INSPIRATION

If you want some inspirational summer reading, check out these books. They are absolutely fabulous and will be a re-read on my summer list. They offer humor, insight, and advice all at once. I hope to one day write a books that can offer so much to young teachers just like these did for me.
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During student teaching, I had a professor recommend that we all read this book. It looks at the humorous side of teaching and accepting all of the crazy things that you think would NEVER happen to you. I have since recommended it to everyone I know because it's an easy read that allows you to laugh at the author and also yourself when you realize you've done similar things. This book is actually what inspired me to write a blog chronicling my teaching experiences day-by-day. I one day wish to write a similar book and will plenty of stories to choose from the best of the best.
If you have been teaching one year or thirty, I suggest reading this book and in order to help you understand not to take things so seriously and learn from your mistakes.
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This was another book recommended to me by a friend during student teaching. At the time I read this, I related to it a bit, but didn't truly understand what an inspiring man Rafe Esquith is. Now that I've taught 4th grade in a school Rafe would call "The Jungle", I am taking the opportunity to re-read this amazing book. Rafe talks about how much of his life he dedicates to his students because he is what they have. Some of their families barely survive and school is their escape from the harsh realities they face in their neighborhoods. Now that my current teaching position so closely relates to where Rafe worked, I try to think of how he would handle a situation and not to sound cliche, but, "What would Rafe do?" He's done amazing things for many years with a very diverse group of kids who live very rough lives. In my lifetime, I only wish to do similar great things in my neighborhood.
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This is a follow up to Rafe's amazing first book. This book also offers inspiration through Rafe's experiences. He teaches because he cares. He wasn't always supported in his teaching ventures, but I see him as a leader in education. Yes, there are many people who are considered leaders because they shape the way education is, but this man is a leader because he is doing what I am. He's been there and done most things. He makes mistakes, but learns from them for the next time. He "rescues" children from lives of disappointment and failure and gives them an oasis in which to learn and grow, as students and people. Again, I only hope to do the same for my students in the coming years.