Educating Esmé: Diary of a Teacher's First Year

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Educating Esmé: Diary of a Teacher's First Year

3.94 of 5 stars 3.94 · rating details · 3,035 ratings · 399 reviews

There aren't too many teachers who are written about in the "New Yorker," "People," "Entertainment Weekly," "Elle," and excerpted in "Reader's Digest." But Esme Raji Codell is no ordinary teacher. An irrepressible spirit, she wears costumes in the classroom, dances with the kids during math lessons, roller-skates down the hallways, and puts on rousing performances with at-...more

Paperback, 216 pages

Published June 1st 2001 by Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill (first published April 1st 1999)

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Aug 02, 2008 booklady rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: parents and teachers

Shelves: 2004, children, education, biography

She's refreshing honest and likeable; even the title of her book lets you know she knows what teaching is all about--learning. It was what I always told people who used to ask me about homeschooling. I'd turn around and ask them, "How much do you like to learn?" As a teacher, as much as a parent, we have to be prepared to be constantly learning, constantly failing, constantly correcting (ourselves) and being willing to learn from our students/children.

The book is a diary and reads as such; the d...more

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Nov 14, 2008 Needleroozer rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: anyone considering teaching as a profession

Shelves: life-stories

Wow!

I read this book in one evening. It's a quick and moving read.

I've been running into this book for a while, seeing it listed on people's GoodReads shelves and getting requests for it from other libraries through interlibrary loan. Yesterday while I was pulling books, I saw a copy just sitting on the shelf, and I decided to take it home.

The author of this book is very slick. She starts the book in such a way that it seems like it's just going to be a "can you believe these kids and the school...more

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Apr 14, 2012 Tatiana rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: memoir, education

Educating Esmé is an unassuming book, pocket-sized and shy of 200 pages, but bursting with inspiration, humor, and heartbreaking realities of author Esmé Raji Codell’s first year of elementary teaching at an inner-city Chicago public school.

Codell is bursting herself; creative ideas to engage students in reading and writing, and learning in general, flow from her effortlessly. Her good intentions and successes are marred by roaring gang violence, abusive parents, kids stealing from her classroo...more Educating Esmé is an unassuming book, pocket-sized and shy of 200 pages, but bursting with inspiration, humor, and heartbreaking realities of author Esmé Raji Codell’s first year of elementary teaching at an inner-city Chicago public school.

Codell is bursting herself; creative ideas to engage students in reading and writing, and learning in general, flow from her effortlessly. Her good intentions and successes are marred by roaring gang violence, abusive parents, kids stealing from her classroom, an ineffective administration, caring for a student’s two year-old sibling for a day, etc. Add to all that a nuisance of a principal and it’s a wonder, and a testament to her dedication, that a then twenty-five year-old Codell got anything accomplished.

By the end of the year, Madam Esmé (as she instructs her students to address her, much to the principal’s chagrin) admits to having “thirty-one days every day” with her thirty-one fifth-graders, all with their own personal and educational issues, all at-risk. They stab a substitute in the back with a pencil. They call her horrible names. They also took great leaps forward in their reading comprehension and writing skills, their imaginations.

As someone who has recently considered pursuing education due to, as my friends know, a rewarding opportunity, I found this memoir…confirming. So much of the profession is political, and about meeting standards, and implementing discipline. The act of educating seems to be less and less of the focus. When a truly excellent educator comes along, like Codell, there are more nay-sayers than supporters, and in those cases, it is the children who suffer.

Codell is a wonderful writer who documents her entire experience, including her own foibles and insecurities, with as much aching candidness as she presents the tribulations and triumphs of her students. There were entries that wrecked me and entries that made me hopeful, but not one disappointed. A must-read—for everyone.

