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Alpha Stage
The Best Teacher
January 16, 2007






The Washington Post’s Jay Matthews has written an article entitled
“America’s Best Classroom Teacher.”

He’s describing Rafe Esquith, author of the newly published book
"Teach Like Your Hair's on Fire: The Methods and Madness Inside
Room 56"

Matthews writes, “ I spent a day last year in that very ordinary and
rather small second-floor classroom. It is hard to believe what goes on
there. Esquith is most famous for organizing the Hobart
Shakespeareans, a troupe of fifth graders who perform the works of
the Bard all over the country, and sometimes abroad. There were at
least 40 students in the room that day, including several room 56
graduates who had come to visit. His fifth graders rehearsed
Shakespeare on a Esquith designed stage, practiced the musical
accompaniment, read and discussed parts of 'To Kill a Mockingbird'
and played a game called Buzz that Esquith describes in the book. The
class counted to 100, with Esquith pointing to students in turn. If the
next number was a prime number, the student had to say 'buzz'
instead."
Read the article.


Discussion-Starters for Younger Children

  • Ask: What do you like learning about most? Why?
  • Students could draw pictures about something that they
    like learning about most.

  • What do you wish it could be more fun to learn about? How
    might it become more fun?
  • Students might have some wonderful suggestions. You
    might even consider holding private conferences with
    students so that they can share their thoughts with you.
    Alternatively, you could meet with small groups of
    students.

  • Wonder: Do you think that you can learn anything from playing
    games? What?
  • Make a list on the board of things that can be learned
    from games. Alternatively, students could create skits in
    which they demonstrate how something can be learned
    from playing games.

  • Do you like learning from some teachers more than others?
    What do you like about teachers who you enjoy learning from?
    (“What does it mean to be nice?”)

Discussion-Starters for Older Students

  • Vocabulary Terms to Discuss: Influential; Method;
    “Standardized Testing”; and, Accompaniment.

  • Ask: Do you think it’s fair that Jay Matthews, the author of this
    article, calls Rafe Esquith “America’s Best Teacher?” Why/why
    not? Why might the author do this?
  • You could ask students to develop a title for a story
    about something in your community that is also an
    exaggeration.

  • Consider the following paragraph from the article, with your
    child(ren): “One year a Hobart principal tried to force him and
    his students out of room 56, and at least temporarily out of the
    school, by assigning another teacher to that room during
    Esquith's vacation time, as part of the school's multi- track
    calendar. Esquith simply invited his students to join him in
    outdoor classes on the playground. The turnout was so great
    that the principal gave up and he was soon back in room 56.”
    What can we learn from Esquith’s behavior? Explain!!
  • Small groups could develop skits in which students
    develop an imaginary dialgoue between Martin Luther
    King, Jr. and Mr. Esquith. Students might choose the
    medium that they want to use to present this dialogue to
    the class.

  • When Esquith helps his students prepare for standardized tests,
    he doesn’t only ask them to determine the correct answer. He
    also asks them to intelligently determine wrong answers. Why
    might the teacher do this?
  • Consider asking students to develop lesson strategies for
    teaching about a current unit in a way that will help
    students surface misconceptions and correct them.

  • The article explains that most famous teachers leave the
    classroom. Why do you think they do this? What can we learn
    about the U.S.A. from this “teacher exit?”
  • You might consider asking students to write exploratory
    essays in response to these questions.
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(C) 2007, Andrew Pass Educational Services, LLC.