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A review by saarahnina
I Wish My Teacher Knew: How One Question Can Change Everything for Our Kids by Kyle Schwartz
3.0
Umm
I felt that this book overly stresses the role of teachers in a child's life, that I can't help but ask: can't our parents be our teachers too? It isn't until much later that she acknowledges this: 'Family plays an essential role in all children’s lives and therefore families, in all their forms, need to be included in every classroom.'"
....But there were other parts I did like the idea of, for example pooling together money, from parent's voluntary donations, in order to buy individuals their classroom resources. But of course, these aren't very 'new' ideas. Schwartz simply collates all these different techniques, tips, stories, as well as case studies and data figures to create a more conscise guide..
I can't diminish the credibility of her teaching, it's just that I found her approach a little too faulty. She writes: 'After the new student completes the task, make sure to show your gratitude. Focus your praise on how the student has made a contribution to the community. You might say, “Thank goodness you’re here, we need someone kind like you in our class to help hold the door for us.”Or, “It’s so great that you’re tall. We needed someone to reach that cabinet.”It might seem simple, but by asking a new student to do something helpful you will transform a child'.
To me, this seemed so very ridiculous, insincere, and wrong- sure, it's okay for us to tell a child he is only useful to us because of his/her height! And it makes the rest of the class feel incompetent, and in the case of the latter example:- unkind, and harsh. I can't imagine Schwartz actually performing this technique successfully and so, I conclude that it was just due to a lack of clarity in her written expression.
This book is heavily factual, so I can't label it to have been an entertaining read, nor can I say it was a hopeful read. It was all too easy to get lost in the figures and statistics: I found that the numerical data included detracted my attention away from the overall message.
I also had an issue with the formatting, it was terrible: I was not able to see all the pictures of the childrens' notes and those I did see were all repeats, or unclear
I received this through NetGalley.
I felt that this book overly stresses the role of teachers in a child's life, that I can't help but ask: can't our parents be our teachers too? It isn't until much later that she acknowledges this: 'Family plays an essential role in all children’s lives and therefore families, in all their forms, need to be included in every classroom.'"
....But there were other parts I did like the idea of, for example pooling together money, from parent's voluntary donations, in order to buy individuals their classroom resources. But of course, these aren't very 'new' ideas. Schwartz simply collates all these different techniques, tips, stories, as well as case studies and data figures to create a more conscise guide..
I can't diminish the credibility of her teaching, it's just that I found her approach a little too faulty. She writes: 'After the new student completes the task, make sure to show your gratitude. Focus your praise on how the student has made a contribution to the community. You might say, “Thank goodness you’re here, we need someone kind like you in our class to help hold the door for us.”Or, “It’s so great that you’re tall. We needed someone to reach that cabinet.”It might seem simple, but by asking a new student to do something helpful you will transform a child'.
To me, this seemed so very ridiculous, insincere, and wrong- sure, it's okay for us to tell a child he is only useful to us because of his/her height! And it makes the rest of the class feel incompetent, and in the case of the latter example:- unkind, and harsh. I can't imagine Schwartz actually performing this technique successfully and so, I conclude that it was just due to a lack of clarity in her written expression.
This book is heavily factual, so I can't label it to have been an entertaining read, nor can I say it was a hopeful read. It was all too easy to get lost in the figures and statistics: I found that the numerical data included detracted my attention away from the overall message.
I also had an issue with the formatting, it was terrible: I was not able to see all the pictures of the childrens' notes and those I did see were all repeats, or unclear
I received this through NetGalley.