Roxanna Elden: Your Friend and Mine
There is a magical book called See Me After Class: Advice for Teachers, by Teachers.
The author is Roxanna Elden. (Disclosure: I do not know Ms. Elden personally. I receive no commissions, etc. I just like her book.) Elden has been teaching for a long time. She is an experienced and highly accomplished teacher. You can read about Roxanna and her work and BUY THE BOOK on her website.
Reading this book, I immediately felt I had a sense of the author and that, as a teacher, she was on my side. She knows this job inside and out, and she has thought hard about it. (And she provides many anecdotes from other teachers that will make you feel a whole lot less inadequate.) But rather than just bitching and moaning, like me, she offers a fresh set of eyes on ordinary problems and recommends realistic ideas to deal with real classroom issues. She readily admits that there are no magic bullets and that not every idea works with every teacher’s personality. She just offers the fruits of experience and smarts to address the shit-storms that naturally occur in our classrooms every day in grade school, middle school (bless you people), and high school. It speaks to all of us.
As cynical as I am, I found things that made me think that a tweak here or there might make it all a little bit better. I can do this. There is no edu-babble, TFA talking points, debates about the latest research on word walls, or any other crap like that. It is smart, funny, plain-spoken advice about how to make you saner and more effective at your job by somebody who has been thinking and working on this for a long time. How to deal with parents, kids, administrators…it’s all there.
Elden cares about kids. But she also cares about you and your mental and physical health. If you are somewhere in your first 3 years of teaching, you really should take a look at this book. You should especially get it if you are feeling like a total failure as a teacher. (If you don’t feel like a failure, write your own damn book.) This is my sixth year of teaching, and I also found it useful.
When I was reading it, I trusted her. There are so many hundreds of things that my administrators have told me to do over the years. There is no way I could comply with all of them. So I just started to ignore everything they said because it was easier than trying to succeed when I knew I would fail. But Elden recommends some things my administrators have been saying. It was disturbing. But I let her be my filter. I will take a second look at those things because I know she knows what she is talking about.
I highly recommend this book for anybody in their first few years who is frustrated, but would really like to stay in and give it a go. It will give you heart. A nice read at the end of the year or over the summer.
That website again is here. Thanks, Roxanna.
Mr. Teachbad
Totally agree. Roxanna has been there, done that. Love her, love the book.
Clearly you have fallen for some kind of April Fools internet hoax, because everyone knows that the first book ever written about teaching is How to Teach Like a Champion by Jesus Christ Lemov.
Bought it.
Thanks for the tip.
@Tom: I’ve heard comments like yours before about Lemov but no one has ever elaborated. Personally, I think he’s got a lot of good ideas (though from a totally different angle from Roxanna.) I’d love to hear why you dislike him…or is it that you dislike the way other people have acted like his methods are the only ones that work?
I bought the book right after it was published–based on feature in NYT magazine. I read the book with a fine-toothed comb and was quite enthusiastic for the first 50 pages or so, then I reached my limit on: sanctimony, self-righteousness, celebration of the TFA-charter-only crew, redundancy, lack of focus-lack of specificity, blah-blah-blah. It wore me out and wore me down, and I ended up with a bad taste in my mouth.
Miss Crabtree: Thanks for the reply. I haven’t read the book, but I did read that NYT piece and it intrigued me. The teaching videos Lemov put on YouTube are very good–probably a bit too regimented for some people’s teaching styles, but nonetheless effective. Guess I’ll have to read the book for myself and see.
I read it and found it to be better as a small ideas book than a big ideas book. That is, if you ignore all the rah-rah charter schools let’s not mention we get rid of kids that don’t act the way we like stuff there are some solid specifics.
I found I could take one or two ideas and work them for a week, figuring if it worked or I remembered to do it after that it must work pretty well, and that if it didn’t I’d given it a good try.
So, I guess good for dipping into and reminding oneself that there are other things to try.
But THIS book is very funny and this review reminds me I need to track down my loaned out copy!
I came into teaching through the New Teacher Project (ie Michelle Rhee’s copy of TFA). TLAC is basically the TFA summer training in book form.
Published by… Kaplan! Of charter school, Washington Post, test prep fame.
Oh Mr. Teachbad you crush my soul.
