Chapter 17/18 Response

I really liked McCourt's analogy to the airlines and the oxygen masks. Save yourself first even if your instinct is to save the child. By the way, this is advice he gives to the young substitute teacher. I think it's not only practical but also a great illustration to anyone who's ever been on an airplane or, like myself, is a frequent flyer.

Chapter 15

This chapter was about McCourt's experiences with Parent-Teacher meetings. During the meetings he got a sense of what it must be like for his students at home outside of his class. He came to appreciate that each student comes from a different home life and that this is sometimes what is reflected in that student's personality and from this he learned better to teach each individual.

How would you deal with a Parent who appears to have substance abuse problems at a Parent-Teacher Night?

Teacher Man -- Chapter 17/18 Response

I thought the last two chapters closed the book rather nicely. In particular, I really liked the advice McCourt gave to the young substitute teacher:

“I know I’m exaggerating but [being a teacher] is like being a boxer going into the ring or a bullfighter into the arena. You can be knocked out or gored and that’s the end of your teaching career. But if you hang on you learn the tricks. It’s hard but you have to make yourself comfortable in the classroom. You have to be selfish. The airlines tell you if oxygen fails you are to put on your mask first, even if your instinct is to save the child.”

As a young teacher, I think this will be the hardest thing for me to do. I am very much a people pleaser, and I have to remember that I need to take care of myself first. If I don't help myself, I won’t be able to help my students either.

Finally, the story of Guy Lind was another heartwarming story. McCourt reminds us one last time to count our blessings and to be thankful for all that we have. Life isn’t easy, but we are alive, and we should appreciate the little things – like the time the students sprinkled confetti on our heads and thanked us with their smiles for the time they spent in our classrooms.

Teacher Man -- Chapter 16

Chapter Summary

In Chapter 16, McCourt shows a little moodiness. He loves his students, but he also resents them for their all-too-fortunate lives. He cannot connect with their problems, and he wishes his life could have been so easy. Fortunately, McCourt is later reminded that everyone—no matter what their class happens to be—has problems. Phyllis’ story about having to choose between witnessing the moon landing and witnessing her father’s death is a powerful reminder of that.

Next McCourt informs his students that everyone is a writer. People write in their heads all the time. When they see a friend, an enemy, or a secret crush, they are writing in their heads. They write about their plans, their wishes, their dreams—it’s all in there. It’s just not down on paper, and the students need to start getting some of that down on paper. This discussion then turns into an assignment where the students are asked to listen to their grandparents’ stories and to write them down.

The chapter closes with a discussion on grades. The students ask McCourt how they will be graded for the course, and he encourages them to grade themselves. They know how hard they worked during the semester, and they know what they did or did not learn. The more important question, according to McCourt, is whether or not the class freed their minds in any way.

Chapter Response

I thought Chapter 16 was an interesting chapter. I liked McCourt’s belief that everyone is a writer in their own minds, that we all have good stories to tell, and that it’s important to share those stories with others before we die. I also thought the assignment with the grandparents was great. I want to include meaningful and thoughtful assignments like these in my own class one day, and I don’t believe that teachers and families should consider one another to be the enemy (as some of the grandparents did).

Personally, I did not like the whole letting the students grade themselves assignment. I had to do this for a class I took at Montclair once, and people didn’t really take it seriously. They didn’t search their consciences for the truth like McCourt was hoping his students would. Most people I knew treated the idea as a joke and wrote down the grade they wanted even if it wasn’t the grade they deserved.

Thought Questions

1. Do you think it’s important to include your students’ life stories in your classroom? Why or why not?

2. How do you feel about McCourt’s decision to let the students grade themselves? Is this something you would do in your classroom? Why or why not?

3. McCourt talks about the lives of writers from the Beat Generation, and this gets him in trouble with a parent. What topics are considered to be controversial in your discipline? Do you think it is appropriate to include these topics in your lessons, or do you think these are topics better left for when your students are more mature and in college?

