Customer Reviews

Among Schoolchildren

5 star:		(39)
4 star:		(31)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I was inspired to write this review not because I loved Among Schoolchildren-of course I did; I had Mrs. Zajac for a teacher. I was in the 6th grade when Mr. Kidder spent a year at The Kelly School. My motivation was from reading another review-someone questioned if Mrs. Zajac really had a LASTING impression on these students. I would compare myself to Alice-I had a loving family, intelligence, motivation. . .whether or not I had Mrs. Zajac for the 5th grade I would have attended college. But a lasting impression. . .to this day she remains one of my top three teachers-including college. She is unique-and maybe from reading the book the reader doesn't see that, but she is not the average teacher. And I think parents would feel the same way. She is a very wonderful teacher and a true friend. Please, don't read this book and think her students "forgot 5th grade" it's scarey how much I remember of 5th grade. Her mix of humor, toughness and compassion make her a great role model; and now that I too am in education I hope my students remember me as fondly as I remember her.

As a former schoolteacher and the wife of a teacher, I can tell you that Tracy Kidder's "Among Schoolchildren" accurately and soberly depicts what teaching is really like, day to day, year in and year out.

Mrs. Zajac, the grade school teacher on whom Kidder focuses his detailed narrative, is what every teacher should be: tough in a loving way, disciplined, self-aware, willing to admit to her own faults (and when she's boring herself and knows she needs to shake up the lesson next time to avoid boring the students), brimming over with ideas. She's a wonder, and the kind of teacher every child should have at least once in their grade school career.

Kidder leaves no stone unturned. We see here not only the joys and sorrows of teaching, but the accumulation of detail that leaves us feeling we understand, from the inside out, what teachers go through in order to get through to their students. We see how "problem students" and "good students" present different challenges, how teachers and administrators deal with each other (and deal with the parents, the superintendent, and the school board), and even such mundane concerns as how to keep the class in Kleenex (they go through about twenty boxes a year). Though the book is over a decade old, it's prescient about some things. The majority of students in Mrs. Zajac's class are Hispanic--a growing truth throughout the United States--so along with the everyday frustrations of every teacher, we see that Mrs. Zajac has an additional workload imposed merely by the presence of a language barrier:

"Horace, are you all done?"

"No."

"Then why are you talking to Jorge?"

She turned back around and said to Felipe and Jimmy, "What's the matter with you two? The minute I turn my head, you have to talk? What number do you carry, Jimmy?"

"The four."

"Very good. Got it now? OK, Jimmy, you can go back to your desk."

"Ocho," said a voice behind [Mrs. Zajac], unmistakably Manny's hoarse whiskey voice. Manny was trying to whisper to one of his buddies, but he just couldn't do it quietly. [She] turned. "Why don't you try Chinese, Manny? You can say it in Swahili, Manny. I still know you're giving him the answer." [She] liked them to help each other, but today she wanted to find out just how each one was faring in multiplication, so she kept saying, "Your own work."

"Diablo!"

"You keep it up, Manny, and I'll show you what a diablo I can be."

Anyone who's curious about the life of a teacher--or who is thinking of becoming a teacher--would do themselves a huge favor to sit down and read "Among Schoolchildren."

I am an African-American teacher, and I highly disagree with the one star review that this book received -- that it is nice for 'white women' teachers. Good teaching is not a black and white issue. Caring is not a black and white issue. It is irrevelent if the teacher is black, white, brown, etc.. It is attitudes such as these, the elevation of ourselves in terms of educational importance, I believe, that lessons the teaching profession and is a major contributor, I believe, to why people do not want to be teachers. I became a teacher because I love to see my students grow mentally, intellectually and physically. The minority and white teachers I work with are outstanding, and I am happy they are my co-workers. Mr. kidder's book is one shining example of a beautiful teacher who is a representative of all of us who do teaching for the right reasons. Thank-you, Mr. Kidder!

Kidder's examination of a 5th grade classroom is a fascinating study of the complex little societies that every child interacts with every day. His descriptions of the dynamics of Mrs. Zajac's class brought me back to my own elementary school days and the familiar roles that the children here seem to have-- the troublemakers, the smart students, the space cadets... Until, that is, his close observation of the children's behavior reveals how complex each of these young people actually is.

