Comments from Readers

A reader retired from private school life writes me: 

"I have to tell you that I'm laughing out loud already, even though I just started your book." 

(Two days pass)

"Ok now I'm really laughing! You had to shave your legs and armpits as promised! I once offered to shave my head if they ever won the championship game.  It motivated them, but they still lost.  I kept my hair." 

(Another day passes)

"OMG we really have to talk one day. The name of our 5k running/walking team to raise money for cancer research is called the Forest Bathers!" 

Another reader who teaches in public schools: 

"I have stories, too, that will make you laugh.  My colleagues do as well. Could you please write them all down for us?  Let's talk!  We need these stories recorded.  This could be your next book."

The community of teaching professionals may be fragmented by school, region, or philosophy, but there's a commonality of experiences.  One reader commented that Backward and Blind is authentic -- and I thought, Well, what else would it be?  It's my truth! Responses from others who have spent time teaching indicate that we all have similar responses, similar hilarious anecdotes, and that we all have fun with kids of all ages.

A retired college professor comments: 

"I read about what fun you had in your career, and I think that maybe I should have taught at a school like Deerfield Academy."

Touched by this comment, I reminded myself that one of the goals of publishing this book was to help people understand how satisfying teaching is.  It's certainly entertaining. It allows for meaningful relationships. It's a profession where you can make a deep and profound difference to people.  It's challenging in many ways and can be particularly intellectually stimulating because you will always have some young people more creative and smarter than you, the teacher.  Sometimes I worked very, very hard to keep up with some of my students! I believe that many college professors -- particularly those who are teachers at heart -- would genuinely love teaching teenagers.

When I coached math competitions, some students on a team I coached excelled in math -- one in particular topped the charts.  For one math practice, I spent at least five hours writing what I thought was a challenging enough problem for the youth.  Perhaps, I thought, he will spend an hour or two trying to solve this problem. Five to one is not a particularly sustainable prep-to-classroom ratio, but I was committed. When he found the correct solution after fifteen minutes, I know I was at the end of my ability to help him. Twenty-to-one is a completely unreasonable ratio.  I phoned his parents and let them know I could not keep up.  I was happy to teach him the language of math so he could communicate his thinking, and I was happy to help him develop his skills working with others. I could also help him organize his work better so he could take his thinking to the next level -- which was clearly beyond me.  But I could not move his mathematics forward.  They were pleased with my clarity and honesty but wanted to keep him in my program for all the other benefits of being on a math team. There's so much more to being in a classroom than the subject matter. 

A retired colleague writes: 

Dear Jean,

Earlier today, I told (my wife) why I am so enjoying your book…”Jean really gets what grabs and holds someone who chooses to be a teacher of teens as a career, the joy of being around kids and making a difference in their lives.” Thank you.

I’ve been retired 20 years this June. I taught at two colleges (8 years), was an administrator at a community college (4 years), and was a high school science teacher at two boarding prep schools and two day prep schools (17 years total), and tutored kids and subbed at schools ... (17 years total). I loved it...I have no regrets. Teaching gave me a wonderful life, as your book reminds me. I am happy it did the same for you.

The wife of a retired colleague who is featured in the book: 

Dear Jean,

Just finished your book – could hardly put it down! What a delight to get to know more of your life. So many events you describe I’d never heard of, except when someone mentioned that the infamous skier had a  mother who ..(deleted)…

But beyond the student capers and the lessons a young teacher learns from them, I was most moved - profoundly so - at your growing understanding of what it means to fully embrace adolescent learners and adolescent lives. To help these kids learn a subject through many creative ways, yes, but you seem to have achieved so much greater a depth of connection. What a gift you have given to those fortunate enough to be in your classroom! Wish I had been one of them.

Congratulations and enormous admiration for all the thought and work that went into writing this book. I hope there is another in the offing, and that it will appear soon.