~

April, 2012
Do you ever read over one of your own reviews months after authoring it and cringe? This novel was a required reading for my Intro. to Teaching course last semester and critiquing it against what we were learning and seeing in classrooms made me realize how difficult Esme made her life and career. I understand being out of the box and having to face challenges with students in tough districts, but Esme sought out fights. She always had to be right. She had issues with authority. And even though a lot of her ideas were indeed creative, at what cost did those around her have to pay to receive her "genius"? The worst part for me was that the focus should be on the students, and all her shenanigans detracted from that singular goal. I have since given away my copy. One reading was enough.
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Apr 14, 2008 Heather rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: education, adult-literature

Madame Esme's first year teaching diary was an interesting read. I found myself relating to Esme on many levels, remembering experiences that I have had in the classroom. I like the brutal honesty that Esme used to describe the trials, tribulations, and triumphs of teaching fifth grade in an inner-city Chicago school. Esme had such confidence (bordering on being cocky or pompous although rightfully so in the instances she describes), than I remember having that first year - but she met every cha...more

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Mar 14, 2008 Megan rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: teachers and people interested in education

Shelves: need-to-buy, adult-books

This is a MUST read for teachers or anyone interested in the field of education! I loved reading this book because the author was SO honest about her feelings and her experiences. I kept thinking "WOW! Someone feels the same way I do and they are not afraid to express it."

I loved her idea on page 30 about a "trouble box." Where students can leave notes about things that are bothering them. And her titles for roles in literature groups on page 118. Discussion director makes up questions. Literary...more

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Dec 27, 2008 Ann rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: education, memoir

Esme pours all her energy and all of herself and much of her own money into her first year of teaching in an inner city Chicago school. She is bright and creative and made a huge impact on the students in her classroom. She's fairly self-congratulatory throughout the book, though, and what the book doesn't tell you is that this was not just her first year teaching, it was also her last.

In our current educational system, teaching is for the young & energetic, the naively optimistic. We can ei...more

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Feb 12, 2013 Jonathan rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: education-teaching

Educating Esme: Diary of a Teacher's First Year is not merely a chronology of the daily monotony and petty gripes of a new teacher. It is an insightful and reflective editorial of a highly motivated and idealistic teacher. Other than the ending, I enjoyed reading this book.

Madame Esme, as she preferred to be called, had a difficult task: teach 31 fifth graders. Her task was compounded by the reality of her students' world. Most of her inner city Chicago students came from disturbingly broken ho...more Educating Esme: Diary of a Teacher's First Year is not merely a chronology of the daily monotony and petty gripes of a new teacher. It is an insightful and reflective editorial of a highly motivated and idealistic teacher. Other than the ending, I enjoyed reading this book.

Madame Esme, as she preferred to be called, had a difficult task: teach 31 fifth graders. Her task was compounded by the reality of her students' world. Most of her inner city Chicago students came from disturbingly broken homes. On a daily basis, her fifth graders dealt with abusive parents, guns, gang violence, drugs, thievery, homelessness, etcetera. On two occasions, her students were beaten harshly in front of her by their parents for displaying inappropriate behavior. Madame Esme not only had to teach her students the 3Rs, but how to be civil as well. Conflict resolution meetings were one technique she used successfully, though the details were not for the weak hearted.

Madame Esme also had to contend with the meddling from her inept administrators and the nay saying from peer teachers. Like when her unsupportive principal incessantly obsessed over the minutia of titles and speeches, but missed the big picture of educating the children. Or the time Madame Esme had to disregard the same principal when he told her that her students could not learn or behave like other students because they were black. She had to bear the complaints of her peers who wanted her to stop making waves and look the other way because it was making life difficult for the rest of them.

Not all of Madame Esme's diary is dark and dreary. Much of it is filled with wonderful ideas to get her students excited about learning. She built a time machine for studying history, organized an after school reader-theater which put on performances for the school, had an author from the American Girl book company speak to the students, and on her own dime she bought a class library for the students to enjoy real literature. To get the students attention and excited about the day, she would often dress up to match whatever lesson she was teaching. She reminded me of Miss Frizzle from the Magic School bus series.

It's not just the big things she did that made her class (or at least reading about it) so enjoyable, it's the little things she did as well. She had routines that brought peace, if only for a little while, into the lives of her children. Though they often frustrated her, Madame Esme loved her students and they knew it. Children wanted to be there. I think many of her readers would want to be there too, just not as the teacher.

