Rating: 
Summary: Black and White People
Review: "There Are No Shortcuts" by Rafe Esquith is a book that opens your eyes to the ridiculousness of LAUSD's (Los Angeles Unified School District) bureaucracy. I don't know about the majority of the US's public education system alumns, but the details in the book struck me as painfully, hilariously true (The red tape, self-aggrandizing teachers, the unfairness and the mediocrity in classrooms). Esquith has a familiar, charismatic, and witty style to his writing, which invites you to stay awhile in his circus-crazy world. It's a fast, fun read, that makes you wish you had such a dedicated teacher when growing up. However, one thing that readers *must* know before cracking open this books is: "There Are No Shortcuts" is NOT meant as a teaching manual. It's the story of a man, (a man with faults, yes, but a good man, nonetheless) sharing with the world what he has to go through each day to achieve his end goals - the enrichment of his kids' lives. Don't read this book if you're expecting your hand held for your teaching post. People say that Esquith has geniuses for a class, but growing up in "the Jungle," I don't know whether to laugh or cry. The so-called "Gifted" and GATE programs were, and still, laughable attempts of allocating the "smart" from the "dumb." One thing I know: Don't underestimate the kids. Esquith may do a lot, but kids aren't stupid. In the book, Esquith expects great things from his students, and part of the charm of reading the book is seeing those kids grow - reaching a part of their potential more quickly with Esquith's mentorship. Like many of the reviewers of the book has noted, no *sane*, *normal* teacher would ever dream of spending so much time and effort into his or her classroom - that's what differentiates Rafe Esquith from the rest of the pack.
Rating:
Summary: Black and White People
Review: "There Are No Shortcuts" by Rafe Esquith is a book that opens your eyes to the ridiculousness of LAUSD's (Los Angeles Unified School District) bureaucracy. I don't know about the majority of the US's public education system alumns, but the details in the book struck me as painfully, hilariously true (The red tape, self-aggrandizing teachers, the unfairness and the mediocrity in classrooms). Esquith has a familiar, charismatic, and witty style to his writing, which invites you to stay awhile in his circus-crazy world. It's a fast, fun read, that makes you wish you had such a dedicated teacher when growing up. However, one thing that readers *must* know before cracking open this books is: "There Are No Shortcuts" is NOT meant as a teaching manual. It's the story of a man, (a man with faults, yes, but a good man, nonetheless) sharing with the world what he has to go through each day to achieve his end goals - the enrichment of his kids' lives. Don't read this book if you're expecting your hand held for your teaching post. People say that Esquith has geniuses for a class, but growing up in "the Jungle," I don't know whether to laugh or cry. The so-called "Gifted" and GATE programs were, and still, laughable attempts of allocating the "smart" from the "dumb." One thing I know: Don't underestimate the kids. Esquith may do a lot, but kids aren't stupid. In the book, Esquith expects great things from his students, and part of the charm of reading the book is seeing those kids grow - reaching a part of their potential more quickly with Esquith's mentorship. Like many of the reviewers of the book has noted, no *sane*, *normal* teacher would ever dream of spending so much time and effort into his or her classroom - that's what differentiates Rafe Esquith from the rest of the pack.
Rating: 
Summary: A must read for teachers
Review: A word of caution. You must read this book all the way to the end or you may give up teaching. Toward the end, Rafe gives some hope for us ordinary mortals.
Rating:
Summary: A must read for teachers
Review: A word of caution. You must read this book all the way to the end or you may give up teaching. Toward the end, Rafe gives some hope for us ordinary mortals.
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointed
Review: After reading this book I was very disappointed on its focus. Most of the pages are spent recreating verbal battles(that the author always wins) with fellow teachers. The authors resorting to name-calling of just about every peer he ever worked with made it diffcult for me to finish the book...
