Among Schoolchildren Audiobook

" I read this book in the nineties, when I was first starting out in my career as a teacher, and I was both inspired and disappointed by its depiction of the realities of public education in the US. "

" What can I say! I'm a Kidder fan! "

" So many problems with this book, I don't know where to start. Since it is really a first hand account, it doesn't academically look at the issues of race in the classroom. The writing is limited; too much looking at what Kidder thinks the narrator means. Don't recommend. "

" Buku yang bagus untuk para pendidik. Buku ini bercerita tentang suatu kelas yang dinamis karena adanya bermacam karakter siswa (seperti buku Laskar Pelangi-nya Andrea Hirata). Siswa yang bandel atau "nakal" hendaknya jangan dijauhi atau dilawan dengan kekerasan. Tapi dekatilah dengan "hati".... "

" Kidder spends a year in a fifth grade classroom in Holyoke, MA and records his experiences in this excellent, easy-to-read book. "

" Narration of a fifth grade school room, complete with sociological, racial, and other concerns, make this book exceptional. What else to say? "

" With a one star rating, the only reason that I finished reading this book, was that someome in our book group suugested that we read it. We had read his book, Hometown, which didn't thrill me much either. If another of his comes up as a selection, I shall just skip that month. I found it dull and boring, and rather repetitive. I have taught school. I think that the interesting parts could have made a nice article in The New Yorker. Presumably, most of us might agree that the more inteesting students are the ones with behavior problems. There are probably many people who love this book. I just am not one of them. "

" to be honest, I haven't been able to finish this book and actually finally gave it away. I am a bit of an education-books junkie so I expected to like it. The writing was not engaging, and both the writer and the teacher seemed to focus nearly all their attention (at least in the early part of the book) on the boys in the class, which I find tiresome and infuriating. "

" 372.11 About inequalities in the Massachusetts education system. Tracy Kidder manages to make any subject interesting with his style of writing and including lots of insights into real people's concerns/problems. "

" After Soul of a New Machine and Mountains Beyond Mountains, I liked this work. I feel it is a sobering account of education today and Mrs. Zajac is an exception. "

" pseudo-journalistic account of a year in the life of a holyoke, MA teacher. i found it very interesting, but i read it simultaneously with volunteering in a holyoke, MA classroom. not entirely sure how it would stand up to dispassionate rereading. "

" Written 20 years ago but still portrays how a teacher's work and commitment extends far beyond the school day. "

" Buku yang bagus untuk para pendidik. Buku ini bercerita tentang suatu kelas yang dinamis karena adanya bermacam karakter siswa (seperti buku Laskar Pelangi-nya Andrea Hirata). Siswa yang bandel atau "nakal" hendaknya jangan dijauhi atau dilawan dengan kekerasan. Tapi dekatilah dengan "hati".... "

" if you've ever considered being a school teacher so you can have summers off, read this book. You'll think twice...and you might just change careers. ;-) "

" I used to teach in Holyoke, and before I did I read this book. The detail that he includes about the district, the Kelly School, and the neighborhood is very intense; compared to what Holyoke is like now, 25 years later, I'm surprised both by how much and how little has changed. I find the hardest part of this book to get into is Kidder's voice; he never involves himself in any of the stories he tells, even though he is in the room watching them happen. Having taught before, I can't imagine that a room full of schoolchildren would not notice the presence of an author in the classroom with them for the entire school year. It didn't necessarily teach me how to be a better teacher, but it did show me that I wasn't the only one experiencing the feelings and challenges I was encountering. This book would also open up a lot of discussions about race, gender, and class, and while those issues are not addressed as well as I would like within the book itself, if assigned to a class I could see how students would be encouraged to remark and discuss those issues. "

" This book shows how much drama is hiding almost anywhere you care to look -- in this case, in an elementary school classroom. It would be hard for anyone not to learn something from this fairly unvarnished account, hard for anyone not to feel for the students who face so many challenges -- and for the teacher as well. "

" Read this many years ago and found it delightful. Great for those who teach, believe in teaching and who value education. "

" Every teacher should read this book! "

" if you've ever considered being a school teacher so you can have summers off, read this book. You'll think twice...and you might just change careers. ;-) "

" I read this as part of my teaching coursework. I was ready to really enjoy the book, and it was okay, but not great. "

