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Why Did I Get a B?: And Other Mysteries We're Discussing in the Faculty Lounge
This hilarious, inspirational, and wise collection of personal essays and humor from a longtime educator explores all the joys, challenges, and absurdities of being a teacher, following in the footsteps of such classics as Teach Like Your Hair’s on Fire, The Courage to Teach, and
Up the Down Staircase
.
Shannon Reed did not want to be a teacher, but now, after twenty years of working with children from preschool to college, there’s nothing she’d rather be. In essays full of humor, heart, and wit, she illuminates the highs and lows of a job located at the intersection of youth and wisdom. Bringing you into the trenches of this most important and stressful career, she rolls her eyes at ineffectual administrators, weeps with her students when they experience personal tragedies, complains with her colleagues about their ridiculously short lunchbreaks, and presents the parent-teacher conference from the other side of the tiny table.
From dealing with bullies and working with special needs students to explaining the unwritten rules of the teacher’s lounge, Why Did I Get a B? is full of as much humor and heart as the job itself.
Shannon Reed did not want to be a teacher, but now, after twenty years of working with children from preschool to college, there’s nothing she’d rather be. In essays full of humor, heart, and wit, she illuminates the highs and lows of a job located at the intersection of youth and wisdom. Bringing you into the trenches of this most important and stressful career, she rolls her eyes at ineffectual administrators, weeps with her students when they experience personal tragedies, complains with her colleagues about their ridiculously short lunchbreaks, and presents the parent-teacher conference from the other side of the tiny table.
From dealing with bullies and working with special needs students to explaining the unwritten rules of the teacher’s lounge, Why Did I Get a B? is full of as much humor and heart as the job itself.
288 pages, Hardcover
First published June 30, 2020
65 people are currently reading
923 people want to read
About the author
Shannon Reed
14 books126 followersShannon Reed is the author of Why We Read: On Bookworms, Libraries and Just One More Page Before Lights Out (2/6/24) and Why Did I Get a B? And Other Mysteries We're Discussing in the Faculty Lounge (6/30/20). A frequent contributor of humor to The New Yorker and McSweeney's Internet Tendency, her "If People Talked to Other Professionals the Way They Talked to Teachers" was the most-read piece at McSweeney's in 2018. She has also written for The Paris Review, The Washington Post, Slate, Buzzfeed, and many other venues.
Since 2012, Shannon has taught at the University of Pittsburgh in the Creative Writing and Composition programs, part of the English Department. She is currently the Director of Undergraduate Studies in the Writing Program and a Teaching Associatge Professor. Before arriving at Pitt, she taught preschool in Johnstown, Pennsylvania (her hometown) and Tribeca (not her hometown), as well as high school in Queens and Brooklyn. She holds a BFA in Theatre: Acting and Directing from Otterbein University; an MA in Educational Theatre from NYU; and an MFA from the University of Pittsburgh in Creative Writing: Fiction.
You can often find her reading.
Since 2012, Shannon has taught at the University of Pittsburgh in the Creative Writing and Composition programs, part of the English Department. She is currently the Director of Undergraduate Studies in the Writing Program and a Teaching Associatge Professor. Before arriving at Pitt, she taught preschool in Johnstown, Pennsylvania (her hometown) and Tribeca (not her hometown), as well as high school in Queens and Brooklyn. She holds a BFA in Theatre: Acting and Directing from Otterbein University; an MA in Educational Theatre from NYU; and an MFA from the University of Pittsburgh in Creative Writing: Fiction.
You can often find her reading.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 124 reviews
June 29, 2020
This is the best book ever written.
July 30, 2020
Thoughts after reading this book.
1.) We do not pay teachers enough.
2.) It is apparently not possible to pass out from laughter though I gave it a good shot while reading this book.
3.) We do not pay teachers enough.
4.) Nancy Devos needs to...I was gonna say take a long walk off a short pier but...
image:
She seems to be ahead of me on that...ahem * (see note).
5.) I could NEVER be a teacher. I simply do not have the emotional courage, the fortitude, to do battle the way this brilliant, gorgeous woman and many, many other do.
6.) If I live a thousand years I could not hope to touch the level of wit and candor displayed by Shannon Reed. Not to mention the courage to put so much of my naked, not always attractive or kind or just self out into the world for everyone to see. It would be a thrill beyond measure to take a creative writing class with her.
7.) I'm hard pressed to think of another career that is simultaneously so reviled (those who can't DO, Teach!) and so relied upon by literally the exact same people.
8.) I did not tell the really good teachers I had (and there were a couple) how much I appreciated them nearly enough.
9.) I am ashamed at my dismal understanding of the public school system in my country despite being the daughter and daughter in law of teachers. The idea that it can be as bad as it is and STILL have people like Ms. Reed want to work in it is nothing short of a miracle.
10.) The disconnect between public officials, school administrators, and the people who actually works with the students is, frankly, insane. I will never cease to be amazed by the lengths politicians and administrators will go to to leave their "mark" on a school no matter how much damage it does to the students and teachers. If officials and administrators worried less about impressing voters and more about actually educating I suspect our public schools would look a heluvalot different.
11.) We do not pay teachers enough.
* The above photo is apparently a very intoxicated Ms. Devos soaking wet after FALLING OFF one of her yachts. ONE of her yachts. ONNNNNNEEEEEEE of them!!!!!
1.) We do not pay teachers enough.
2.) It is apparently not possible to pass out from laughter though I gave it a good shot while reading this book.
3.) We do not pay teachers enough.
4.) Nancy Devos needs to...I was gonna say take a long walk off a short pier but...
image:
She seems to be ahead of me on that...ahem * (see note).
5.) I could NEVER be a teacher. I simply do not have the emotional courage, the fortitude, to do battle the way this brilliant, gorgeous woman and many, many other do.
6.) If I live a thousand years I could not hope to touch the level of wit and candor displayed by Shannon Reed. Not to mention the courage to put so much of my naked, not always attractive or kind or just self out into the world for everyone to see. It would be a thrill beyond measure to take a creative writing class with her.
7.) I'm hard pressed to think of another career that is simultaneously so reviled (those who can't DO, Teach!) and so relied upon by literally the exact same people.
8.) I did not tell the really good teachers I had (and there were a couple) how much I appreciated them nearly enough.
9.) I am ashamed at my dismal understanding of the public school system in my country despite being the daughter and daughter in law of teachers. The idea that it can be as bad as it is and STILL have people like Ms. Reed want to work in it is nothing short of a miracle.
