2 comments about From the Barrio to Washington: An Educator's Journey.

1. From the poor house in Mexico to the administration of four United States Presidents - sounds like an unbelievable mountain to climb in life, but that's exactly what Armando Rodriguez did. "From the Barrio to Washington: An Educator's Journey" is the inspirational life story of US Assistant Commissioner of Education of Armando Rodriguez who entered the nation speaking no English whatsoever but through a solid work ethic, truly made something of himself. He told his story to biographer Keith Taylor who has made Rodriguez's life story truly come to, pardon the pun, to life off the pages of "From the Barrio to Washington: An Educator's Journey". It deserves a space on any community library biography shelf, and is highly recommended reading for anyone who desire an awe-inspiring tale.



2. This is the autobiography of Armando Rodriguez who came to the U.S. from Mexico as a child. His beginnings were humble but through hard work and a positive attitude, Armando has created a rich and rewarding life journey for himself. His story is inspiring, detailed and full of humor.

5 comments about Down in Bristol Bay: High Tides, Hangovers, and Harrowing Experiences on Alaska's Last Frontier.

1. This is a great little book and a fun read. It takes a lot of guts to do what Bob Durr did. His descriptions of the Alaskan bush and the people who live and work there are wonderful. Everyone should meet a person like Pope at least once in their lives. The philosophical discussions on board the fishing boat were sometimes tedious and less than believable, but somehow it all works. I hope Durr will write another book about the rest of his life in Alaska.



2. This book is a describes a man's struggle to break from the "creature comforts" world to live and fish in Bristol Bay, Alaska. It told a story that was captivating because when reading, you always wanting to know what was going to happen next. The story tells of a man who achieves having the best of both worlds ands puts the utimate dream to the test. I would highly recommend this book to all adventurists and those who would like to "escape" to the alaska frontier; if not in reality, then through this book.



3. While this is a better book that the second one, there is still something lacking. Depth I suppose. The fishing stories are good but I'm afraid the actual techniques and day-to-day trials are glossed over with tales of drunkeness. The characters are accurately portrayed, but each year is a rerun of the last, a quick summary of the same. Frankly, for all of Durr's qualifications this is the one theme that I can't help but think carries on to this day: The acid Leary professor drops out and stays out. But life is what happens between the parties. During this period, at least I know how he made a living, which is what dismayed me with the Coldman Cometh: thirty-five years of successful bush living on imaginary income, from the readers' perspective. He doesn't share finances here either though so we don't know what he made from the fishing trips.
   
   Staying in Alaska without money is tough. And with a family to support even more impossible, yet Durr seems to go about it as if there's nothing to it; the path of least resistence he describes to Pope, but in Alaska there is a great deal of resistence always. I can hear him try to justify the scheme to his late wife who never says anything or gives him a hard time about the difficulties of living on the edge like that, but Durr rarely reveals anything of this nature. He's very much secretive, which is a motivating force for the retreat to Chase and Back-Lake. I found the Durrs to be stand-offish in 1976, suspicious of newcomers to the land, even fellow "hippie" brothers. This may be due to personal paranoia and the more-people-coming fear, which is the message I got. As it turns out Durr managed to outlast the other '70s settlers in Chase of which I was one, albeit briefly. That evidently was what he wanted in the first place.



4. Great read for anyone who wants to get a flavor of the Alaska life and great figurative return for those who have lived it. It is also great literature because he was an English professor.



5. I read this book a little over a year ago, so it is not exactly fresh in my mind, but I must say I disagree with most of the other reviewers here.
   
   If you looked at every book's page on Amazon, you would see that the vast, vast majority of books have an average user ranking of 4 or 5 stars. I think this is because someone who picks up a book and think its junk won't bother to finish it, and rarely would bother to write a review. What ends up happening is that only those people who like a book rank it, and therefore almost everything gets a high ranking. Well, I didn't like this book, but I will take the time to write a review.
   
