Notes from a Classroom: Reflections on Teaching
The latest in a recent spat of from-the-trenches teacher memoirs, this one is notable for McSpadden's clear-eyed understanding of teenagers, and her compassion for the underprivileged students she works with everyday. A collection of McSpadden's biweekly columns in The Charlotte Observer, these 70-some pieces share a knack for the well-observed detail, be it the "sadness" of a young man reciting a Sara Teasdale poem that quiets a "class of wriggly sophomores," or the startling significance of a student's note, placed among a student exhibit of photos they took of their homes, reading "We don't got a camera. Sorry." Though it suffers when McSpadden's attention turns away from her classroom to other, more sentimental topics, and the brevity of unexpanded newspaper columns can wear thin when reading straight through, most of these snappy lessons feature plenty of hard-earned wisdom, gentle humor and memorable student portraits.Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.