10.) The disconnect between public officials, school administrators, and the people who actually works with the students is, frankly, insane. I will never cease to be amazed by the lengths politicians and administrators will go to to leave their "mark" on a school no matter how much damage it does to the students and teachers. If officials and administrators worried less about impressing voters and more about actually educating I suspect our public schools would look a heluvalot different.
11.) We do not pay teachers enough.
* The above photo is apparently a very intoxicated Ms. Devos soaking wet after FALLING OFF one of her yachts. ONE of her yachts. ONNNNNNEEEEEEE of them!!!!!
February 23, 2023
I have so much to say about this book. All of it positive and much of it thoughtful and/or funny. So much of this book hit right at my heart. I have had my Paulie’s and I have never forgotten them, haven’t forgiven myself for letting them down, but knew I had to protect my other students. I’ve had one or two Stans. I have had many inept admin and colleagues. I had no burning or singing angels but I know my vocation is not an accident. I’ve learned a lot over the years yet the author has pointed out how much I still don’t know and probably never will. My skin color, my place of birth, and my socioeconomic status and parental support gave me a huge advantage. African American students at my school are either adopted by whites parents or bi-racial and none of them are inner city.
Excellent book for a seasoned educator. Recommended for all.
Excellent book for a seasoned educator. Recommended for all.
October 25, 2020
My thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for an eARC copy of this book to read and review.
Hard DNF for me at page 200. I had inklings at page 93 that this book was not for me, well, actually on the first few pages of the book, but I pressed on. Until her political views came out too strongly and I was done.
She is completely, 100% entitled to air her views, it is her memoir. However, I am also allowed to not have to read them.
The author is a teacher, so I think many teachers who share her viewpoints will enjoy this book. I will recommend to them and will discuss with others as well. I gave the book three chances and almost made it to the end before I decided I had books that I would enjoy more to read waiting on my Mt. TBR.
1, I just can't deal with politics right now, stars.
Hard DNF for me at page 200. I had inklings at page 93 that this book was not for me, well, actually on the first few pages of the book, but I pressed on. Until her political views came out too strongly and I was done.
She is completely, 100% entitled to air her views, it is her memoir. However, I am also allowed to not have to read them.
The author is a teacher, so I think many teachers who share her viewpoints will enjoy this book. I will recommend to them and will discuss with others as well. I gave the book three chances and almost made it to the end before I decided I had books that I would enjoy more to read waiting on my Mt. TBR.
1, I just can't deal with politics right now, stars.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 23, 2022
I’ve read this AND I’m a teacher, so I’m here to tell you that Shannon Reed has written a personal, funny, charming, heartbreaking and lovely book on all the highs and lows of the profession. A mix of essays and humor pieces, it’s a perfect gift for anyone who has taught or been taught (so, all of us!).
August 27, 2020
As I am preparing for the start of a semester, I diverted my attention from course set up to read this short, but oh so entertaining book by Shannon Reed. I am glad I did because she reminded me to make lemonade in the face of just lemons. If you aren't old, aren't dealing with a group of overly privileged, undereducated in every aspect of life, ego-centered individuals on a weekly basis maybe you won't find relief in her recounting of students, but I did. I choose to teach college, mainly because I like adults.... that has slipped over the years and now I realize that the difference between my students and those in public schools is simply..... that mine drive and can go to the restroom without assistance! Everything she said was true...
Shannon reminded me to not be so serious and to see the issues with humor.. so here are some humorous memories!
crime scent tape... something every officer would like.. I'll take mine in lavender!
court trails ---- court records?
Standing in a crime scene and I asked a student what the evidence told her.... she looked at me and said, "she was having an affair and her husband showed up and shot her"... there was only a spatter voidance, and nothing to indicate affair or husband... so, she was right... the victim was shot.
I loved the book, it was bright, it was funny, and it was exactly what I needed because classes start tomorrow!
5 stars
Happy Reading!
Shannon reminded me to not be so serious and to see the issues with humor.. so here are some humorous memories!
crime scent tape... something every officer would like.. I'll take mine in lavender!
court trails ---- court records?
Standing in a crime scene and I asked a student what the evidence told her.... she looked at me and said, "she was having an affair and her husband showed up and shot her"... there was only a spatter voidance, and nothing to indicate affair or husband... so, she was right... the victim was shot.
I loved the book, it was bright, it was funny, and it was exactly what I needed because classes start tomorrow!
5 stars
Happy Reading!
May 15, 2024
When you are at the point of feeling like you don't matter in teaching, you do matter. This book truly shows the mind and heart of being a teacher. I enjoyed reading this book from the author's point of view and her experiences in the world of education.
If you ever wondered what it was like to be a teacher, read this book.
If you ever wondered what it was like to be a teacher, read this book.
July 1, 2020
Yes, I'm completely biased. Yes, I am mentioned in the book a few times. No matter! This is a must-read for everyone!! Though it's told through the lens of being a teacher, it is really a book about the human experience and all of its joys and woes. The humor pieces are delightful, and the essays are honest -- often brutally honest -- and deeply heartfelt.
July 17, 2024
This,too, was a good read, although I preferred her second book, perhaps because this one was more personal. This chronicles her teaching career, from a pre-school to middle school, to high school and now college. She’s a good writer, and she knows how to tell a good story. And I still would love to take a class from her. Loved the chapter on student evaluations.
September 9, 2020
So many things are converging in my life right now that make me love this book SO much. T is starting middle school and needs some serious help remembering how to be a decent student. I have been making practice quizzes for him in math daily and oh how I miss teaching math. I didn't realize until this very moment how much I love teaching. And how much I miss it. Because also, A is starting Kinder, so I am in Kinder and oh how much I wish I wasn't in Kinder. I was meant to teach high school math and physics. I am good at it. I enjoyed it almost all the time. My greatest friendships came from other teachers. I am friends with many former students. I am not good at teaching basic letter writing, counting, the days of the week. My patience is endless for discussions on Newton's Laws, but when it comes to cutting and pasting, I lose my patience over and over. (It does not help of course that this is all happening on a computer right now. The internet is not my friend.)
So, the timing. I was ripe for a book about teaching. And this one does not disappoint. I laughed. A lot. And I think teaching is fun, and that there's plenty to laugh about. I cried. Because sometimes teaching is really really hard. I want to be friends with Shannon Reed and talk about teaching and life with her. I think we would enjoy hanging out together. She's my people.