The disappointing part of Esme's story was that after only one year of teaching, she was finished. I loved her creativity, but her programs were unsustainable. She found ways to work against her administrators, not with them. She was exhausted. If only Esme had a mentor to tell her that teaching is more of a marathon than a sprint, maybe her career would have lasted more than a few months.(less)

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Jonathan Educating Esme: Diary of a Teacher's First Year is not merely a chronology of the daily monotony and petty gripes of a new teacher. It is an insightfu...more Educating Esme: Diary of a Teacher's First Year is not merely a chronology of the daily monotony and petty gripes of a new teacher. It is an insightful and reflective editorial of a highly motivated and idealistic teacher. Other than the ending, I enjoyed reading this book.

Madame Esme, as she preferred to be called, had a difficult task: teach 31 fifth graders. Her task was compounded by the reality of her students' world. Most of her inner city Chicago students came from disturbingly broken homes. On a daily basis, her fifth graders dealt with abusive parents, guns, gang violence, drugs, thievery, homelessness, etcetera. On two occasions, her students were beaten harshly in front of her by their parents for displaying inappropriate behavior. Madame Esme not only had to teach her students the 3Rs, but how to be civil as well. Conflict resolution meetings were one technique she used successfully, though the details were not for the weak hearted.

Madame Esme also had to contend with the meddling from her inept administrators and the nay saying from peer teachers. Like when her unsupportive principal incessantly obsessed over the minutia of titles and speeches, but missed the big picture of educating the children. Or the time Madame Esme had to disregard the same principal when he told her that her students could not learn or behave like other students because they were black. She had to bear the complaints of her peers who wanted her to stop making waves and look the other way because it was making life difficult for the rest of them.

Not all of Madame Esme's diary is dark and dreary. Much of it is filled with wonderful ideas to get her students excited about learning. She built a time machine for studying history, organized an after school reader-theater which put on performances for the school, had an author from the American Girl book company speak to the students, and on her own dime she bought a class library for the students to enjoy real literature. To get the students attention and excited about the day, she would often dress up to match whatever lesson she was teaching. She reminded me of Miss Frizzle from the Magic School bus series.

It's not just the big things she did that made her class (or at least reading about it) so enjoyable, it's the little things she did as well. She had routines that brought peace, if only for a little while, into the lives of her children. Though they often frustrated her, Madame Esme loved her students and they knew it. Children wanted to be there. I think many of her readers would want to be there too, just not as the teacher.

The disappointing part of Esme's story was that after only one year of teaching, she was finished. I loved her creativity, but her programs were unsustainable. She found ways to work against her administrators, not with them. She was exhausted. If only Esme had a mentor to tell her that teaching is more of a marathon than a sprint, maybe her career would have lasted more than a few months.(less)
Feb 12, 2013 09:45pm

Nov 07, 2012 Amanda Hancock rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I find this diary of a first year 24 year old teacher a bit irritating.Not only is Ms. Esme ( there I called you Ms.!!!)unlikable and unrelatable , her diary actually is quit a boring read and it shouldn't be considering the backdrop. Esme teaches 31 inner city 5th graders in Chicago who are improverished and have many social, emotional pyschological and learning issues and disabilities, ranging from homelessness to abuse to neglect and lets not forget Esme IS a first year teacher. Considering w...more I find this diary of a first year 24 year old teacher a bit irritating.Not only is Ms. Esme ( there I called you Ms.!!!)unlikable and unrelatable , her diary actually is quit a boring read and it shouldn't be considering the backdrop. Esme teaches 31 inner city 5th graders in Chicago who are improverished and have many social, emotional pyschological and learning issues and disabilities, ranging from homelessness to abuse to neglect and lets not forget Esme IS a first year teacher. Considering what i knew I thought this would be an enjoyable read but Esme or Madame Esme as she insists on being called, ( and is endlessly discussed and argued about with her principal, or bitched about to fellow teachers whom she clearly looks down on )IS JUST perfect!!These children are all facing HUGE issues and she has 31 students!!! Esme handles each issue effortlessly and occasionaly cusses afterwards. After a student steals a book from the library she worked so hard on and funded herself , she bans everyone in class from using the library. when a mother complains"my daughter don't steal,what don't you trust her" ( keep in mind NO one is as aeticulate as Esme )Esme matter of factly responds " no i don't trust them they are 10 and 11 year old children learning about accountabiliy" ectr ectr blah , blah BORNG!!!!! She wins awards, comes up with the "best" bullentin boards puts on "amazing events and plays" "i know the older teachers are going to say my room is over-stimulating but my room is the best " "i would want my kid to be in this classroom" .My room is AWESOME!!I"m AWESOME blah ,blah, blah! Ive made all these inner city chldren awesome with all of my , wait NO EXPERIENCE , in less than a year! her students whom didn't even know the alhpabet in the begining of the year at best and couldn't speak or read english at the worst , somehow manage to score the highest in the entire school on the Iowa standarized test! Guess how? ALL ESME!!!She regards other teachers as "weak", "babies" or just know "her kids will eat her alive she is too sweet and cries alot" but they don't pull that shit with Madame Esme, because she has become the worlds most creative, empatheic, inspiring, talented, hardworking,and perfected the tough love approach with discipline all in less than a few months?!? Seriously?? oh and dont forget how "AWESOME" she is!!!Her children beg her to continue "Reading Aloud Time' , yet are homeless, gang members, drug dealers, neglected, abused and bring guns to school, but when Esme has them gather round to read to them they just cannot get enough . She seems way too overly confident to be believable and while I understand the book is a "diary" the writing is so elementary , i would put it at a 4th grade reading level! It took me one small sitting to read, and while a few good ideas and lessons may be found only if you can tolerate this annoying woman and childlike read! I would have put the book down after the first chapter had it not been so short and for the lack of other reading materials on my lanai at the time!(less)

