Rafe EsquithReseñas

Rafe Esquith is a brilliant teacher and an incredibly hard-working public servant, but despite all that, he comes off as a total (excuse my language) asshole. The vitriol! The narcissism! The disdainful, self-righteous mockery of anyone who doesn't share his talents and beliefs!

This is not what I expected from Mr. Esquith. And, to be fair, in the book he acknowledges that he's not perfect and still strives to be kind to others. I'd like to think that this, his first book, was a kind of exorcism of his frustrations, and that he has since let go of some of his anger and spite. I hope he's made a lot of money and isn't struggling so much financially, because I'm well aware of how financial struggle can wear away your peace of mind and make you feel like the world is against you. Esquith certainly seems to believe that even some of the people who believe in him are only interested in wasting his time or getting in his way.

But I'm not telling you skip this book. In reading it, try to do something I think Rafe Esquith didn't do in writing it: give him the benefit of the doubt and trust that, even though his attitude can be appalling, he still has good ideas and is worth listening to.

I found this book really inspirational when I was in a slump while earning my teacher certification. Esquith is living proof that kids in at-risk environments don't have to suffer in their education--it just requires sweat and dedication. It would be hard to believe his accomplishments over the years if I didn't, well, believe him. If I can be half as successful in the classroom as he is, I will be a very fortunate teacher. Watch The Hobart Shakespeareans for a nice complement to this book.

This was pretty much a There Are No Shortcuts Part II...which I certainly welcomed, and Esquith goes into more detail about his unique and exhausting teaching methods. My only hesitation after reading the two books and watching The Hobart Shakespeareans is that he, at times, makes petty comments about his colleagues who fail where he succeeds. He seems to want to give his students this "I'm the only person who will care about you" mentality. Maybe it's just me (I'm often prone to conspiracy theory interpretations)--I can see where this may come from, but it seems like he could be a bit more diplomatic, rise above it a little better than the people he appears to put down. Looking past this, Esquith's efforts nevertheless prove as an example of how creative the classroom can be if we, as teachers, are willing to take it there.

Thanks for the good work you have done for the kids, Rafe. And thanks for sharing how you have done that. What works and what doesn't. This is not just the must read for all the teachers, I would suggest the must read for parents as well.

Rafe's got plently of good ideas, but is unbearably arrogant. Every chapter he manages to talk shit on "other teachers" and "other classes." He does not say one good thing about any educator other than himself in this book. I doubt this guy is too popular among his peers.

"I trust my students. It's everyone else I don't trust." Over and over and over.

I had to read this book for my first education course I took in college and I absolutely loved it! This book had so many funny and honest examples of what it is like to teach and working in classrooms now, I have thought of this book many times. Great read overall!

BRILLIANT
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I really had a hard time relating to this teacher. I feel he thinks he is better than everyone else. I understand the need to keep down television time, but to be upset that there is a big screen at a sporting event seemed a little stupid to me. He had great seats and those of us that sit in the nose bleed area it is nice to be able to look on the screen and see what we might have missed. He also made a big deal about movies and seemed to think his taste in movies is the best. I really didn't care for some of the choices for movies to show his students were. I did like what he does with giving the students extra time and attention. I guess I just don't understand his other ideas on television and movies.

I thought this was a pretty good book. I really didn't agree with all of his suggests, but I did agree with most and figured out that I was doing some of his suggests already. I am not sure if and when I become a teacher I will make my students watch the movies he suggested, but he does have good ideas. Nice read.

This book is about always doing better and never settling as a teacher. It discusses the ways we can educate and guide students is better than ever ways. I think it is a great book, not only for teachers, but for anyone who needs/wants some inspiration in their life to aim high.

Every teacher should teach with the passion Rafe has. He has great ideas which he implements in his 5th grade classroom. He ties all of the subjects together seamlessly and in real world ways. The students genuinely care about what they are doing because it is relevant to them. Don't be off put if you do not teach 5th grade - his ideas are easily adapted to other grade levels. Definitely worth a read for any teacher, new or experienced!

Are you a teacher, too? Or raising kids? Or (oh dear!) both? You should read master teacher Rafe Esquith's new book, Lighting Their Fires. Have you almost given up (in despair) your hope of raising and teaching children who are respectful, hard-working, and self-motivated learners? Esquith tells it like it is. He shows us a few of his best at a baseball game and showcases their amazing behavior in sharp contrast to other children (oh double-dear!) and adults. You will be moved to try again. Esquith will light your fire so that you can light their fires.

Interesting read. Some ideas I can use in my own room, yet other ideas seem very out of reach unless you want to spend every waking minute with students and school. Since I have my own kids to take care of, that is not of interest to me right now. I give him credit for doing some of the amazing things that he does. I'm sure his kids are better for all of his efforts.

