At 22, Dan Brown was an idealistic first-year elementary teacher at P.S. 85 in the Bronx. He was even assigned a class of his own: 4-217. What he wasnÕt told was that 4-217 was the dumping ground for all fourth-grade problem cases, and his students would be more challenging than he ever anticipated. Dedicated and passionate but up against volatile children, absent parents, and a failing administration, Dan was pushed to the limit time and again. Yet in this seeming chaos, he discovered an unexpected well of inspiration to discipline, teach, and make a difference. THE GREAT EXPECTATIONS SCHOOL is the touching journey of Class 4-217 and their teacher, Mr. Brown. But more than that, it is the revealing story of a broken educational system and all those struggling within and fighting against it.
The Great Expectations School
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
Review
"A poignant portrait painted with skill . . . Read it and weep--and wonder no more about the human dimensions of the achievement gap." -- Gene I. Maeroff, Teachers College, Columbia University, author of Buillding Blocks: Making Children Successful in the Early Years of School
"By turns humorous and haunting, Dan Brown . . . takes the reader on both a compelling and illuminating journey through the American public education system. Unlike many other books on the topic, however, Brown's is not a dry litany of all that is wrong with that system, but rather highlights the personal success-stories" -- Scott Anderson, author of Moonlight Hotel and Triage
"Dan Brown's heartfelt account of the thrills and frustrations of a first-year teacher grips like a novel. A must-read for anyone who has dreamed of a job that makes a difference." -- Anya Kamenetz, author of Generation Debt
"[A] powerful, heart-breaking story that challenges our image of inner city schools and the children who populate them. Important and moving, The Great Expectations School grabs your attention from the first page and refuses to let go." -- Gilbert M. Gaul, two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist
"[A] riveting human drama full of heroes and villains, humor and tragedy. Brown is an exciting new talent and his writing is so clear and suspenseful that the pages turn themselves. I couldn't put this book down." -- Clara Bingham, co-author of Class Action, basis for the Academy Award-nominated film North Country, and author of Women on the Hill: Challenging the Culture of Congress
Full of funny, painful, and illuminating stories covering the children at risk . . . It is a must read for anyone interested in reforming our schools -- Maggie Dixon, Collegiate School librarian --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
"By turns humorous and haunting, Dan Brown . . . takes the reader on both a compelling and illuminating journey through the American public education system. Unlike many other books on the topic, however, Brown's is not a dry litany of all that is wrong with that system, but rather highlights the personal success-stories" -- Scott Anderson, author of Moonlight Hotel and Triage
"Dan Brown's heartfelt account of the thrills and frustrations of a first-year teacher grips like a novel. A must-read for anyone who has dreamed of a job that makes a difference." -- Anya Kamenetz, author of Generation Debt
"[A] powerful, heart-breaking story that challenges our image of inner city schools and the children who populate them. Important and moving, The Great Expectations School grabs your attention from the first page and refuses to let go." -- Gilbert M. Gaul, two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist
"[A] riveting human drama full of heroes and villains, humor and tragedy. Brown is an exciting new talent and his writing is so clear and suspenseful that the pages turn themselves. I couldn't put this book down." -- Clara Bingham, co-author of Class Action, basis for the Academy Award-nominated film North Country, and author of Women on the Hill: Challenging the Culture of Congress
Full of funny, painful, and illuminating stories covering the children at risk . . . It is a must read for anyone interested in reforming our schools -- Maggie Dixon, Collegiate School librarian --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
About the Author
Dan Brown was born in Philadelphia and grew up in Cherry Hill, New Jersey. He holds a masterÕs degree in education from Teachers College, Columbia University, and writes regularly for the Huffington Post. He lives with his wife in Washington, DC.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
24 of 27 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I'm Elizabeth Camaraza, one of the rookies who joined the NYC Teaching Fellows and taught with Dan Brown at PS 85 in the Bronx. His beautifully tragic story expertly captures every nuance of a first year teacher's experience in an inner city school. He tells his story with such a profound sense of love, honesty and humor that you will be emotionally wiped-out after reading it. I recommend this book to anyone who cares about kids. Dan Brown is a genius! (PS. I'm in the book!)
