Holler If You Hear Me: The Education of a Teacher and His Students (Teaching for Social Justice Series)

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Summary: I MUST BE SEEING STARS
Review: I am a education major at MSC in Ga. I am doing a required reading of Holler If You Hear Me. It appears that I am a voice in the wildnerness concerning my opinion of this book. I think it was a honest evaluation of a teacher with a big heart but little to back it up. I found most of Mr. Michies bad experinces to be of his own making. He readily admits that he ignored advice from seasoned teaches in the schools and he also admits that he was usually ill prepared for his classes. I do not recall any part of reference in the book of him researching new teaching methods or even trying to seek out other teachers that have had sucess in his area of "problem" students. No instead he wasted years of students lives in the class by floundering around trying to gain control of the classroom. I do agree his heart was in the right place but, I see no excuse for the education the students under him recieved for these years. The book did reveal real valid concerns about teaching the children that are labeled "unteachable". It also raises concerns about what caliber of teachers are standing in front of the classrooms today in real life. Although I found this book to be an easy read I did not find it very educational except in the area of what to look for in co-teachers when asking advise about my future classroom problems when I graduate. What ever you do don't ask Mr. Michie because he proably will not know the answer.

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Summary: Educational Reality Check
Review: I am a Macon State College sophmore majoring in education. I read "holler if you hear me" for one of my classes. However, I plan to keep it to read again and again whenever I need inspiration. I truly enjoyed the true stories Mr. Michie and his students shared with me. I could actually visulaize their closet sized classroom. True, there may have only been ten people in the room. Think about it, ten people with desks in your walk-in closet! That would be a tight squeeze. The body heat alone, in Georgia would create a disastrous environment. A bad environment creates frustration. I could feel Mr. Michie's frustration when confronted with the spanish/english language barriers. As adults, (in and out of schools), many of us struggle daily to keep up with the slang english language barriers. I can not imagine teaching students whose primary language is spanish. Mine is english. However, I believe Mr. Michie handled the language situation gracefully. Many students use inappropriate language to avoid certain classes and or assignments. For example they would rather face a slack discipline than take an algebra test. Mr. Michie inadvertantly had an advantage by not knowing the spanish language! For a real-life look into our crowded inner city schools, "holler if you hear me" is a must read for all educators.

Rating:
Summary: Opening My Mind
Review: I am a Macon State College Student majoring in education. I chose to read "holler if you hear me" for my education class. I am so glad that I read this book. I think Gregory Michie did an excellent job writing this book. I have seen fiction movies about inner city schools but I have never read a book about true stories in these types of schools. These children were involved in gangs, drugs, and very harsh environments. This book definitely made me stop and think about the realities of the teaching atmosphere in urban cities. I applaud Gregory Michie for the courage and will power he had for all of his students. I think this book is helpful because upcoming teachers can learn from his mistakes. The book is easy to read and understand. I would definitely recommend "holler if you hear me" to future teachers.

Rating:
Summary: A Must Read
Review: I am a Macon State College Student majoring in education. I chose to read "holler if you hear me" for my education class. I am so glad that I read this book. I think Gregory Michie did an excellent job writing this book. I have seen fiction movies about inner city schools but I have never read a book about true stories in these types of schools. These children were involved in gangs, drugs, and very harsh environments. This book definitely made me stop and think about the realities of the teaching atmosphere in urban cities. I applaud Gregory Michie for the courage and will power he had for all of his students. I think this book is helpful because upcoming teachers can learn from his mistakes. The book is easy to read and understand. I would definitely recommend "holler if you hear me" to future teachers.

Rating:
Summary: A Must Read
Review: I am a Macon State College Student majoring in education. I chose to read "holler if you hear me" for my education class. I am so glad that I read this book. I think Gregory Michie did an excellent job writing this book. I have seen fiction movies about inner city schools but I have never read a book about true stories in these types of schools. These children were involved in gangs, drugs, and very harsh environments. This book definitely made me stop and think about the realities of the teaching atmosphere in urban cities. I applaud Gregory Michie for the courage and will power he had for all of his students. I think this book is helpful because upcoming teachers can learn from his mistakes. The book is easy to read and understand. I would definitely recommend "holler if you hear me" to future teachers.

Rating:
Summary: An Eye Catching Story
Review: I am a macon state college student, and i read this book it was very good and interesting. i recommend this book to anyone who is thinking about being a teacher. It gives alot of insite on how inner school are and also it gives you a look on children now that are in middle grades. This author went through a lot of trials and tribulation but he made it. He had a good relationship with his students in school as well as outside of the school. I think that is real important now in this century. This book also gives you alook at what children this age go through a lot of pressure is built in their lives.

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Summary: College Review
Review: I am a student at Macon State College majoring in Education. I read Holler if you Hear Me and did a presentation on it. The book was a collection of stories and events that occured during the teaching experience of Mr. Michie on the South Side of Chicago. He revealed to me, teaching styles and methods that worked and those that did not. His book strongly stresses the importance of teacher/student interaction. He strongly urges teachers to get to know their students outside of the classroom, as well as in it. He did teach in a very gang prominent area of Chicago. Any teacher dealing with these types of situations in his/her classroom should definately read this book. I found it very helpful.

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Summary: holler if you hear me
Review: I am a teacher for Chicago Public Schools in an Hispanic neighborhood and could not put this book down. After reading it I have a renewed vision of what I would like to share with my students. Greg Michie shares stories, ideas, events, problems as well as solutions that any inner city teacher can relate to. It is written in an honest,candid style that is easy to read and anyone who comes in contact with children must read. What makes this book even more refreshing is the voice of the students and the relationships the Michie develops with them. I have already highly recommended this book to my colleagues. I would love to read more of his experiences!!

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Summary: Opening My Mind
Review: I began to read this book and I began to see things more clearly. I began to think about things I had never thought of before. I was wondering what would I do if I were in his shoes. I never thought about teaching a primarily mexican-american classroom or a primarily african-american class for that matter. I learned alot from reading about Mr. Michie themed classroom and ways to get to know students. He set aside the first two weeks to get to know his kids. I thought that was really good, because after all, how can you teach a child when you know nothing about his life or learning styles. You must first learn the student then teach the lesson.

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Summary: Curious about This Book
Review: I read a short article by this author in a back-issue of Rethinking Schools. He has a very approachable writing style, and I look forward to reading more of his work. I noticed in the title of his book that it is part of a series of books. I would like to know how I could get more books from this Teaching Social Justice Series. Does anyone know about that?