in ambush, gave Powlett-Jones an opportunity to focus his thoughts in a way he had been unable to do for months, since the moment he had emerged from the dugout and paused, rubbing sleep from his eyes, to glance left and right down the trench.

Description:

When I started The First Sentence Reader blog, it was to share books I love that might not be familiar to other readers. One book in particular, R.F. Delderfield's  To Serve Them All My Days, was one that I most wanted resurrect and recommend to anyone seeking a great book full of strong characters, enveloping plot, and of course, wonderful writing.

In its first pages we are introduced to Second Lieutenant David Powlett-Jones, a shell-shocked World War I survivor looking to start his life over as a teacher in Bamfylde, a quiet boys school in England. He is taken under the wing by the personable headmaster, Algernon Herries. Under Algy's friendship and encouragement, Powlett-Jones begins to settle in to Bamfylde and push his memories of the trenches of World War I behind him.

Powlett-Jones has never taught school before, much less in a prestigious boarding school of young privileged men. This is the tale of a man growing and maturing just as his young students grow and mature. PJ is initially assigned to teach modern history to the Lower Fourth, the dreaded fifteen-year-olds who are old hands at the school, yet far enough away from graduation that they felt no pressure to apply themselves to work or discipline. 

PJ survives their attempts to test his authority and the boys gradually become engrossed in his stories about life in the military. He is willing to explain to them the realities of the world and motivations of countries that brought about the current War. This conflict is close to the hearts of the boys as it continues to take the lives of Bamfyld graduates they knew and whose deaths are noted in a weekly ceremony. 

The rest of the teaching staff are slow to warm to Powlett-Jones as they are so far removed from his real world of military experience, but at the same time are his superiors for their years of teaching. From Howarth, the "dry old stick" English professor, to Carter, the gung-ho patriot who feels himself a military expert after six months as a Territorial officer, they seem an odd lot to Powlett-Jones in his new environment.

The chapters unfold with new adventures to challenge and delight the residents of this school. Year after year we watch Powlett-Jones face situations concerning the young boys, staff, and himself with the calm logic and reasonableness that define his character of strength and goodness. There are some great characters in literature and David Powlett-Jones can hold his own with any of them.

It is this interaction, this self-growth, and this atmosphere of learning, both academic and personal, that makes To Serve Them All My Days the masterpiece of writing it is. Powlett-Jones and all the other residents of Bamfyld are such wonderful characters, so full of honor, spirit, and love that one cannot help but be thoroughly involved in their lives in this small school. 

It is a rather long novel (625 pages), so the opening sentences may not be the grabbers of other books reviewed here. But these sentences perfectly reflect the languid, detailed style of the author. And "rather long" is not such a bad description for a novel. In my opinion, a great "rather long" book is one that, when you finish reading it, you are hoping for even more chapters that will allow you to spend more time in this world and its inhabitants (e.g. Gone With the Wind, War and Peace, The Lord of the Rings, and A Life of Barbara Stanwyck). 

To Serve Them All My Days can take its rightful place in this illustrious group. And when you do reach its final pages, I guarantee you will regret the closing of the door to this world of Bamfyld and wish there were at least a few more chapters to prolong your time with Powlett-Jones and his charges. To Serve Them All My Days leaves you wanting more. Is there any better evaluation for a book?

Happy reading. 

Fred

www.firstsentencereader.blogspot.com

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If this book interests you, be sure to check out:

Codell, Esme. Educating Esme

Diary of a first year teacher's experiences in inner city school. Unusual in her unique, quirky, compassionate methods to reach the children and help them as students and people, the book details her exhaustive efforts to overcome forgotten children and an admiration that does not support her new techniques. (previously reviewed here)

Herriott, James. All Creatures Great and Small

Similar coming of professional age of a newly graduated veterinarian in the rural Yorkshire Dales, learning as he goes of the people, the animals, and the land. Wonderfully written with humor and great relationships between the author, his boss, and the local farmers.

Educating Esme

Codell, Esme Raji. Educating Esme: Diary of a Teacher's First Year. Chapel Hill: Algonquin Books. 1999. Print

First Sentences:

To: fifth-grade beginniners
From: Melanie, fifth-grader

I know what your thinking your thinking that going to the fifth grade is going to be fun and not hard well I got something to tell you. You got to know every thing. you have to know your devition your time tables know how to do the down down decimal sistem.

