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Man Overboard: Confessions of a Novice Math Teacher in the Bronx

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Ever have a little voice in your head saying, "maybe I could dump my successful career and go into teaching to help some underprivileged kids?" Before you do, read "Man Overboard" by Ric Klass. Ric Klass' heart was in the right place, but there was no place for anyone with a heart in the Bronx.

There may well be worse school systems in the country (such as East L.A.) but there may be none, if any, that need the help of someone so capable and so willing as badly. The south Bronx is a ghetto, and a ghetto is both a neighborhood and a jail sentence. Any and all who live there have to contend with surviving life at the bottom while trying to raise themselves up. And anyone who attempts to teach there has to contend with what that life is like there, not just getting something as crucial and challenging as math across to high school students who could never pass a state test in the subject - at any level.

In "Man Overboard," Ric Klass very humorously chronicles his attempts to actually achieve math instruction by improving both the kids' understanding, as well as his ability to actually function in that kind of environment. The bureaucracy that fights him at every step sounds like something out of a Monty Python movie - with only four minutes between classes, teachers are nonetheless given room assignments all over the enormous school buildings, barely leaving them WC time. Each time Klass tries to change things for the better he is like a salmon swimming upstream.

It's heart-wrenching to learn first-hand that so many kids barely have a chance, not just because of their home-life, but also because of their school system. And their chances are in no way improved when someone so willing to sacrifice themselves to their cause is treated like a line-cutter in the cafeteria. In reading the book we learn that Klass didn't just say, "I'd like to teach." He had to work for the credentials, despite having three masters degrees. So he resolutely put in the time to earn his place in front of a blackboard. And then he learned how dangerous it can be for teachers to turn their backs on the class in the south Bronx.

Klass is just as hard on himself as he is on his subjects - his students, his administration, his colleagues - he isn't at all happy that it's close to impossible for a "normal" person to successfully submerge themselves in that abnormal world. "Man Overboard" reads like a war correspondent's journal. Klass has made it funny - very funny - while illuminating the tragedy of inner city schools.

This author speaks for all of us teachers who are struggling every day in dealing with hoardes of unruly students. After only reading a few pages, I felt like I could have written the same book. The fact that it is in diary form makes it all the more real and frightening. Reading it is definitely helping me get through the end of this horrific school year. I have highly recommended it to my colleagues.

Man Overboard is a very witty and poignant autobiography about the experiences of a new second-career math teacher (actually ninth-career in his case) spending his first year teaching high school in the Bronx. On one level, it explores in an absorbing and meaningful way the various problems in the world of Bronx high school culture. On another level, Mr. Klass is also writing about his career aspirations, and how it feels to have frustrations meeting his goals of helping some people who need it. The book connects with the reader very well on both levels. I particularly liked how the drumbeat of daily problems is punctuated periodically with reflective essays, cast in italics, which are full of common sense and practical, logical analysis and suggestions. It is a very well written and enjoyable book, and I would highly recommend it to all.

Wow, what a great book. This book confirmed all of my observations and conclusions about Urban schools. I worked in the NE and the SE as a substitute teacher. I thought students reacted to me the way they did because I was substitute teacher. But here is a permanent teacher experiencing the same classroom conditions that I experienced .What an eye opener.

It should also be a mandatory read for anyone, other than teachers, attempting to solve an urban school problem. That includes the President of the United States, all the way down to the local school board member.

This is an actual diary of a Math teacher in central Bronx, NY. This book reveals the actual problems teachers encounter on a daily basis. You will read actual cases of truancy, administration ignorance, student violence, parental neglect and teacher indifference.

The author comes up with solutions to the urban education problem, which are similar to mine.

Again, a mandatory read for anyone trying to solve today's urban education problem.

We all must show respect for those who survive in schools of this kind. Education workers like Mr. Klass are to be commended for enduring an environment of their own choosing if not of their own making. Still, after all the hugs and congratulations, someone has to call out these "teach for America" volunteers and ask why they put up with all the crap instead of joining forces and refusing to proceed. Even the eighteen-year-old grunts in Iraq had the courage to protest being sent into battle without proper gear and protection. Year after year we read the same stories by earnest do-gooders who find happiness among the ruins. What is needed now is fewer acts of goodness and just one brave act of defiance. Let the education workers walk out and leave the asylums to the bureaucrats who thrive in them. If the parents so earnestly wish to be involved, let them take over the schools. They'll soon be using the soiled textbooks as toilet paper, but so be it. They can always apply for a grant from Bill Gates for free lap top computers.

Ric Klass, with humor and a clear, purposeful writing style, took me into his math classroom in an inner city high school in New York. I found myself empathizing with his desire to do someone some good; to make the world a better place. It was easy to understand his frustrations with all the barriers he had to get around to try to fulfill his dream, and just as easy to rejoyce in some small hint of success.
As well as being a good read, this book has an important message for us. We must make some changes in the way our children are being taught, especially those students who need to escape from a seemingly hopeless environment. I recommend this book to anyone who cares about children and our future as a nation. I'm telling all of my friends about it. JL in SD

Ric Klass' tale of teaching in an inner city school in the Bronx is an open, honest account of his experience. It's humorous and sad at the same time. It's engaging and fun to read. Educators will recognize its truths; others should read it to find out just what goes on in public schools and not only in New York.

This is a must read for everyone not just teachers, although teachers will really identify with the range of emotions described in this book. Whether you're inclined to empathize, cringe, advocate, or counsel after you read this book, its' a vivid snapshot into the life of a neophyte teacher. The fact that Ric was effectively thrown into an untenable situation with no techniques on how to reach/control/manage children in a school with no uniform discipline policy in the era of "No child Left Behind" makes one wonder if NCLB should be renamed "No Classroom Learning Begins" until the whole system changes, beginning with parents in dysfunctional families. This is an easy read, but enduring this year of teaching with Ric is not.