A 3rd Grade Teacher's Notes from the Edge

You know the story: a mild-mannered stranger stumbles into an even stranger land, where he encounters bizarre characters and situations, but perseveres. Except that the stranger is a newly minted 3rd grade math and science teacher, and the strange land is a portable classroom full of eight and nine-year-old students waiting to get schooled. 

Learn Me Good, John Pearson's smart and sometimes satirical memoir of one school-year spent teaching in a public school classroom, offers a rare glimpse into what goes on at school - from the teacher's perspective. Written in grade-A epistolary form as a series of emails to a friend, the book takes a refreshingly politically-incorrect look at the taxing, and sometimes rewarding, work of the public school teacher. From the neverending exploits of a few troublemakers (Marvin, this means you!) to the strict mandates of No Child Left Behind ("No Child Left Untested Til He's Blue in the Face is more like it"), Pearson turns a sardonic yet sympathetic eye to the inner workings of a low-income school.

Pearson begins his tale with a little background. After he is laid off from his job at a thermal design firm, he made the decision to try his hand at teaching. "I had always been really good at math and science," he writes. "That's a big reason I got my engineering degrees in the first place. That, and I had heard engineering classes were a great place to meet girls (Thanks for NOTHING, Dad!)." So he winds up teaching fractions and math facts- with obvious enthusiasm, I might add.

And although it might be easy to let all the obvious challenges of the day-to-day slog get him down, part of the charm in the book is the inherent optimism with which Pearson approaches his topic. At the very least, he points out, he's not stuck in a cubicle! But the biggest draw is the skillful and hilarious observations that Pearson makes, which will prompt belly-laughs from anyone who'se been in, let alone taught, a public school classroom. Parent-teacher conference faux-pas. Test-day trials. Student progress and setbacks. All of this and more garner a much-deserved ribbing from Pearson, with a little redemption thrown in. Required reading for anyone who's wondered what it would be like to walk in a teacher's shoes, or anyone looking for a few great laughs.

For more from John Pearson, check out Mr. Teacher, his Education.com column, or go to the Learn Me Good blog