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Oct 07, 2012 Arya rated it 5 of 5 stars

They said that this wasn't a how-to-teach book but there certainly are a few handy tips I could take from it. Educating Esmé is a hilarious, likeable, and extraordinary autobiography, written by Esmé Raji Codell. The storyline fits so well together, it difficult to believe that all of it had actually happened (the way Mr. Turner never got her last name right). For a diary of a teacher's first year, each day written is described with great detail. Madame Esmé always taught her class just how she...more

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Dec 30, 2010 Karin rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: nonfiction, autobiography-memoir, teachers, teaching, diaries-journals, education, chicago, public-schools, 5th-grade, elementary-school, funny, borrowed-from-the-library

Esmé Codell’s first teaching job was as a 5th grade teacher in one of Chicago’s poorest schools. Her students were bright and sassy and full of spunk, and she alternatively loved them and hated them. More so, however, she struggled with the administration’s lack of imagination and the many obstacles they threw up in her way (she and the principal just couldn’t see eye to eye most of the time, and were constantly engaged in a power struggle over things as ridiculous as ‘Madame’ Esmé’s title of ad...more Esmé Codell’s first teaching job was as a 5th grade teacher in one of Chicago’s poorest schools. Her students were bright and sassy and full of spunk, and she alternatively loved them and hated them. More so, however, she struggled with the administration’s lack of imagination and the many obstacles they threw up in her way (she and the principal just couldn’t see eye to eye most of the time, and were constantly engaged in a power struggle over things as ridiculous as ‘Madame’ Esmé’s title of address in her classroom). Still, she gives an inspiring account of her devotion to her kids and their classroom – the extra time she spent with the kids, the extra money she spent out of her own pocket to purchase them a classroom library, and the things she taught them. Since this is, essentially, her journal, it details Esme’s trials as well as her triumphs. Great (and fast!) read!

I can’t decide if, as a student (I was pretty quiet and shy), I would have loved or hated having Madame Esmé as a teacher. She sounds awesome as a person, but I think she would have scared the living daylights out of me if I were a kid. She’s like her kids – smart, nervy, and doesn’t take any crap from anyone. I’d like to know her, but not in the classroom!

Excerpt:

“Well, they stabbed the substitute today. In the back, with a pencil. The paramedics said it was only a flesh wound. She didn’t press any charges, she just went home.

‘Who did it!’ Mr. Turner howled at them. They were silent. Who in their right mind would say anything? He stomped out.

I sat behind my desk and looked at them. They were sitting very nicely. The mood in the room was somewhat pleasant. I had been gone only twenty minutes. Mr. Turner had called me out to troubleshoot some computer problem and had called in a substitute who was on break from filling in for another teacher. When I came back, this woman was gone. In twenty minutes, had they really managed to stab someone?

