Golly, I have been a reading machine this weekend! Although my pace is somewhat helped by the fact that I finished my 1,000-page novel and moved onto 200-page nonfiction ;)
I first learned about Taylor Mali this summer during a professional development lunch led by one of my favourite educators, DS. He showed us a video of Mali's now-famous poem "What Teachers Make" which truly made me tear up. The poem has become part of Mali's New Teacher Project, in which he tries to recruit college students to change their major to education because of him.
I've looked forward to reading this book for quite some time, but I was well and truly hooked when Mali asserted that "the most important work to be done in education is with the youngest possible kids, the ones in primary school and pre-primary" (27). So many books and articles I have read for my methods classes have had grand ideas for activities, strategies, and so on, which sounded amazing...but not at all applicable to my work with students between pre-K and third grade. While Mali's own work has been in secondary education, I appreciated his acknowledgment of the hard work of primary educators.
This book was filled with amusing anecdotes, poignant stories, sage advice, and inspiration for new teachers, veteran educators, parents, policymakers...everyone who believes in children. It's another very quick read, and I encourage you to read it.
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Currently reading: Teach Like Your Hair's on Fire by Rafe Esquith
Current high: a blissfully free Sunday, the likes of which I have not seen in weeks!
Current low: I honestly can't think of one...
NOW that you've read this, we need to talk about it! So many feels.
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