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Summary: Another Hayden book
Review: It seems that Hayden has a lot to say about her past children. In a way it's good she's writing these.... With these books I feel like I have more of a family of understanding so to speak. Still I wonder...I definetly enjoyed it. It let me feel a little normal considering the kisd involved. I loved the Epilogue (No I won't spoil it). I felt like I was beginning to know these children on an indiviual level. This was the only one of her books that left me with a "good feeling" afterwards though. She writes in such a way as to touch the heart
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Summary: Lucky Class!
Review: Ms. Hayden's pupils are lucky to have such an outstanding teacher. They are a disparate group -- a pregnant 12-year-old, an oppositional boy, a girl with severe learning disabilities and a boy who is autistic -- these four band together in a nice, cohesive little group.I want to know the same thing that others have brought up. Why was that evil Mrs. Thorsen allowed to continue teaching? She was cruel and her mistreatment of Lori should not have gone unpunished. Nobody else thought to mention this, so I will. I was glad Ms. Hayden dumped her selfish boyfriend Jocco. I didn't like Jocco and thought he was a pompous and selfish man. He, like Mrs. Thorsen appeared to be incapable of empathy. I loved this book and all the children in that class. I hope they all made success stories of their lives.
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Summary: Somebody Else's Kids
Review: My name is Karen. I am currently a college student at Macon State College. When I signed up to take my Education class, I never knew that I would have to read a book. But this book was a joy to read. I could not put it down, because of the plot. Nowadays, people have a sterotypical teacher known for the smiling face and the nice personality. But lately it seems that teaching is just another 9 to 5 job that ends when the bell rings. This book proved me wrong. It gave me hope that their are still passionate people out there who love their job as a teacher. The fact that Torey was so compassionate to the kids was amazing! I wish more people were like that. I liked this book because it makes me feel that I can make a difference in some child's life.
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Summary: Good
Review: My name is Nick and I am a student at Macon State College. I read this book for a class. I enjoyed it. The book was informative and interesting. The author tends to paint a very bleak picture of the life, both personal and professional of a special ed teacher. Despite her bias toward her children Ms. Hayden is brutaly honest throughout the book.
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Summary: A great book--and a wonderful little girl!
Review: Of the four children Torey taught that year, Lori Sjokheim was--and is--my favorite. Her strength in the face of continual failure and intermittent persecution, her intelligence, her compassion, her intuitive perceptiveness, and her many talents continue to awe and enthrall me. She had a magic about her; she knew how to connect with those around her and help them to change for the better (examples: Tomaso and Boo). To this day, I've wondered how she's fared as an adult who can't read or write.I'm with others who have responded; I can't imagine how her regular teacher could have rightfully been allowed to continue to teach. It's a shame that she was. It's clear that she did not believe that learning disabilities existed and that Lori was just being lazy and stubborn. It's equally clear that Lori desperately yearned to learn to read, and that she was trying as hard as she could. (Naturally, a child who can't even read the alphabet and who can only write the letters of her first name is going to get all her answers wrong when trying to do written work! And a child who's publiced castigated and humiliated in front of the class for not being able to read is going to react in a very unpleasant way, somehow or other.)I wish to respond to a recent review posted by someone else. Nothing was done to Edna Thorsen because she was a tenured teacher in her last year of teaching. It's a shame, as I already said, because she should have been held accountable for the emotional damage she inflicted on struggling kids.If you ask me, the school system let Lori down from start to finish. The only special help she was given was time in the resource room; no acknowledgement was made that she had a legitimate disability. She was retained for something she was not to blame for, and in other ways punished. In the face of all that, Lori deserves a string of purple hearts for bouncing back the way she did, not once but repeatedly, and for trying so hard and caring so for others as she did. I hope she has been able to live a successful adult live, in spite of her handicap.Torey Hayden is a gifted author. She really made the children in her charge come alive. In reading the book, I feel almost as if I'm there watching them and feeling what they feel. Kudos to her for telling their stories as well as she did. I hope that, one day, she will write a sequel to the book, describing Lori's second year in 1st grade and summarizing the rest of her life as she's lived it thus far.
