In his first
lesson plan, Jonathan learns to be flexible and “go where the learning happens.”
(373)
In “My
Answer,” Jonathan must battle his position of being “too young” with probing
questions from kids and colleagues.
In “Where do
I fit in,” Flores recalls being put in ESL classes as a kid because of his name,
even though he was a native who was fluent in English. I know that feeling.
I liked how he
relayed personal anecdotes into his lessons—that’s a good teacher! The
obnoxious inappropriateness from the kids gave this book a solid dose of
reality. It was amazing how the information goes in one ear and then out the
other. Oy, kids!
I thought
Flores had it right when he said that “there are fundamental flaws with the way
these [kids] are being raised…These kids speak too aggressively…[and] instead
of asking, they’ll declare.” (1542) That is so true! Sometimes I worry about
society with kids being our future and all. It they are our future, then the world is in trouble.
These
stories are a poignant and clever reminiscence; however, at times, the subject
matter became too vulgar and obscene.
I was a
little bothered by the overuse of the phrase, “I slapped my palm to my
forehead.” In fact, a lot of these stories were quite repetitive. Some were not
even stories; some were essays, letters, or just quizzes. Additionally, there
were some issues on sentence structure, which was surprising considering the
author was an English teacher.
Overall,
this was an okay read. My favorite part was when he stated: “You must take care
of yourself. You should be your own first priority.” (3128)
Teachers
have to put up with a lot of crap by students, parents, and the school board,
and Flores did a fairly decent job in showing that in his book. But, in the end, “is
it worth it?” (3128)
My rating: 2.5 stars
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