Rafe Esquith teaches extraordinary fifth grade ESL students. What makes these students excel far past their peers is their
discipline and zeal for learning. Much of this is inspired in Room 56. These students play instruments, perform the works of Shakespeare, outsmart test marketers, and create an environment of respect and serenity that is ideal for learning. These fifth graders possess an aura of maturity and wisdom that is seldom seen in adults.
Much of Esquith''s second book, Teach Like Your Hair''s On Fire , relates to his understandable frustration with the public school system. Underfunded classrooms, standardized testing nightmares and inexperienced teachers are no surprise to those of us who have exercised our option to home school. I am truly sympathetic to the author''s struggle to provide children with an
education amidst such obstacles, but I was beginning to wonder if the book''s only purpose was to point out the flaws of our current
educational system, which is old news to most of us.
Have no fear, Esquith eases into providing examples of his teaching methods while the reader fumes over the injustices of the Department of Education. He provides various websites he has stumbled across that have become invaluable to his curriculum. Yes, some are little more than retailers of educational materials, but some are genuine informational sites, free for perusal. He explains specific games and activities he uses each year to immerse students in the subject matter rather than drilling meaningless facts into their young minds. He shows how he is able to take a classroom of thirty students on extended field trips. He not only illustrates time management, but offers suggestions for obtaining funding for these enterprises.
By the end, Esquith''s ingenuity has brilliantly surfaced and we see a picture of a instructor who is willing to think outside of the box and go the extra mile to provide America''s children with the education they deserve. He freely admits the areas where naivety and inexperience forced him to learn the hard way, and fledgling teachers can benefit from his tireless expertise. As a home schooling parent with limited support, I rely on books such as these for motivation and inspiration when classwork is becoming repetitive or I''m starting to lose sight of the end goal, which is to inspire a love of learning in my children. Esquith did not let me down, and I intend on utilizing many of his techniques on a smaller scale. I would gladly enroll my children in Room 56.