I found Educating Esme to be refreshing, honest, intelligent, quick witted, smart and logical. As I was reading the book there were times when my jaw literally dropped and I laughed out loud. Esme is the type of teacher who has so much back bone it might not be good for her; even though she is right most of the time. I was very comforted many times when reading this book for many reasons.
Esme begins the book with the most prominent issue facing new teachers; discipline and classroom management. Luckily for Esme, she had a great cooperating teacher in one of her student placements. The teacher taught her to ignore bad behaviors until you can’t stand them anymore. In the school district I am at now, the discipline of the school is very strict and I have a lot of support if I were to discipline a student. My cooperating teacher told me that it’s a good thing if the administration knows your name for positive things not for discipline problems you cannot take care of in your own classroom. As I have had to learn by experience and practice, classroom management is all based on judgment calls. There is no rule book for classroom management and each and every class is different. Having read this book a few months ago when EDU 511 first started I have had a lot of time to be in the classroom. In practice, there are certain behaviors that I have learned to ignore. Some behaviors such as crudeness (as witnessed today), nervous habits of students (a student of mine puts his desk on his feet and balances the desk throughout my lecture), and letting my students run to the bathroom at the beginning of class are things that I have not let get to me. I have been able to pick and choose my battles. You do not want to have a fight with students every day over things that are not life threatening. I cannot remember if it was in this book or a discussion or a reading I did. The author, or discussion implied that if you get into a fight with a student over little things it becomes a stand off between authority and insignificant rebellions that deter from the real point of being in class; learning.
The point of teaching is to teach; however, Esme had a very hard time of doing this in the situation she was placed in. As an upcoming first year teacher I have been preparing myself for the worst. I want to know how to handle myself if I get into a terrible district with unsupportive administration. I have read in education books aimed at administrators and they have said that the best way to keep teachers is to provide mentoring and supportive administration. Esme did not have general support. She was supported a bit by fellow teachers but no support from the administration who wanted her to change her name. The principal in Esme’s school is incompetent and insensitive to his workers and colleagues. Esme impressed me so much because she did not give up, even though there were times she questioned her choice of being at the school and working for her principal.
Esme taught using a variety of techniques and creativity which has been ingrained at Sage as best practices. When I was reading the book I was so surprised at how much Esme used multiple intelligences and different use of texts, media, visual, and other many good practices. Esme’s classroom was a canvas of stimuli and visuals. When told by a colleague that her room was distracting Esme thought to herself that the teacher in question was jealous. I have to agree with Esme, I believe the teacher was jealous of Esme’s enthusiasm, youth and spirit. The teacher may have genuinely been concerned with presenting too much information to students but through my classes at Sage, excessive stimuli is good of students with ADD because it gives them many things to focus on instead of causing behavioral problems. I want to have a classroom that has a lot of visuals and educational posters on the wall. Everything in my classroom will have a purpose and will be directly related to what I am teaching or be ongoing projects. I really liked Esme’s ideas and creativity.
The thing I loved most about the book was the fact that Esme was so much like me when she thinks. I have been very lucky to be in a school district where the administration makes sense and is very supportive. I can only imagine what it would be like if I were in a different situation. I am very critical and skeptical and emphasize with Esme so much about what she thinks. I’m not so sure I would be as blunt and self assured when I got my first job, even if I saw mediocrity and stupidity. During Esme’s story telling event, the administration wanted her to tape the event after they saw how well it had gone. The whole point was that she had asked months prior to the event that it be taped and she got no support. Esme’s actions are not acknowledged and not appreciated. The story of Esme shows how undervalued teachers are in some schools.
At the beginning of the course we read an article by Peter Sipe who hated his job, was afraid of the students, couldn’t deal with the administrations lack of involvement and compared his school to a prison. Esme discusses how she was afraid a student of hers was going to shoot her. Esme had to fight with her principal over the state of her students. Esme states that the reason why her students where having behavioral problems is because of their socioeconomic background. Esme stood up for her students even though she was concerned about the possibility of violence. Esme did not turn the tables and blame the children who had poor backgrounds; she blamed the way the school held low expectations. A school is the place where students are supposed to learn and allow children to grow. Despite the debate over how much a school is responsible for in the life of a child a school’s purpose is to provide an opportunity for change and growth. It is the legal right of every student to have an education and be held to high standards and expectations. Sipe had low expectations for his students and as a result, never found anything better in his students. Esme was able to connect and enjoy her students after she understood what factors made the child who he or she was.
I questioned the cooperating teacher who taught Esme some of her classroom management even thought I commended Esme for her judgment and actions. The cooperating teacher was shocking and could probably not have done some of the things she did if she was not tenured and had experience on her side. I think finding teachers who are wise are essential to learn; however, I think new teachers should take themes and suggestions from old teachers. New teachers are not as secure in their jobs as more experienced teachers and should be cautious of anything that is told to them. Esme herself had to decide for herself what she was going to do in her room.
There were a lot of things Esme did in her classroom that I would not feel comfortable doing. I think teaching is not only a balancing act between content, classroom management and school culture but also a balancing act between a teacher’s personality, professional behavior and school culture.
At the end of the book Esme went back to what her mentor had told her, that a beginning teacher wonders how he or she is doing, whereas an experienced teacher wonders how his or her students are doing. I really like this idea because at this point in my teaching I am only focused on me. At the beginning of my placement (first few times I had to get up in front of the class) I didn’t even look at the students and was completely self involved. I was just too insecure and worried about my own performance to watch the students. I now know that the student’s engagement and participation if the most important thing when teaching a lesson but it really took me time to realize that. I do not get the impression that Esme ever was self involved. It seems like she was born like a woman whose mission in life was to teach. She knew things that I had no idea about and how to respond. This book has provided me with a lot of guidance. There are scenarios and information in Educating Esme that a beginning teacher does not learn from a college classroom or traditional reading on teaching methods.
