Learn Me Good [Kindle Edition]

John Pearson (Author)

Book Description

Jack Woodson was a thermal design engineer for four years until he was laid off from his job. Now, as a teacher, he faces new challenges. Conference calls have been replaced with parent conferences. Product testing has given way to standardized testing. Instead of business cards, Jack now passes out report cards. The only thing that hasn't changed noticeably is the maturity level of the people surrounding him all day. Learn Me Good is a hilarious first-person account, inspired by real life experiences. Through a series of emails to Fred Bommerson, his buddy who still works at Heat Pumps Unlimited, Jack chronicles a year-in-the-life of a brand new teacher. With subject lines such as "Irritable Vowel Syndrome," "In math class, no one can hear you scream," and "I love the smell of Lysol in the morning," Jack writes each email with a dash of sarcasm and plenty of irreverent wit.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

John Pearson was born just outside of Washington, DC, but moved to Texas as quickly as he could. Growing up with a passion for science, math, and calculator watches, he obtained engineering degrees and basketball (watching) accolades from Duke University and Texas A&M. His first job out of college was designing small solid-state heat pumps, where his cubicle simply was not big enough to contain him. When the engineering market went sour, he decided to try his hand as a teacher, and he has been a 3rd grade math teacher ever since.
When he's not teaching, he's reading, blogging, or making YouTube videos like "Darth Vader Explains the Pythagorean Theorem."
Learn Me Good was born of the baptism-by-fire nature of Pearson's first year as a teacher.

Product Details

• File Size: 317 KB
• Print Length: 214 pages
• Page Numbers Source ISBN: 1411665899
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
• Language: English
• ASIN: B002C75GXK
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• X-Ray: Enabled
• Lending: Enabled
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #63,887 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
  • #49 in Books > Humor & Entertainment > Humor > Business & Professional

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

64 of 65 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Entertaining, Even For Non-Teachers July 31, 2010

By D. Figueroa

Format:Kindle Edition

Learn Me Good is an often laugh-out-loud, 'probably-true' story of an engineer who loses his job and ends up teaching 3rd grade math in Dallas, TX.

The book is presented as a series of emails that Mr. Wooden...uh, Woodley...errr...Woodson (read the book, you'll understand that part) sends to a friend at his prior employer about the kids he's teaching and the crazy things they do and say. It's worth the small price of the book just to read the subjects & clever names with which he closes every email, I found myself snickering at several.

I've never raised or worked with children, so I don't read this genre (and wouldn't have, had I not read about it on the Kindle Boards), but I laughed loud enough to startle my dog a few times and found most of the stories to be at the very worst, amusing. Most people who have had or taught small children would get quite a kick out of it.

The author states up front that he's changed all the names and that 'most' of the incidents he recounts are true, lol. The book is a quick, easy read and the author's love of his new-found profession comes shining through in this light-hearted book. I finished it in two nights, which could have been one if I weren't so busy. The book is about 55,000 words. I'm not sure how many pages that translates into, but it's definitely novel-length.

A note about the Kindle edition: I didn't find any typos or grammatical errors (none that weren't intentional, lol), just a couple of odd line breaks. Formatting for Kindle isn't easy. I didn't fine them too distracting & they don't warrant a reformat, in my opinion. To those who worry about errors taking away from the enjoyment of an ebook, you can feel confident in buying this book, it won't disappoint.

25 of 26 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars What elementary teachers really do November 18, 2006

By Deborah Diffily

Format:Paperback

John Pearson has managed to put his wry sense of humor into the book, Learn Me Good. For anyone who has spent their days working with elementary-school students, many of these situations will seem familiar -- but funnier because of John's writing style. For those whose only experience in elementary school classrooms was the period of time that they were in elementary school, John's emails describing his life as a teacher will give insight into what teachers really do all day long.

This book would make a great gift to any teacher.

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Pleasant September 4, 2009

By Matthew Erwin VINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

John Pearson's "Learn Me Good" is an enjoyable little book that you can get for the Kindle fairly cheaply. As many others have explained, the book is a semi-autobiographical account of Pearson's first year of teaching as told by a series of emails to a former coworker at "Heat Pumps R' Us."

There are several laugh out loud funny moments in the book, usually describing kids being innocently silly or budding psychopaths. It is a pleasant and humorous read and for the most part is a G-rated read that most anyone could enjoy. The few PG-13 jokes (among the funniest) would probably go right over kids heads anyhow.

A few things keep the book from earning a few more stars. One ongoing joke about a kid incorrectly spelling a famed four letter word is met at one point by a reference to "Turret's Syndrome." Admittedly this is unintentionally hilarious, but goes to the greater point of the book needing a bit of editing. Also, at times I found Pearson tried a bit too hard to slam jokes and pop culture references into every sentence instead of letting it flow more naturally.

All in all, they are mostly minor complaints and Learn Me Good will give you some excellent laughs. For the price, it is hard to resist.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Charming July 10, 2009

By B. Baker

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

This is a very charming story about a former engineer's first year as a third-grade math teacher. The story is told in a series of emails from the new teacher to a former co-worker. The format means that there is not a lot of character development or action, but you still get a picture of how he feels about the various children he struggles to enlighten. Mr. Woodson's affection and dedication overcome his frustration with the school system, TAKS, and stoned parents. It's light reading, entertaining, and touching.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Didn't want this book to end! January 23, 2008

By Cheryl Cory

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

After each email ended, I was faced with a conundrum: keep reading on or stop and save the rest for later, savoring each email like a piece of fine chocolate. I wanted to keep reading on, but didn't want this book to end!

I stumbled across this book as I searched for books with the same themes as mine (humor, education). The book preview was enough to convince me to buy the book--I liked the author's style of humor and the writing was good.

This book is hilarious! I especially like how the author uses references from previous chapters in subsequent ones, adding to the comedy by making the reader feel like a story insider.

I have so many favorite lines, but I think "Calls me Ishmaels" takes the cake! I hope this author writes more in the future!

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Pleasant and entertaining but hard to get involved. September 12, 2010

By Mountain Momma

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

Funny bits of stories about his first teaching class of 3rd grade students.

I would have preferred it written in a story format with his interactions with the children being in a continual story. The e-mail headings jarred my thought process. It made it a 'jerky' read for me. I understand why he wrote it that way and the (unread) remarks from answering e-mails gave me some smiles. Just not worth it overall to me.

I liked the way he handled the learning process(competitions and games) . It's sad that more parents don't take an active interest in their child's learning.

More About the Author

John Pearson was born just outside of Washington, DC, but moved to Texas as quickly as he could. Growing up with a passion for science, math, and calculator watches, he obtained engineering degrees and basketball (watching) accolades from Duke University and Texas A&M. His first job out of college was designing small solid-state heat pumps, where his cubicle simply was not big enough to contain him. When the engineering market went sour, he decided to try his hand as a teacher, and he has been teaching math to 3rd and 4th graders ever since.
When he's not teaching, he's reading, blogging, or making YouTube videos like "Darth Vader Explains the Pythagorean Theorem."
His first book, Learn Me Good, was born of the baptism-by-fire nature of Pearson's first year as a teacher.
His second, Learn Me Gooder (a sequel, can you tell?) practically wrote itself after 7 years of teaching third grade.
His latest is a foray into the world of Fantasy Football. I Coulda Caught That Pass! (a true story about fake football) details one season in the National Football Liquors, his fantasy football league.
His son Drew was born in May of 2012, so books about fatherhood and cluelessness may very well be on the way soon!