   Parts of this book are entertaining, especially those dealing with moving his boat from SE Alaska to Bristol Bay, and some of the discussion on fishing. Overall, however, it seems that the author does a poor job of describing the natural majesty of his surroundings nor about the internal conflict of a man embarking on a new life.
   
   Most annoying, however, is the author's slippage into the 3rd person when he describes drinking and 'adult partying' (don't know what words amazon will let me use here) when the rest of the book is in the 1st person. The narrator shows up at a party, and then all of a sudden it is someone else who is sleeping around on his wife.
   
   Anyway, if you want to read a good book about fishing up in Alaska, check out Joe Upton's 'Alaska Blues'.

4 comments about Hard Knocks and Straight Talk: From the Jungles of Vietnam to the American Classroom.

1. Hard Knocks and Straight Talk: From the Jungles of Vietnam to the American Classroom Howey's book is captivating. An ordinary American has an extraordinary life of service to our country. He served as an active US Marine for 32 years from private to Lt.Col. including 3 action tours of Viet Nam. His career endeded with 15 years as a HS teacher. Howey's life lessons learned are shared as straight talk that all Americans need to hear.



2. Wow! Mr. Howey's tell all book about his experiences as a Marine and as a high school teacher is outstanding. I felt like I was right there in Vietnam fighting the VC with him. This book contains many experiences that show how brave our soldiers were in this unpopular war, and how inept our politicians and the media were in conducting it.
   
   In the education arena Mr. Howey discusses his life after the Marines as a high school social studies teacher. His experiences provide hope and optimism for our youth. However, we cannot let inept and self-serving politicians destroy two valuable institutions -- the military and public schools.
   
   Once you pick up this book you won't be able to put it down!



3. Fascinating story of a young man whose determination and dedication to excellence enabled him to enrich his life by living all over the world and to rise through the ranks of the U.S. Marine Corps. In every opportunity he was given from the Viet Nam jungles to the Pennsylvanian classrooms, he performed his best with many benefiting from his efforts. His observations on war, politics, the media, education are as interesting as his life. Thank you, William Howey, for your service to our country and our youth. Keep up the good work!



4. This is an excellent essay of a determined survivalist. Graduation was
   followed by next day enlistment in the USMC; he never looked back. Howey
   took on every task with determination, rising to Lt. Colonel by doing more
   than expected by those above and below him. He never asked others to do
   something that he would not do himself, including self sacrifice for a
   normal living. After 32 years of intelligence/counterinteligence and three tours in Viet Nam, he changed vocations and became an exemplary
   teacher of high school students. He explained the real world and how to
   interpret; lessons well learned and well taught for our future leaders.

3 comments about The Ghost of Scootertrash Past.

1. The Ghost Of Scootertrash Past: Memories & Rants Of A Longrider is the personal testimony, stories, rants, and insights of Mark Tiger Edmonds, a motorcycling professor who cruises the road with a Scrabble game and Oreo cookies in his motorcycle's saddle bags. A flavorful, unique, and often surprising memoir of dirt roads, Zen and the art of motorcycle riding, the hazards of camping, and so much more, The Ghost Of Scootertrash Past is a thoroughly attention engaging read and recommended for motorcycle buffs and Americana enthusiasts.



2. I read this book before reading Edmonds' first one, "Longrider". Both books are stories, vignettes, of his experiences putting more than a million miles on two wheels riding the US and Canada. While both books are enjoyable and the various stories engaging, I found "Ghost of Scootertrash Past" a better read with some caveats. I quickly became annoyed with his poser misuse of grammar. It just comes across as phony. The stories in "Longrider" were more disjointed but his voice more authentic. There is an art to story telling, and Edmonds does it well. Now I would like to try some of the roads/rides he describes.



3. 
   Now maybe I'm not the the best person for putting out an unbiased opinion on this book, seein' as how I actually make an appearance or two within the pages (I'm the one of those who picks & patches him & the bike up a couple of times - made it to Tennessee to pick him up in his truck in about 11 hours).
   
   But I'm not tapping away here to write a review, but rather to clear some things up:
   
   1) He really does talk like that - it's called vernacular - they're called colloquialisms - it's not "poseur misuse of grammar", it's legitimate misuse of grammar that he was more careful about in the first book - not knowing how poseur book critics would take it.
   
