shopping cart
Save up to 30% on our Staff Picks
Call us: 800-878-7323 HELP
McAfee SECURE helps keep you safe from identity theft, credit card fraud, spyware, spam, viruses and online scams.
Interviews | November 3, 2009

Sheila A.: IMG On Storytelling: The Powells.com Interview with Donald Miller

2 comments By Sheila A.

donaldmillerDonald Miller is a Christian writer, but the question that Miller asks with his latest memoir, A Million Miles in a Thousand Years, is applicable to... Continue »
  1. $13.99 Sale Hardcover add to wish list

    A Million Miles in a Thousand Years: What I Learned While Editing My Life

    Donald Miller
Ships free on qualified orders.
Add to Cart
$17.50
List price: $24.95
Used Hardcover
Ships in 1 to 3 days
Add to Wishlist
Qty Store Section
1 Local Warehouse Education- General

More copies of this ISBN:

This title in other formats:

Teach Like Your Hair's on Fire: The Methods and Madness Inside Room 56

by Rafe Esquith

Teach Like Your Hair's on Fire: The Methods and Madness Inside Room 56 Cover

ISBN13: 9780670038152
ISBN10: 0670038156
Condition: Standard
Dustjacket: Standard
All Product Details

Only 1 left in stock at $17.50!

Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments:

From one of America's most celebrated educators, an inspiring guide to transforming every child's education.

In a Los Angeles neighborhood plagued by guns, gangs, and drugs, there is an exceptional classroom known as Room 56. The fifth graders inside are first-generation immigrants who live in poverty and speak English as a second language. They also play Vivaldi, perform Shakespeare, score in the top 1 percent on standardized tests, and go on to attend Ivy League universities. Rafe Esquith is the teacher responsible for these accomplishments.

From the man whom The New York Times calls "a genius and a saint" comes a revelatory program for educating today's youth. In Teach Like Your Hair's on Fire, Rafe Esquith reveals the techniques that have made him one of the most acclaimed educators of our time. The two mottoes in Esquith's classroom are "Be Nice, Work Hard," and "There Are No Shortcuts." His students voluntarily come to school at 6:30 in the morning and work until 5:00 in the afternoon. They learn to handle money responsibly, tackle algebra, and travel the country to study history. They pair Hamlet with rock and roll, and read the American classics. Teach Like Your Hair's on Fire is a brilliant and inspiring road map for parents, teachers, and anyone who cares about the future success of our nation's children.

Review:

"Passionate and inspiring....With anecdotes that are alternately amusing and disheartening, Esquith details the joys and frustrations of teaching and offers valuable insights to parents and teachers alike." Booklist

Review:

"Esquith is a modern-day Thoreau, preaching the value of good work, honest self-reflection and the courage to go one's own way." Newsday

Review:

"Rafe Esquith is my only hero." Sir Ian McKellan

Synopsis:

From the man whom "The New York Times" calls "a genius and a saint" comes a revelatory program for educating today's youth. This work is a brilliant and inspiring road map for parents, teachers, and anyone who cares about the future success of children.
back to top

About the Author

Rafe Esquith has taught at Hobart Elementary in Los Angeles for twenty-two years. He is the only teacher to be awarded the president's National Medal of the Arts.
back to top

What Our Readers Are Saying

Add a comment for a chance to win!
Average customer rating based on 4 comments:
Longhorn4Life, March 12, 2009 (view all comments by Longhorn4Life)
As an aspiring teacher (to be certified this year) I found this book as well as his pre-qual "There are No Shortcuts" to be awe-inspiring. He delivers enough real life downers to let us know that it won't be easy and when we feel like giving up it doesn't mean we aren't made for this. He also has plenty of pick-me-ups to focus our minds on the overall goal we have as teachers. I would love to have an opportunity to visit his class for a week and see the magic happen in person. Other than my own teachers growing up, he is going to be a role model of mine for quite some time. I can see myself re-reading his books over and over as needed for insight and comfort.

As for the teacher below who feels his accomplishments are granted based on the students he teaches, we all do what we can with what we have. Raife simply wrote a book about it. Your comment sounds as if you feel underappreciated. I think Raife does a great job at setting realistic expectations for situations just like that. We don't teach for recognition, we teach because we believe we are building the foundation for a better future.

I would highly recommend this book for any parent, teacher, or would-be teacher. It lets us know what our potential is. It helps us strive to be better. The Education community would be much less enthusiastic without stories like this!
Was this comment helpful? | Yes | No
(1 of 2 readers found this comment helpful)
report this comment
JayRealtor, March 13, 2007 (view all comments by JayRealtor)
This is a book by a fifth grade teacher who far exceeds realistic expectations of a teacher. Almost all the students in his classroom #56 are from non-English speaking families. This does not stop Rofe from expecting and obtaining an extremely high level of student outcomes.

While it is unrealistic to expect a teacher to do all that he does, there certainly is a vast array of his activities that a teacher could do in the classroom. Several teachers working together could do many of his activities. An entire school working together could do what he single-handedly accomplishes.

The most important theme of his book is that every moment offers an educational experience. As an example, rather than his class riding to a local art museum in a school bus, they take the city bus. This provides him with the opportunity to teach students about riding a bus, bus fares, and bus schedules.
Was this comment helpful? | Yes | No
(14 of 25 readers found this comment helpful)
report this comment
elmlish, March 1, 2007 (view all comments by elmlish)
I just listened to an NPR "Speaker's Forum" special on Rafe. I thought he was an incredibly inspiring man and gave a wonderful performance. I plan on buying this book soon.

I would like to add that during his talk, he mentioned that the students in his particular class are chosen at random. He said that he gets all levels of development, economic background and various degrees of mental problems. Tourette's Syndrome was one ailment mentioned.
Throughout the talk, he emphasized that his kids were normal kids and he was a normal, average guy, nobody special.
Was this comment helpful? | Yes | No
(11 of 19 readers found this comment helpful)
report this comment
View all 4 comments
back to top

Product Details

ISBN:
9780670038152
Subtitle:
The Methods and Madness Inside Room 56
Author:
Esquith, Rafe
Publisher:
Viking Books
Subject:
Education
Subject:
Philosophy
Subject:
Teaching Methods & Materials - General
Subject:
Teaching Methods & Materials - Classroom Planning
Subject:
Education -- Philosophy.
Subject:
Ethics -- Study and teaching.
Copyright:
2007
Publication Date:
February 2007
Binding:
Hardcover
Grade Level:
General/trade
Language:
English
Illustrations:
Y
Pages:
244
Dimensions:
8.58x5.74x.94 in. .82 lbs.
back to top

Other books you might like

  1. $14.00 New Trade Paper add to wish list

    Letters to a Young Teacher

    Jonathan Kozol
  2. $14.95 New Trade Paper add to wish list

    The Classroom

    Michael James D'amato
  3. $6.50 Used Hardcover add to wish list

    The Essential 55: An Award-Winning Educator's Rules for Discovering the Successful Student in Every Child

    Ron Clark
  4. $9.95 Used Trade Paper add to wish list

    Work Hard. Be Nice.: How Two Inspired Teachers Created the Most Promising Schools in America

    Jay Mathews
  5. $10.50 Used Trade Paper add to wish list

    Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace... One School at a Time

    Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin
  6. $9.95 Used Trade Paper add to wish list

    The Invention of Everything Else

    Samantha Hunt
back to top

Related Aisles

  • back to top

Powell's City of Books is an independent bookstore in Portland, Oregon, that fills a whole city block with more than a million new, used, and out of print books. Shop those shelves — plus literally millions more books, DVDs, and eBooks — here at Powells.com.