The chapter on teaching the students in Harry Potter had already sealed the deal on my feelings about this book, but the chapter on The Other Class spoke directly into my heart. Classic move that works all the time! Then the use of the word " footloosery" and I was over the moon. Of course, she then follows with the zinger of calling our president "a sentient yam" and cancelling class when he was elected and I start wondering how it can get any better.
I need to buy this book for all of my teacher friends. And I need to start thinking about getting back into a classroom. Once we are allowed back in them.
"I hope that most readers of this book have not had such terrible days in the classroom, but I bet you still know exactly what it was like, because to be a good teacher is to care very much about people, which is an effective way to get your heart thoroughly broken on the regular."
"you are not alone in the difficult and beautiful work of teaching, of caring for others, of being alive. There is much to share, and worry over, and laugh about."
"(in preschool there is always a Theme of the Week, and I’ll note that adult life is better when you have a Theme of the Week too)"
"I still believed that my calling would feel like being tapped on the shoulder by God. It would take me several years to realize that a calling can become clear in the doing."
"I definitely filed that away for the future: I try hard to be easygoing about most things except those that really count, which is why my students aren’t bedeviled by my complicated heading requirements or page layouts but know that if I catch plagiarism it is the end of all that is good about our class. This moment confirmed another thing I had suspected about teaching: a teacher gets to cry/demand/yell/lose her mind exactly once per class. So make it count."
"although I quickly learned that being good at something yourself and being able to teach it to others are two entirely different things."
"For some of these students—in fact, for some of any teacher’s students—we are the most dependable people in their lives. That’s an extraordinary thing to realize, and one that keeps me grounded. I try very hard to keep my promises to my students, implicit or explicit, noticed or not."
"But the second time through, I couldn’t help thinking like a high school teacher, pondering the strange teacher-student dynamics of the books: like, did the other students think Dumbledore was playing favorites with Harry? How did Professor McGonagall manage to teach Draco without slapping him, like, at all? And who of these students could I stand to teach for seven long years?"
"I’d also be greatly annoyed by how often he gets called out of the room by admin. How am I supposed to teach him to write well if he’s in Dumbledore’s office all the time?"
"Draco Malfoy Ranked last not because of his evilness, although that is, of course, very bad, but because he is the worst kind of student—a suck-up who would then sic his parents on you when the sucking up didn’t work."
"Year after year, we teachers show up, briefly putting aside our own lives for those minutes we’re there, in order to improve, to help, to love. We’re glad you’re here, we say to our students. We’re going to change you, you’re going to change us. None of us will walk out of here the same. We don’t even know how yet, but here we go. I love that feeling. It’s hard for me to remember that there was a time when I didn’t love this job."
"It’s nice to tell the students you like teaching them, and to thank them for the hard work they put in for your class."
"At graduation, when you meet parents, tell them that their child was a complete delight and a joy to have in your classroom. Every single one."
"They are my constant delight, and also my constant aggravation, especially when they ask me something that they know full well is covered in the syllabus."
"Seriously, though, teacher friends are the absolute best: fierce, loyal, vibrant, and very quick to take your side."
"Great teachers are wise, funny, kind, compassionate, caring, skeptical, a little demanding, and always ready to laugh with you."
So, the timing. I was ripe for a book about teaching. And this one does not disappoint. I laughed. A lot. And I think teaching is fun, and that there's plenty to laugh about. I cried. Because sometimes teaching is really really hard. I want to be friends with Shannon Reed and talk about teaching and life with her. I think we would enjoy hanging out together. She's my people.
The chapter on teaching the students in Harry Potter had already sealed the deal on my feelings about this book, but the chapter on The Other Class spoke directly into my heart. Classic move that works all the time! Then the use of the word " footloosery" and I was over the moon. Of course, she then follows with the zinger of calling our president "a sentient yam" and cancelling class when he was elected and I start wondering how it can get any better.
I need to buy this book for all of my teacher friends. And I need to start thinking about getting back into a classroom. Once we are allowed back in them.
"I hope that most readers of this book have not had such terrible days in the classroom, but I bet you still know exactly what it was like, because to be a good teacher is to care very much about people, which is an effective way to get your heart thoroughly broken on the regular."
"you are not alone in the difficult and beautiful work of teaching, of caring for others, of being alive. There is much to share, and worry over, and laugh about."
"(in preschool there is always a Theme of the Week, and I’ll note that adult life is better when you have a Theme of the Week too)"
"I still believed that my calling would feel like being tapped on the shoulder by God. It would take me several years to realize that a calling can become clear in the doing."
"I definitely filed that away for the future: I try hard to be easygoing about most things except those that really count, which is why my students aren’t bedeviled by my complicated heading requirements or page layouts but know that if I catch plagiarism it is the end of all that is good about our class. This moment confirmed another thing I had suspected about teaching: a teacher gets to cry/demand/yell/lose her mind exactly once per class. So make it count."
"although I quickly learned that being good at something yourself and being able to teach it to others are two entirely different things."
"For some of these students—in fact, for some of any teacher’s students—we are the most dependable people in their lives. That’s an extraordinary thing to realize, and one that keeps me grounded. I try very hard to keep my promises to my students, implicit or explicit, noticed or not."
"But the second time through, I couldn’t help thinking like a high school teacher, pondering the strange teacher-student dynamics of the books: like, did the other students think Dumbledore was playing favorites with Harry? How did Professor McGonagall manage to teach Draco without slapping him, like, at all? And who of these students could I stand to teach for seven long years?"
"I’d also be greatly annoyed by how often he gets called out of the room by admin. How am I supposed to teach him to write well if he’s in Dumbledore’s office all the time?"
"Draco Malfoy Ranked last not because of his evilness, although that is, of course, very bad, but because he is the worst kind of student—a suck-up who would then sic his parents on you when the sucking up didn’t work."
"Year after year, we teachers show up, briefly putting aside our own lives for those minutes we’re there, in order to improve, to help, to love. We’re glad you’re here, we say to our students. We’re going to change you, you’re going to change us. None of us will walk out of here the same. We don’t even know how yet, but here we go. I love that feeling. It’s hard for me to remember that there was a time when I didn’t love this job."
"It’s nice to tell the students you like teaching them, and to thank them for the hard work they put in for your class."
"At graduation, when you meet parents, tell them that their child was a complete delight and a joy to have in your classroom. Every single one."
"They are my constant delight, and also my constant aggravation, especially when they ask me something that they know full well is covered in the syllabus."
"Seriously, though, teacher friends are the absolute best: fierce, loyal, vibrant, and very quick to take your side."
