Teach Like Your Hair's on Fire: The Methods and Madness Inside Room 56 (Hardcover)

~ (Author) "The parents want one of the teachers arrested..." (more)
Key Phrases: literacy coaches, Hobart Shakespeareans, Six Levels, Sir Ian (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. Esquith might be the only public school teacher to be honored by both Oprah Winfrey and the Dalai Lama; he is the only school teacher ever to receive the president's National Medal of the Arts. For the past 25 years, Esquith has taught fifth graders at Hobart Elementary in central Los Angeles. Like most progressive educators, Esquith is outraged by the tyranny of testing, the scripting of teaching under "No Child Left Behind" and the overwhelming bureaucratization of the education industry. Still, he's done wonders with the basic curriculum—developing a hands-on arts program, a money-management curriculum and a sports-based statistics unit. Esquith and his Hobart Shakespeareans are world famous for the rock opera they create every year. Throughout each school day, Esquith teaches life skills: how to think about problems, how to plan a strategy to solve them and, most important, how to work together and be nice to each other. While his goals are inspiring, he's also practical—most chapters include affordable, how-to directions for a variety of his most effective classroom activities; he's even got a few tips for revamping those inescapable "test prep" sessions. (Jan.)
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Product Description

From one of America’s most celebrated educators, an inspiring guide to transforming every child’s education

In a Los Angeles neighborhood plagued by guns, gangs, and drugs, there is an exceptional classroom known as Room 56. The fifth graders inside are first-generation immigrants who live in poverty and speak English as a second language. They also play Vivaldi, perform Shakespeare, score in the top 1 percent on standardized tests, and go on to attend Ivy League universities. Rafe Esquith is the teacher responsible for these accomplishments.

From the man whom The New York Times calls "a genius and a saint" comes a revelatory program for educating today’s youth. In Teach Like Your Hair’s on Fire!, Rafe Esquith reveals the techniques that have made him one of the most acclaimed educators of our time. The two mottoes in Esquith’s classroom are "Be Nice, Work Hard," and "There Are No Shortcuts." His students voluntarily come to school at 6:30 in the morning and work until 5:00 in the afternoon. They learn to handle money responsibly, tackle algebra, and travel the country to study history. They pair Hamlet with rock and roll, and read the American classics. Teach Like Your Hair’s on Fire! is a brilliant and inspiring road map for parents, teachers, and anyone who cares about the future success of our nation’s children.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Viking Adult; First Printing edition (January 18, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0670038156
• ISBN-13: 978-0670038152
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (72 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #14,532 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

65 of 67 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Book of Inspiration and Ideas from the "Hobart Shakespeareans" Teacher, January 27, 2007

By	Modern Transcendentalist (Edison, NJ USA) - See all my reviews

During our teaching careers, most of us have experienced a few "Ah-ha" moments. For Rafe Esquith, his wake-up call was literally when his hair caught on fire during a science experiment. Why was he the last one in the class to realize his head was ablaze - because he had inadvertently reached classroom nirvana.

I think of it as being in the zone, Esquith labels it "ignoring the crap," either way, this gifted teacher had a transcendental moment that altered his educational philosophy forever and his influence is rapidly spreading into classrooms across the globe. Part quixotic and possibly part "mad," he has transformed his 5th grade class, of mainly ESL students, into Shakespeare-quoting individuals who have learned how to take charge of their own learning.

Esquith's book challenges such issues as the obsession with high-stakes testing, unresponsive administrators, ineffective professional development opportunities, and the "demons" that take away our energy and spirit. At the heart of his "cookbook" is getting students to take responsibility for their actions and to value failure as an integral part of the learning process.

Check out this book because it explores the realities of teaching difficult students, as opposed to your typical educational log of impractical theories. Pick up this book if you agree with his classroom motto of, "Be nice, work hard. There are no shortcuts." Finally, purchase this book if the biggest fear for your students is that they become ordinary.

Lastly, what really motivated me to buy this book was that Esquith hasn't been lured out of the classroom. Instead, he continues to embrace his mission of finding the different keys it takes to ignite each of his students.

Michael James D'Amato, author of "The Classroom"

46 of 49 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Loved this book, moved by this book, January 27, 2007

By	Niklas P. Andersson (Santa Cruz, CA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Amazon Verified Purchase

I'm a teacher at a public continuation high school in California. I heard about this book on my afternoon commute home listening to NPR. I'm always looking for material to inspire me to become a better teacher. Liking what I heard on the radio, I ordered the book. I was not dissapointed. I resonate with Rafe's passion for teaching and I found many useful ideas in this book even though the students I teach are at the end of their public school journey and his are in the fifth grade. I would recomment this book to any teacher or parent who wants to light their little ones' hearts on fire with a love of learning. His enthusiasm is contagious and is a wonderful "shot in the arm" to any teacher who is struggling in the trenches. I found Mr. Esquith's writing to be upbeat, informative, and when there was blame, it was evenly spread amongst the government, administrators, teachers, and parents-- all whom have a say in how our kids are educated. California is inundated with English learners, yet this book touts a "no holds barred" strategy for having all our kids striving for excellence: no excuses! And he's right in claiming to be "an actual teacher." Many pundits hit the road with their book, abandoning the field to hawk their book and theories, not so with this teacher apparently. You can still find him in room 56. Thanks. Mahalo. I mean it. Two thumbs up. Rock on! Garth.

48 of 53 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Panning for Gold..., February 6, 2007

By	Ken C. (MA) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

Rafe Esquith's latest book is aimed at teachers and parents, but the parent part is mostly lip service -- this is mainly a book for teachers. If you're interested in this "teacher of the year's" methods, this book may be worth a look. It is less so if you teach a particular subject, as the book is better suited to elementary teachers who are generalists and teach English, math, social studies, science, art, music, and gym (to name a few) because he devotes an entire chapter to each. High school and middle school teachers will find less of interest here.

OK, so what is it you're looking for from a book like this? If you're more in it for Rafe's STORY and for what goes on his classroom, have a ball. If you're more in it for selfish reasons -- that is, methods you might emulate yourself in the classroom, proceed with care. There's no denying the book contains some useful advice and methods, but it also devotes much attention to matters beyond the realm and finances of most teachers -- full-play productions of Shakespeare, field trips that involve airplane flights (not buses) cross country, film festivals and book clubs held after school or at 6:30 in the morning. Clearly this is a devoted man and, by comparison, some teachers may feel depressed by all he pulls off (while still maintaining a life of his own).

Highlights for me were the Six Levels (in which Rafe explains wrong reasons and right reasons that kids obey their teachers), the well-thought out attack on standardized testing (the bane of any school), and the overall iconoclastic tone. Also, a few of his ideas were illuminating. True, there were not a lot of practical ideas for the classroom, but there were some and some are bound to be of use for teacher/readers.

If I taught elementary grades, I'd invest in this book and add it to my professional library (go ahead, set the bar high for yourself). If I taught junior or high school (or were simply a parent interested in education), I'd check it out at the library and pick the chapters that best suited my interests.

In any case, the bottom line is this: we should all be grateful for teachers like Rafe Esquith.