Mrs. Zajac, as the ruler of this mini-society, is a fascinating character in herself. Her tough-love compassion for her students and her attempt to address all of their needs provides a fascinating up-close look at the way a teacher with the best of intentions can both draw out students or send them hurtling back into their shell. The well-documented phenomenon of teachers spending much more time with their male students is seen here-- clearly an unconscious thing on her part because she mentions her desire to interact with all of her students consistently throughout the book. In short, a fascinating text for anyone interested in education or in child psychology. The minute observations that Kidder makes of the various reactions the students have to events in the classroom are fascinating. My only criticism-- he sometimes seems to tend toward large generalizations and sometimes to interpret a little too liberally what the students might be thinking and experiencing. When he allows the children to speak for themselves the text is much more engaging.

In all the talk about education issues these days, it's easy to forget that what's really important is the relationship, the energy, between students and teacher. When the teacher closes his door and is face-to-face with thirty kids--THAT'S where it's at. It's not test scores or textbooks or innovative curriculum--it's what happens between PEOPLE in a classroom. This book shows that dynamic relationship between eager, active kids and a caring, active teacher. It's not all pleasant, and successes are sometimes small, but a pervasive caring underlies it all. As a teacher, this book reminded me that sometimes the best thing I can do for my kids is to leave all that paperwork, go for a walk, go to bed early so I can be there for them the next day.

I chose Among Schoolchildren as a supplemental text for an Introduction to Education class. I had read the book some time ago, and remembered it as being a realistic portrayal of life in classrooms. I thought my students might enjoy this glimpse into the life of a teacher, warts and all. I re-read the book and still enjoyed it very much, and found many of the relationships with students, Chris's worries about her students, and the variety of problems that teachers deal with to be on target. However, many of the elements of the elementary school curriculum have changed even in the relatively short time since the book was published. It is not the overall picture of life in elementary schools that it might have been when it was first published. Nevertheless, it is a fascinating and fun read. I enjoy reading about how other people handle difficult situations. There is always something new to learn.

Tracy Kidder captures the angst and the anger of the classroom in his book, "Among Schoolchildren," about the teaching-life of Mrs. Chris Zajac. Certainly those who criticize the public schools must read this book before they give up on schools and opt for vouchers for all.

Mrs. Zajac has all the necessary qualities of a good teacher:
1. She's empathetic, almost to a fault. I know she gives too many second chances to kids who try to disrupt her class, but she also got through to them all, even the ones who had to be removed.
2. She's hard-working. She always brings home both the paper grading and the worry. It's hard to leave teacher feelings at the school door. Most teachers take them home as does Mrs. Zajac. Many of her great ideas develop while she broods at home over some kid's plight.
3. She has a big heart, enough to mourn for kids who have their own hardships at home, enough to get angry at these same kids when they need it.

Tracy Kidder's book captures all of it. Highly recommended to college education majors and to veteran teachers who need a jump start to recall why they got into teaching in the first place.

This book has been an incredible relief for me to read. In the midst of my master's training in education (for a career change), I have been bogged down in the textbook version of a classroom--which is hard to translate into a real classroom. This book made me more aware--and consequently, less scared--of the plight of the teacher. Kidder puts you right into the life of Chris Zajac, and allows you to see how a "good" teacher deals with the realities of teaching.

With so much focus on "improving" education through standardized testing, it is enlightening to observe the inner workings of a teacher working in the real world, confronting the real issues of humanity that are uniquely bequested to teachers.

A great book that gives you real respect for the profession.

As an education major at Macon State College, I read Among Schoolchildren for an assignment for my education in a diverse society class. This book really opened my eyes to what teaching is like in the "real world." Tracy Kidder supplied very detailed information about each student in Mrs. Zajac's class and about Mrs. Zajac herself. I took note of many excellent teaching strategies used by Mrs. Zajac, and I hope to be able to apply them when I myself am teaching. Kidder's awesome description and remarkable ability to recreate various events in the book made me feel as though I were right there in the classroom. At times this was scary, seeing as how the students misbehaved quite often, but at least I now know what to expect from my own students. Hopefully I can become a wonderful teacher as Mrs. Zajac is. If you are at all uncertain about what it is like to be a teacher read Among Schoolchildren! You will never look at teaching the same way again!

I first read this book about 6 years ago when I decided that I wanted to go into teaching. It has held fast as my inspiration for the profession. One never realizes the responsibility teachers carry on their shoulders on a day to day basis. Kidder fantastically shows this courage, compassion, and love for children that teachers need in order to go into such a powerful profession.

After digesting this book, I reflected on what teaching actually entailed. I knew then that this was what I would like to do. You are not only a teacher to children, but you are in many way their only positive role-model. Sometimes you are the only adult they see for the majority of the day and their greatest influence in those early years of their lives. But you are not only their teacher, but their nurse, their confidant, their disciplinarian, and the role-model in which they learn what is acceptable behavior in society.

This book is a wonderful reflection on what happens in the American classroom. I really appreciated reading it.