Teacher Man -- Chapter 12

Chapter Summary

With chapter twelve, McCourt gets a new lease on life. He’s offered a position at one of the most prestigious high schools in New York, and the apple of his eye, daughter Maggie, is born not long after. Professionally and personally, life is looking up for McCourt.

At Stuyvesant High School, McCourt makes friends with his supervisor. They have drinks together, and McCourt is trusted to teach whatever grade and whatever topics he wants. Never before has McCourt been given this much freedom in the classroom, and he enjoys every minute of it.

Unfortunately, at age forty-nine, McCourt experiences another major setback. His wife divorces him, and he is forced to live in less than ideal conditions. Along the way, however, he connects with an artist who looks at the world a little differently.

Chapter Response

Personally, I thought it was really nice to see McCourt happy for once in his life. People always say that having kids changes your perspective on things, and I think McCourt would agree with that. The love he holds for his daughter is unmistakable.

I also thought it was nice to see McCourt coming out as a “real teacher” for the first time. Having the freedom to choose who and what he teaches really seems to be making him into the teacher he always wanted to be. He’s teaching literature, and he’s getting kids thinking. He’s no longer just telling stories to keep the kids entertained.

Finally, McCourt’s depiction of how students perceive their teachers is really funny. It’s true though. Kids never really want to see their teachers as being anything but teachers. They don’t want to think about their teachers being involved in relationships or doing things that would be deemed “unteacherly”. They want to believe that their learning is the only priority their teachers have. After all, the lives of students are already complicated enough as it is. They normally don’t want their teachers’ troubles thrown into the mix.

Thought Questions

1. Do you think McCourt made the right choice in ignoring Janice’s home troubles? While grading her paper, he considers letting the guidance counselor know what he’s read, but ultimately decides against it. Do you think he did this because he wanted more evidence of sexual abuse or because he thinks it’s a bad idea to get too involved in students’ personal lives? What’s your stance on reporting sexual abuse?

2. Do you think McCourt is a “sell out” for taking the job at Stuyvesant High School? These kids are the best and the brightest that New York has to offer, and they actually want to learn and become successful. Some might say that teaching them isn’t really a challenge. Do you agree with this point of view or do you think that teachers have to overcome difficult problems and issues no matter who they’re teaching?

3. Do you think it’s inappropriate for the teacher to bring his or her own life into the classroom? McCourt goes through a difficult divorce and is forced to live in less than ideal conditions. Do you think he made the right decision in not telling his students about all this?

Teacher Man -- Chapter 11

Chapter Summary

McCourt begins chapter eleven by characterizing the “good teacher”. Good teachers have control, power, and authority. Good teachers never allow their students to talk out of turn, to swear, or to go to the bathroom for more than five minutes. Good teachers, in short, follow the rules and know how to please the administrators.

From there, McCourt seems to fall into a trance. He’s not the “good teacher”. In fact, he’s never been really good at anything his whole life. He just walks aimlessly from one job to another. He has no goals. He has no ambitions. He really doesn’t know what to do with himself. All he has are his silly little fantasies and his what-could-have beens.

Later, McCourt somehow manages to land a dream spot at Trinity College in Dublin. One of his fantasies has finally come true, and he strolls around the campus feeling proud. He’s a doctoral candidate, and surely that’s something. He’ll get the degree, he’ll earn the money, and he’ll finally get the respect he’s been striving for his whole life. Unfortunately, that’s where the dream ends. McCourt isn’t able to focus on his dissertation, and he spends his time drinking, sleeping around, and researching random tidbits on the Irish in America.

At this point, McCourt realizes that the Irish heritage he’s so proud of is actually the one that’s struggling for acceptance in America. He returns to America a failed doctoral candidate, and sadly, things only get worse from there. McCourt loses his teaching job and now earns money being Mrs. Katz or Mr. Gordon or whatever teacher happens to be absent on that particular day he’s called in to sub. McCourt is definitely on a downward spiral. Will he be able to “pull it together”?