   2) He really is a professor of English (at my alma mater) - the colloquialisms don't get in the way, as he doesn't use them while grading papers of inconsiderate, psycho, crapweasel children (though the fact that it gets straight under the skin of administrators is a bonus).
   
   3) Such of his stories as I'm personally able to speak to (having known him for only 15 years) are the gods-honest truth - I've patched too much fiberglass for them to be anything else.
   
   
   
   4) Forget what I said about being biased - it's a great book - go buy one for yourself and a couple for your friends right now.
   
   ....Go on, what are you still reading for? I mean it - right now!

5 comments about Creating Equal: My Fight Against Race Preferences.

1. He shows us that we shouldn't receive a helping hand because of the color of our skin, but that we should work hard to acheive what we can. He shows how someone that works harder to succeed is cast to the side for someone that didn't to make it to college just for them to fail and dampen the hopes of our hardest workers. That what's so damaging about affirmative action cause it tells people that they don't have to work hard to advance but that the government will always be there to play mommy and daddy.



2. Connerly's books is part autobiography and partly a history of the modern ideological shift against racial preferences. Connerly is a black man from a very modest background who found himself leading the fight against "affirmative action." He was the driving force behind California's Prop 209 and similar initiatives. The political intrigue behind this struggle is as interesting as Connerly's life and the philosophical issues underlying the controversy. A good read. The only disappointment is that the book was written in the year 2000, and the reader is left wanting more of an update.



3. What a total sell out. This book is complete hogwash. Thanks to his hateful policies the number of minorities in CA campuses has gone down drastically. Diversity is very important. How can we learn about each other if we never have the experience of being around each other. What a silly little man. There is still a lot of racism against minority people in this country and his idea of a colorblind society is really unrealistic.



4. As a young person growing up in America, and observing that some people are looked upon with disdain, over something as simple as skin color sickens me. Even more that we as a Nation condoned such behavior as a matter of Law. I read about internment camps for Japanese Americans, during World War II, and these people were treated this way because of their Nation of origin. But very few people in internment camps were either German, or Italian. Equally our enemy, but White.
   
   Remarkably, Americans of African decent who put their lives on the line for this Nation during World War II had less rights than German POWs, our enemies. What a sad state of affairs. These people fought for someone elses freedom, and had none of their own, in their own Nation.
   
   Dr. King led this whole Nation out of the darkness that was "Jim Crow", and caused a Nation to look at itself in the mirror. At the same time there were those of the Black race who did not support, and spoke harshly of Dr. King's efforts, relating he was just a trouble maker, and that He should go home, and leave the rest of us alone. Stop stirring up trouble.
   
   Trying to make a Nation treat all of its citizens with the same dignity and respect is stirring up trouble. Forcing a Nation to live up to the principle of "One man one vote", is stirring up trouble. These were the same kinds of Black people who fought on behalf of the Confederacy during the Civil War. Mr. Connerly fits here.
   
   As a people not all Blacks, nor all Asians, nor all Latinos, or all Whites, are universal in their thoughts or soulotions to the social problems in this Nation. Some like things just as they are. Others feel the Nation can and should do more to see to it that no group is left behind. Sadly this is not the case as Mr. Connerly sees things.
   
   Mr. Connerly rails aganist Affirative Action, saying it is more of a hinderance, than a help. OK. So what do we put in its place? Some say nothing. Let the sticks fall as they may. It will work itself out in the end. Others are more aggressive, such as Mr. Connerly.
   
   Mr. Connerly makes some good points, because one shoe does not fit all. Our education system is a good case. The system stinks. Instead of trying to make the student adapt to the education system, it should be the other way around. Something Mr. Connerly misses.
   
   Even now, compair so called Suburban schools to those in the Inner City and the difference is day and night. Mr. Connerly misses these differences as well. Inner city schools are over crowded understaffed, and lack parental input for various reasons. More money is continually spent on the Suburban schools, as opposed to the Inner city schools.
   
