Straight Talk to Teachers: Twenty Insane Ideas for a Better Classroom
As Mr. Gevirtzman's final high school principal in his extensive teaching career, I can vouch that Gevirtzman still has the pep, energy, and enthusiasm of a 25-year-old. It is this same zeal that seems to transcend throughout his classroom to his students. (Don Jones, La Mirada High School Principal)Gevirtzman's acerbic sense of humor is not a distraction; it compels us to reader further. In this book's madness comes wisdom about teaching that is, indeed, a rare find. (Shelley D. Lane, Clinical Associate Professor of Communication Studies and Associate Dean for Undergraduate Education, School of Arts and Humanit)When I was Gevirtzman's principal for seven years, I liked to hang out in his classroom. His classes were inspiring; he was inspiring! For teachers who would like—or need—a change in attitude, I would point you in the direction of the many tips offered in this new book from Bruce Gevirtzman! (Howard M. Haas, Head of School, Hyman Brand Hebrew Academy)For the past 38 years, Bruce Gevirtzman, a wildly successful high school English teacher, has cared about his students, challenged them, and made them think about the big issues in life. His unorthodox and unique techniques for classroom success, now offered inStraight Talk to Teachers, enable other teachers to maximize their effectiveness, as per their own styles and personalities. (Sharon Cotterell, former teacher, department chairperson, and assistant principal for curriculum and instruction)Bruce Gevirtzman has been motivating kids to learn for nearly four decades. His Willingness to think outside the box, to remove himself from comfortable paradigms in order to wake up his students, has become more than a mere rumor on campus.Straight Talk for Teachersreminds us why students actually look forward to going to Gevirtzman's classes: they know it will be well worth their time and effort. (Eric Jordan, former president, Teachers of the Norwalk-La Mirada Unified School District Association)Mr. Gevirtzman is one of the main reasons I became a teacher. When a student of his, I admired his integrity, laughed at his sense of humor, and learned from his wisdom. During the years I taught school, I had already applied several of the "insane" ideas discussed in his new book. (Nermin Kamel, Assistant Principal, Redondo Union High School, and Vice President, California High School Speech Association)As an assistant principal of discipline and attendance, I like to tell it like it is. Sometimes that is extraordinarily difficult, especially when dealing with young people and their parents. I appreciate it when Gevirtzman tells it like it is to teachers. His honesty and sense of humor make for a great read. (Ron Carroll, Assistant Principal, La Mirada High School)