Welcome to Teachbad’s Book Club
ANNOUNCING!!!!
Mr. Teachbad’s Official Teachbad Book Club Eventacular Discussion Series (MTOTBCEDS). Here’s what we’ll do in MTOTBCEDS.
1) I pick a book.
2) I encourage people to buy it and read it.
3) About a month later I post a little review and we chat; if the author wishes, he or she may write something to begin the discussion and/or respond directly to questions and comments from readers.
Yes? OK. Let’s begin.
We will start with Why Great Teachers Quit and How We Might Stop the Exodus by Katy Farber. Buy it. Then read it.
The title sort of speaks for itself; definitely in line with the Teachbad Mission. It’s short and no heavy lifting. So, like I said, go buy it. Then read it. And come prepared. I don’t want to hear any shit about how your ordered it and it got lost in the mail or anything like that.
(Parenthetically, another place you can see the cover of this book is over my right shoulder in the wildly unpopular music video I Want to Push You Off a Bridge and Watch You Drown, written and performed by Mr. Teachbad in September 2011. I think the fact that nobody has watched the video really hurt my chances at the Grammy’s. That’s ok, but I’m just saying…whatever. This is my art. But I think it deserves a second look, as do the cartoons.)
The MTOTbBCEDS Code:
1) Books will be, in one way or another, about teaching;
2) Books WILL NOT be about how to inspire teachers across the curriculum and make everything fair and awesome with connections and sensitivity because I HATE books like that;
3) Books will be written by teachers or former teachers, bloggers, activists or anybody else who you think fits and has an idea that YOU think deserves some play. (While awesome, I’ll assume that Ravitch and Kozol can take care of themselves.)
4) That’s it. The only other thing is that once I started teaching, I started reading less. My mind was always so occupied with stressful, yet trivial things. I just couldn’t relax enough to read a book. So, let’s read more…together.
If these terms are not agreeable, tell your mom.
Mr. Teachbad
Best book club ever.
“Outside of a dog, a book is a man’s best friend. Inside of a dog it’s too dark to read.”
Groucho Marx
Love the new book club idea-just ordered the Farber and trust it will arrive safely.
I am new to your blog…loving it! Count me in! I will order this for my Kindle…
I must tell you, I found your blog this morning and it has provided much needed comic relief. I resigned teaching after 15 years yesterday. I felt that if one more spit ball went whizzing through my room or I had to break up one more fight in the boys’ bathroom, I was going to snap. It is sad to note that these children have been attending this particular school since Kindergarten (many of them retained twice already so they are 13 and 14 in the 5th grade) and administration knew to break them up. Over 50% of my class had an alphabetical listing behind their name – ADD, ADHD, OCD, FDUP, etc. Just glad I’m out of there….I know the recession will make it difficult to find a job, but at least the hamburger won’t talk back to me – you want fries with that?;
“Teachers on Trial” by James A. Gross is an interesting book. I highly recommend it. It was written in 1988, but is still relevant. In one portion of the book, it is revealed that a supervisor told a teacher, “Blow it out your ass!”
http://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/?GCOI=80140100594980&fa=author&person_id=2248
http://books.google.com/books/about/Teachers_on_trial.html?id=AilGTNBVFGcC
http://books.google.com/books?id=AilGTNBVFGcC&pg=PA82&lpg=PA82&dq=%22Teachers+on+Trial%22+%22James+A.+Gross%22&source=bl&ots=q8cr11x1R6&sig=cedf_FpzmLOgLjUozPpwD9rE2r0&hl=en&sa=X&ei=33E2T-79NuLm0QHclt2zAg&ved=0CCEQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=%22Teachers%20on%20Trial%22%20%22James%20A.%20Gross%22&f=false
http://www.deepdyve.com/lp/sage/book-review-teachers-on-trial-values-standards-and-equity-in-judging-z6PLBLfaLP
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/teachers-on-trial-james-a-gross/1001509390
http://normsnotes2.blogspot.com/2009/01/tagnyc-advice-on-3020a.html
awesome idea teachbad!
gosh many books have been influential.
here’s one maybe you as a fellow soc. studies teacher may appreciate.
http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/smedcohort/files/2009/07/Teaching-as-a-Subversive-Activity-Postman.pdf
if you just want the meat focus on chapters 3,4 and 5.
i totally teach as he’s described and for similar goals but i’ve found it difficult in our current climate to teach so and push for such goals. i have to teach mundane stuff in breadth not depth, to keep control, and have kids memorize fairly unimportant stuff they’ll forget anyway, and pass tests. meh.
Count me in. Ordering book to my NOOK shortly.