   These are the short comings Mr. Connerly fails to take into consideration when he speaks out aganist Affirmative Action. The there are programs set aside by some Ivy League Universities, for the offspring of the Alumni, for preferential treatment when it comes to addmissions. Mr. Connerly is not up in arms about these programs.
   
   His book should say level the "Playing Field" for all, but alas ths is a plateau this Nation wants to have anything to do with, and certainly not Mr. Connerly.
   
   I am dismayed that some other so called Black leaders do not think he (Mr. Connerly) should air this dirty laundry in public. The differences between Blacks. But it is after all Mr. Connerly's right to have his say.
   
   After reading this book I found Mr. Connerly to be that which Ronald Ragan taught us to be, a Covert racist, using code words such as "Most Qualified",and requiring College Degrees for certain jobs which never required one before Affirmative Action. Had the concept of a level playing field been in place when George Bush applied for addmission to Yale, he would have been turned away. He had neither the grades, nor the work ethics for entry.
   
   So do away with Affirmative Action, and all programs designed to give one an advantage over another. Money, background, the works.



5. Passing for Who You Really Are
   
   Ward Connerly's mixed-race background and family reality taught him the oppressive nature of forced racial classification. Millions of Americans feel as he does, but we do not have the resources to do much about it. The most politically vulnerable aspect of forced racial classification is affirmative action, which most Americans see as inherently unfair and a contradiction of the Civil Rights ideal of not using the government to enforce a racial order. For daring to challenge the falsely labeled "progressive" idea that Americans should be divided into supposedly racially pure "whites" and so-called "people of color" (supposedly all those who are not "pure white"Legal History of the Color Line: The Rise And Triumph of the One-drop RuleThe Forgotten Cause of the Civil War: A New Look at the Slavery Issue), Connerly has endured constant threats and demonization by people who presume to pass judgement on the morality of their fellow Americans.
   
   Regardless of your political preferences, any honest person should acknowledge the heroism and idealism or Ward Connerly. Our country is imposing a false system of "racial" classification on us that is as ridiculous and harmful as the "Aryan" and "non-Aryan" classifications of the Third Reich. Connerly speaks for millions of Americans who cannot speak for ourselves.

3 comments about The Emergency Teacher: The Inspirational Story of a New Teacher in an Inner City School.

1. How many employment opportunities require minimal or absolutely no experience required? I certainly didn't expect that teaching would be one of them when I first looked into substitute teaching.
   
   There are some areas in the U.S. where substitute teaching requires an actual teaching degree. These jobs are filled by newly graduated or retired teachers. There are other areas in this country where "some" college or simply a H.S. diploma is the requirement.
   
   The difference comes down to supply and demand economics. If you have an excess of talent in a small market, you will almost certainly need a master's degree to step into a teacher's role for the day.
   
   I just finished reading "The Emergency Teacher" that relates the first hand account of Christina Asquith's first year as a full time teacher at one of the worst schools in Philadelphia, despite being untrained and uncertified.
   
   Synopsis:
   
   "School District of Philadelphia, in desperate need of 1,500 new teachers, instituted a policy of hiring "emergency certified" instructors. Asquith, then a 25-year-old reporter for the Philadelphia Inquirer, joined their untrained ranks. More challenging than her classroom in the crime-infested neighborhood known as "the Badlands" are the trials she faced outside, including a corrupt principal, the politics that prevented a million-dollar grant from reaching her students, and the administration's shocking insistence that teachers maintain the appearance of success in the face of utter defeat..."
   
   She lasted a full 180 day school year and didn't result in the typical Hollywood ending.
   
   That's 179 more days than I would have attempted had I been crazy enough to try. I guess that's the difference between being young, idealistic and full of energy .vs. mature (re: much older), realistic and pooped.



2. Every teacher young and old should have this book. This book tells the tale of a new teachers struggle to get through to an inner-city school. Sure there have been plenty of movies with the same plot, but this account is great. Chirstina Asqquith writes with heart and soul, and you will really route for her in this inspirational story.