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
After reading Dan Brown's articles and blog entries on The Huffington Post, I had to pick this book up. I wasn't disappointed. While The Huffington Post blog showed me he has a deep understanding and love of teaching and all that it requires, I didn't know that he was funny-- this book changed that. I found myself laughing out loud pretty frequently, which is weird since this is first and foremost a non fiction piece on the trials of being a first year teacher in a NYC public school. But, his voice is so unique that you end up finding humor in the way he views even the simplest of situations.
So the real question is, is this Dan Brown a better writer than Dan Brown of The Da Vinci Code fame? Only time will tell, but the new Dan Brown is off to a fine start.
So the real question is, is this Dan Brown a better writer than Dan Brown of The Da Vinci Code fame? Only time will tell, but the new Dan Brown is off to a fine start.
9 of 10 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
A sobering look at the current state of public education in America
August 13, 2007
By GranPus
Format:Hardcover
At times heart-wrenching and then laugh out loud funny, The Great Expectations School is a sobering look at the current state of public education in America. Brown offers a unique and personalized glimpse into the daily struggle of elementary school with undauntedly heroic teachers, tragic students, and conniving administrators. I recommend this book to anyone who values education and wants to change the system. I also recommend it to those who don't; you will care by the end of the book.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
As a second year New York City Teaching Fellow, I can attest that the stories Dan tells in this book are still stories that we as teachers face every day. From the students living in shelters and floating from address to address to the micro-management of such things as bulletin boards, it's all very much the world in which I live. The book is heartbreaking in its realism ~ but it gives me hope to know that I am not alone.
I definitely second the motion that this become required reading for anyone entering aternative certification programs. It's less Pollyanna-ish than "Ms. Moffett's First Year" which, while somewhat realistic, doesn't really get to the heart of the matter, and more realistic than "Educating Esme", which, unless you ARE Esme, really isn't realistic at all. While I wouldn't change my path into teaching, I wish I'd had someone really tell it like it is before I started as Dan has done here.
I definitely second the motion that this become required reading for anyone entering aternative certification programs. It's less Pollyanna-ish than "Ms. Moffett's First Year" which, while somewhat realistic, doesn't really get to the heart of the matter, and more realistic than "Educating Esme", which, unless you ARE Esme, really isn't realistic at all. While I wouldn't change my path into teaching, I wish I'd had someone really tell it like it is before I started as Dan has done here.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
You gotta sing as you kick them, that's the message of the 20th century. The low expectations of the "Great Expectations School" stand out, but the author persuades us that all is not lost. This author goes a long way toward adding some realism back into the great fantasy known as "all children can learn." When you stop laughing at that, let the author's humor take you even further into the nightmare of public education. Wit is one of the first things to go when you enter this profession. Brown's possession of it is the first sign that this guy wasn't born to be a teacher but rather an observer and commentator. So be it, his astute observations bring out the best and the worst of finest prison system known to man, the New York Public Schools.
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful
By B. Neblock
Format:Hardcover
Dan Brown surpasses the similarly named charlatan by the second page of this tender recollection, so enough conversation about how one is not the other, eh? Anyone comparing the two (myself included) is drawing a tenuous, superficial connection. Simply put, it would be a discredit to this Mr. Brown to be associated with that one.
The Great Expectations School is a story from the intersection of reality and idealism. Mr. Brown acts as interlocutor between an impoverished section of society and those too caught up in disbelief or willful refusal to recognize it. Harsh conditions are much easier to stomach when they are limited to 30 seconds on the news.
Mr. Brown is brave to harrow the experience that he reports, but the more courageous act by far is to then report on it, in all of its bleak grandeur. This reader is very thankful that he did.