" After Soul of a New Machine and Mountains Beyond Mountains, I liked this work. I feel it is a sobering account of education today and Mrs. Zajac is an exception. "

" Great look at the American public school system. "

" I read this book in the nineties, when I was first starting out in my career as a teacher, and I was both inspired and disappointed by its depiction of the realities of public education in the US. "

" This book is written from the observer perspective of the life inside an elementary teacher's classroom. It is real with depth and insights seen only from the outside in. As a teacher, it made me relieved to read something not critical for education! "

" Like reading a documentary. "

" Terrific inside scoop on classroom teaching in a lower-class neighborhood. Informative, draws you in. Perfect for aspiring teachers--especially high school girls in grades 11 and 12. "

" Observation of a 'regular' teacher over the period of a year. Interesting to read an earlier book by Kidder which isn't quite as well written as his later ones. "

" Bought at WFL for $2 "

" I'm reading things that I've had on bookshelves for years....this is one of them. Interesting but sad picture of education in some parts of the U.S. As a nation we should be able to do better. "

" So many problems with this book, I don't know where to start. Since it is really a first hand account, it doesn't academically look at the issues of race in the classroom. The writing is limited; too much looking at what Kidder thinks the narrator means. Don't recommend. "

" Nonfiction/Education: Tracy Kidder goes through an entire year in Mrs. Zajacs fifth grade classroom. Generally kind of a boring read, doesn't give much insite into teaching which was what I was looking for. Not one of Tracy Kidder's best "

" Kind of depressing how little things have changed in education however it's also an inspiring read and somewhat hopeful at the end. "

" Read this many years ago and found it delightful. Great for those who teach, believe in teaching and who value education. "

" Kidder has explored old age, Third World medicine, the beginnings of the computer industry, and in this, he brings readers into the day-to-day world of the challenges of teaching in an underfunded public school. "

" I read this book about two years ago. It was lovely, heartbreaking, uplifting, angering, small and big. I love Tracy Kidder. What a great writer. "

" Excellent book for all those interested in public education - a must read. "

" Of the Tracy Kidder books I've read (House, Mountains Beyond Mountains, Strength in What Remains, Hometown) I found this to be his best written and most interesting. "

" From a family of literally dozens of teachers, so I'm a sucker for a good book about 'em. "

" good look into the life of a teacher. They can do so much good if they're up to the task. Such important work. Not enough of them are suited to it! "

" I really like Tracy Kidder but this wasn't one of his best. I love the concept of his topic but it didn't draw me in nearly like I expected it to. It's an okay read but didn't love it. "

" Really well written. Slightly dated, just because it's from the eighties, but I always enjoy reading about teachers and their classrooms. "

" Another textbook. Are you guys noticing any trends here? "

" I vaguely recall reading this before I started teaching, to see what it might be like. Now I sort of feel like the book is not a lot like what it is like at all. Huh. I am not as pleased with this Tracy Kidder as I was with Mountains Beyond Mountains. "

" This is a very interesting book about what it means to be a teacher. Still relevant, a perfect book if you are interested in education. "

" Written 20 years ago but still portrays how a teacher's work and commitment extends far beyond the school day. "

" good look into the life of a teacher. They can do so much good if they're up to the task. Such important work. Not enough of them are suited to it! "

" Of the Tracy Kidder books I've read (House, Mountains Beyond Mountains, Strength in What Remains, Hometown) I found this to be his best written and most interesting. "

" told from an third-person-with-no-explanation narrative rarely found in nonfiction that left me constantly wondering about the hows and whens of Kidder's research. Interesting, nonetheless, but oh boy it dragged in the middle. "

" Gave me a good appreciation of teachers in immigrant neighborhoods, but not quite up to his book on Haiti - Mountains beyond Mountains. "

" I chose to stop reading this book. It wasn't what I had hoped for at all. It was a sort of interesting personal story but there was no larger context that I was really hoping for. "

" Narration of a fifth grade school room, complete with sociological, racial, and other concerns, make this book exceptional. What else to say? "

" Is it a novel? Or is it a true history of one Chris Zajak, who teaches in the Flats of Holyoke, MA? In order to write this, Tracy Kidder, himself, must have once taught public elementary school... or his wife did. Astonishingly good so far. "

" From a family of literally dozens of teachers, so I'm a sucker for a good book about 'em. "