Oh, the first year of teaching. My first year in a preschool classroom was filled with laughs and funny stories, runny noses and endless head colds, and a whole lot of asking myself, “What am I doing?” For my husband, that first year was spent in a high school classroom, with a completely different set of joys and dramas. For both of us, those first years were definitely memorable- for the good and the oh-my-I-can’t-believe-this-is-happening. In John Pearson’s new novel Learn Me Good, he creates a chronicle of a first year teacher’s experiences behind the desk in a third grade classroom.
Told through a series of email correspondences from Jack Woodson, an engineer turned elementary school math teacher, to Fred Bommerson, a former colleague, an entire school year’s worth of trials, tribulations and triumphs are recorded. As the back cover states, this novel is “inspired by real life experiences,” which is absolutely believable because so many of the stories that are told in the book simply could not be made up! My own son just finished up third grade this year, and I found myself giggling as Mr. Woodson relayed outrageous statements his students had made, mostly because I could relate.
The tone of the narrative is mostly light and humorous, with clever insights about the wacky experiences that only someone with first-hand experiences with children can truly understand. The account includes a huge emphasis on the testing that is the major event of third grade in our country, but the author does not go the route of much commentary on this fact. Rather, Learn Me Good works as a lighthearted personal perspective on the first year of holding the title of Teacher.
Dawn wishes she had a better memory for all of her funny preschool stories, but she does chronicle her life as a stay-at-home mom of three at my thoughts exactly
This book kinda sounds like a good time! Kinda like Cosby’s “Kids Say the Darndest Things” or something.