‘Would anyone tell me…why?’ I asked, genuinely curious.” (p. 100)(less)

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Aug 02, 2009 Amanda rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: non-fiction, memoir

This book really annoyed me.
It is, as it says, the "Diary of a Teacher's First Year", and it sounds like in her first year, Madame Esme (as she insists on being called, a source of endless and essentially pointless conflict with her principal), is a really fabulous teacher. She dreams up and flawlessly executes all kinds of spectacularly innovative and effective lessons. Her students love and respect her. She gets grants. She wins awards. She improves test scores.
And that's where this book just...more This book really annoyed me.
It is, as it says, the "Diary of a Teacher's First Year", and it sounds like in her first year, Madame Esme (as she insists on being called, a source of endless and essentially pointless conflict with her principal), is a really fabulous teacher. She dreams up and flawlessly executes all kinds of spectacularly innovative and effective lessons. Her students love and respect her. She gets grants. She wins awards. She improves test scores.
And that's where this book just loses me.
Where does this 24 year old with no experience get the self-confidence to stand up to her administrators so cockily day after day, and each time with zingers worthy of a sitcom writer? Why does she seem to need no help or advice, but instead to be so creative and resourceful that she can do the instructional equivalent of leaping tall buildings in a single bound every day? Why do her students exist solely as funny or touching anecdotes that generally serve to show how totally awesome she is? And how does she find the time for all of those bulletin boards? I just don't believe that Madame Esme could possibly be as great as she clearly believes she is.
My experience of being a first year teacher, and those of my many friends with whom I endlessly discuss classroom highs and lows-- even though some of us have been out of the classroom for several years-- was one of a bottomless pit of insecurity, a never-ending fear that your inexperience and idealistic zeal were shortcomings that were hurting the children you came more and more to love every day. I felt like these inner-city children were entrusted to me to be my guinea pigs-- their educations handed over to my care so I could experiment with them and maybe come up with a successful teaching method here and there along the way. Countless lessons that I thought out carefully and put hours of loving creative energy into were total flops and left me with a classroom full of fidgety bodies and blank or confused eyes.
Yes, some of the lessons clicked-- I will always remember the thrill of realizing that I had finally actually eliminated run-on sentences from my children's writing or the way that all of the children started calling the bathroom "the loo" because they were tickled by our read-aloud book ( Roald Dahl's Boy)-- but for each success I am haunted by endless failures-- sweet, little Randy who stared at me with dark serious eyes, ringed by the longest lashes, reminded me, his husky little voice, dripping with concern as he urged me not to strain my voice by yelling during the week I came in with laryngitis, the way he read so fluently and beautifully, with inflection and emotion, but failed every single spelling test and writing assignment that I gave because he wrote by grouping letters together in completely random strings that meant absolutely nothing, I never got anywhere with addressing what was clearly a serious learning disability of some sort. And I worry about him and feel guilty about letting him slip through even now, 8 years later. There were so many kids and so many problems and I had so little support.
And this is where my problems with Educating Esme lie. Esme identifies tons of very real problems that are detrimental to our children's educations-- the poverty, violence, and fear that mar their unstable home lives day after day, the gangs that provide them with a sense of belonging and importance and rob them of their true potential and opportunity, educators who lack vision and creativity-- but she makes it sound like with a little hard work and some chutzpah she managed to turn it all around. She never points the finger at herself or identifies any shortfalls in her own classroom. I think this creates a myth that does a disservice to all of the hard-working teachers out there who do so much with so little and don't see any progress.
Yes, having smart innovative people working in our classrooms is important and they can do incredible things, but they cannot single-handedly overcome an education system that is broken. The problems in our classrooms are just too big for one twenty-something with an over-developed sense of her own importance to tackle. And in the end Esme's ego gets in her way. And in the end she lasts through just one year before she takes a cushy suburban job where she still feels under-appreciated. This book seemed like Esme patting herself on the back for managing to survive one year of the substandard system that rules the entire lives of too many American children. And possibly conveniently forgetting any rookie mistakes she might have made. She minimizes the difficulties that our teachers face and maximizes her own brilliance. But it is entertaining reading.(less)

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Jun 04, 2009 Lizz rated it 4 of 5 stars

Everyone of us had that really awesome teacher in our school. The one that every student wanted but only the select few were lucky enough to have.