Chapter Response

This chapter was a lot longer than most of the other chapters we’ve read so far. McCourt’s conversation with Andrew was particularly interesting because it sounds as though McCourt might be the kid’s illegitimate father. I also thought it was interesting that McCourt made a note of Boom Boom Brandt’s advice on life. Whenever you think too much of yourself, go home and clean the toilet. That will remind you of how unworthy you really are. Anyway, I saw no other reason for McCourt to include this bit of advice other than to use it as a comment for his own life. McCourt thought too much of himself when he headed into Dublin wearing his American uniform, and he was punished for it when he could only attract the attention of Mary—a heavily obese Irish woman. McCourt also thought too much of himself when he was accepted to Trinity College. He eventually wound up failing to get his degree and had to return to America empty-handed. Maybe McCourt feels he should have cleaned the toilet a little more often. Finally, the time he spent with the psychiatrist was also rather funny. McCourt’s almost forty years old and yet, he’s still so concerned with impressing people. As a result, he spends more time trying to win the shrink’s approval than trying to get to the root of his own problems.

Thought Questions

1. How did you respond to Andrew? Did you dislike him or feel sorry for him? He spent everyday in class challenging McCourt just so that the other students would remember him.

2. How do feel about Boom Boom Brandt? He had the smarts to graduate from high school but ultimately chose to fail. Do you agree with his view on life – that you should remember your place and not get too cocky?

3. Do you agree with McCourt’s definition of what makes a “good teacher”? Is there anything you would add to or delete from this definition?

Chapter 7

Reaction:

In this chapter Frank tells us three stories that involve the "teacher-student" relationship. He begins the chapter with a shocker. McCourt was forced to contact the mother of a disruptive student, Augie, to inform her of her son's behavior. The next day, the boy's gargantuan father busts into the classroom, and beats his child against the wall. He concluded by warning the students about being disruptive to the teacher. I found this to be both shocking and funny. Shocking, in the sense that I would probably never have expected it to happen. I found it funny because this is just another outrageous incident that's happened to this poor teacher.

Frank's next story involves the issue of race. Sal, an Italian boy, is jumped by an Irish kid one day in Prospect Park after school. He is struck in the head with a two-by-four. This experience immediately alienates Sal from his girlfriend, Louise (an Irish girl), and McCourt. Sal goes on a racial outburst and storms out of the class. He requests a transfer to another teacher, a non-Irish teacher. What bothered me most about this was McCourt's reaction, which is nothing. He doesn't bother trying to talk to either of the two, because he knows he'll "fumble and stammer."

The final story is about a "royal pain in the ass" troublemaker-type student. Frank, as the schools greenest teacher, automatically gets stuck with this kid. The school administration hopes that Frank, as an Irishman will be able to find some connection with this boy, an Irish student. If that fails, the administration will do nothing but sit back and hope that the kid drops out and joins the army.

This is a student that identifies with nothing, an "impossible case." He interrupts the class with irreverent commentary. His mother can't do a thing with him. McCourt sees him as a "bright boy with a lively imagination, which doesn't seem to make much of a difference outside of the classroom.

So how does McCourt connect with this student? He assigns him busy work. McCourt gives Kevin housekeeping responsibilities such as washing the board, cleaning the erasers, etc. The kid gets the biggest kick out of cleaning old paint jars, taking dozens home with him at the end of the year. The kid gets assigned to another school, drifts out, and gets drafted to go to Vietnam.


Discussion:

1) McCourt was given a public display of the state of Augie's household. Had McCourt known of the consequences of reporting Augie's disciplinary issues, would he still have made that phone call? Would you?

2) Teachers are often called upon to wear many hats. This being said, McCourt seems to don but a few. When called upon for guidance, he refuses. How would you have handled the Sal and Louise issue? Was McCourt wrong for just letting it go?

3) Finally, in regards to Kevin Dunne, how do you feel about McCourt's decision to give Kevin "more responsibilities?" Was McCourt simply giving up and assigning busy work? Or do you think that what he did for Kevin was beneficial?