Rating: 
Summary: Excellent example of making the classroom extraordinary!!
Review: I truely enjoyed this book and found it very helpful in my quest to decide if I really want to go into education. I feel that the book brought to life many realistic events to expect in a fifth grade classroom. I would recoment the book to anyone who must deal with troubled students. I will most likely read the book over again. I would like to become as strong willed and patient as Mrs. Zajac.
Rating:
Summary: A great book for anyone considering teaching as a profession
Review: This book provides an in-depth look at the activities and interactions that take place inside a fifth grade classroom. The book takes you through an entire year of school, in which you have a chance to read about the successes and failures that both the students and the teacher encounter. From students talking out of turn to students hitting and yelling at other students, you will quickly learn just how complex the job of a teacher can be. There are also several good teaching techniques that the fifth grade teacher implements in class that are successful, one such example is role playing during a history lesson. In closing, I would like to say that I feel the book would be of great interest to anyone who is considering or entering into teaching as a profession.
Rating: 
Summary: GREAT DAY BY DAY ACCOUNT OF A CLASSROOM
Review: A great book for anyone going into teaching. There were a lot of great ideas and tips for all teachers to try. It also shows the ups and downs of being a teacher but lets you also know that teaching is a very rewarding profession. Highly recommended book.
Rating:
Summary: Awsome
Review: If you want to read a book that is real and tells the truth about the classroom, this is one for you. I can say this because I was just like one of the kids in Mrs. Zajac's class. I was in the fith grade just around the time that Mr. Kidder sat in Mrs. Zajacs class. I like, Judith, was raised in a Chistian-Pentecostal, Puerto Rican church and home (and attend one till this day) and taught Sunday school at the ages of 9-18. Except I grew up just a few hours ride from Holyoke, Ma.. I saw my school and myself through out the book. The book tells the truth; much more could have been told, but the day has only so many hours. I saw many "Felipe's" and "Judith's" graduate Hight School and some "Robert's" and "Clarances'" struggle. But, we each had our own "Mrs. Zajac" along the way; teachers that wouldn't let you down, no matter that your last name was. It was awsome to almost relive the fifth grade again. Mr. Kidder wrote and the most perfect discription of the American class room of the 1980's, that anyone could write. I'm just happy to see that Mr. Kidder give the rest of the world a chance to realize where alot of these troubled teens and young adults of today, come from. The book is real and true, I know because I lived it.
Rating:
Summary: How Cris Zajac a 5th grade teacher deals with students.
Review: A reader from Macon,Georgia,July 21,1999 As a Teacher-Coach student at Macon State College, I believe all Education students should read this book. The reason is how the teacher Mrs. Cris Zajac learns how to deal with multicultural students. Her only two failures were students named Robert and Clarence. She really tried with these two and grieved constantly over their rejection. I will use her tactics in my classroom someday and I hope you will also.
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Summary: This book is true inspiration!
Review: Nine years ago I picked up a copy of Among Schoolchildren during a slow spell on the job as a kitchen designer. I saw myself in Chris Zajac, and when I finished the last page and closed the book, I called up a nearby college and enrolled in a Masters in Teaching Program. Thanks to Tracy Kidder and Chris Zajac, I have just completed my 6th year in the classroom. I just reread the book and was amazed to see how similar my teaching style is to that of Mrs. Zajac.
Rating:
Summary: A pleasant, useful book for people of all races and creeds!
Review: I am an African-American teacher, and I highly disagree with the one star review that this book received -- that it is nice for 'white women' teachers. Good teaching is not a black and white issue. Caring is not a black and white issue. It is irrevelent if the teacher is black, white, brown, etc.. It is attitudes such as these, the elevation of ourselves in terms of educational importance, I believe, that lessons the teaching profession and is a major contributor, I believe, to why people do not want to be teachers. I became a teacher because I love to see my students grow mentally, intellectually and physically. The minority and white teachers I work with are outstanding, and I am happy they are my co-workers. Mr. kidder's book is one shining example of a beautiful teacher who is a representative of all of us who do teaching for the right reasons. Thank-you, Mr. Kidder!
Rating: 
Summary: Taming of the Cimarron
Review: Taming of the Cimarron If you liked "Dangerous Minds," you will like Tracy Kidder's book, Among Schoolchildren. For one school year Kidder observed the fifth grade class of Chris Zajac, a petite teacher, who works in an urban school in Massachusetts. The author portrays the teacher as a diligent, dedicated, and caring white woman who is determined to educate children of color. The sad thing about this book and others like it is faculty logic -- part for the whole. Few teachers are like the protagonist. Also, few white teachers teach in the inner cities of the United States for a long time. They usually stop teaching after the few two years. This book is nothing but a glorification of European American with all the racial stereotypes of people of color. Among Schoolchildren is the making of white folks as sheroes and/or heroes which is the reason it was a national bestseller. If you like these kinds of books to make you think how good white folks are, especially white women, you will enjoy this book, especially in taming the wild beast. However, for those of us who are tired of seeing and hearing how good white folks are, this book rates a zero. But zero is not on our rating scale; thus one star is the next best choice.
Rating:
Summary: This book should be required reading for Ed majors
Review: Kidder eloquently and precisely addresses the struggles, triumphs, joys, and sorrows of being a teacher in America. I originally read this book 10 years ago, and it still rings true. I have given copies of it to all my teacher friends. This is a fascinating and delightful read. Mr. Kidder is a genius.
Rating:
Summary: A great book that looks closely at a classroom enviornment.
Review: This is a good book for anyone entering the education field. It is a very easy, novel like book to read. Parents would also benefit from reading the book. It gives a detailed schedule of what goes on in a classroom. This fifth grade class was very lucky to have Mrs. Zajac as a teacher. She knows how to motivate children, be very stern but caring at the same time. She is an inspiration to any teacher or someone wanting to become a teacher.
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