Teachers with a Story to Tell

As fall approaches and school supplies fill the shelves, it is natural to reminisce about those teachers in our lives who have had a special influence. You might recognize the fictional teachers of bright and wholesome Miss Stacy in Anne of Green Gables, or grumpy Mr. Gradgrind in Dicken’s Hard Times or wild and crazy Dewey in the film School of Rock. But there are lots of real teachers who also have interesting stories to tell.

The Freedom Writers Diary: How a Teacher and 150 Teens Used Writing to Change Themselves and the World Around Them by The Freedom Writers with Erin Gruwell (305.235 F853) Erin Gruwell, an idealistic 23-year-old, gets her first teaching job at Wilson High School in Long Beach, California. She is eager and ready to go, but the class that awaits her are the “unteachables”, the kids no other teacher wants in their class. Early on Gruwell intercepts a note with an ugly racial caricature and angrily declares, “This is the type of propaganda that the Nazis used during the Holocaust.” When a student timidly asked what that meant, she knew she had to throw out her lesson plans and make tolerance the core of her curriculum. The class read books like Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl (920 F828M) and Zlata’s Diary: A Child’s Life in Sarajevo (J949.742 F 483) as the students began their own journal writing. The resulting transformation of the class is inspirational.

Teacher Man: A Memoir by Frank McCourt (920 M131TE) McCourt, author of Angela’s Ashes (920 M131), was also a teacher for 30 years in New York City schools. According to his own accounts, the students taught him as much as he taught the students. He learned as he went – sometimes feeling like a “fraud” because he wasn’t sure about what he was doing. But despite the administration’s reprimands, he put his whole self into the job the only way he knew how and made a true impact on many students. His assignments were sometimes rather crazy -  like instructing one class to write “An Excuse Note from Adam or Eve to God” or to write a song using recipe ingredients  for lyrics. He was courageous enough to take twenty-nine rowdy girls to a movie in Times Square. McCourt maintained that education was more about getting students to think than getting high test scores.  He tells his own story in his Pulitzer-Prize-winning fashion.

The Treehouse; Eccentric Wisdom From My Father on How to Love, Love and See by Naomi Wolf (920 W854) Naomi Wolf’s father, Leonard is a poet and teacher. He is one of those inspirational teachers who have a gentle way of nudging us to be more than we think we can be. Already in his early 80’s, Leonard has almost sixty years of teaching experience. He believes “that everyone is here on earth as an artist; to tell his particular story or sing her irreplaceable song; to leave behind a unique creative signature.” During a visit to build a treehouse for his granddaughter, he shares with his daughter his lessons for lasting happiness.

And there are many more stories from many more teachers. The will feature both a book display and a DVD display of additional materials.