Rating: 
Summary: Vindictive, Petty Gossip
Review: Although one must admire Rafe Esquith's creativity, energy and dedication to his classroom, unfortunately after reading his book it his pettiness and vindictiveness that stick in one's mind. I have to ask why his editors allowed him to include so many vengeful stories of not only fellow teachers and administrators but also even of former students who apparently didn't give Mr. Esquith the thanks he felt his due. Some of these stories may have been appropriate to include in his book, but many were not. One has the impression he must have worn down his editors into letting him include so many such anecdotes. Too bad no one asked Mr. Esquith to consider if his hero Atticus would have written such a book or why someone should pay money to read this kind of gossip.
Rating:
Summary: An outstanding book!
Review: As a mother of young children, I found this book to be extremely helpful in terms of understanding the condition of education today, and where I might best extend my efforts at supplementing at home. I think it is a bit of a stretch to expect the average teacher to employ all of his tactics, as they would have little time left for their own families, but certainly there are many good ideas to work with. I completely agree that the reading programs we find in public schools today are grossly inadequate, and that they take much of the joy out of reading. Unfortunately, for most teachers, if they want to keep their jobs they must follow the scripted lessons. I am not certain what the best answer would be for their situation, but I am happy to work at home to provide the books and instruction necessary to instill a love of reading and literature in my children.
Rating: 
Summary: Eh... not bad. But not that great either.
Review: As an aspiring teacher myself, I picked this book up in the hopes that it could serve as a helpful guide in my first couple years of teaching, or perhaps as a motivational tool for when things don't go so well. At times, it serves both these purposes, but as a whole, I found it unfulfilling and was left a little more than disappointed.
First, I would disregard most of the 1 and 2 star reviews posted here. Nearly all the reviews contain very little substance as to why the book was so bad, and seemed directed more towards the author as a person and not at the author as an educator or even at the book itself.
I found the book to be an extraordinarily easy read and found his blunt candor very often entertaining. The conversations he includes are not necessarily "recreat[ed] verbal battles (that the author always wins)", rather they more often portray many people's brutally honest conventions and feelings towards education. And based on my own first hand experience, I can say that there are very many people (too many) who treat education and children quite poorly, as he illustrates.
My initial complaint is the author's lack of hard evidence, which is not entirely necessary, but would have added a significant amount of validity to his story. Specific details as to the types of students he teaches (it does seem that many of his students are 'gifted and talented' well beyond most 10 year olds) and even glimpses into his own lesson plans or day-to-day techniques would have been useful. He does in fact include a chapter called "When Numbers Get Serious" where he describes in some detail his own micro-economic system within the classroom. I personally have a huge problem with this style of teaching with "token economies" because it has been proven in hundreds of studies to diminish an individual's intrinsic motivation to learn. It also discourages students from working together and helping others, and instead encourages them to fend for themselves at all costs, lest they lose their classroom seat. Honestly, I found his system quite appauling in that regard, especially since it reinforces the notion that competition and inequality are necessary and unavoidable in our society.
There are a number of other specific problems I had with his ideology on education (he contradicts himself quite a bit), but much of his basic approach I admire and agree with. I do not think it's crazy for someone to dedicate their lives to their job, because for some teachers (the best teachers) teaching IS their life and they find enjoyment in doing it all the time. For many people, that simply is not the case. I don't think it's fair to criticize the author or anyone else who finds real enjoyment (not simply the dollars and cents) from their job. I don't think that the author particularly looks down at those around him for not working as hard as he does, but I think he feels that he has more experience and knowledge than those around him and should therefore have more autonomy in his classroom. And rightly so.
I recommend this book only if you have some extra time or if your curiosity gets the best of you. If you seek constructive approaches and cold, hard facts, I highly recommend anything by Alfie Kohn, specifically Punished by Rewards. He may actually blow your mind.
Rating:
Summary: This Book is about Rafe, Not about Studetns
Review: As I new educator, I was looking for a book that gave me some insights into Rafe's success. Instead I found a book about the man, not about children. I found this book to be a self-serving commercial with little or no help for beginning educators.
Rating:
Summary: The Truth Will Out....
Review: Every once in a while you'll read a book that educates you about something that you didn't know. Then, every once in a while you'll read a book thaht inspires you to live your life differently, better. Rarely, do you find a book that does both simultaneously -- this is what Rafe Esquith does in his new book There Are No Shortcuts. Awesome reading!
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