Play Book Tag discussion

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.

Great review Ellen. This sounds like it provides a perspective we don’t often read about. The title is a question a heard a lot when I first started teaching. I was prepared to explain why someone got a C or D, but I heard more often from students who were hoping for an A. I think the C and D students were just glad they passed.