"Great teachers are wise, funny, kind, compassionate, caring, skeptical, a little demanding, and always ready to laugh with you."
April 22, 2021
This book was... fine. For some it might hit the mark, early on it did for me, I enjoyed her memoir like essays on teaching and the humor was still fresh. However after a couple hundred pages in that started to wear thin. Especially when reaching the last third of the book where she writes of her time teaching in college. The tone there seems like a return to my least favorite essay earlier in the book when she confronts her own ingrained racism that society and the media have her. These are things that need addressing but the tone just felt like that of a middle aged middle class white woman congratulating herself on being woke and her strides to be better.
This tone was highly present in the last third of the book such as when she discussed student evaluations of her, this sorta’ve self gratification, “pat herself on the back for doing a good job” tone that made the rest of the book a slog to finish. It felt that now that we were getting to the part of her career she enjoyed and being a published author to boot, she could extol a bit more about the subjects she cared about and the essays felt very much more “written” than the previous parts of the book, if that makes sense. These feel more like written for publications rather than for fellow teachers to find helpful or spirit lifting in a country that doesn’t value its teachers. They all end up with her seeing herself in the best light she could paint as well, sometimes in a joking way but that grew obnoxious by the end.
And while I enjoyed some of the humorous bits, the collective tone made even the funny two page breaks in between memoir essays for a joke section stale and uninteresting in the end.
This tone was highly present in the last third of the book such as when she discussed student evaluations of her, this sorta’ve self gratification, “pat herself on the back for doing a good job” tone that made the rest of the book a slog to finish. It felt that now that we were getting to the part of her career she enjoyed and being a published author to boot, she could extol a bit more about the subjects she cared about and the essays felt very much more “written” than the previous parts of the book, if that makes sense. These feel more like written for publications rather than for fellow teachers to find helpful or spirit lifting in a country that doesn’t value its teachers. They all end up with her seeing herself in the best light she could paint as well, sometimes in a joking way but that grew obnoxious by the end.
And while I enjoyed some of the humorous bits, the collective tone made even the funny two page breaks in between memoir essays for a joke section stale and uninteresting in the end.
July 1, 2020
With everything that is going on in the world these days I find myself unable to stop reading the news, and rarely come away feeling better. Yesterday I started reading Shannon's collection of essays and humor around 5pm and didn't set it down for more than five minutes at a time until I had finished it around 11pm. Her essays brought dozens of smiles to my face as well as a few tears.
In the essay "An Alphabet for the School at the End of Beach 112th" Shannon writes a phrase in fourteen words that painted a picture so vivid in my mind I stopped reading and just sat while an imaginary scene from a non-existent PBS show ran through my head. The essay "Somewhat More Free" is almost prescient in its timeliness. I would recommend it to everyone who is struggling with overcoming their preconceptions about race. These are just two of the many times that I was touched by Shannon's words while reading.
Perfectly spaced between the essays are humor pieces that at minimum bring a smile to your face and at most are the source of several laugh out loud moments. With a daughter that was (is) obsessed with both Harry Potter and Hamilton, the back-to-back pieces "A Conclusive Ranking of the Students at Hogwarts by Order of How Much I Would Enjoy Teaching Them" and "Dear Parents: We're Going with a Hamilton-Centered Curriculum This Year!" were spot on.
If you're like me and the social/political/economic/scientific/fill-in-the-blank news has you feeling cold and isolated, then this is the book you need to read at this time. Reading "Why Did I Get a B?: And Other Mysteries We're Discussing in the Faculty Lounge" was like sitting in front of a fire on a cold February night wrapped up in my mother's 40 year old rust and yellow afghan while sipping on a cup of tea. It was warm. It was comforting. It was perfect.
In the essay "An Alphabet for the School at the End of Beach 112th" Shannon writes a phrase in fourteen words that painted a picture so vivid in my mind I stopped reading and just sat while an imaginary scene from a non-existent PBS show ran through my head. The essay "Somewhat More Free" is almost prescient in its timeliness. I would recommend it to everyone who is struggling with overcoming their preconceptions about race. These are just two of the many times that I was touched by Shannon's words while reading.
Perfectly spaced between the essays are humor pieces that at minimum bring a smile to your face and at most are the source of several laugh out loud moments. With a daughter that was (is) obsessed with both Harry Potter and Hamilton, the back-to-back pieces "A Conclusive Ranking of the Students at Hogwarts by Order of How Much I Would Enjoy Teaching Them" and "Dear Parents: We're Going with a Hamilton-Centered Curriculum This Year!" were spot on.
If you're like me and the social/political/economic/scientific/fill-in-the-blank news has you feeling cold and isolated, then this is the book you need to read at this time. Reading "Why Did I Get a B?: And Other Mysteries We're Discussing in the Faculty Lounge" was like sitting in front of a fire on a cold February night wrapped up in my mother's 40 year old rust and yellow afghan while sipping on a cup of tea. It was warm. It was comforting. It was perfect.
December 11, 2020
This was so nice! I definitely preferred Reed's own stories and experiences wayyyy more than the humor and jokes in between, even if that stuff did evoke occasional laughs.
This book kind of solidifies what I already knew: I would NEVER want to be a teacher, and teachers are underappreciated heroes. When things got rough for Shannon, who seems so personally and professionally lovely, I could barely handle it. When she developed fantastic relationships with students or got a meaningful course evaluation, my heart soared for her! I'd definitely love to have her as a professor.
This was also good timing for me. Going to school during COVID, it's easy to blame professors for everything that doesn't go smoothly, but they're struggling, too. I appreciated any part where Shannon admitted how much she loves her students/jobs, but that it's not up to her to dedicate her life wholly to raising them or anything like that. Almost makes me regret the scathing course eval I just submitted...
This was just an entertaining, sometimes emotional portrait of a teacher. A little laughter, some tears - what more could you want? Shoutout to People Magazine for the recommendation!
This book kind of solidifies what I already knew: I would NEVER want to be a teacher, and teachers are underappreciated heroes. When things got rough for Shannon, who seems so personally and professionally lovely, I could barely handle it. When she developed fantastic relationships with students or got a meaningful course evaluation, my heart soared for her! I'd definitely love to have her as a professor.
This was also good timing for me. Going to school during COVID, it's easy to blame professors for everything that doesn't go smoothly, but they're struggling, too. I appreciated any part where Shannon admitted how much she loves her students/jobs, but that it's not up to her to dedicate her life wholly to raising them or anything like that. Almost makes me regret the scathing course eval I just submitted...
