Educating Esme

My technology class has come to an end, but I'm not sure if I am done with blogging, so I will just share some recent discoveries. I have just finished reading the book Educating Esme. It is a diary of Esme Codell's first year of teaching. When the diary was written, it wasn't meant to be published. It was simply a journal to collect thoughts, to vent about the problems and joys of the classroom. Yet after it was found by a friend, it was published to inspire new teachers everywhere and to remind others why they went into teaching in the first place. That being said, it wasn't edited before put into print so mistakes were made by Esme, and there are some situations she probably didn't handle the best, but as you may already know, how can you improve if you never admit to mistakes?

This book was great. Esme is definitely a creative, strong, and determined individual. She brings imagination into the classroom by creating such things as a time machine and the happy box. She doesn't let people bring her down, she challenges the administration when needed and makes sure that everything she is does is what's best for the children whether or not that matches the other teacher's views or the administrations. She is a fantastic teacher who knows strengths of combining creativity and uniqueness with discipline and respect.

The best part of the book is that it has tips for educators in the back, including a shopping list and advice for how to handle the current political view on teachers. It also talks about Planet Esme, a website created by Esme herself to help teachers explore the world of literature and use it if they wish in their classroom. On that website, there is also a link to esme's blog: http://www.educatingesme.blogspot.com/ where she talks about current struggles teachers are facing or learn about new books with the book-a-day setup.

I strongly recommend checking these out if you're a teacher or even if you have an interest in children or creativity, but as Lavare Burton of Reading Rainbow used to say, "You don't have to take my word for it!"