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Teach Like Your Hair's on Fire: The Methods and Madness Inside Room 56 |  | Author: Rafe Esquith
Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics)
Category: Book
List Price: $14.00
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Seller: booksfromseven
Rating:  27 reviews
Sales Rank: 2759
Media: Paperback
Pages: 256
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.3
Dimensions (in): 7.6 x 5 x 0.5
ISBN: 0143112864
Dewey Decimal Number: 370.1
EAN: 9780143112860
ASIN: 0143112864
Publication Date: December 18, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
The New York Times bestseller that is revolutionizing the way Americans educate their kids-"Rafe Esquith is a genius and a saint" (The New York Times)
Perhaps the most famous fifth-grade teacher in America, Rafe Esquith has won numerous awards and even honorary citizenship in the British Empire for his outstandingly successful methods. In his Los Angeles public school classroom, he helps impoverished immigrant children understand Shakespeare, play Vivaldi, and become happy, self-confident people. This bestseller gives any teacher or parent all the techniques, exercises, and innovations that have made its author an educational icon, from personal codes of behavior to tips on tackling literature and algebra. The result is a powerful book for anyone concerned about the future of our children.
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Showing reviews 1-5 of 27
 A Must-Read for Every Teacher December 29, 2007
Luke Reynolds
26 out of 27 found this review helpful
Rafe Esquith is vulnerable, challenging, inspiring and honest. These qualities reveal themselves in this candid look at his own teaching practices, and how he has been able to motivate fifth grade students in a rough school district of Los Angeles to succeed in glorious ways. The winner of a variety of national awards, Esquith uses his words to encourage and challenge readers to demand the best they have to offer, and to demand the same from the students they work with. I read the book cover to cover, and was inspired to become a better teacher. If you are looking for hope, inspiration and growth as a teacher or parent, then this book is for you.
Exceptional, inspirational teacher... February 16, 2008
B. Surkan (Marietta, GA USA)
12 out of 12 found this review helpful
Rafe Esquith is an exceptional, experienced teacher, and this book helps to clarify how he teaches. As with any exceptional professional, it is unlikely that all of his methods will be valid for any other teacher, but each teacher and parent who reads this is likely to walk away with some new ideas and a renewed excitement for the wonderful potential of a 5th grade classroom to achieve substantially higher outcomes than most of us have come to expect.
Beyond providing insightful methods for teaching the various subjects, from reading to mathematics problemsolving to multiple choice testing, he inspires me by his approach to helping his students develop self-discipline and character by applying the six levels of motivation. This is a wonderful achievement, and perhaps the greatest lesson of all.
Rafe is not of the opinion that every teacher can or should emulate everything he does. Not only are most teachers not able or willing to dedicate as much time to their profession, each teacher has their own areas of expertise and passion which they should bring to bear in the classroom.
He is understandably proud of his achievements, but readily acknowledges many of his mistakes and sources of insight. Like any good teacher, he is constantly improving his methods by learning from others.
My main critique, of both the book and the author, whom I have met in person, is that he does not always respect his students to the same degree that he claims in his book. I have seen him give them backhanded compliments sarcastically in public in their presence, which contradicts his mantra of always modelling the respect of others that he wants them to attain. This does not, however, reduce the value of this book for educators and parents alike. I doubt many who read this book will finish it without a broader perspective of what is possible.
Dedication above and beyond July 3, 2009
Judy K. Polhemus (LA)
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
Maybe because it is summer and we chose to be here. Maybe we just like one of our kind. I say that it is because he is special. Rafe Esquith was the keynote speaker today at the SSITE conference. After he spoke we gave him a standing ovation. He was inspiring. He IS inspiring.
(Note: SSITE is Samford Summer Institute for Teaching Excellence. Samford is a Baptist college in Birmingham, Alabama. My principal, who once lived in Birmingham, where she was first an elementary, then secondary school principal, celebrated this summer her twentieth time to attend SSITE. She takes some of her teachers with her every summer for these fabulous speakers, break-out sessions with instructors who provide wonderful ideas --and this summer a thumb drive containing handouts of all the presenters, as well as latest research and studies in good teaching methods and information. I utterly dislike driving long distances (across two and one-half states), yet found the conference worth the drive. Wow, did I really say that? Another speaker whose presentation gave us clues to help students break the reading comprehension code was as worthy as Rafe's talk.)
Just who is this Rafe Esquith? Author of "Teach Like Your Hair's on Fire," for one. It was a New York Times bestseller for awhile. Teacher of fifth grade students at Hobarth Elementary in a poverty-stricken area of Los Angeles. His students are immigrants or children of immigrants and largely Asian and Latino.
