Educating Esme Raji Codell: Book Review

The book Lives on the Boundary, written by Mike Rose, provides great insight to what the new teaching professional may anticipate in the classroom. This book may be used to inform a teacher’s philosophy and may render the teacher more effective. Lives on the Boundary is a first person account composed of eight chapters each of which treat a different obstacle faced by Mike Rose in his years as a student and as an educator. More specifically in chapters one through five Mike Rose focuses on his own personal struggles and achievements as a student. Ultimately the aim is to highlight the underpreparedness of some of today’s learners.

While reading Journal 1 of The Alternative and reflecting on the assignment giving, memories of teachers flooded through my mind. I am unabashed to admit that I believed some teachers to be poor at their job, and have more than once thought that perhaps this wasn’t the correct career path for them. One such teacher was my 7th and 8th grade science teacher, who believed public shaming to be the preferable way of teaching adolescents. When a student would answer a question wrong in class he couldn’t help but laugh as well as bring it up throughout the lesson, refusing to let the student move past their mistake. He chose to

These stereotypes of teachers inspire the general public by showing a “fairy-tale version” of what truly happens in the classroom. The movies make it look like there is always some huge triumph at the end of the day and everyone ends up learning what they need to learn. This does not always mean learning the classroom material. Breault states that in most of the movies studied the teachers are more focused on teaching life lessons as opposed to the basic knowledge that should be taught in the classroom. The article also discusses how the teaches are viewed as heroes who save the students and advocate for them outside of the classroom. The teachers in the movies are praised for never teaching with a textbook or teaching regular course curriculum. The pictures show that the real live classroom is a lot more structured than what is portrayed in

Teaching is not a lowly job as most people think. Teaching is a profession that is highly, commendable just like banking, nursing and other professions. However, some people often ridicule the teaching profession merely because of its poor pay, poor career prospects, not to mention the perceived monotony of the daily routine writing lesson plans and preparing lecture materials. Despite all these criticisms, not many teachers have defended themselves. However, in the article “I am not a babysitter,” Heather Robinson takes a stand to defend the teaching profession effectively by appealing to ethos, pathos and logos. This

An American psychiatrist by the name of William Glasser once stated, “When you study great teachers…you will learn much more from their caring and hard work than from their style.” Teachers are a huge part of an individual’s life. From the time a person enters into preschool until the complete cessation of their educational career, the teachers and professors along the way each influence that student’s perspective and feeling towards the particular subject they taught. With daily interactions, teachers become a part of a student’s microsystem. They are often times the only other constant adult figure in their student’s life apart from the caregiver. Whether it is acknowledged or not, the importance of teacher cannot be overstated. Unfortunately,

Ralph Waldo Emerson is a famous author. He is known for his statement "Unless you try to do something beyond what you already mastered, you will never grow". This statement has a powerful meaning. Although many people may disagree with his statement because of their personal experiences, People should agree with his statement because of school, sports and job opportunities.

“‘We could never prepare every teacher for every social ill,’ Schwab said. ‘We really ask a lot of our teachers. Is this one more thing? Yes. Is it the breaking point for teachers and people who want to become teachers?

Also, throughout this clip, listen to the different cultures by the voices of each student and the teacher. The same student, along with others, labels the teacher right away. The teacher comes in with an open mind, and the students assume that she just like all the other teachers. There is a commit a student made by saying “Why should I give my respect to you? Cause you’re a teacher?

Educating Esmé is a book of journal entries of a first year teacher who faced and overcame so many instances on both sides of the spectrum of good and bad. These first person experiences show us how she grew not only as a teacher but also as a person. It also allowed her to see the other side of the school system but from the other side of the desk as the teacher. This inspirational teachers name is Esmé Codell who wrote this to show her thoughts without all the sugary coating but with in-depth feelings and emotions which really attracts the reader’s attention because they can relate to these instances because they either are going through them themselves or have seen it in their educational experiences. She expresses and demonstrates multiple

Kumashiro and Ladson-Billings truly reinforced the goals I have for teaching. One of my goals as an educator is to show students how to deconstruct norms set forth by history, to question the common-sense norms that exist today and how they affect people depending on a variation of identities. Ladson-Billings equates this anti-oppressive pedagogy, at a basic level-regarding educator preparation coursework, as “preparing teachers to teach in ways that disrupt, challenge, work against, and critique the status quo.” (Kumarshiro, 2009, p. XVII) Before I teach my own students, I must challenge and critique the foundation in which we are taught on, in terms of educator prep. I have found that educators must get comfortable wearing multiple hats.

This ethos is reflected in every day teaching and learning. Every child within the school is treated respectfully as an individual and lessons are strategically planned to accommodate all needs and aspirations. The level of differentiation employed can be seen clearly in the case of ‘Kyle’.

As a student, I have been inspired by a few teachers at both my primary and secondary schools to seek an interest in the teaching profession. One year after finishing secondary school where I obtained most of my passes I took some time to reflect back on my twelve years at school and the few critical incidents that have cultivated my thinking about teachers and teaching. Some incidents were positive and others negative, but all assisted to shape the type of teacher I want to be in the future! A few critical incidents that shaped my thinking were the first time I came first in a class, the evening I approached the lackadaisical teacher and the day where I was escorted out of class.

Next, we will discuss the teacher subculture of a school environment. Teachers are an important “subculture since they make the most contact with students” (Ballentine & Hammack, 2012, p. 216). The culture that is set by the teacher impacts the learning process by either helping students thrive or be unsuccessful. Also, the subculture that includes teachers can be further broken down into grade levels, content areas, or length of service. For instance, an inexperienced teacher will not immediately be included in the subculture of seasoned teachers. It will take time for him/her to be accepted into that subculture. A new teacher who tries to be too friendly to students may receive sanctions from

Teaching, according to the Teacher’s Training Agency, “…is a job for those who like and respect young people” (2005). Andrew clearly from his responses, suffered during his schooling, and perhaps felt disrespected as a result of being labelled. His position as an educator a number of years later, enable him to look quite critically upon his educators, almost, one could argue with an expert eye.

As beginning teachers, even though we cannot change whole school policy and practice, does not mean we cannot reflect our ideals and beliefs within our classroom and model our behaviour for others (Ashman & Elkins, 2008). As teachers we are particularly in a significant position where we can influence our students’ attitudes and have the opportunity to ultimately facilitate the change towards more inclusive communities and schools.