Lighting Their Fires by Rafe Esquith, really should be must reading for parents. Esquith covers many areas that impact kids and families. While many of his subjects are common sense, no brainer ideas that should be covered by parents evidently they are not. What is shocking is how some people treat him at the game with his students. There are many recommendations on books to read and movies to watch with your kids and why they are good to share with your children.½

It's one thing to hear suggestions about becoming a better teacher from administrators who clearly became administrators in a desperate move to escape the classroom, and from outside consultants who are paid to take a cursory look at schools and offer up some changes that will prove lucrative to said outside consultants.

It's another thing to hear thoughts from a man who has given up his life to education. Rafe Esquith. Thirty years in the classroom. Students who return year after year to share their successes. Devoted. Rigorous. Fun. A great teacher.

Yes, I would listen to such a man.

And what does such a man, such a teacher, have to tell us, us real teachers? What is his real talk?

Here's a little. (I'm not going to share too much because, if you like it, you really need to support Rafe and help him save money to buy a new kitchen for his wife. No administrator is ever going to use this book in an inservice; we need to support our own kind, folks.)

You are going to have bad days. (Really? Even Rafe? He tells us, yes.)

Haters. (If you've ever worked in a school, sadly, you know this is true.)

And, most shockingly...Leave some children behind. (Remember: that's RAFE saying this. He does not shy away from truth.)

Go ahead and buy the book. You will not regret it, I think. It will help you. And you will help Rafe's wife get a new kitchen.

I love reading books about how best to educate kids, in part because I care very strongly about the issue, and in part because I like to feel inadequate.

Rafe Esquith, as you may know, was one of the inspirations for the KIPP schools (KIPP stands for The Knowledge Is Power Program). And indeed, he begins this book with the mottos he uses in his classroom - “The Ten Commandments of Room 56” - the first of which is “Our mission: Be nice. Work hard.” This is the mantra adopted by KIPP. [You can read about KIPP magnet schools in Work Hard. Be Nice.: How Two Inspired Teachers Created the Most Promising Schools in America by Jay Mathews, who considers Esquith to be one of the best classroom teachers in the U.S. He is in an excellent position to know: Mathews is an award-winning education columnist and blogger for the Washington Post, and is the author of seven books about education.]

In this book (Esquith has written several others), he explains that he has been trying “to help ten-year-old children see that they can control their own destinies and make their lives extraordinary.” He insists that all kids are not created equal - nevertheless, you can give them the opportunity to be the best they can be.

He wants teachers not to doubt themselves because teaching is a hard job and it takes time to become a “master” teacher. He advises not getting hung up on movie miracle teachers, because this is not real life [except for Rafe, I would add!]. He claims he’s just an “ordinary guy” who persevered until he got good at what he does. He warns there will be plenty of bad times, and adduces examples from his own career.

Best of all, he gives plenty of classroom tips, that I think are useful for parents (and/or grandparents) as well as teachers. After enumerating some of his rules he gives to kids, he stresses the importance of clarifying why to kids, encouraging them to come up with the reasons themselves so they see the logic of the rules. He also stresses the importance of being a role model. How can you expect children to be nice if you aren’t nice to them? Or to be neat, if you or your classroom or your house is sloppy?

Importantly, he tells how he integrates the school system’s requirements into his more interesting lesson plans, and how he explains to students the necessity for learning what will be on the tests as well as the more “joyous” learning he hopes to share with them.

He advises that if you can’t do or be all the things you want to for the kids, find expert helpers, either from other teachers in your school, friends, alumni, or local experts in any area you need help with: music, dance, sports, whatever. Kids will learn from your willingness to employ help and not maintain you yourself can do it all. He has drawn on the skills of others to great effect for his students' annual performances of the plays of Shakespeare, and he provides an excellent list of all of the myriad benefits there are to doing these plays with young children.

Finally, he talks about the many factors that embitter teachers, and offers words of encouragement. Basically his advice can be summarized by his motto: “No retreat. No surrender.”

But we don’t have to take his word for the impact his teaching methods have had on students. He directs us to his website and there are lots of resources there, including videos of performances by his students. I strongly recommend two of them in particular: one is the musical performance of Riders on the Storm for Macbeth (the students integrate contemporary music into their Shakespeare plays), and the second is a recitation of a letter home from a Civil War soldier to his wife. The young boy who performs (this was before the Supreme Court in Washington) is so good that even he is crying as he proceeds through the letter, and I bet you will be too!

