Educating Esme: Diary of a Teacher's First Year

Rating:
Summary: one of the best and most honest books I have ever read
Review: This is one of the most intensely personal books that I have ever read. Esme hides nothing and instead reveals herself to the audience. How many authors have the courage to do that? In addition, the book is filled with some of the funniest stories that I have ever read and there were many times that I found myself laughing out loud. At the same time, Esme paints a picture of a school system that is deteriorating more every day. Her ability to combine these two aspects into such a dynamic book that is both funny and extremely serious at the same time is a sign of her writing and storytelling genius. Everyone should read this book.

Rating:
Summary: Tasteless
Review: If you REALLY want to read a book about an EXCELLENT teacher (who is refreshingly modest) read MARVA COLLINS' WAY. Marva teaches values that any parent would agree with (Marva would NEVER stoop to rewarding extortion OR offering to s--k a boy's d--k in the boy's restroom no matter WHAT the circumstances). I didn't like this book because it seems as though the author is trying to say that ANY method of teaching or relating to the student is OK as long as the student learns SOMETHING (Learn what?--is the question!). I simply don't agree. I believe teachers should be role-models with high standards and refined character. This just isn't it.

Rating:
Summary: A fast and wonderful read for anyone working with children.
Review: This is a book I didn't want to end. I especially enjoyed the sections on conflict resolution and the trouble basket. Thanks Madame Esme for sharing a wonderful year in your life. Many of your ideas will help me as a health care professional.

Rating:
Summary: Inspiring, heartfelt, real..a must read for any new teacher!
Review: As a new teacher I look to colleagues for words of wisdom and guidance...I have found that and so much more in this wonderful book! I have a new hero, Madame Esme. I only hope in my new career as a teacher I can impact the lives of my students as Madame Esme has done. She not only delivered to her students an education but also felt their pains and struggles. She showed them that in a world that sometimes can be unforgiving that someone believed in them, that someone cared and that someone was their teacher. A real teacher who was not afraid to use any creative approach to inspire her students. Way to go Madame Esme!!!!

Rating:
Summary: a hilarious, sad, and idea-filled account of teaching
Review: The author captured it all--the joy, the pain, the ups and downs--of teaching. After teaching many years, I still found lots of ideas that I can use in my classroom. Presented entertainingly, but still telling it just the way it really is, this account of a first year should be read by all teachers before they teach. I laughed aloud, but tears were in my throat in other parts. Educating Esme is my new favorite book!

Rating:
Summary: Great read!!
Review: This book was fantastic and inspirational. I read this book days before I was to begin my "new career" in the school library, after eight years of teaching English!! I cried along with Esme. I loved every minute of this book and have recommended it to many. Esme understood teaching and all that surrounds it in a short time. I applaud her efforts, energy and honesty.

Rating:
Summary: A must have for all first year teachers!
Review: Educating Esme gives teachers the opportunity to laugh out loud. Anyone who is a classroom teacher, whether in a rural setting or an urban setting, can relate to all of the pressures of teaching. Esme gives you the chance to see the lighter side of teaching and have fun with it.

Rating:
Summary: Inspiration to get me to teach again
Review: A simply written diary that is absolutely touching and informative. I plan to have a copy of it with me at all times when I return to teaching after a 2 year break. She may not be the best teacher in the world but she'd be my choice for my kids - the true litmus test, as Madame says!

Rating:
Summary: Finally, a good book about teaching!
Review: I am a school teacher and this is the most realistic book about the teaching experience I have ever come accross. Not many teachers would have the guts to publish their journal- especially not a "warts-and-all" journal, like this one. I laughed out loud while reading this book and passed it along to my co-workers.

Rating:
Summary: *Educating Esme* is vulgar and dismal.
Review: For those who wonder why so many children emerge from the public schools brimming with self-love and eager to express their supposed creativity although they cannot distinguish between a noun and a verb, think the world began when they entered it, and have the morals of street curs, here is an answer. In at least one school, with at least one teacher, they've been swamped with foolishness and vulgarity unimaginable just twenty years ago. Although the episode between the two women teachers and the little boy in the boy's restroom is particularly illustrative, every page tells a story of how corrupt the government schools have become.

Although the writer's goal is obviously to glorify herself, she unwittingly exposes the corruption of the system--a system of which she is an award-winning part. While the writer crows about exposing her body, she has unintentionally exposed *much* more than that.