At Swope Middle School, my junior high there was a teacher who dressed in period costumes and decked out his entire classroom. When they studied the Wild West he dressed as a cowboy and made the inside of his classroom look like an old west main street complete with store fronts and porches. I always prayed that I would get that teacher, but I had a bo...more

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Nov 28, 2012 Tim rated it 4 of 5 stars

Very fast rad, very good read, about a very assertive, creative and compassionate teacher whose diary of her first year of teaching, in a Chicago city public school, is inspiring and quite humorous (well, in parts; sparks anger at the educational bureaucracy that is part of any City school system - I live in St. Louis, whose public school system can match just about anyone's for depression and hopelessness for the students. Ms. Codell is a plucky, rebellious and idealistic/realistic educator who...more

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Aug 22, 2012 Jocelyn rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: memoirs-biographies, required-reading

I find myself vaguely disappointed with this book. Keeping in mind that it is a memoir (and I always read memoirs with a grain of salt) Esme strikes me as a confident woman, an enthusiastic teacher and perhaps one of the most aggravating characters I've ever come across.

This book was mandatory reading for my upcoming Education class. I began it immediately and with excitement. At first, as Esme prepares her classroom, I found myself becoming more and more excited with the prospect of having my...more I find myself vaguely disappointed with this book. Keeping in mind that it is a memoir (and I always read memoirs with a grain of salt) Esme strikes me as a confident woman, an enthusiastic teacher and perhaps one of the most aggravating characters I've ever come across.

This book was mandatory reading for my upcoming Education class. I began it immediately and with excitement. At first, as Esme prepares her classroom, I found myself becoming more and more excited with the prospect of having my own classroom.

However, as the book progressed, Esme turned into a difficult woman who refused to admit she was wrong, refused to believe anyone could know better than her, refused to submit to her superiors wishes and basically gave the finger to the standards set before her by the State. Look, I am aware that teachers put up with more than their fair share of shit. However, Esme turned her nose up at anything that wasn't her idea. She didn't seem to attempt to work within the goals set before her. It may have worked for her at-risk kids (or so she says) but was it the right thing to do? She even goes as far as to point out that the curriculum set by the state is pointless because when a teacher shuts the door...they can do whatever they want. That doesn't exactly bring a note of confidence to our parents and administrators who worry about just that.

Even though this is supposed to be a diary, I thought that Esme was rather defensive. She seemed to pat herself on the back while slyly slipping in awards, grants and test scores. She was funny but I didn't feel like I learned anything about my first year of teaching- only what it was like to be the all-knowing Esme.

I don't know. I think this filled me with more worry than anything else. She seemed to think she was so amazing and perhaps she is. But it only makes me wonder... Am I cut out for it? Do all teachers act this way? How do I gain the respect of my students while toeing the line? Do all teachers worry about getting shot as much as Esme did? What have I gotten myself in to?
Screw you, Esme. Your self-righteous attitude will keep me up all night. (less)

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May 18, 2012 Elizabeth rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I think Madame Esme has some great ideas and methods of impacting kids to achieve the best they can do and from her book I can see that she did wonders in the classroom. There is something about her personality and attitude that rubbed me that the wrong way though out the book especially with her dealing with adults that she worked with. She starts out by expressing a need to share with other teachers yet does not give any examples of sharing other then in a negative way. Any time she deals with...more

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Aug 16, 2011 Oleg Kagan rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: occupational-memoirs

I read Madame Esmé's first-year teaching memoir in one sitting.

Though I wouldn't say it brings anything new to the niche of teaching memoirs from the perspective of the kids -- many such books have generally similar classroom characters. What it does bring to the forefront is Madame Esmé's unique personality which really serves as the throughline in Educating Esmé. Practically all of the issues she has with administration is tension over using her personality in her world life. I'm a big fan of...more

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Apr 09, 2011 Autumn rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: discuss-it, education, inspirations, laughter, true-story

