What every urban teacher should know could take years of experience and plenty of mistakes, discouragement, and frustrations along the way. Or it could simply mean learning from other teachers who have been there, done that, and succeeded. Veteran teacher Dave Brown has set out to make the lives of new urban teachers easier by sharing the stories of thirteen successful urban educators from grades one through twelve. These teachers provide practical advice on everything from effective instructional strategies, gaining students' cooperation, and managing a classroom, to developing curricula that match the interests and academic levels of the students they serve.
Sensitive to the day-to-day challenges of urban teaching, Brown takes a micro perspective on its practical aspects so that novice teachers have a clear picture of how to establish a comfortable learning environment from the start-and how to maintain it.
Integrating these stories into every chapter, Brown addresses particular pedagogical and philosophical concerns. He adds his own voice too by describing specific tactics for:
assisting students who are reading below grade level
addressing differences in ability
fitting in with veteran faculty
satisfying local administrators
handling the pressure of standards.
For urban teachers, this book will renew the joys of teaching in diverse and challenging environments and reinforce the notions that brought them to teaching in the first place, how promising, exciting, and personally and professionally satisfying urban teaching can be.