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Summary: A very touching book.
Review: Somebody Else's Kids by Torey L. Hayden shows the challenge of teaching four troubled children. Torey's class is known as "the class that created itself." Although Torey has taught special education classes before, she has never had a class like this. Torey really takes these four children to heart and can't stop trying to help them, even after she fails. I think this effort makes Torey an excellent teacher. Torey cared more about her four students, Boo (who is autistic), Lori (who cannot learn how to read), Tomaso (who is violently angry), and Claudia (who was put out by her Catholic school when she became pregnant) then their own parents did. I give Torey a lot of credit; most people wouldn't be up for this type of challenge. I would recommend this book to anyone, whether they have an interest in special education or whether they just have to read it for a college English class. This is truly a wonderful and inspiring book.
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Summary: A very touching book.
Review: Somebody Else's Kids by Torey L. Hayden shows the challenge of teaching four troubled children. Torey's class is known as "the class that created itself." Although Torey has taught special education classes before, she has never had a class like this. Torey really takes these four children to heart and can't stop trying to help them, even after she fails. I think this effort makes Torey an excellent teacher. Torey cared more about her four students, Boo (who is autistic), Lori (who cannot learn how to read), Tomaso (who is violently angry), and Claudia (who was put out by her Catholic school when she became pregnant) then their own parents did. I give Torey a lot of credit; most people wouldn't be up for this type of challenge. I would recommend this book to anyone, whether they have an interest in special education or whether they just have to read it for a college English class. This is truly a wonderful and inspiring book.
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Summary: Remarkable Book
Review: Somebody else's kids is a beautiful written journal by Torey Haden. I loved this book. This book was very insightful and inspiring. After reading this book, it gave me the confidence to continue my studies in education. This book is a page turner. Once you pick it up you can't put it down. I loved the way Torey handled each of the kids with love, understanding and warmth of a mother. She never hated any of the kids and always treated them as humans. This book touched my heart and I cried through a lot of the parts about how she handled the kids. Torey has a lot of patience, a lot of love, and a lot of understanding. She did things for these kids that you could not even dream about. She is a wonderful teacher and a wonderful person. I loved this book and would recommend it to any one who likes to read. I give this book two thumbs up.
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Summary: This is a great book that you won't want to put down.
Review: Somebody Else's Kids is a great book. Its a book that you will not want to put down until you finish it. Its about a wonderful teacher who has a classroom with four totally different kids in it. One boy,Boo is autistic, one girl was beaten as a child and has injuries to the brain which makes her unable to read. There is another boy who's mother died when he was young, and then he watched his stepmom kill his father. He has been kicked out of school and has a major temper. The fourth child is a twleve year old girl who is pregnant. The teacher does not let the kids get to her. She lets them know that she cares for them the way they are. The kids learn to help one another. Its like the five of them are a team. The book seems real and it makes you feel like you are right there with them. Its a very easy book to read. The teacher cares so much for her children. Sometimes its like she cares to much, (if thats possible). Those kids are her life and not a day goes by that she doesn't think of them. She is the kind of teacher that I want to be. On Friday, her first thought is that she can't wait until Monday so she can come back to school. We need more teachers like her. The kids not only learn from her, but they help teach each other. I recommend that if you are going to be any kind of teacher, that you read this book. It helps us to see that every kid is different, and you have to treat and teach them differently to fit their needs.
Rating:
Summary: remarkable book
Review: Somebody else's kids is a remarkably beautiful book. Torey hayden is an amazing teacher and a wonderful person. Once I started to read this book I couldn't put it down. It was definitely a page turner. The way she handled each one of the kids a awesome and very touching. I cried through a lot of parts of the book, especially when Boo got hurt and had to get stitches. Torey Hayden with this book has inspired me and has given me the confidence to go on in the field of education. The book was easy reading yet very touching to my heart. I loved it and would recommend it to any reader out there. She handled each one of the kids very well, and the fact that she actually treated each of them with so much love, no one could have done it better. She has a lot of patience, love, and understanding. A beautiful book, I give it two thumbs up.
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