Among Schoolchildren Book Report Essay, Research Paper

Tracy Kidder wrote a wonderful experience, not a book, but an experience. An experience of why many of my peers further their education in order to serve the world with their inexplicable knowledge and warmth. There is an unsaid feeling many of our hearts that draws us near to an occupation in education. We are captured by the lives of the little guys and drawn to them to help them grow physically and mentally. Any person who is seeking an occupation in education should seriously consider reading this book. Holyoke, Massachusetts is only one town in a million like it. A town consisting of many lower to middle class citizens with children who are, in most cases, poorly behaved and highly unmotivated when it comes to anything besides television and fighting. Of course, as in any school, there are a few exceptions but even the exceptions can tend to cause problems among classmates or egg classmates on when they are causing problems. The students in Kelly School live up to all of their many stereotypes. As I began the book I was quite intrigued by the diversity and instant problems given to Mrs. Zajac from all of the students. Not just one or two students but all of the students caused problems at Kelly School. Some in subtle ways and others, such as Clarence, in very noticeable and quite rude ways. The students, as I stated in the previous paragraph there were many problems caused by the high motivation from the students to learn and become good students on their own. They wanted the teachers to motivate them and they expected to come to school and learn from simply being present. Many of the students came to school so tired from watching television so late at night that they could hardly keep their eyes open during class. Clarence even admitted to staying up all hours of the night to watch television and then the entire class began to discuss a movie that had ended near midnight. These are fifth grade students, ten and eleven year olds, staying up until midnight watching movies with content of which most adults know may be inappropriate for many students. There are so many things to say about the students of Kelly School it would be impossible to list all of them. As a teacher it would be very difficult to work with. From reading this book I have gained a whole new appreciation from teachers. Really, not only from this book but also from my experiences thus far this January I have gained a greater respect for my, soon to be, colleagues. I have an immense amount of respect for Chris Zajac for so many reasons. One is the great deal of patience that she has with, frankly, mouthy, bossy, and stinky students. Mrs. Zajac never failed to amaze me with her profound respect for her students regardless of their lack or respect for her. She seldom raised her voice at a student and if she did it was almost certainly Clarence, whom probably deserved it. From the book I would have to say that if you were a co-worker of Mrs. Zajac you either loved her for loving her job of hated her for working too hard at it and making you look bad. Mrs. Zajac truly loved her job and there is no way one could miss that fact. I do not know if I really have a good enough feel of the school in its entirety to comment on it but I would say it is like most schools at any level, there are some of who love their job and their students and then there are those who are doing it simply for the money and wish they could rip the heads off those little twits who come in their room everyday. If I were to consider teaching at Holyoke there would have to be many things explained to me because I don t know if I could step into an environment such as that without any prier experience. School has changed so much since I went to school and I am really not old.

There is no way one could say Mrs. Zajac does not love her job. She is willing to spend countless days after school with her students in an attempt to reach them. There is always a chance is her motto. She would do anything, within reason, in order to keep a student of hers from going in the wrong direction with their development. As many of the students in her class suggest, Mrs. Zajac has inexplicable classroom management skills. The mere presence of her suggests for students to calm down and act as civilized beings. Mrs. Zajac does not forget about her students who are less endowed with natural knowledge but tries to keep them involved in any way possible. The unlimited possibilities of the talent of Chris should suggest to any teacher that she is a model of her profession and should be commended as one. She thought, So much is out of your control. So much! How true is this quote by Mrs. Zajac, there is nothing that she experienced that is not encompassed by this one single quote in one way or another. Mrs. Zajac attempted many times to do things that she could not finish herself but that relied on student and/or parent interaction to complete tasks. Everyday Mrs. Zajac would assign homework for her students and them finishing that work was out of her hands, of course she could discipline them if they did not do it but often the students did not care if they must stay after school. With Clarence, and other students, she instituted plans to increase the preparation of the students in class by sending home notes for the parents to sign saying the students had finished their homework. But, aside, from all of the everyday school things that have to do with learning there is one thing that is only controlled by the students and their parents. The yearn to learn. Many students did not care to learn; their first priority was watching television, which made them too tired to pay attention in class. Things like this cannot be controlled by a teacher in any way. Parents are the only people who can, in a sense, have any control over the education of children. Reading one experience such as this can has taught me a great deal but I still have a great deal to learn from future experiences. Mrs. Zajac can be a learning tool for any perspective teacher as I have previously stated. She deals, in her classroom, with two of the most important conflicts teachers deal with today: classroom diversity and problem children. We all began to feel a sense of love for Clarence even though there was a great deal of anger between he and Chris. I will take a great deal of knowledge on how to deal with children such as Clarence in my own experiences. Clarence is quite extreme with the problems he causes in the classroom and Chris was able to almost always keep her cool and not explode on the boy. Secondly is diversity in the classroom, Chris has a great deal of diversity in classroom but really never tries to make it into an issue. She pairs people who are not of the same race together. In my opinion that is something that is very important. You need to act, as a teacher, as if there is no difference between students at such a young age and help to grow their relationships through group work.There are so many things to talk about with Mrs. Zajac and Kelly School it is nearly impossible to do so in a four-page report. I have tried my best to include the most important factors of my learning experience through Chris Zajac and her youngsters at Kelly School. The knowledge that I have gained through reading this experience will never leave me, I am sure of it.

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