What Keeps Teachers Going?

As a student obtaining my certification, I had naively hoped for a bullet point list of what exactly keeps teachers going in spite of everything, but knew that it would be unlikely. Teaching in public schools in the United States in these hectic times with high student poverty rates and school underfunding, coupled with gang issues and disrespectful students who don't seem to care about their education, has become even more of a difficult profession over the years. This is an excellent insight into the world of a diverse group of public school teachers in the focus group "What keeps teachers going in spite of everything". Narratives from these teachers and words of wisdom are spread throughout the book. Nieto does a nice job of synthesizing the experiences and analyzing best practices and how to stay sane and stay a good person, and a good teacher. I would definitely recommend this book to other aspiring teachers and current teachers. Just don't expect it to have all the answers.

Sonia Nieto is amazing!!!!! This book is a great book for new educators. It helps remind us why we do what we do. If you ever have the chance to meet Sonia, got for it, she is wonderful!!!!

I am 50 years old and teaching is my second career. I'm a student now, studying middle childhood education. This book was very inspirational! So many of the stories of teachers just rang a chord of truth with me. I was laughing and crying at many of the stories from the different teachers and realizing (as a mother of 4 grown children) that I have FAITH that children can grow to love to learn and that I care deeply about individual students. I read this book for an assignment at school but, after reading, I can recommend it PERSONALLY to any aspiring or new teachers.