Evaluation: This is yet another inspirational book about - I don’t care if you claim you’re “normal” Rafe - an exceptional teacher who makes a huge difference in the lives of his kids. [Some other good books along these lines, besides the KIPP story cited above, include Educating Esmé: Diary of a Teacher's First Year by Esmé Raji Codell and Whatever It Takes: Geoffrey Canada's Quest to Change Harlem and America by Paul Tough.] There is a lot of great advice in this book, even for those of us who are less exceptional, and whether you are a teacher or a parent or a team leader at your job.½

I love this guy's enthusiasm! His ideas are thorough and may require a lot of effort to implement, but teach the students many great skills, and address many problems in the process!

This is Esquith's guide to teaching and parenting, encapsulated in a professional baseball game that Esquith attends with a handful of students. Child rearing techniques are described in a easily accessible manner in this book. If I were to only choose one book between this and Esquith's "Teach Like Your Hair's on Fire," I would choose "Teach" because the anecdotes are more vibrant. As designed, "Lighting Their Fires" reads more like a handbook.½

Lighting Their Fires: Raising Children in a Mixed-Up, Muddled Up, Shook Up World by Rafe Esquith is basically as the title promises a guide to upbringing children to be all they can be. I don't have children, but I interact with children on a daily basis, as a student teacher. (I haven't dropped out of the program yet, thank goodness!) Rafe uses baseball to structure his book instead of chapters, there are innings. Anecdotes are used to further illustrate his point. Also each chapter includes a section about what to put in a child's backpack. The backpack thing is a metaphor, i.e. place a sense of time in your child's backpack.The main lessons I learned from Esquith was that we should allow students to be creative (yes, that sounds about right), children need to maintain a sense of time management (well, as long as they aren't constantly staring at the clock 5 minutes before class ends), kids need to learn good decision making skills, and students ought to work hard (i.e. if you must sweep the streets, sweep them like Shakesphere). For the most part, I agree with Rafe. None of the information in the book was particularly new to me. However, it is always nice to have a refresher in basic pedagogy. I think the time and the money Esquith spends on his students is admirable, but as an educator, not something I would prefer to emulate. I know I sound terrible, but as much as I enjoy teaching, I want to have a life outside of it and I recognize that is completely okay. To be quite honest, I feel like Esquith comes across as a bit arrogant in his writing, I understand that he is super-teacher and doesn't make mistakes and teaches until 7 pm and also on Saturdays, but in reality not a lot of teachers can do that. I also thought the writing came across as simplistic, BUT it's not too terrible compared to the academic stuff pedagogy writings I had to read for class.If you are interested more in the useful teaching tips/ideas, I would say read Teach Like Your Hair Is On Fire by Esquith, it's a bit better, and in my opinion more interesting. Again, I am biased because I don't have children of my own, therefore I kind of ignore the parenting things.

I found this book easy to read and it definitely made me think about the value of trust and building strong character in our students, not just strong academics. He is a very dedicated teacher and I admire him for putting his students first. I appreciated all of the positive exemplars that Rafe Esquith shared to show how he creates students with both strong values and academics; however, I would have preferred that the non-exemplars were left out, unless they were his own. We should always assume that all teachers work with best intentions and I grew tired of his criticism of his colleagues and administration. There are many excellent teachers out there, with different beliefs and approaches to learning.

Inspiring. Some great advice on the important things we should teach our kids.½

An honest and inspirational account. The book not only makes you want to become a better teacher and person, it also gives you tips on how to accomplish it.

Rafe Esquith is a relentlessly energetic fifth grade teacher in Los Angeles and this book describes the work he does with his students to turn them into exemplary people and scholars. He's obviously found a passion for teaching and I applaud him. Teachers may find his tips to be useful and I (a non-teacher) found them to be interesting (if, honestly, somewhat unbelievable... how can he possibly have time for all of these amazing projects? Maybe Rafe's days are 34 hours long instead of 24...)

The audio version is nothing special, unfortunately. It apparently does not include the Appendices. The narrator reads with a rather utilitarian style as if only those seeking professional development would pick up the audiobook. Which may be the case, but if I'm going to listen to a memoir that's not amazingly narrated, I'd much rather hear the author read it. I guess between all his classroom work Rafe probably doesn't have time. Understandable, certainly, but also regrettable.

Esquith was teaching in a school heeuphemistically calls Camelot whenhe had a life-changing moment andmade the move to a school he refersto as the Jungle. Hehas been wildly successful there by,primarily, making the students inhis classes work hard. I've spent timein Camelot, too, but that was many yearsago. Lately, I find myself thinking aboutgoing back into the schools. I've alwayswanted to teach in the Jungle(go figure!), soit was good timing to read this accountof Esquith's difficulties and successes.