Teaching in the Real World: Strategies to Survive and Thrive

This book presents a dialogue of reflective journal entries sent via email between a student teacher and her college supervisor.  Miss B is a white, female, graduate student doing her student teaching in an urban high school.  Written in a very honest, compassionate, inspiring, thoughtful, and humorous way, her journal illustrates her transformation from a passionate but struggling student teacher to a teacher who has found her voice and the confidence to be an effective teacher in her own classroom.  Most student teachers are required to keep a daily reflection/journal.  The journal entries in the book are written chronologically and provide an excellent example of what a reflective teacher should look for in trying to improve their teaching.   Student teaching is considered to be one of the most important components of pre-service training.  It is during these practicums that aspiring teachers apply what they have learned in their courses to the real world in a real classroom.  However, many student teachers are unprepared to face the situations they will encounter in urban school settings.  Not only will they have to deal with lesson planning, classroom management, working with parents, etc, but also such issues as homelessness, hunger, motivation, and difficult family environments.   Miss B makes a lot of mistakes that set her back as well as many decisions that move her forward.  Readers of the book will continually be thinking about how they would have dealt with that particular situation as they experience the joys, frustrations, fears, and compromises they may have to confront in their own student teaching.   Professors will find this book to be an excellent tool to promote discussions on contemporary critical issues of which pre-service teachers should be aware. To help promote discussion, each chapter ends with Discussion Starters:  questions that ask readers to react to key topics discussed in the chapter.  Other features include Professor Z’s Tips, Strategies, and Relevant Data and Professor Z’s Student Teaching Checklist.  It will be a valuable resource for all student teachers.

Table of Contents:
Pre-Student Teaching Reflections:  The Day Before My Practicum Starts   Week One Day 1:    Josh - My First Day of Student Teaching (What They Don't Teach in Behavior Management Courses) Day 2:    The Moat:  Funding (Or the Lack Of) in Urban Schools Day 3:    Covering Your Butt and Covering the Material Day 4:    Black Man, White Man, Don't Give a Damn Day 5:    Good Luck Miss B! Discussion Starters for Week One Professor Z's Student Teaching Checklist:  Getting Your Act Together Week Two Day 1:    Lessons After School Day 2:    Writing Right Day 3:    Miss, Why Are You So Mean? Day 4:    The "Tag Team" and "The Buzz" Day 5:    Standardized Testing Stinks! Discussion Starters for Week Two Professor Z's Student Teaching Checklist:  Getting Your Class Together Week Three Day 1:    Discipline:  All for One and One for All? Day 2:    Low Budget Learning Day 3:    My First Observation:  Da Bomb! Day 4:    Central High's Police State Day 5:    Tag Team's Back Again! Discussion Starters for Week Three Professor Z's Student Teaching Checklist:  Classroom Management Week Four Day 1:    Teaching Without Resources Day 2:    I (Used To) Love Discussions Day 3:    Who ARE You?  Who am I? Day 4:    To Group or Not to Group:  That Is the Question Day 5:    Rebellion Discussion Starters for Week Four Professor Z's Student Teaching Checklist:  Effective Teaching Methods Week Five Day 1:    My Second Observation:  Still Da Bomb! Day 2:    Stickers?! Day 3:    We Are Our Students Day 4:    Go Ahead and Make My Day Day 5:    I (Used To) Love Fridays Discussion Starters for Week Five Professor Z's Student Teaching Checklist:  Things to Remember to Do Throughout the Placement Week Six Day 1:    Ninth Grade Goofballs Day 2:    This is MY Class! Day 3:    The Way It Is and the Way It Ought to Be Day 4:    Helping Students Create Life Goals Day 5:    Success is 80% Attitude Discussion Starters for Week Six Professor Z's Student Teaching Checklist:  Teaching in Urban Schools Week Seven Day 1:    My Last Week: Time to Fly or Time to Die? Day 2:    Living in the City? Day 3:    Student Feedback Rocks Day 4:    Final Observation:  Miss B at the Plate - Bases Loaded, Two Out, Full Count Day 5:    My Last Day of Student Teaching Discussion Starters for Week Seven Professor Z's Student Teaching Checklist:  Post Student Teaching Activities   Epilogue

Review :
TEACHING in the REAL WORLD What reviewers have to say about Teaching in the Real World:   “The e-mail exchange- supplemented by tips, hints, and checklists – is an interesting, innovative format to get the readers attention. The text becomes very personal and real and provides great personal reflection opportunities.” Lois Draina, Ph.D. Associate Professor, Education Department Marywood University     “This text is written in a very user-friendly style. It is realistic and well-written in a readable format to provide sound advice and suggestions during the student teaching experience.” Elaine Pierce Chakonas, Ph.D. Associate Professor of Teacher Education Northeastern Illinois University    “[The] innovation of this book is [that] it takes its own favored constructivist theory and applies it to the way that the field/internship relationship should work.” Carole Bryd, Ph.D. Florida Community College at Jacksonville      “The author does an excellent job of organizing and writing sequentially about what student teachers will experience, “normalizing” it, and making it real and relevant to their daily lives as a teacher, both in and outside of the classroom.” Linda F. Balog, Ph.D. Coordinator of the Professional Program in School and Community Health Education and Promotion Department of Health Science SUNY, College at Brockport     A truly worthwhile book!  Every student teacher and every new teacher should read this book.  I would even recommend it to experienced teachers who will not only recognize the strategies they use, but will take heart from the daily challenges they face.  Written in a practical, realistic manner, it discusses not only educational strategies but issues that teachers face everyday in our urban schools - issues that are not usually covered in education courses, such as homelessness, hunger, addictions, etc.  I highly recommend this book for all teachers to read. Betty K. Gassner Retired Assistant Principal, Public School 196 Brooklyn, NY