Educating Esme: Diary of a Teacher's First Year
by Esmé Raji Codell, Esme Raji Codell
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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 546)
recommends it for:
parents and teachers
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 a...more
The book is a diary a...more
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Read in April, 2008
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 ...more
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Read in January, 1999
Educating Esme was an Alex Award winner in 2001. It’s a nonfiction book that describes the first-year teaching experience of the author in an urban school. Esme Codell is passionate about teaching her fifth-grade students and thinks up innovative ways to teach them. She also describes the frustrations and road-blocks she experiences as a teacher.
Reaction: As a teacher of fifth-grade students myself, I especially enjoyed hearing someone else’s first-year teaching story. I was impress...more
Reaction: As a teacher of fifth-grade students myself, I especially enjoyed hearing someone else’s first-year teaching story. I was impress...more
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Codell confronts the joy and ocassional terror of teaching fifth graders at an inner city school, with little administrative or parental support. Her almost constant fearlessness and sass can be overwhelming, but the moments of vulnerability redeem the whole thing. She sees kids learn to enjoy reading and to mediate their own conflicts, but also sees them beaten in front of her eyes by abusive parents. How do you handle a parent-teacher conference when the kid is getting hit on account of your d...more
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Read in July, 2001
This book is about a teacher's first year in the inner city. It is hilarious and sad, but gives hope for those who are working with kids in poverty situations. I read it a long time ago, so I think that is what I remember from this book. I actually own this book. Maybe I will go back and read it. Even though I work in the suburbs, I work with a lot of kids who are 1st and 2nd generation African immigrants. Obviously, this is a different population than inner city, but maybe I will find that some...more
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Read in March, 2008
recommends it for:
teachers and people interested in education
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 make...more
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 make...more
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Read in July, 2007
Educating Esme is a must-read journal for ever parent, teacher and/or student. It is the very touching, no-holds-barred account of the life a first year teacher in Chicago Public Schools. She contends with foul-mouthed students, who need attention and guidance, administration which is apathetic and unreasonable and parents who are clueless and abusive. Emotions run high while reading this book, you will laugh, you will cry, you will be shocked and you will be encouraged. Education takes on a who...more
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Read in October, 2000
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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Read in April, 2007
recommends it for:
teachers, educators
This book is so fun and cute and such an easy read. Esme is a great, entertaining writer and I loved hearing about her first year teaching experience in Chicago, especially because I am a first year teacher in Chicago. I loved her somewhat cynical yet very positive outlook and I wish she would write a follow-up or some kind of how-to guide. I definitely recommend this to anyone considering a teaching career in Chicago.
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Read in January, 2003
This is the Up the Down Staircase for the new generation ... and for the elementary school crowd.
Esme brings her fresh perspective and free spirit to a school that is a little more old-fashioned. Sometimes there are some rifts (e.g., Esme wants to be called Madame Esme, while the principal wants the students to call her Ms. Codell). But it gives a good look into what the first year of a teacher can be like.
Esme brings her fresh perspective and free spirit to a school that is a little more old-fashioned. Sometimes there are some rifts (e.g., Esme wants to be called Madame Esme, while the principal wants the students to call her Ms. Codell). But it gives a good look into what the first year of a teacher can be like.
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A funny, encouraging, and awareness-raising look at a first-year teacher in the Chicago Public School system who somehow manages to find the perfect blend of imagination and discipline for her elementary-school class. Simultaneously reminded me what I once found so attractive about teaching and why I eventually decided I could never do it as a career.
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Read in June, 2008
I'm gearing up for my own first year of teaching this fall. This book was hilarious and sarcastic and optimistic and encouraging. I loved how honest she was with her students. I also was taking mental notes. I loved that she made them give her one of their shoes as collateral when they were borrowing from her personal library during free reading.
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Read in April, 2007
I wasn't crazy about Esme's memoir. She is certainly creative and energetic, and her ideas for projects and programs are great. But for me, this memoir is way too self-congratulory and not self-critical enough. Most of the book seems to be saying, "Look at how rebellious and different and awesome I am!" and it got really old.
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I found this one rather a mix of humor and other times it made me sad. This teachers experience and when she did student teaching was a roller coaster, goin through loops and turns. As she taught her first year, she tried to bend the rules in to make learning more interesting for the children. Even though the principal doesn't approve.
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Read in May, 2007
A great read for the teachers out there! It's nice to read a first year teacher's account that is frank and not sugarcoated. There are also some excellent lesson ideas. I used the Division Cha-Cha in with my third graders. They liked being able to do something different and also remembered the steps in long division.
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Read in August, 2004
This is a great book to give as a gift to a teacher. It is guaranteed to make you laugh...hard. I left off the fifth star because I felt Esme had passion for teaching but somehow lacked depth of emotional connection with her kids and compartmentalized teaching academics from being with her kids in a personal way.
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Read in January, 2005
I got this book for free during a class trip to the publisher (Workman)'s office. I read it knowing nothing about the book, but I totally loved it! Great memoir about a first-year teacher's trials and tribulations at an inner city school. The book is really funny and made me want to make everyone call me "Madam."
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Read in September, 2004
recommends it for:
future teachers
What a great little book, you can read it in one or two days. It is the diary of a new teacher's challenging experiences during her first year at an urban elementary school. I imagine some of it is embellished, and at other times Esme's nerve is kind of irritating, but even so, it was a fun read.
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Read in August, 2007
recommends it for:
teachers
Madame Esme is fantastic. This is her memoir of her first year teaching 5th grade to urban, low SES students. She so wonderful because she says all of the things we teachers think but rarely get to say aloud. She's an inspiration, especially to reading teachers.
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Saw Esme Codell at BookExpo and was too shy to talk to her. She's what I want to be when I grow up. Excellent book. She also wrote a great book called "How To Get Your Child to Love Reading" or some such, which is a great reference book for any book-lover.
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