Teacher Memoirs?

[ViciousVocabulary]

I'm reading several teacher memoirs right now. I just finished Teacher Man by McCourt and still halfway through Inside Ms B's Classroom. Does any know any teacher memoirs that are more violent? I'm trying to find something that reflects the danger a teacher faces in the inner city.

Phil

[teach1027]

The Ron Clark Story, Freedom Writers, Dangerous Minds., Lean on Me, Coavch Carter, 187. These are all movies, based on innercity teacers. The 1st 3 I know are about real people, and I am sure they have written memoirs.

[ViciousVocabulary]

What's that about? I'll take a look on amazon, but I'd love hear your take on it. I've started Dangerous Minds, but set it down while I'm finishing Ms B's Classroom.

[Chef Dave]

"I Choose To Stay," is a memoir written by award winning
principal, chess coach and mentor Salome Thomas-EL. Mr. Thomas-El helped improve morale and discipline at his inner-city school in Philadelphia. He also taught students to play chess and the team went on to win local and national competitions.

Rafe Esquith has written a book, "There Are No Shortcuts." Mr. Esquith has been an elementary teacher at Hobart Elementary, an inner-city school in Los Angeles. He is credited for having inspired his 5th grade students to excel beyond all expectations. This teacher has been the recipient of the American Teacher Award and the National Medal of Arts. He has also been made an honorary Member of the Order of the British Empire.

"Letters to a Young Teacher" by Jonathan Kozol is an unusual memoir. In this book, he shares his observations about education through a series of 16 letters written to a first-grade teacher at an inner-city public school in Boston. He is a former public school teacher who worked in the Newton Public School District.

"Teacher Man" is a 2005 memoir written by Frank McCourt which describes and reflects on his 30 years of teaching in New York City's high schools and colleges. Education Review says, "Teacher Man is also an urgent tribute to teachers everywhere. In bold and spirited prose featuring his irreverent wit and heartbreaking honesty, McCourt records the trials, triumphs and surprises he faces in public high schools around New York City. His methods anything but conventional, McCourt creates a lasting impact on his students through imaginative assignments (he instructs one class to write "An Excuse Note from Adam or Eve to God"), singalongs (featuring recipe ingredients as lyrics), and field trips (imagine taking twenty-nine rowdy girls to a movie in Times Square!)."

[Chef Dave]

Ron Clark ... What's that about?

Ron Clark has been called "America's Educator." He began his career with disadvantaged students in rural North Carolina but relocated to inner-city Harlem.

During his first year in Harlem, he was given a class of "rejects" ... students whom everyone had given up on. He transformed this class from a group of poor academic students with low self esteem into a class whose test performance at the end of the year outstripped the honor's class. His success was so phenomenal that it was made the focus of a 2006 made-for-TV movie, The Ron Clark Story, (also known as The Triumph in Australia and the Philippines), starring Matthew Perry.

Mr. Clark is noted for his ability to raise test scores by using unique and innovative methods that incorporate innovation, creativity and 55 classroom rules.

He has been invited to the White House on three separate occasions to be honored by the President and Mrs. Clinton. Disney named him merican Teacher of the Year in 2000. Since receiving that distinction, he has been interviewed by Katie Couric on the Today Show, and he has appeared twice on the Oprah Winfrey Show.

His first book, The Essential 55, is a New York Times Best Seller and is currently published in over 25 countries and is now in its 11th printing of over one million copies.

Mr. Clark's latest project is the Ron Clark Academy, a private non-profit school in Atlanta, Georgia where students follow a unique curriculum. The school also gives students opportunities for international travel and offers training workshops for teachers to learn more about Clark's teaching methods.

[ViciousVocabulary]

Thanks.

I'm asking because I'm working on my own memoir, but so far, mine seems to be a bit darker than anything I've picked up. I've still have to finish Ms B's Classroom, and as dark as it is, it still doesn't come close to mine. I think when I get back to Dangerous Minds maybe I'll find something to match my own.

[Chef Dave]

I'm asking because I'm working on my own memoir, but so far, mine seems to be a bit darker than anything I've picked up.

Good luck with your book. I think America needs a wakeup call. Supporters of NCLB need to understand that legislating standards for AYP will not eliminate the socio-economic problems that have (in part) led to poor academic performance.

They also need to see that the playing field is not level. Low income inner city schools in particular have a myriad of problems not shared by other schools.

[ViciousVocabulary]

Finally finished it. I loved her writing but I could only relate so much. She taught elementary kids who'd see their parents chopped down by a bullet. I taught high school where the kids had the guns. I've got back to Dangerous Minds. Loving it, but...Michelle Pfeiffer she isn't! She's much more of a jock girl than Michelle, not that I mind staring at Michelle, but the book and the movie so far have nothing to do with each other.

[mopar]

You need to write your memoirs as dark as they are. If you don't, then they won't be yours anymore. And maybe one day, they might make a movie out of them.
You need to write your story as it is. Don't change it just to make it more witty. The story was woven and exists. You are only writing them down on paper.

[ViciousVocabulary]

Oh, it's dark enough. My hope is that it's not so dark that I get blacklisted.

[mopar]

Oh wow! Maybe try too different books...that way you can share the darker stories....

[mopar]

I think it might help just to write down your stories that you want to tell and organize them in sequence.
At least that is where I would start if you haven't already.

[ViciousVocabulary]

Finally finished Dangerous Minds. It was a chore though. It's too much like reading homework. I've been there, done that. Too many teachers have. Still, there are some inspiring moments. I'm just reading this through the eyes of a burned out teacher. I've just started Freedom Fighters and it's easier to relate to. But why would that be? The level of violence, murderous violence is hands above Dangerous Minds, Ms B's Classroom, and Teacherman. Could it be I relate to it more because the violence she witnessed matches my own? Unfortunately, I think that's it.