C’mon. That’s like assuming George Will is really a liberal shill in disguise because he writes for the Washington Post. The web of corporate interests is too much for even them to understand and manage. They want to make things that people will buy. Unless it’s a report report commissioned by Walmart about how unions are bad for the fabric of America, I’ll give it a read and see what I think.
The book is awesome…and crazedmummy, read it before you lament its publisher…while I sympathize and have written at least 101 articles disparaging charter schools and standardized testing and test prep, I also know that authors get published where they can, and it ain’t easy, and this book is anything BUT a promotion of charter schools, standardized testing or test prep. It’s actually just a really good, solid, yet witty book about how to be a better teacher and not go insane in the process. The advice is actually usable (and useful), unlike 98% of what I read in “The First Days of School” by Harry Wong. (Man, that stuff sounded awesome on paper, and I sure as hell quoted the hell out of it in my job interview and sounded awesome and got the job without any problem, on my very first interview for a teaching position, but once I actually got in the classroom I realized how impossible it would be to actually implement pretty much everything I had talked about in that interview, which I had of course taken directly from Mr. Wong’s book…) Like Teachbad says, it’s REALISTIC. Doesn’t expect you to turn into the Freedom Writers woman and devote your every waking and sleeping second to working…teaches you how to work smarter, not harder, and that’s worth a lot in our profession. Did I mention it’s really funny? It is.
Witty? I musta missed that part. Redundant, repetitive, rah-rah for us!–yes. Witty? Not my copy. Funny? I will take another look–it is right here on my shelf.
Where does Teachbad say that Teach Like a Champion is realistic???
Sometimes teachers get stuck in the vicious cycle of routine, especially the experienced ones, and it’s hard to let go of habits, even when they don’t work so well. I enjoyed reading this book because it reminded me of the necessity of changing it up every now and then. It’s a great read for new and veteran teachers alike.
I am a mentor teacher. I bought this book for my mentees. I wanted to give them a book that they could actually use and not just put on the book shelf. Great pick, Mr. Teachbad.
I love this book! Ms. Elden provides such an interesting blend of humor and practical insight into the field of teaching. I have read several teaching books and this one, by far, offers the best advice and ancedotes for teachers. I especially found it helpful that Elden has taught in both an elementary and high school setting, so the book offers assistance to teachers of all levels.
Oh, wait a minute–Jennie: did you mean the featured book? I got lost in the posts and reposts. I feel like Emily Latell on SNL. Never mind. I have not read that book.
TLAC is not funny and not witty. It is a b****.
Mr. Teachbad–
Thanks for the Eldon recommendation. Even though I am retiring, I ordered it after reading several excerpts-keeps the connection going–you know she has to be an ab fab teacher.
Can I borrow your book???
Of course.
Thank you so much for the write up, Mr. Teachbad! I am a long-time fan of your blog and am thrilled that you enjoyed the book.
Roxanna Elden
Author
See Me After Class: Advice for Teachers by Teachers
I will read Roxanna’s book — thanks for the recommendation. I get so frustrated with my students (college level sophomores at that!) at times that all I can do is go plot another murder for my mystery series.…
I absolutely loved Elden’s book. I wish I would have owned a copy of it in my first year teaching, and I strongly urge new teachers to get a copy of this book! I feel this book has inspired me to hang strong in every new teacher’s “worst case scenario”. Elden does a fabulous job instilling humor in a situation that one might usually cry about by giving us a great laugh. If a new teacher isn’t finding the comprehension and feedback they are seeking to get through the year from his or her mentor, or from the teachers lounge complaints, this is the book to turn to. I felt I could relate to almost every situation in her book, it kind of helped understand that “I not the only one, and therefore, I’m not doing something wrong; I just have to make improvements”. Don’t get me wrong, experienced teachers and mentors have helped me with tough situations such as dealing with parents to the weariness of assessing student data while still trying to attain classroom management. Yet, I have sought more peace and comfort reading this book and realizing that I’m not the only one who is willing to admit that I have much to learn.
Heard Elden speak at Books and Books in Coral Gables and immediately bought a copy for my daughter (education major at UM). Abby is finishing up her first year as a teacher and refers to SEE ME AFTER CLASS as the bible. Very user friendly…no BS! Good for you, Ms. Elden!