Rafe's (he wants his students to call him Rafe) book is basically a manifesto in how to teach like your hair's on fire, i.e., turning kids on "to the wonder of learning, the power of the imagination, and the wealth of finding oneself" (taken from a quote on the back cover). He showed us a clip of one of his students reciting, no--reliving a letter by a soldier written just days before his death in the Civil War. It's a performance I'll never forget.
Hobarth Shakespearians. That's just one of many success stories initiated by this fine teacher. He teaches a Shakespeare play each year, then the students find songs to go with the action, learn everything and go on the road with their production. One song example is "Riders in the Storm" by the Doors to open the three witches' scene in Macbeth. It's perfect! The group with the boy reciting the war letter was invited to appear before the nine judges of the Supreme Court. Instead of the Shakespeare, he had his students perform historic documents.
One thing Rafe makes clear in his book is that it took him 25 years to reach this level of excellence and describes some of his mistakes. But his successes--oh my! However, these successes come at the expense of having any life beyond the classroom and his family. A private investigator for Opray followed him for several weeks to make sure this guy was legitimate before Opray gave him one of her prestigious awards, only to discover that there was no dirt to dig up.
I bought my copy of his book back home and had read half of it prior to the conference. Having read about many of his honed successes made his presentation richer for me. Just one of many inspirations is his Film Club. He has spent several year building a film library and provides a list of 25 classics he requires his students to check out, view, review during their year with him. These films are not Disney, but ones like On the Waterfront (Special Edition), To Kill a Mockingbird (Collector's Edition), and Saving Private Ryan (Special Limited Edition). You're right--no censorship here, just good quality films. He figures they watch slasher movies, so why not good films that happen to contain violence.
Another unit that is particularly impressive is art history, as well as creating art. Another is keeping baseball statistics. Another is keeping their own account book. Why do they need one? One of his biggest lessons is about handling money, budgeting, living within it. So, how do they make money? Rafe charges rent for the seats in his class, sets up job descriptions and "hires" his students to fill them. Students always return or email to tell of their various successes they accredit to him.
I could go on. Teachers, this is a book you need to read to inspire and motivate you. No, you probably cannot emulate him (and probably wouldn't want to if you want a life), but you can learn from him and use some or many of his ideas. Remember, one or two things per year to create successes.
I waited in a long line to get Rafe's autograph. Actually, I just wanted to thank him for his inspiration. Paired with two of his ideas and several from other workshop presenters (school can be fun and joy can be part of learning), my library lessons should knock students socks off in the fall. I want to be more than a Book Goddess. I want to be like Rafe (or at least a modified version)!
Cornucopeia June 28, 2008
martie heins (Woodsfield OH)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
TEACH LIKE YOUR HAIR'S ON FIRE was our book club's recent selection. Several members are retired teachers, and were stupified at the amount of time the author devotes to his class... and somewhat skeptical. Those of us who aren't teachers found literally dozens of fascinating, practical tips about interacting with children in a variety of situations... travel, reading, character development, dining, finances... This is a terrific book, not only because it paints a fantastic picture of possibilities and change, but also because it is infused with such enthusiasm.
For Teachers Who Think They Are Alone! January 9, 2008
Sylviastel
5 out of 6 found this review helpful
I am a first year teacher actually an assistant teacher. I admire the author who has received the National Medal of the Arts and an honorary M.B.E. (Member of the Order of the British Empire) by Queen Elizabeth II. I bought this book and read it in one sitting. I have to say that I skimmed over the physical education and science because I teach language arts. I have three students who have failed language arts in the previous year. The worst fact is that the students today are easily bored, not disciplined at home, easily distracted, and disruptive in the classroom. It's not just in his school but in all schools. For those of us who are easily discouraged but we keep trying because we love the material but the problem might be our techniques. You keep experimenting like Esquith does with his students. I truly believe that fear is not appopriate. THe classroom should be a safe place of learning and Esquith does argue that students should not be forced to work in order to escape punishment. His students go to the best colleges around and keep in constant contact with him. He has friends like Sir Ian McKellen CBE CH, Michael York OBE, Patrick Stewart OBE, and Sir Peter Hall CBE who are amazed at the HObart Shakespearans who perform first rate productions even at 10 years old. I think we could enhance our students by teaching them to watch responsible television, study films, and read classic books instead of books that are dumbed down to their level. I cannot imagine what goes on in room 56 that has kids who are so well-behaved, refuse to miss a day of class, or so enhanced in the learning process.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 27
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