I just flew through this little gem as the first part of a set I'm reading to see some of what else is out there in the way of TFA-experience-inspired books.
I was struck by how much more this girl knew about teaching than I had even by the first day of school. Really advocates for the usefulness of a good, solid education degree and student teaching experience, rather than TFA institute. It took me two years of teaching to learn all she already knew going into her first day of school.
I was also really impressed by her charisma. She definitely kept a good bit of herself throughout the harrowing year 1 experience. If I ever become an MTLD for TFA, I might have to pass some of her stories on--just to remind everyone that teaching can actually be fun.
And why are all these inspirational books centered around 5th grade anyway?
Read "Teacher" by Sylvia Ashton-Warner, about teaching Maori kids in NZ
"They tell you about rewards and gratification in teaching school, but they don't tell you it's like joining a monastery or going to hell or sleepwalking or being afraid, afraid as you were when you were small. They don't tell you how it feels when you get dizzy in front of a room full of children, or what it feels like to tug at the tense bodies of children lashing, hating, fighting, spitting, scratching. They don't tell you how it feels to hear "I hate you!" or how it feels to say, "That's okay, I still love you." " (160-1)
"You have the right to work, but for the work's sake only. You have no rights to the fruits of work. Desire for the fruits of work must never be your motive in working. Never give way to laziness either...Work done with anxiety about results is far inferior to work done without such anxiety, in the calm of self-surrender...They who work selfishly for results are miserable." Bhagavad Gita
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