Like Mme. Esme, I, too, kept a journal/diary/daily log of my first year of teaching. I could relate to a few things that Mme. Esme encountered, including trying students and frustrating (and in her case, clueless) principals. She had some great ideas that I want to include in my class, and wonderful events in her classroom and school that were an inspiration for both her, her students, and colleagues alike. It was good to read about these positive events. As teachers, it's easy to remember and d...more Like Mme. Esme, I, too, kept a journal/diary/daily log of my first year of teaching. I could relate to a few things that Mme. Esme encountered, including trying students and frustrating (and in her case, clueless) principals. She had some great ideas that I want to include in my class, and wonderful events in her classroom and school that were an inspiration for both her, her students, and colleagues alike. It was good to read about these positive events. As teachers, it's easy to remember and dwell on the negative events, the times we feel we are failing, when we are wondering if we are getting through at all. Then we have those moments when we realize we're actually doing alright, and so are our students. I got to wondering if she had more positive days, and she most likely did, but then I thought that her diary might be what it is for many of us: a place to vent your frustrations about the negative events that happen in your day.

I loved to hear how she stood up for herself and could think on her feet of how to respond to both her students and the administration, even a few parents, especially when they were being inappropriate or unfairly accusatory. Also realistic is the fact that the story has no real conclusion, except with the bittersweet last day of school. There are some things that are not solved or resolved at the end of the year. With her epilogue, you wonder if she still finds such joy and frustrations in teaching (probably, if she's like the rest of us), and if she is still as bold as she was her first year, if she has found more answers or other effective ways to respond to idiocy. Just like any teacher, you have your ups and downs, you have your inspirations and keep to them, you go out and do your best every day, you love your students and try to make them successful in the world, all the time saving your own sanity. I have not had some of the exact experiences as Mme. Esme, thank goodness. However, I hope I am more positive and richer for the experiences I have had.(less)

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Apr 18, 2010 Kiri rated it 3 of 5 stars

This is a charming book from the point of view of a first-year 5th-grade teacher in a Chicago public school. Emse is a captivating, creative, passionate teacher, and it's a joy to read about her fabulous classroom ideas (I wish I were in her 5th-grade class!). It's also heart-rending to read about the realities of her students' lives, with parental beatings and restraining orders and ghetto language and so on. Good for Esme, for her dedication and her lively spirit.

Interestingly, after a couple...more

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Aug 22, 2010 Stephanie rated it 5 of 5 stars

I loved this book on first reading and still liked it quite a bit (but not quite as much) upon re-reading. Overall, as a teacher, I found it super-inspiring. Esme absolutely gives herself to these children for the year. She is unbelievably creative. She never just teaches something from the textbook, and if she uses worksheets (or workbook pages), they're not mentioned in the book.

Esme's ideas include: Calling Math "Puzzling" to try to bypass the students' preconceived notions about whether or...more

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Oct 26, 2011 Asha Brogan rated it 4 of 5 stars

Educating Esme is the diary of Madame Esme, a first year teacher. It follows her life starting the summer before her first school year, throughout that first year as a teacher, dealing with all the problems that come with a brand new school in Chiago. Also she writes about the problems she has dealing with inner city Chicago kids, and how she deals with them. It is clearly shown in the novel that she has a great talent with teaching, and a different way of going about eduacting young fith grade...more

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Nov 28, 2007 Kewpie rated it 4 of 5 stars

This is a true day-by-day account of a teacher’s first year at school. Codell is an extremely creative and caring teacher. In one chapter, she had a student that was behaving badly and she put him in charge of the classroom and she took his place as the misbehaving student. She builds a time machine using a refrigerator box and a shelf of old books. Recommended for teens thinking of going into teaching as a career.

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Feb 05, 2013 Gareth Rowlands rated it 4 of 5 stars

A very honest look at the life of a 1st year teacher in the Chicago Public School system. Madam Esmé doesn't pull any punches, exposing some of the difficulties of coming to grips with one of the harshest educational environments in the US. Yes, you can tell this was written by a 20-something with it's sureties and pronouncements, but for all that, it is a remarkable testament to the dedication needed to survive in the CPS.