This was just an entertaining, sometimes emotional portrait of a teacher. A little laughter, some tears - what more could you want? Shoutout to People Magazine for the recommendation!
March 8, 2022
I want to like this more than I do. It's not bad, but it's just not very focused. Parts are funny, and it gets points for honest introspection, but the model of loosely connected serious essays and listicles and humorous essays is never really terrible coherent, and this is no exception. A lot, though not all, of the humor is the kind you'll see coming from a mile away. It's perfectly fine, but not a standout.
October 31, 2020
Very cute, and accurate, stories about being a teacher and the culture of students and staff. Often times found myself laughing out loud and going, yep been there!
April 18, 2022
As a fellow teacher of ALL the ages and stages, I could relate to so much of this book ❤️
August 8, 2023
Everybody should read this…. Literally. Everyone.
January 19, 2025
3.5 stars
Reed has worked as a teacher from preschool to college-age students. I appreciate her sharing her learning in this memoir in essays. As we are all on our own journeys on systemic racism, I appreciated her sharing her journey. Sometimes she comes across as celebrating and applauding herself for being on the journey behind a very thin veil of self deprecation, which I had mixed feelings about.
There was an essay “Paulie” that I had some trouble with.
Otherwise, true reflections of being a teacher with sometimes forced wittiness.
Reed has worked as a teacher from preschool to college-age students. I appreciate her sharing her learning in this memoir in essays. As we are all on our own journeys on systemic racism, I appreciated her sharing her journey. Sometimes she comes across as celebrating and applauding herself for being on the journey behind a very thin veil of self deprecation, which I had mixed feelings about.
There was an essay “Paulie” that I had some trouble with.
Otherwise, true reflections of being a teacher with sometimes forced wittiness.
September 21, 2022
This book has left me with an appreciation of my professor, teachers, and parents who have cheered me on and encouraged me even when I was too worried about the grade to notice my own growth and development. I wish I could go back in high school and college and thank my teachers and professors for trudging through long essays that would ultimately end with me asking “why.”
This book is also incredibly hilarious for anyone who works with kids. I would highly recommend!
This book is also incredibly hilarious for anyone who works with kids. I would highly recommend!
March 13, 2022
After a two break from teaching, this book brought me right back in the best way! Reed makes the classroom come alive and makes you rethink your own mistakes and meaningful moments with students.
August 31, 2020
Thank you Netgalley for providing me a copy.
I do not have much thoughts about this book, other than the fact that I do not love it. As a black educator I find myself unable to relate and feel seen in this book. This book oozes as of it was written by a white woman, and it probably is. Will I give this book a chance for others, yes but it is a no for me. I ended up DNFing this book about halfway through.
I do not have much thoughts about this book, other than the fact that I do not love it. As a black educator I find myself unable to relate and feel seen in this book. This book oozes as of it was written by a white woman, and it probably is. Will I give this book a chance for others, yes but it is a no for me. I ended up DNFing this book about halfway through.
July 25, 2020
Had a few nuggets of humor, but overall was just disappointing.
February 25, 2021
This was fine.
March 7, 2024
Parts of the book made me feel heard. Parts I couldn't relate to. I tried to take notes of things that resonated the most with me. If the book could have been a 2 part book, with the first on younger grades, and then the 2nd on high school and college teaching, I'd score higher. Not author's fault. I just couldn't relate.
So far (1/3 of the way into the book), I like Reed's other book a lot more. Maybe it is that I just recently finished Why We Read (which I loved because she talked about the literature I love, have read, or teach), and I felt like there was just too much repetition, or things I knew, in this book.
Also, as far as I am into the book, I feel like I should be reading the book in order, but preschool and elementary school teaching are not my thing. I love kids, but I love teaching high school students, so I felt like I am slogging through the earlier parts and Reed's time in preschool just to get to the high school parts. And the title - does it really represent all grades? I wanted to hear about teachers' lounge conversations and the arguments over not giving A's more than a stream of consciousness about cooking with preschoolers.
The author did make me laugh with her sarcasm, and I felt like I was watching Abbott Elementary at some parts of the book, because Reed so "spot-on" characterizes students - their interesting names, the way they obsess over a book or a new idea, the way they disappear....
By end of book: many parts were relatable - the way some parents talked to me as a teacher of their teenager and how most of the time I was wrong, interesting Christmas gifts, parent teacher conference night....
I loved the alphabet list of Reed's experience, especially understanding how far she had to go to school, and how early she woke up. Kept my interest. And I could relate so much to not being stern/being stern once cuz you can only lose your mind (S&%$) once, because then students lose respect in you.
The teachers can be a team. Sounds lovely and wishful.
Students protected each other and teacher. I loved this part of her story.
No teacher ever just gets to teach. There’s always a duty or club or more responsibility. I get that.
Second class questions - they asked this? Did you want to know? Compare classes - peer pressure works when a teacher says "the 2nd class" or "the other class" was behaved or understood the work. Like I did with research papers and plagiarism - it just takes one example to scare or inspire a group.
The Pauline chapter- tough tough kid but how do you beat the system? How do you get support? Follow IEP procedure? When principal doesn’t support you?
Lunch - not getting to eat because constant interruptions - so true. Teachers work constantly.
The student who was shot at? I was so sad. Maybe this came on a tough day for me - suicide prevention and awareness for our students and their friends/how they can identify signs or danger.
College part: Scheduling times with professor to meet - so tough. Adjunct - ya. I wonder if my own kids experience that, just trying to help but always having the odds against them. The joy of teaching college: we can help them with life lessons and give grace. Our college students struggle with anxiety/the drive to be perfect.
Taught - things that should be taught (I wholeheartedly agree): how to do taxes, how to change a tire, how to change the oil in the car, how to cook pasta or a good steak, personal finance, how to read a map, how to survive in the woods, how to apply for college.
Have I ever thought about the things I've taught my students that have nothing to do with English? Or the things that my students taught me? GRIT, style, cool music, things I shouldn't say, technology, that worksheets are just busy work....
Good advice: there's really no reason to force students to work together in groups if they hate it, and that deadlines can be negotiable.
FIND MEANING in what I do, whether or not it was God's calling or something else. Even if teaching isn't a divine calling, can I find meaning in days of subbing or editing?
If you really want to freak students out, walk around with a clipboard. Even if there is nothing on the clipboard, pretend you are writing.
Let students hand work in early.
If you celebrate one birthday, celebrate all.
