Ms. Moffetts First Year: Becoming a Teacher in America - Book Report/Review Example

Ms. Moffetts First Year: Becoming a Teacher in America Learning The book by Abby Goodnough (2004) titled Ms. Moffett’s first year: becoming a teacher in America follows the story of Donna Moffet who enrolled in the New York City Teaching Fellows program. The general impression is that public schools have a challenging environment. Most of the students are either from low-income families or are immigrants. In addition, there are children with varying needs who have to be catered to in a standardized way. The diverse composition of the class and the presence of students with different learning abilities makes it difficult for the teachers to take everyone along at the same pace. Ms. Moffet also learnt that most students from low-income families lacked proper appetite, care, or attention. A large majority of the students needed attention and extra care. The environment provided the teachers with a challenge to effectively implement the same teaching standards as laid down by the education department post reforms. Most public schools are run ineffectively where students are often neglected and their results artificially inflated to fool the authorities regarding the quality of education. In the book, the background of the children is a very critical factor in understanding the inconsistencies in education. The concentration of public schools in worse areas yields children from low-income families and often those have migrated to the US. As a result, most students exhibited a sense of deprivation in care, attention, and diet. Many students also had different learning abilities and many even showed symptoms typical of ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) where children had low attention spans, were often fidgeting, and caused trouble in class. Ms. Moffet found it very difficult to control the class while trying to maintain discipline and encouraging students to learn. The pressure from the higher administration was also conflicting where some administrators promoted a different response in certain situations while others directed a different response. Ms. Moffet particularly felt students should not be discouraged in their creative endeavors which caused her to allow a student to continue writing her composition even though the lesson had ended. Also, Ms. Moffet often spent a greater amount of time in reading and writing classes which cut down the time for the mathematics class. However, the current education reform was putting a greater emphasis on mathematics as a key subject. The teacher, Ms. Moffet, was very encouraging of their students especially those who were too keen to carry out a particular learning activity. I personally feel that students should not be inhibited while they perform a learning activity to allow them some space to work on their own. Ms. Moffet did the same when a student was eager to write her composition although the class had gotten over. Ms. Moffet permitted her to continue writing her composition while she taught a different subject to the whole class (Goodnough, 2004). This reflected an encouraging attitude that promotes learning. It was also a wise thing to do because children should be given the time when it is being channeled into some productive tasks. Inhibiting them discourages them from trying out new things and being creative. Once a student is done with his or her work, s/he can continue with the rest of the class without losing out on the lessons. This is especially true for students who have problems focusing their attention. Discouraging the student from writing her composition and asking her to join the rest of the students would have made it difficult for the student to concentrate on the lesson. Thus, it is a good practice to allow students to do what they want to within the boundaries of learning to ensure better accomplishment. Ms. Moffet noticed that many students came from deprived families who seldom gave them the attention and care needed. Most of the students were not fed well by their parents due to their low income. Hence, many students came from households with struggling families and hard life. There was one particular girl who shared the difficult home life and was Ms. Moffet’s favorite student. Ms. Moffet once took her to a performance of Cinderella by children on a weekend despite the risk of being detected by the school administrators. Generally, the school discouraged any student-teacher relationship beyond the school because it involved safety issues and other concerns. In order to ease out her life, Ms. Moffet felt it acceptable to take the student out on a weekend so that the child enjoyed some good time outside. The impact was that the child felt better outside the usual home life which was stressful. The way public schools were being managed by the administrators surprised me because despite having a standardized education system, the administrators lacked consensus on the type of response in specific situations. Furthermore, it was upsetting to see that public schools tampered with student works to make them appear better during times of inspection by the educational department (Goodnough, 2004). This act was not only unethical but was meant to deceive the authorities into continuing to give them monetary grant despite the standards not being met and quality education not being provided. Other things that made me uncomfortable were that all students with varying learning capacities were being taught in the same class without considering their learning potential. No effort was made to test a student for learning disabilities when Ms. Moffet requested the administrators. The author did a remarkable job capturing and articulating the experiences teachers face when getting involved in public schools. The book also provides an insight into the current education system as they are on paper and their application in the actual environment. I will recommend this book to others, especially educators because it addresses the issues of teaching and pedagogy as they happen in public schools. References Goodnough, Abby. (2004). Ms. Moffett’s first year: becoming a teacher in America. NY: Public Affairs Read More