Thoughts from Esme

This past weekend I reread Educating Esme Diary of a Teacher's First Year by Esme Raji Codell. I love this book because it inspires me to stand up for what I believe is best for kids and education. And it makes me laugh out loud! Here are some of my favorite lines:

- "Certain people just think it's their job to freak out. As long as they're freaking out, they feel busy, like they must be doing work. Getting upset is force, but no motion. Unless we are moving the children forward, we aren't doing any work. Mr. Turner gets mad when I say, "I don't work for you, I work for the children." But it's true. Isn't it?" (pg. 53)

- "This week the kids have been reading for forty-minute stretches, so intently, I could hear my own breathing. It was eerie. A teacher popped in for something and saw this. "My God," she said. "So quiet and involved! Must be the weather." But it's not the weather. I've worked so hard to get them to this place, harder than I've ever worked in my life, and now it seems they have arrived. I want to take credit for getting them there, and they can have the credit for being there. We worked together to achieve this, it's hard to explain, except that it's not the weather or the boy-girl ratio or luck or an other such bullshit. It's that I try and they're trying and that's the bottom line." (pg. 83)

-"So much of teaching is sharing. Learning results in sharing, sharing results in change, change is learning. The only other job with so much sharing is parenting. That's probably why the two are so often confused. You can't test what sort of teacher someone will be, because testing what someone knows isn't the same as what someone is able to share. This will be different for every teacher. " (pg. 140)

-"For the rest of the day I was glad I listened instead of yelled, but I still burned with shame at the thought of what I almost said and at all the occasions I have spoken harshly." (pg. 148)

- Ismene once told me, "The difference between a beginning teacher and an experienced one is that the beginning teacher asks, "How am I doing?" and the experienced teacher asks, "How are the children doing?" (pg. 191)

- And the best for last.....

HOW TO TEACH LEARNING (pg. 140)

Sing it
Send it in an envelope
Twist it under a bottle cap
"You Are a Winner!"
Tie it to the leg or a carrier pigeon
and let it soar
Hoard it greedily, with your back turned
Then share it with a magnanimous grin
and glittering eyes
Make it a surprise,
shining like a quarter
under a pillow
Whisper it,
Like the tow of summer's breath
through the willow
or
hide it
just between the tart skin and sweet flesh
of an apple
Make it
Forbidden
Make it
Delicious
Then
Bite