Ask before hugging.
At graduation, tell parents their child was a delight, no matter what.
So far (1/3 of the way into the book), I like Reed's other book a lot more. Maybe it is that I just recently finished Why We Read (which I loved because she talked about the literature I love, have read, or teach), and I felt like there was just too much repetition, or things I knew, in this book.
Also, as far as I am into the book, I feel like I should be reading the book in order, but preschool and elementary school teaching are not my thing. I love kids, but I love teaching high school students, so I felt like I am slogging through the earlier parts and Reed's time in preschool just to get to the high school parts. And the title - does it really represent all grades? I wanted to hear about teachers' lounge conversations and the arguments over not giving A's more than a stream of consciousness about cooking with preschoolers.
The author did make me laugh with her sarcasm, and I felt like I was watching Abbott Elementary at some parts of the book, because Reed so "spot-on" characterizes students - their interesting names, the way they obsess over a book or a new idea, the way they disappear....
By end of book: many parts were relatable - the way some parents talked to me as a teacher of their teenager and how most of the time I was wrong, interesting Christmas gifts, parent teacher conference night....
I loved the alphabet list of Reed's experience, especially understanding how far she had to go to school, and how early she woke up. Kept my interest. And I could relate so much to not being stern/being stern once cuz you can only lose your mind (S&%$) once, because then students lose respect in you.
The teachers can be a team. Sounds lovely and wishful.
Students protected each other and teacher. I loved this part of her story.
No teacher ever just gets to teach. There’s always a duty or club or more responsibility. I get that.
Second class questions - they asked this? Did you want to know? Compare classes - peer pressure works when a teacher says "the 2nd class" or "the other class" was behaved or understood the work. Like I did with research papers and plagiarism - it just takes one example to scare or inspire a group.
The Pauline chapter- tough tough kid but how do you beat the system? How do you get support? Follow IEP procedure? When principal doesn’t support you?
Lunch - not getting to eat because constant interruptions - so true. Teachers work constantly.
The student who was shot at? I was so sad. Maybe this came on a tough day for me - suicide prevention and awareness for our students and their friends/how they can identify signs or danger.
College part: Scheduling times with professor to meet - so tough. Adjunct - ya. I wonder if my own kids experience that, just trying to help but always having the odds against them. The joy of teaching college: we can help them with life lessons and give grace. Our college students struggle with anxiety/the drive to be perfect.
Taught - things that should be taught (I wholeheartedly agree): how to do taxes, how to change a tire, how to change the oil in the car, how to cook pasta or a good steak, personal finance, how to read a map, how to survive in the woods, how to apply for college.
Have I ever thought about the things I've taught my students that have nothing to do with English? Or the things that my students taught me? GRIT, style, cool music, things I shouldn't say, technology, that worksheets are just busy work....
Good advice: there's really no reason to force students to work together in groups if they hate it, and that deadlines can be negotiable.
FIND MEANING in what I do, whether or not it was God's calling or something else. Even if teaching isn't a divine calling, can I find meaning in days of subbing or editing?
If you really want to freak students out, walk around with a clipboard. Even if there is nothing on the clipboard, pretend you are writing.
Let students hand work in early.
If you celebrate one birthday, celebrate all.
Ask before hugging.
At graduation, tell parents their child was a delight, no matter what.
September 20, 2020
The lovingly crafted essays in WHY DID I GET A B? touch on a range of emotions ("All the feels" as my students might say) and made me yearn to be back in the classroom, experiencing the highs and lows that make it such a unique and challenging career. Particularly in this moment, this book is not only about teaching, but what it means to connect with and care about others.
The introduction drops the reader into one of the moments teachers most fear: what happens when your students turn on you? We're with Reed as she cries alone on her classroom floor. It's the first glimpse of a profession that demands a level of vulnerability, and is, as Reed writes, “an effective way to get your heart thoroughly broken on the regular.”
Once that seed is planted, the essays begin at the beginning—of this author’s career as well as the educational journey—in a preschool classroom. Like the children themselves, these early essays are full of heart, but also heartbreaking in their vulnerability, as in “All Your Children Are Broken.” While this is a book by a teacher, it isn’t exclusively for teachers, and I hope well-heeled parents will read this essay and see themselves in it, and view their children more clearly too.
Interspersed among the essays that trace Reed’s career arc and growth as an educator are humor pieces—the author’s nod to the fact that she doesn’t take herself too seriously, and we shouldn’t either. (Prior to this, her first book, Reed established herself as a humorist, writing for McSweeney's, BuzzFeed, and the New Yorker, among others.) Working with children is hard and important, but it’s also really funny and absurdist at times, and the moments of satire reflect that pathos. The game show conceit of “It’s Your Twenty Minute Lunch Period,” in which a teacher desperately tries to forgo all distractions and actually eat her midday meal, made me laugh particularly hard.
The high school essays are well-timed for a moment in which many Americans are demanding we examine and dismantle systemic racism. Reed is refreshingly honest about how she felt as a white woman teaching predominantly Black students. She admits her early prejudice: how she was scared to ride the bus into South Brooklyn, scared of the students who didn't look like her. But as any good teacher and human would, she allows the experience to change her and broaden her views--but not, thank goodness, in a epiphanic or White Savior-y kind of way. Reed understands, and makes clear to the reader, that even a fleet of well-meaning and dedicated teachers aren't enough to fix troubled schools stymied by a racist system, ineffectual and at times malignant administration, as well as the outside forces of poverty and violence. And while there are success stories to be found, Reed knows further barriers await those students who graduate and head off to college.
College is the next stop for Reed as well, as she pursues her graduate degree and earns a teaching assistantship. By now she is a veteran teacher, and feels comfortable in a classroom. But the job is never easy, as evidenced in "I See You," an ode to those students who are capable of the work yet are clearly troubled, and disappear from the classroom one day, never to be heard from or seen again. Hovering over these names in the gradebook, Reed worries about where these students have gone, if they're okay, and if anything could have been done to keep them in class.
Among the keen-eyed observations and knowing humor about students navigating near-adulthood is a piece that offers a glimpse into the broken modern college system. "On Adjuncting," exposes how the predominance of adjunct employment is not only damaging to those who hold the positions, but to students as well. (Once again, I hope parents take note. Advocating for better conditions for teachers and students shouldn't stop in K - 12.)
