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66th out of 295 books
—
209 voters
Fires in the Bathroom: Advice for Teachers from High School Students
The acclaimed book of practical advice from students to their teachers.
Since its initial publication in hardcover in 2003, "Fires in the Bathroom" has been through multiple printings and received the attention of teachers across the country. Now in paperback, Kathleen Cushman's groundbreaking book offers original insights into teaching teenagers in today's hard-pressed ur...more
Since its initial publication in hardcover in 2003, "Fires in the Bathroom" has been through multiple printings and received the attention of teachers across the country. Now in paperback, Kathleen Cushman's groundbreaking book offers original insights into teaching teenagers in today's hard-pressed ur...more
Paperback, 204 pages
Published
April 1st 2005
by New Press, The
(first published 2003)
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This was a good introduction to some basic rules of teaching-- don't try to be your students' friend, don't stand at the board and lecture, don't assume the worst just because a kid has his head down, don't show up on your student's doorstep wanting to chat (you hear that, Michelle Pfeiffer?), etc.
The wisdom in the book comes from interviews with a bunch of high schoolers from California, Rhode Island, and New York, and about half of them taught at or attended Summerbridge/Breakthrough Collabor...more
The wisdom in the book comes from interviews with a bunch of high schoolers from California, Rhode Island, and New York, and about half of them taught at or attended Summerbridge/Breakthrough Collabor...more
Feb 11, 2010
Claudia
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
every teacher I know
Shelves:
professional-reading
I'm so impressed with the premise for this book: ask high school students to give new teachers advice on how to be successful. I was taken by the fact that the students identified many of the Five Core Propositions that National Board says all accomplished teachers reflect: commitment to students, knowing their subject and how to teach, motivating and managing learning, and reaching outside the classroom...the only one of the Propositions students didn't mention was reflection, and there were pl...more
You would hope that much of this book would be common sense for teachers, but I can understand how a lot of these things may go overlooked when you have so much to think about. At first, I was thinking "come on, i know all this stuff. Treat kids fairly, try and get them to do their best." Yet, I know it isn't that easy. I really enjoyed this book! It has great modules to give to the students regarding how to ask them questions and so forth. After reading this book, I have a greater understanding...more
Fires in the Bathroom: Advice for Teachers from High School Students mislead me. The title and premise conjured a picture of a superficial book that gave mostly obvious and angst filled ideas padded by some feel good support from the author. That was not the case at all.
Fires in the Bathroom is actually a level headed, thorough, and well organized text for new teachers. Cushman and her student collaborators spent countless hours working on the material for this book. In fact, there is even a cha...more
Fires in the Bathroom is actually a level headed, thorough, and well organized text for new teachers. Cushman and her student collaborators spent countless hours working on the material for this book. In fact, there is even a cha...more
This book was good. It's full of stuff that high school kids actually said. My biggest complaint, perhaps, is that it's at times contradictory... But actually, that makes sense. I mean, there is no one formula that makes teaching easy. If there were, I'm sure we'd have already figured it out by now. Anyway, it only took a couple hours to read this, so it's definitely a good return for your time investment.
I hate non-fiction books, but every once in a while I'll suck it up because I think I might learn something. I did. Kids are so honest & you just can't hide anything from them because they see through all the b*#!^*@%!. As a teacher, I get way more from kid advice than teacher advice. Afterall, the kids are the ones who have to sit there and learn from me. :)
Students came together and gave their thoughts, insight and help in regards to what teachers can do better to teach them. Coming from the perspective of students who are labeled as ELL, ESL and SES, these students help teachers to see another perspective. While the book discusses similar topics repeatedly and the student's answers do become monotonous, it only reinforces what students are thinking.
This book is a great resource to remind someone what the students are thinking and how to more effe...more
This book is a great resource to remind someone what the students are thinking and how to more effe...more
This book has a lot of good ideas. I can see it being especially useful for new teachers. Reading this as an experienced teacher, I found I was already doing much of what was being discussed, but there are a couple of ideas that I want to implement into my plans.
I would like to see this same book written for a middle class, suburban high school. The issues are both the same and totally different.
I would like to see this same book written for a middle class, suburban high school. The issues are both the same and totally different.
I like the idea of allowing students to give advice to teachers, and much of the advice is good. Still the book has a lot of the kind touchy-feely liberal gobbledygook that made me hate my teaching program. Teachers need to be kind and empethetic, but they also need to cut through the bull shit.
