Teacher Man

I adored this book. I think every teacher should be given this book just to feel that although you might shut the door to the outside and be alone in the classroom with your students, you are not alone in what you face. This book convinced me that I needed to write my own teaching memoir. 

McCourt (author of Angela’s Ashes) and his sense of humor and creativity at times get him into trouble but eventually endear him not only to the students but also to the school administration. I might not have agreed with everything he described, but… show more.

A memoir by a high school teacher in New York, who explains how he learned how to work with disillusioned teenagers and make them care about learning.

He brings up what is going on in his personal life, adding an extra dimension to the story. I appreciated his struggles and honesty about what it takes to lead in a classroom, where not everyone is motivated to succeed.

Kudos to this author who made me see how it’s not always easy or fun to teach, but that it’s always worthwhile. He gave me the courage to stick to teaching even when… show more.

This book reverses the pattern set so far. Rather than a Western teacher traveling to foreign lands, in this memoir, an Irishman travels to teach in New York City.

There, he becomes the teacher you always wanted: compassionate, funny, lyrical, a raconteur. He describes the range of his experiences, from vocational institute to highly competitive high school. In one assignment, he challenges his students to write a creative excuse for being absent. In another he asks the students to turn family recipes into poetry.

His book reminds us, through wit and sharp observation, why teachers, abroad or at home, are… show more.

Members of the hand-wringing public who lament about a lack of discipline in today’s schools need to read Frank McCourt’s reflections of serving as a teacher – nearly twenty years ago – to adolescents in the New York City public school system.

Before he began his illustrious writing career, the author accumulated thirty years of experience as an English and creative writing educator. Teacher Man: A Memoir details early foibles that eventually led to McCourt’s unconventional and imaginative approach to the art of teaching.