3. It is fair to note that had Christina Asquith taught in a more affluent part of Philadelphia or a middle class suburban community, she probably couldn't write a book about her one-year experience as a teacher. Before being trained as such (even trained teachers have to struggle in the beginning by learning on the job) she should not have accepted a teaching job from a district which would simply throw her to the wolves, as such. As she pointed out, a few teachers in this abysmal school were dynamic and great managers of their classes. And it seems true (was for me, at least) that it takes about three years to build ones teaching techniques--and maybe five years to really feel confident. But Asquith had an unfortunate placement in a tragically-run school.
   
   Nevertheless, Asquith's portrayal of the (reputed) worst school in Philadelphia (and too many others come close) is heart-rending and shocking, and the revelation an embarrassment to the district--let's hope.
   
   The author had it many times harder than I. How she held on for a full school year is a testament to her character in the face of the school district's incompetence. The book is more revelatory than inspirational, and though a fast and sometimes engrossing read it is rather depressing. I think a prospective teacher--who isn't desperate--would tend to not teach in a big-city public school after reading this account.
   
   I retired a few months before Asquith started her experiment in teaching, and my school (after at least 30 years of relative calm) was just starting to become infected by students creating bedlam in their classrooms and hallways. I had good control, was creative and motivational, but even my tolerence with the system forced me and other veterans in the school to take the early retirement incentive being offered by the state (so the district could hire two new teachers for the price of one veteran with higher degrees). We could see what was coming.
   
   Now, the reader will understand why 50 percent of new hires leave teaching within 3-5 years--the shorter time representing big-city public schools. Teaching can be very rewarding, but also one of the toughest jobs there is, and the emotional stress is equal to that of a police person "on the beat"--I've read.
   
   The following partial paragraph from page 98, gives a sense of the entire book:
   
   "I'd set out wholly single-mindedly to learn to teach, and suddenly my failure became a real possibility. I'd personally staked everything on suceeding, I'd given up my career, my Inguirer [Newspaper] friends... If I was failing and wasn't making a shred of difference, what was the point? How could I answer the question: How was your day?"
   
   A Non-Workbook, Non-Textbook Approach to Teaching Language Arts: Grades 4 Through 8 and Up

5 comments about The Romanovs & Mr Gibbes: The Story of the Englishman Who Taught the Children of the Last Tsar.

1. I enjoyed this book tremendously! It is a real page turner! It follows the incredible life and circumstances of M r. Gibbes, tutor to the last Russian imperial family until his death. Very precise,well researched,with many new facts and information. It is also beautifully written. Will please all the devotees of the Romanov family,as well as all those who enjoy a great story!



2. Sydney Gibbes would have been unknown to all except his own family had he not taken the momentous step of going to Russia in the early 1900s. There he sought out work as tutor to the children of various noble families, with indifferent results and gaining a reputation for behavior, which while not all that unusual for the times, definitely raised a few eyebrows (especially his insistence on whipping his students). He strode into history in 1908 when Empress Alexandra Fedorovna needed a tutor to correct her daughters' accents and hired him sight unseen. Gibbes remained with the family for the next ten years through war and revolution, teaching the four Grand Duchesses and then the hemophiliac Tsarevich.
   
   Gibbes doesn't strike the reader as particularly admirable at first. He was definitely a social-climber and not particularly talented as a teacher. His private life was mysterious, involving some mild flirtations with an Englishwoman and some dreams (carefully recorded for posterity by Gibbes himself) which seem classically Freudian.
   
   Gibbes came into his own, and we find reason to respect and like him, with the Russian Revolution of March 1917. As an Englishman he could have easily left Russia and gone home to safety. Instead he chose to remain with the Imperial Family, sharing their captivity in their palace outside Petrograd and then in Tobolsk. He underwent considerable hardship and personal danger, but he was selflessly devoted to the family. Even after he was told to leave by the Bolsheviks who were holding the family in their final prison in Ekaterinburg he remained in the city, walking past the House of Special Purpose and trying to get in for visits. After the family's murder, he assisted the investigators trying to determine what had happened.
   