Description:

Wouldn't it have been great to have had a spectularly fun, innovative, and intelligent teacher during your elementary school years? Well, meet Esme Raji Cordell, (a.k.a "Madame Esme"), the author of the delightful autobiography and tales of teaching, Educating Esme: Diary of a Teacher's First Year.

Just imagine entering the classroom of Madame Esme's (as she prefers to be called for its regal air) on the first day of the opening of a brand new school and her first day as a teacher of fifth grade inner city children. What do you see in her room?

• A school-shaped bulletin board declaring, "New School ... You're What Makes it Special" with apples on it that are matched to desks where you are to sit;
• A bulletin board detailing the five steps to "Solving Conflict";
• A King Kong figure on top of Empire State Building with "King Kong Says Reach for the Top!" with floors on the building labeled "Listen," "Think,' "Work Carefully," and "Check Your Work";
• The Spelling Center with games, typewriter, electronic pen, and sponge letters with paint;
• The Art Center with "bins of new, juicy markers, craft books and real art books with pictures of naked people";
• A 3D papier mache poster of five multiethinic kids' heads saying "Welcome to Cool School";
• A huge Time Machine (old refrigerator box) covered in aluminum foil and a red flashing police light on top, with "Danger," "Highly radioactive," and "No peeking, this means YOU!" written on it.

Who wouldn't want to go into that room? At the door, Madame Esme greets every child at the door with a "real chipper 'Good Morning,'" then collects their problems in a "Trouble Basket." Children mime tossing into the basket any worries from home or personal life so they can concentrate on school. It is so successful that students from other classrooms stop by to unload their own problems before trudging to their own classes.

Her opening words to her class?

"I gave them my speech about how mean I was and how I've taught football players and cowboys and dinosaurs and Martians, so a few fifth graders aren't too challenging, but I need the money, so I'd give it a shot."

Educating Esme chronicles Madame Esme's first year of teaching in a new school, from her successful projects and ideas to the continual opposition she faced from her principal for her perceived defiance to established rules (including being referred to as "Madame Esme" rather than "Ms. Codell").

She is a dynamo of ideas developed to reach children, establish their sense of self-worth and mutual respect for peers, and to learn about the wonders of the world of reading, art, and creativity. She is a teacher "carried away with the idea of infinite possibility." 

To excite them about boring subjects, she renames the Math work to "Puzzling," changes science to "Mad Scientist Time," and social studies to "Time Travel and World Exploring." To help her highly illiterate student learn to read, she has them create alphabet posters "for the kindergartners" that show each letter along with pictures and words the students have found using that letter.

She found that they sing along with the national anthem "with more gusto" as it is piped into classrooms each morning ever since she had them shout "Play ball" at the conclusion, something they did at the end of the first all-school assembly to the mortification of her principal. "[My] goal is not necessarily to succeed but to keep trying, to be the kind of person who has ideas and see them through."

She can be stubborn in her determination about what needs to be done. "Compromise is fine for people who aren't as right as me," she declares. When her principal tells her that her curriculum does not match state requirements, she argues that she can could just fabricate reports and pretend that what happens behind her closed classroom door is all according to the rules so she can continue to reach out to kids in her own way. 

Even with her efforts, the children don't blossom overnight into scholars. Many deal with extremely difficult home situations or dangers in their neighborhoods. But Esme is determined to always work for their betterment, and the book records many large and small successes for her children both academically and personally.  

Her book shows both the possibilities and the frustrations of an innovative teacher working within a challenging situation with little support for her ideas. For Madame Esme, everything is about the children and helping them become better, stronger, more curious, and understanding of others. Reading about her efforts is both wondrous and sad that the great teachers have to struggle so much for so little reward and recognition.

Happy reading. 


Fred

www.firstsentencereader.blogspot.com

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If this book interests you, be sure to check out:

Codell, Esme Raji. How to Get Your Child to Love Reading 

Wonderful resources for books appropriate and exciting for new-born children to high schoolers, with plenty of tips for reading to children, involving them in creative activities, and finding books in their own areas of interest.