I'm so lucky to have Ms. Esmé as my daughter's school librarian. When tol...more

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Jan 21, 2012 Karen Pourciau rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Teachers, those interested in teaching

Shelves: education

Fascinating take on a first year of teaching in an inner urban school. Esme has a unique personality, but has so much to offer in the way of humor, realism and encouragement. Be forewarned: the language is rough on both her part & her students, but it reflects the poverty stricken, violent, frustration-laden inner urban setting. I admired her stubbornness to stick tightly to the teaching methods that she considered best for the students (vs. "the system") - they proved worthy by the end of t...more

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Sep 29, 2012 Carla rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: best-books-i-ve-read, books-i-have-in-my-shelf, books-that-have-changed-me-as-a-per, books-that-made-me-cry, books-that-made-me-laugh, teaching, recommend

One word: inspiring

Why do I give this book 5 stars? Oh my!! This book is one of the most inspiring books i have ever read!!! Possibly the most inspiring book!! I found this book last month at Barnes & Noble one of my favorite bookshops ever!! It was a rainy day and we went to this bookstore somewhere near Sleepy Hollow, NY and then i saw this book and i knew i had to read it.

Esmé is a very talented teacher who is teaching her 1st year at school, but to me she seems so experienced, so intell...more

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May 20, 2011 Denisse rated it 5 of 5 stars

This book was my bible when I was preparing for my first teaching job and it has always been my absolute favorite book about teaching. I gobbled the book up before ever entering my classroom and was so inspired by her. I also shamelessly stole her ideas and implemented them into my own fifth-grade classroom. I now teach at the college level and every semester I read excerpts of this book to my Introduction to Education students. Many have gone on to purchase their own copy of the book because th...more

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Dec 31, 2009 Amy added it

Shelves: 2009, biography-memoir, professional_reading

Read this one after reading "Sahara Special." It's interesting to read these books together, because you see how "Sahara Special" is very much based on Codell's experience as a fifth grade teacher (Miss Pointy is pretty much an exact replica of Madame Esme). I was very inspired by all of Codell's great ideas, how much heart she put into her job, and how much she cared for her students. She came across as a bit of a martyr at times, although I think that was probably justified given the challenge...more

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Sep 03, 2012 Jan Schaeffler rated it 5 of 5 stars

Wow. That's what I say about this firecracker of a teacher and author of the book. Even though this author taught out west somewhere unmentioned and to an elementary school class of 5th graders, there were so many familiar themes of behaviors and it hit home. Bottom line, if things aren't working in education, let's shake it up and try something new. If that doesn't work try something else new and so on. The current ridiculous rules are not working. Legislators and administrators who have never...more

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Aug 13, 2012 Karen rated it 4 of 5 stars

I picked this book up on a total whim and read it in 2.5 hours (when I should have been writing a paper). It is wonderful and appalling at the same time as it really drives at the problems educators face. As an educator of college students and not 5th graders, one would think there would be few parallels between her experience and mine, however, her pearls of wisdom scattered throughout speak to human experience and to the travails of teaching at all levels, especially, if not indirectly as pare...more

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Apr 20, 2011 Edwin rated it 4 of 5 stars

Summary: Educating Esme is about a first year teacher and her unique journey of teaching 5th grade Chicago students. Esme enters the field the way all new teachers should, she is structured and makes school exciting for all of her students. She does all this well having continuous conflicts with her confrontational principal.

Personal Response: As a soon to be teacher I think that Madam Esme and her unique stance towards teaching inner city students could benefit me. I could learn a lot of teach...more

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Apr 08, 2012 Ryan rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: education-teaching

Great book but a lot of stuff she does is unbefitting a first year teacher. She seems like she gives herself a lot of credit for things but doesn't admit to any of her major faults. What first year teacher gives crap to the principal of her school, messes with parents' heads and does all these wonderful, but more importantly, 100% effective lessons day after day. What did she do wrong? Why... Nothing of course and she has the test results and good natured students to prove it.

I like the positiv...more

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About Esmé Raji Codell

Esme Raji Codell is the recipient of a prestigious James Patterson Pageturner Award for spreading the excitement of books in an effective and original way. She has been a keynote speaker for the International Reading Association and the American Library Association, a “virtual” keynote for the National Education Association’s “Stay Afloat!” online conference for first-year teachers, and a featured...more

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Quotes from Educating Esmé: Diary ...

“So much of teaching is sharing. Learning results in sharing, sharing results in change, change is learning. The only other job with so much sharing is parenting. That's probably why the two are so often confused.” — 4 people liked it

“Why do these dumb fucks keep guns around the house? They make the world as ruinous as they imagine it is.” — 2 people liked it

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