   After leaving Russia Gibbes lived in China before returning to England. He became an Orthodox priest, adopted a Russian orphan boy, and spent most of the rest of his life in Oxford, maintaining a museum of keepsakes of the family he had served for so long. He was not particularly effective as a priest, but he was sadly missed and fondly remembered after his death, which is a pretty good epitaph for anyone.
   
   This biography makes use primarily of Gibbes'own notes and diary, so that the reader must look elsewhere for historical insight into his life, but nevertheless it does a nice job telling the story of a quiet, somewhat limited man who was a good servant and friend.



3. This book doesn't shed any new light on the Romanovs, but it does give new insight into a man who knew them very well. It is a short book, but very informative.



4. A very interesting pocket book. A great perspective of the times. For a history buff, a good eye witness biographical account. However, considering the near epic situation of those times and places, the book seems sparse. A noticeable ommission are (the other?) Gibbes' photographs not published in this book. I've seen photographs published elsewhere that were attributed to be taking by Gibbs. A proper mix of these photos and the book would have added much. But still, this book is very much worth reading. For you history buffs, and a complementary account, check out Gilliard's writtings.



5. Was greatly anticipating this read...here it is, an up-close look at someone who spent significant time with the Imperial Family. Finally, an opportunity to get a real glimpse of Olga, Tatiana, Marie, and Anastasia...who else could provide such personal commentary but the one person who spent years tutoring the family?? The promise was there (at least in the title), but the pages never delivered. VERY little at all was mentioned about the daughters, and what little anecdotes offered dealt primarily with Alexei. The most interesting part of the book was his brief description of his confrontation of Anna Anderson, the Anastasia imposter. If you're looking for a biography of the man who tutored the Romanov children...by all means buy this book. If you're looking for personal insight into the Imperial family, don't bother.

2 comments about The Red Pencil: Convictions from Experience in Education.