I read the book at the same time as my mother, also a teacher, and we went back and forth over text with our reactions. In a time of isolation, WHY DID I GET A B? gave me the feeling of connection: to my mother, to good teachers everywhere, and to all the students I've had over the years. I hope they're finding their way in the world, I hope they're okay, and yes, I do miss (most of) them when they're gone.
The introduction drops the reader into one of the moments teachers most fear: what happens when your students turn on you? We're with Reed as she cries alone on her classroom floor. It's the first glimpse of a profession that demands a level of vulnerability, and is, as Reed writes, “an effective way to get your heart thoroughly broken on the regular.”
Once that seed is planted, the essays begin at the beginning—of this author’s career as well as the educational journey—in a preschool classroom. Like the children themselves, these early essays are full of heart, but also heartbreaking in their vulnerability, as in “All Your Children Are Broken.” While this is a book by a teacher, it isn’t exclusively for teachers, and I hope well-heeled parents will read this essay and see themselves in it, and view their children more clearly too.
Interspersed among the essays that trace Reed’s career arc and growth as an educator are humor pieces—the author’s nod to the fact that she doesn’t take herself too seriously, and we shouldn’t either. (Prior to this, her first book, Reed established herself as a humorist, writing for McSweeney's, BuzzFeed, and the New Yorker, among others.) Working with children is hard and important, but it’s also really funny and absurdist at times, and the moments of satire reflect that pathos. The game show conceit of “It’s Your Twenty Minute Lunch Period,” in which a teacher desperately tries to forgo all distractions and actually eat her midday meal, made me laugh particularly hard.
The high school essays are well-timed for a moment in which many Americans are demanding we examine and dismantle systemic racism. Reed is refreshingly honest about how she felt as a white woman teaching predominantly Black students. She admits her early prejudice: how she was scared to ride the bus into South Brooklyn, scared of the students who didn't look like her. But as any good teacher and human would, she allows the experience to change her and broaden her views--but not, thank goodness, in a epiphanic or White Savior-y kind of way. Reed understands, and makes clear to the reader, that even a fleet of well-meaning and dedicated teachers aren't enough to fix troubled schools stymied by a racist system, ineffectual and at times malignant administration, as well as the outside forces of poverty and violence. And while there are success stories to be found, Reed knows further barriers await those students who graduate and head off to college.
College is the next stop for Reed as well, as she pursues her graduate degree and earns a teaching assistantship. By now she is a veteran teacher, and feels comfortable in a classroom. But the job is never easy, as evidenced in "I See You," an ode to those students who are capable of the work yet are clearly troubled, and disappear from the classroom one day, never to be heard from or seen again. Hovering over these names in the gradebook, Reed worries about where these students have gone, if they're okay, and if anything could have been done to keep them in class.
Among the keen-eyed observations and knowing humor about students navigating near-adulthood is a piece that offers a glimpse into the broken modern college system. "On Adjuncting," exposes how the predominance of adjunct employment is not only damaging to those who hold the positions, but to students as well. (Once again, I hope parents take note. Advocating for better conditions for teachers and students shouldn't stop in K - 12.)
I read the book at the same time as my mother, also a teacher, and we went back and forth over text with our reactions. In a time of isolation, WHY DID I GET A B? gave me the feeling of connection: to my mother, to good teachers everywhere, and to all the students I've had over the years. I hope they're finding their way in the world, I hope they're okay, and yes, I do miss (most of) them when they're gone.
September 6, 2020
3.5 ⭐️
I come from a family of educators. And despite always insisting that I did not want to follow in their footsteps, I surprised myself a few years ago when I realized that I, too, loved to teach. Our educational settings may be a little different (my mum is an elementary school principal, my sister is a special educator, my grandma was a high school theater teacher - while I am training to be a university professor), our reasons for being drawn to these careers are similar: a love of sharing knowledge with others, a desire to help others succeed in their journeys, and a profound longing to see education reform that values diverse experiences and perspectives and dismantles ableist, classist, sexist, and racist curricula and teaching assessment standards.
Shannon Reed acutely captures the rollercoaster of emotions embroiled in a life of teaching. At times hilarious, while at others poignant, or challenging, or disheartening, Reed doesn’t linger on just the amusing or enjoyable aspects of the job, but reflects upon the way prejudice leaks into our school systems and our hearts. Through humor, sardonic wit, and a hearty dose of real-talk, she questions how educators - as well as educational institutions - can do better.
Something that I keep thinking about while I read (and I fully realize my own background as a disabled scholar/educator and disability justice advocate in educational spaces informs my reading of this) is that the author often writes rather reductively about disability (regarding student needs, behaviors, absences etc). At one point she argues that a disabled student ultimately belongs in a special needs classroom, rather than considering how “mainstream” classrooms remain inaccessible and inflexible in catering for diverse needs. (My desire for reform doesn’t replace the need for special educators or additional personnel/technological/professional support, but it shifts the emphasis away from segregation and towards inclusion.) At another point, she states that a student taught her “how to continue to live your life despite a chronic illness” - as if longterm illness and disability are always extraneous to who someone is and must be overcome in order to live a full or fulfilling life. I truly believe as a teacher, Reed is probably highly responsive to the needs of her students, but her framing of disability through the book left a somewhat bad taste in my mouth.
(On a completely unrelated note: I desperately want to watch Reed’s adjunct retelling of Pitch Perfect 2!)
I come from a family of educators. And despite always insisting that I did not want to follow in their footsteps, I surprised myself a few years ago when I realized that I, too, loved to teach. Our educational settings may be a little different (my mum is an elementary school principal, my sister is a special educator, my grandma was a high school theater teacher - while I am training to be a university professor), our reasons for being drawn to these careers are similar: a love of sharing knowledge with others, a desire to help others succeed in their journeys, and a profound longing to see education reform that values diverse experiences and perspectives and dismantles ableist, classist, sexist, and racist curricula and teaching assessment standards.
Shannon Reed acutely captures the rollercoaster of emotions embroiled in a life of teaching. At times hilarious, while at others poignant, or challenging, or disheartening, Reed doesn’t linger on just the amusing or enjoyable aspects of the job, but reflects upon the way prejudice leaks into our school systems and our hearts. Through humor, sardonic wit, and a hearty dose of real-talk, she questions how educators - as well as educational institutions - can do better.