I guess mostly I wished Cushman would have backed off her own agenda for a little bit and allowed these kids time and space to craft their own ideas about good teaching. It sounds like she just sat in a room with them and goaded them to say certain things (including some awful things about former teachers of theirs who were presumably still in the classroom) and then had somebody write it all down word for word. There are some little nuggets of wisdom, and the kids are lovely and candid (but whe...more
I have all my student teachers read this. I think it's very easy to forget that teenagers have really valuable things to tell us as educators. This book is such a well done reminder that we should ask them.
After book after book on theory, it was nice to be assigned a book that focuses on creating a dialogue between adults and teens, rather than just adults analyzing and drawing conclusions from their experiences with/observations of youth (not to say that's an invalid way of researching, it's just nice to see a new point-of-view). I will say that this is probably a resource that will be more valuable to new teachers, as I would think that most veteran teachers have developed a greater understandin...more
This book was fun to read as it is based on the opinions of actual students. Cushman doesn't just provide their thoughts, but her idea on solutions that have worked for her.
This was a great book for current or aspiring teachers. Too rarely do we stop and consider the students' opinions.
I love it when students tell us how to be better teachers. Their advice in this book is really, really helpful.
Worth a skim. All about the relevance and echoed my ideas about teaching. I want a few of my colleagues to read it.
Much of this feels like common sense, but it helps to have it spelled out and should get at least a few wheels in your head turning.
I'll admit I skimmed this book, because it was written in a way that enabled me to do so. Some interesting ideas. It's hard to put into practice some of the things these students ask for though. I'll have to work hard on a few things, but some of them I understand very well and will use in my classroom.
Interesting insights from students on the classroom experience
This book was VERY helpful as a first year teacher.
Very poor writing. Needs better editing.
Skimmed it - some good ideas. Overall okay
A must read for secondary teachers.
I read this while I was student teaching suburban/rural HS in UT. I was planning to land a job as an inner city teacher in DC. I was baffled by the title.
Then, I got my dream urban job, and totally understood it. The bathroom (or boys locker room) was lit on fire regularly.
Anyway, I'd highly recommend this book to any new teacher, or to any teacher working with inner city kids.
The bottom line: students want to be challenged. Structure and challenges, they thrive on it, even amongst the chaos o...more
Then, I got my dream urban job, and totally understood it. The bathroom (or boys locker room) was lit on fire regularly.
Anyway, I'd highly recommend this book to any new teacher, or to any teacher working with inner city kids.
The bottom line: students want to be challenged. Structure and challenges, they thrive on it, even amongst the chaos o...more
Jul 27, 2008
Elizabeth
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
anyone who interacts with high school students
Recommended to Elizabeth by:
I read it for my Adolescent Development course at NYU.
This book is the collection of the opinions of a diverse group of high school students from around the country...their opinions on everything related to school, from pop quizzes to classroom behavior expectations. Their voices are real, honest and down-to-earth without being overly whiny and demanding in their tones. There are tons of interesting anecdotes. Overall it's an important perspective to be exposed to for anyone who works with this age group.
Though somewhat standard info, this comes straight from the mouths of high school kids in oakland, nyc, etc. Includes a few interesting exercises for teachers, too, aimed at trying to figure out how you teach and treat individual students vs. the class, clarifying grading policies and expectations. Quick read, and thought-provoking. I recommend it to new teachers, especially for the summer before starting.
Some interesting and good suggestions from students and points made by authors. Somewhat repetitive in the quotes and concepts. Not sure who would find it interesting other than high-school teachers. Doesn't do enough to point out that students are ultimately responsible for their own learning and that parents and communities have the obligation to educate children, along with teachers.
I found this book to be enlightening in some regards, but often repetitive. Though much of the advice is common sense, even good teachers need to be reminded of the students' perspectives and unique situations. This is definitely a text I'll come back to when I start teaching, if only for the questionnaire templates.
Okay, fine, only read 90% of this. About 20% too much, really. If I could give 2.5, I would. If you get this, and you're new to teaching stuff, consider this as something like 1/2 of the story. There certainly is NOT enough student accountability in here. The pendulum swings too far to one side.
I read this right before starting a new teaching job at a charter school. It helped me feel less nervous. I love the idea of having students fill out a survey about their lives during the first week of school (or their first week in a class)to help build connections.
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Jul 03, 2012 04:24am