1. I first encountered Ted Sizer's views on education in his course on The American School at the Harvard Graduate School of Education in the Fall of 1963. The idea that most surprised me was his desire to model Harvard's role in American education after that taken by Dewey and his disciples who had trained a high number of America's superintendents during an earlier era. He told us that those of us in the M.A. in Teaching program had been selected in part because we would go on to leadership in various schools and school systems, and could effect change. We would carry the "message" of Harvard regarding our respective disciplines and about the running of the schools as a whole. This struck me then, and still does, as an essentially egotistical concept of his role in education. It was more about power than about educational vision. His role as a reformer trying to dominate and change the schools of the country has continued throughout the years.
   In his writings, he usually focuses on the negative. There is something so basically flawed about the schools it must be weeded out. Yet, it is hard to pin down exactly what is wrong. Sometimes, along with Robert Coles and others, he seems to opine that there are so many youths who are alienated by the system. When I taught in Dedham High School in Massachusetts years ago, one teen declared that he was "an outlaw." He wanted to get a mobile home and a motorcycle and ride rootlessly around the country "like a rolling stone." Sometimes Sizer writes as though he wants to change the system in order not to lose youths like this one. Other times, he is concerned with the cynicism of the better students, who have learned to play the system to their advantage. They have learned to manipulate the system in order to "succeed," but a true ideal of excellence is missing from their value system, or even a true love of learning.
   He is bothered by the bureaucracy, but it's not that there is just too much paperwork or too much micromanagement, or a lack of disciplinary follow through and guts in punishing the guilty. Rather, I often sense from reading Sizer's writings that the bureaucracy is a mindset he abhors. It is a mindset of mediocrity and of trying to manage or enclose an educational process that is more exciting and open-ended than is realized.
   In short, he seems to feel for the past forty-plus years that education is not living up to what it could and should be. Yet, he never clearly articulates what it could and should be. Rather, he is inviting us, and all potential fellow reformers, to catch his vision that there is a dynamic and an excellence beyond what we now have, even if the parameters of that dynamic and that excellence cannot be fully enunciated. He's kind of an educated Rodney King.."if we could all just get together, then what a beautiful world it could be." But it ain't a beautiful world although there is beauty in it. A more healthy and robust philosophy is needed to adjust to the wickedness that is out there.
   He does not call for implementation of a more moral world view as did Pestalozzi. He does not promote the adaptation of the individual to democracy as does Dewey. He does not promote radical freedom of the individual like the Summerhill crowd. He does not advocate integration like Martin Luther King, Jr. He does not challenge us to intensify the scientific application of psychology to learning as does Herbart. Nor, does he advocate the arts as a path to wholeness in the educational life of a growing human being like Rudolf Steiner. Since I studied with him in 1963, I do not see articulated positive goals, but only the sense that if one is smart enough and progressive enough then he or she will see how to reform and improve this or that school or school system, because the given is that they all need reform. His "new vision" really is no vision, but only the promise that if you work with him your schools will get better in all kinds of ways. They will be revitalized. In fact, if I were to give a rubric for his ideas, I would say they come under the heading of "revitalizing the schools." However, the rub is that the notion is vague and even mystical. It ultimately depends upon trusting him and those who agree with him. He has good points to make yet lacks overriding substance in terms of goals or purpose.
   Lastly, it is worth noting that Sizer is not "above the fray." Though certain of his points might be considered acceptable to conservative or liberal theories of education, he is in the liberal camp. Why can't Johnny read? Answer: The schools are boring, have mediocrity as their standard, have untalented administrators and teachers, lack funding,
   are mired in local values and premises that are invalid and provincial, and have arcane rules that inhibit rather than enhance educational practice. Almost every aspect of pedagogy, administration, testing, discipline, parent-school relations, curriculum, guidance, and legal structure is wrong. Why can't Johnny tell right from wrong? Answer: Pretty much the same as the answer for why Johnny can't read.
   Ted Sizer sees very little that is good about education as it has evolved in America. His slant is leftward. His sense that the individual can only be fixed by reforming the whole is ill-conceived and based on many philosophical mis-assumptions.
   His sense that the traditional classroom is a place of failed expectations and rampant denial is excessively negative. His hope for America based on his envisioned educational reforms is futile.



2. I couldn't help but feel compelled to write a review after I read the previous review. If you like Dewey or Adler, you will really enjoy this book. Sizer draws from both Dewey and Adler's ideas and points out all the problems with education today. Sizer has years of experience in various areas of education which does nothing more than to give his words even more value. The book is written in first person, so you actually get to live through some of his experiences which brings him to his idea of reformed education. Sizer's coalition of essential schools are interesting and provide one of the best models for education up until this point. If you want to find more information about this model before reading the book, look up Coalition of Essential Schools. They are charter schools located throughout the U.S. that are using this model. This is a must read for anyone who wants to read about contemporary education and understand where we have come from. This book isn't that negative as the previous reader mentioned. It is no more negative than Dewey's "Experience and Education."

5 comments about Disguised As A Poem: My Years Teaching at San Quentin.

1. This is an exceptional account, movingly honest and beautifully written. As someone who has also taught in prison, I can attest to the fact that the author has gotten it "right" - the cultural logic by which inmates understand and navigate their world; the ways in which relationships are built and tested; the circulating currency of ideas in prison. And she is one of the very few who have gone inside, empowering inmates to acquire the powerful tools to express their truths. It is a political act of the most genuine, humanistic kind. Bravo!



2. In "Disguised as a Poem," Judith Tannenbaum narrates her experience teaching poetry for four years in the maximum-security prison, San Quentin. The prisoners she taught are fiercely human, use poetry as a shout: "I am here!" Tannenbaum comes to San Quentin with California 60s-radical ideas of universal brotherhood, and is forced to confront not only the prisoners' ambiguous past, but also the humanity of the police guards she has always associated with authority and oppression.

   Needless to say, the experience changed more than a few lives.

