I'd like to apologize to every teacher I ever had : my year as a rookie teacher at Northeast High

Title:

Author:

Danza, Tony.

Personal Author:

Danza, Tony.

ISBN:

9780307887863

Edition:

1st ed.

Publication Information:

New York : Crown Archetype, 2012.

Physical Description:

262 p. ; 25 cm.

Abstract:

The popular television star recounts the year he spent teaching at Philadelphia's largest high school, the challenges he encountered in keeping students engaged, and his memories of posing disciplinary challenges to his own instructors as a teenager.

Personal Subject:

Danza, Tony.

Subject Term:

Actors.

High school teachers.

Teaching -- Anecdotes.

Summary:

Holds:

Available:*

Library	Material Type	Shelf Number	Status
Searching... Main Library	Book	371.1 D199	Searching... Unknown
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Summary

I'd Like to Apologize to Every Teacher I Ever Had is television, screen and stage star Tony Danza's absorbing account of a year spent teaching tenth-grade English at Northeast High -- Philadelphia's largest high school with 3600 students.

Entering Northeast's crowded halls in September of 2009, Tony found his way to a classroom filled with twenty-six students who were determined not to cut him any slack. They cared nothing about "Mr. Danza's" showbiz credentials, and they immediately put him on the hot seat.

Featuring indelible portraits of students and teachers alike, I'd Like to Apologize to Every Teacher I Ever Had reveals just how hard it is to keep today's technologically savvy - and often alienated -- students engaged, how impressively committed most teachers are, and the outsized role counseling plays in a teacher's day, given the psychological burdens many students carry. The book also makes vivid how a modern high school works, showing Tony in a myriad of roles - from lecturing on To Kill a Mockingbird to "coaching" the football team to organizing a talent show to leading far-flung field trips to hosting teacher gripe sessions.

A surprisingly poignant account, I'd Like to Apologize to Every Teacher I Ever Had is sometimes laugh-out-loud funny but is mostly filled with hard-won wisdom and feel-good tears.

Reviews (1)

Kirkus Review

Surprisingly thoughtful and passionate account of an actor's turn at the helm of an urban high school classroom. After his talk show was cancelled in 2007, Danza (co-author: Don't Fill Up on the Antipasto, 2008) faced a late-career crisis. Weighing his options and feeling personally dissatisfied, he considered becoming a teacher, which led to his show's producer pitching this as a reality TV concept. To his credit, the self-depreciating actor owns up to the obvious doubts readers may harbor about this book or the underwatched show behind it (AE's Teach). Initially nervous in the classroom, the affable yet hapless Danza understandably reverted to his chatty, ingratiating stage persona, which failed to impress students in Philadelphia's largest high school. Fortunately, he remained open to advice from his more experienced peers and tried different approaches in the classroom. For many readers, his classroom may seem initially composed of various urban adolescent "types," but they develop into fully realized characters due to Danza's verve and care in discussing them. Danza is generous in praising the full-time teachers who, with some reservation, mentored him. The writing is slick and occasionally mawkish (in Danza's telling, some dramatic classroom moments were punctuated by him bursting into tears), but the author has produced a real discussion of the challenges faced by American high school teachers, rather than merely a celebrity self-reflection. He approaches this project with heart, though his conclusions are grim: "many of those who went through orientation with me have already left the profession because of cutbacks, frustration, and/or their own economic necessity." Teachers will appreciate Danza's advocacy, and perhaps readers who know him from TV will be moved to consider the urgent questions he raises.]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.