读书笔记：there are no shortcuts
anonymous-104090 10/08 35264.0/1
读书笔记： There are No Shortcuts
This is the second book I read by Rafe Esquith, the renowned elementary-school teacher who inspired his students to and helped them grow into wonderful and successful youth adults in a LA urban neighborhood school. I was inspired by his book “Teach Like Your Hair’s on Fire,” so I picked up this one. I first flipped the book in the waiting room of Dr. Weber, and I could not stop. This book is more of an autobiography of Rafe Esquith, with much writing on his own development as a teacher and as a person. He started his teaching career in a good middle class school. Things were going well. But he felt unfulfilling - thinking that the kids in this good school and neighborhood would do well even without him. On one hand, I disagree: I have seen how much difference an excellent teacher and an average teacher can make in a kid’s life, even in a nice neighborhood school. On the other hand, I see his point: A bad teacher would probably not ruin my kids, probably just wasting a year of their lives. But an excellent teacher could change the lives of a poor neighborhood school a lot more.
Rafe has many excellent points in his book. Our school system is watering down, teaching mediocre, fostering a false sense of confidence, and definitely could use much better teachers. Taking math as an example. Rafe can teach his fifth grade students algebra, which is a topic for the 7th grade here. In comparison, I volunteer at the 4th grade classroom. It is painful to see that kids are still learning multiplication up to 6 and using a game. It is equally painful to see S. completely bored, with his mind probably operating at 10%. Come on, a little bit of hard work would do our kids a lot good! Memorizing the multiplication table is really not that a big deal. Complains aside, there are a lot things that a parent and a teacher can do. First, it is our responsibility to consciously teach kids the right values, even, or especially, when the social media and the education system are against us. In fact, our schools are probably a lot better than when they were in 1936, at least from my reading of the book, “To Kill a Mockingbird”. Atticus can teach the right values in his home in a very challenging environment of 1936, so can we today in 2016.
Much of the book is about Rafe’s own development as a teacher and as a person. His path shows how humanity becomes a top priority of his teaching. It was a very painful experience. He had three brilliant girls in his class, who called themselves the Musketeers. He had spent a lot of time with them, put in a lot of effort to help them, and had a lot of hope for them. It was painful that they were not grateful. It was much worse when things turned sour after they graduated and said some very hateful words. Rafe wais so hurt that he was ready to quit. Then, he rereads the book, “To Kill a Mockingbird”, and discovered Atticus as his hero and also why humanity should be is a top priority in teaching.
Throughout the book, Rafe does not talk about the six level of moral development explicitly in this book. But I can see his path and it leads to Level 6: I have a personal code of behavior and I follow it (with Atticus as the hero). He has always wanted to be the best teacher he can be. But what does a best teacher mean? Initially, he thinks that he is a good teacher because his students like him. Then, he thinks about how to better teach his students. He pushes his students hard: the banner “There Are No Shortcuts” hangs in his classroom. Then he realizes that everyone has a choice. He has his own standards, but he should not judge. Take the example of going to baseball games. He teaches the right behavior, responsibility, and score keeping. If a student does not meet the standard, then he/she is simply not ready to go to the game. A high standard, but no judging. Finally, he comes out of the Musketeers incident with the Level 6 of morality. Humanity is so much more important than intelligence. He treats people even more kind, more considerate, but at the same time holds up his own high standard. It is just like Atticus. Atticus knows that he would lose the case. He knows that his friends will would hate him for doing his job, and his kids will would go through a difficult time. He still does did? the right thing. He tells told his kids about his friends who are were saying very hateful things that, “Yes, they are still our friends. We just have different opinions.” He still greets his neighbors with great courtesy. Rafe learns to do the same thing in his school, in a very tough neighborhood with violence and crimes.
Overall, this is a wonderful book about the growth of a legendary teacher. It taught me a lot about education and about moral development.