   Most of the men found themselves in San Quentin for their involvement in violent crime. During "lockup," in their cells, the men must restrain their emotions, their dreams, their expression of humanity for fear of exposing weakness in the violent environment in which they live. Poetry offers the men a chance to reach out beyond the walls of San Quentin. Through Tannenbaum and the other arts' teachers, the men meet Nobel Prize winners, perform "Waiting for Godot" under the auspices of Beckett himself, and publish their poems for children at risk.

   Tannenbaum must struggle with the men's past actions while reveling in providing an outlet for the men using an art form she adores. She also finds herself in some moments allying herself with the prison administration, with authority, against the prisoners who are dependant on her for emotional release and artistic expression.

   The book shines when relating the poetry of the men, when we witness the blossoming of a caged man on paper. It is then that we connect to these men from our own ambiguous cages-no doubt less confining than iron and steel-and take heart from their actions that we, too, can still soar free.




3. This book takes readers inside a world most of us have never entered: a maximum security prison. But instead of showing the aspects of this world that we're familiar with from movies and TV, we see something different. By telling her own story -- the story of a poet sharing poetry with a particular group of prisoners -- Tannenbaum allows readers to look at our own assumptions about prison, prisoners and what it is to be human.

   This is a very important, and very moving, book.




4. Judith takes the reader into a world where few go willingly and fewer still would expect to find love. Her journey in story form reveals a great deal about herself and how the men she taught retained their dignity and self respect by sharing their thoughts of home, life, and love through poetry. I am not a poet and quite frankly find it difficult to understand many peots, but such is not the case with the works Judith brings forth from a handful of men most of us have written off as losers. Judith proves that love is present in everyone's heart, even those in prison.



5. This book was introduced to me by Judith herself ( I was looking for material for a research paper ) ...Since I am a "starving" student, my mom bought me the book for x-mas, it sat for a few months since I was burnt out on prisons after my major report was done. But two days ago I picked up the book again, and I could no put it down. I have fallen in love with Spoon, Elmo and Judith's words many times over. I am in awe of her writing and her experience. I would hope that someday I could inspire others as she has inspired me. I have written a poem, I will share it with you all in hopes that you will buy this book...

   "I feel as though I am reading a novel...

   Everyonce in a while I stop and

   remind myself the words I have read

   are real."

   Molly R>

5 comments about Learning to Fall: The Blessings of an Imperfect Life.

1. I didn't enjoy this book at all - its just not my type of book. I was expecting a biography of his life - but this book is a series of short stories about life in general, not necessarily the authors life.
   
   I guess I just didn't read the back cover properly.



2. My brother was diagnosed with ALS this last October. I bought this book for everyone in my family...it has allowed us to cherish life and the moments we have with him. This is a great book and I recommend it 100%!!!



3. Just a quick note to add my voice to others who love this book by the late Philip Simmons. As moving and beautiful and wise as any creative nonfiction ever written. As a professor of writing, I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn more about life (and the death that makes life possible).



4. I have read this book once a year at the end of winter since its publication because reading it is a great way to herald in the spring given its life-affirming message. As a disabled person, I find it particularly helpful, but I first started reading it a few years before I was disabled. I purchase at least one copy a year because I not only loan it out, I give it away. Such a gift it is.
   
   I also want to say to the people who are disappointed that Simmons doesn't let us into his pathos and pain: perhaps Simmons did not spend a very long time in pathos and pain, let alone want to write about it (living it may have been enough for him). I am disabled and my disability has left me with little social contact (in fact even my spouse left me because of my disability), and yet I am a happy person. It's not that I don't accept or honor my grief, but I spend more time loving life back rather than standing in the crashing waves shaking my fist at God. I suspect this was Simmons way as well.
   
   No doubt he could have written that other book and even made us laugh at his pain, but that was not the focus of his life. Research shows that happy people do not necessarily have more happy experiences--they just focus on those experiences more and are grateful just for the chance to be alive no matter the suffering. That's a lesson in and of itself.



5. This is about the 7th copy of this book that I have purchased. I keep giving them away because the message is so poignant. It is a wonderful story of courage and acceptance in the face of death at too young an age. But - the story is not sad - the author finds the joys in life and the ability to face each day with a positive outlook.