Something that I keep thinking about while I read (and I fully realize my own background as a disabled scholar/educator and disability justice advocate in educational spaces informs my reading of this) is that the author often writes rather reductively about disability (regarding student needs, behaviors, absences etc). At one point she argues that a disabled student ultimately belongs in a special needs classroom, rather than considering how “mainstream” classrooms remain inaccessible and inflexible in catering for diverse needs. (My desire for reform doesn’t replace the need for special educators or additional personnel/technological/professional support, but it shifts the emphasis away from segregation and towards inclusion.) At another point, she states that a student taught her “how to continue to live your life despite a chronic illness” - as if longterm illness and disability are always extraneous to who someone is and must be overcome in order to live a full or fulfilling life. I truly believe as a teacher, Reed is probably highly responsive to the needs of her students, but her framing of disability through the book left a somewhat bad taste in my mouth.
(On a completely unrelated note: I desperately want to watch Reed’s adjunct retelling of Pitch Perfect 2!)
August 2, 2020
I loved this book celebrating teachers and learners at the pre-school, high school, and college levels. Both the essays, more serious and based on the author's experiences, and the humorous asides, derived from those experiences, made me appreciate once again the joys and challenges of classroom teaching. Her book evokes particular poignancy during this time when face-to-face teaching and learning are limited, at best.
The worst feature of this book is its subtitle, "And Other Mysteries We're Discussing in the Faculty Lounge." This subtitle implies that we'll be reading about idle, perhaps even salacious, gossip about students, a sort of expose about student and faculty lives. No, no, no! That's not even close to the content of this book, the primary title of which refers to a real concern about how a student and teacher can work together on improving the student's writing, a process repeated a million times a year in schools and colleges. I don't know who suggested the subtitle, but it's awful.
And although I laughed at the comment about A Separate Peace being the whitest book in the curriculum, making even Pride and Prejudice seem like a night at the Apollo, one could list with A Separate Peace--a novel I loved as a 10th grader and loved teaching in my career--The Catcher in the Rye and many other canonical "white" books. The takeaway: expand the canon, a mission throughout my career.
Having taught at all three educational levels the author highlights, I felt a kinship with her and applaud her articulating many of my own feelings about this noblest of professions.
The worst feature of this book is its subtitle, "And Other Mysteries We're Discussing in the Faculty Lounge." This subtitle implies that we'll be reading about idle, perhaps even salacious, gossip about students, a sort of expose about student and faculty lives. No, no, no! That's not even close to the content of this book, the primary title of which refers to a real concern about how a student and teacher can work together on improving the student's writing, a process repeated a million times a year in schools and colleges. I don't know who suggested the subtitle, but it's awful.
And although I laughed at the comment about A Separate Peace being the whitest book in the curriculum, making even Pride and Prejudice seem like a night at the Apollo, one could list with A Separate Peace--a novel I loved as a 10th grader and loved teaching in my career--The Catcher in the Rye and many other canonical "white" books. The takeaway: expand the canon, a mission throughout my career.
Having taught at all three educational levels the author highlights, I felt a kinship with her and applaud her articulating many of my own feelings about this noblest of professions.
July 10, 2020
There is a poignant moment in the Broadway hit, “Hamilton”, when Aaron Burr sings,
Death doesn’t discriminate
Between the sinners
And the saints
It takes and it takes and it takes
And we keep living anyway
We rise and we fall
And we break
And we make our mistakes
And if there’s a reason I’m still alive...
I’m willing to wait for it
I’m willing to wait for it.”
It just may be a fitting summation of Shannon Reed’s career thus far. Her book deals with life and with death and with the the immense challenges of teaching. Yes! her book is a beautiful love letter to teachers. Yes! her book is a testament to perseverance. Yes! her book is funny, and heartbreaking, and truthful, and for every soon to be teacher or just retired professor. Yes! gift this book to every teacher you know.
There is also a hidden audience for this book because it is also a book about vocation, and the way that life unfolds for anyone asking “What do I want to be when I grow up?” In short, buy this book, inform your library to keep a copy on its shelf. Shannon had to wait for her talents to be seen in the form of her first published book. Thankfully, we don’t have to wait. Enjoy!
Death doesn’t discriminate
Between the sinners
And the saints
It takes and it takes and it takes
And we keep living anyway
We rise and we fall
And we break
And we make our mistakes
And if there’s a reason I’m still alive...
I’m willing to wait for it
I’m willing to wait for it.”
It just may be a fitting summation of Shannon Reed’s career thus far. Her book deals with life and with death and with the the immense challenges of teaching. Yes! her book is a beautiful love letter to teachers. Yes! her book is a testament to perseverance. Yes! her book is funny, and heartbreaking, and truthful, and for every soon to be teacher or just retired professor. Yes! gift this book to every teacher you know.
There is also a hidden audience for this book because it is also a book about vocation, and the way that life unfolds for anyone asking “What do I want to be when I grow up?” In short, buy this book, inform your library to keep a copy on its shelf. Shannon had to wait for her talents to be seen in the form of her first published book. Thankfully, we don’t have to wait. Enjoy!
December 23, 2023
Taking what she believed to be a temporary job as a preschool teacher set Shannon Reed on a career path she never imagined for herself. Instead, she found that she truly enjoyed the experience of seeing little ones' faces light up when they grasped what she was teaching. Their cuteness and hugs made up for a lot of daily grinds. Eventually Shannon moved on to elementary school, middle school and, her biggest challenge, high school. Actually the biggest challenge was the administrative staff at the high schools in which she worked. Lack of consistency, not backing the teachers and insistence on outrageous rules were the administrators' way of controlling what was clearly out of their control. I suppose it makes this book sound like a downer but it is funny, insightful and chock-full of true stories (the names have been changed to protect the innocent) from Shannon's career as an educator. Some of the stories are laugh-out-loud hilarious and a few, especially the murder of a student outside the school building, are heartbreaking. Shannon eventually moved on to teaching writing classes to college students and continuing with her own writing career.
December 9, 2020
I started reading this book right before the election and rationed it out one or two chapters a night to end my days on something positive and meaningful...it carried me through all of that and more in this late 2020 cocktail of struggle, and right on past finals week (I am a professor too, and full disclosure, lucky to be a colleague of Shannon). The writing is witty and charming and honestly reflective—pieces with jokes that lit my brain up (I’m squarely in the target demo, I think) neighbor pieces that look back at early teaching experiences with poignant insights yielded by time and our current cultural moment. At the end of the hardest, most demoralizing term of my teaching career, this book reminded me of how lucky I am to do this job, how difficulties eventually pass and make us better teachers, how education, albeit a system rife with problems, is collective and crucial work. Joy and gratitude are no small feat right now, and this book delivers them in a way that makes me want to get a copy for every teacher I know.
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