There Are No Shortcuts

This book is highly recommended for teachers and parents.

Paul called me on the cell phone. “You need to read this,” he said. He had a book by a contemporary fifth grade teacher in Los Angeles that he wanted me to read. Paul told me about teacher Rafe Esquith and his many years at an elementary school he calls The Jungle and I was hooked. I put down my comics, wenty without writing a comic book review for a week and read “There Are No Shortcuts.” From the jacket:

“Year and after year, Rafe Esquith’s fifth-grade studens excel. They read passionately, far above their grade level; tackle albegra; and stage Shakespeare so professionally that they often wow the great Shakespearean actor himself, Sir Ian McKellen. Yet Esquith teaches at an inner-city school known as the Jungel, where few of his students speak English at home, and many are from poor or troubled familieis. What’s his winning recipe? A diet of intensive learning mixed with a lot of kindness and fun. His kids attend class from 6:30 a.m. until well after 4 p.m., right through most of their vacations. They take field trips to Europe and Yosemite. They play rock and roll. Mediocrity has no place in their classroom. And the results follow them for life, as they go on to colleges such as Harvard, Princeton, and Stanford.

“Popssessed by a fierce idealism, Esquith works even harder than his students. As an outspoken maverick of public education (his heroes include Huck Finn and Atticus Finch), he admits to significant mistakes and his share of disputes with administrators and collegues. Yet, we all – teachers, parents, citizens – have much to learn from his candor and uncompromising vision.”

The book is somewhat self-congratulatory, but if he does what he says he does, then I think he has a right to pat his own back just a bit. Make no mistake, he puts his weaknesses on the table too, letting us see his shortcomings.

Esquith dazzles with anecdotes galore and lets us see the good, the bad and the ugly of the educational field. He pulls no punches and holds teachers and administrators up to the standards that he holds himself and his students to.

For those teachers who wish to do more than work 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. and hack their way through the daily grind of test prep and textbook chapters, this is the read. Esquith prepares us for the world we are about to engage in and the struggles and punishments coming our way for trying to be a great, innovative, caring and questioning facilitator of education.

Teachers beware. According to Esquith, other teachers and administrators do not always appreciate hard working, master teachers. This is a good read.