The Great Expectations School is a story from the intersection of reality and idealism. Mr. Brown acts as interlocutor between an impoverished section of society and those too caught up in disbelief or willful refusal to recognize it. Harsh conditions are much easier to stomach when they are limited to 30 seconds on the news.
Mr. Brown is brave to harrow the experience that he reports, but the more courageous act by far is to then report on it, in all of its bleak grandeur. This reader is very thankful that he did.
6 of 8 people found the following review helpful
By BBALLSTAN
Format:Hardcover
Dan Brown has written a book that can tear at your heart and yet still show humor. Having been a teacher myself, it is marvelous to read a book that really shows the inner workings of public education in today's society. There is a great sense of warmth, caring, honesty and wit. This should be a must read for every prospective teacher and anyone else involved with education. This book says it all.
8 of 11 people found the following review helpful
By G. M. Gaul
Format:Hardcover
The Great Expectations School really should be required reading for teachers entering, or considering, Teach for America, New York Teaching Fellows, or any other program that places teachers in challenging classroom environments with some of the country's toughest students. Dan Brown's story-telling makes this a simultaneously heart wrenching and entertaining read.
Mr. Brown cleary has a bright future in both education writing (as evidenced in his work on the Huffington Post) and in any other genre that he may tackle. His voice, compassion, insight, and sense of humor have created a book that is a welcome addition to the canon of important works on the great experiment currently going on in our urban schools.
Mr. Brown cleary has a bright future in both education writing (as evidenced in his work on the Huffington Post) and in any other genre that he may tackle. His voice, compassion, insight, and sense of humor have created a book that is a welcome addition to the canon of important works on the great experiment currently going on in our urban schools.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
An Amazing Book For All to Read!
With the fact that my wife was a teacher for a number of years in both urban and suburban environments this book does a tremendous job at capturing the first year of a teaching... Read more
Published 20 months ago by Dad of Divas
4.0 out of 5 stars
A REAL look at a teacher's life
What can I say about this book except that it was a love fest?
I don't care much for "teacher books" because they're often just self-congratulatory exercises that end up... Read more
I don't care much for "teacher books" because they're often just self-congratulatory exercises that end up... Read more
Published on August 1, 2010 by Jen
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great read... should be required reading for administrators and...
Dan Brown is one of few teacher authors willing to trade in the "one-person-can-make-a-difference-and-it's-ME! Read more
Published on June 2, 2010 by Roxanna Elden
5.0 out of 5 stars
a super pleaser
this book gives a great glimpse into the classroom for any nyc public school teacher. if you are from nyc then you realize that the neighborhood that Mr, Brown, starts his... Read more
Published on October 24, 2009 by Kasey Schweickert
4.0 out of 5 stars
A memoir which exposes BIG problems of public education
The book was eye-opening and genuine. I could identify with many of the problems he had (such as little support by the administration) because I previously taught preschool in... Read more
Published on August 12, 2009 by Public Librarian
4.0 out of 5 stars
Inspiring true story
After Dan Brown graduated from NYU's film school in 2003, he decided to apply to become New York City Teaching Fellow. Read more
Published on April 14, 2009 by BermudaOnion
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Terrified Foreigner in a Crazy Country
Dan Brown's first year as a Teaching Fellow was not as bad as he thought it was. From reading his book, I can see that he was in unfamiliar territory with unfamiliar people. Read more
Published on March 21, 2009 by B. Wolinsky
4.0 out of 5 stars
I loved this book
For some reason, I like to read memoirs written about school experiences. I have no desire to be a teacher - but I highly admire anyone who is willing to tackle this important and... Read more
Published on December 28, 2008 by Tina
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Great Expectations School: A Rookie Year in the New Blackboard...
This was a great book for any teacher or aspiring teacher. I'm going to give it to my niece who is planning to teach in New York City. Read more
Published on December 27, 2008 by Morah R
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Job Well Done
Speaking as a fellow teacher, I applaud Mr. Brown's efforts in his classroom. I especially liked it when he admitted his mistakes - nothing worse than a teacher book where the... Read more
Published on October 9, 2008 by Zirondelle
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