Vendor
	Foundry Claire Harris
Original language
English
Categories
Memoirs

I'D LIKE TO APOLOGIZE TO EVERY TEACHER I EVER HAD

Tony Danza

My Year as a Rookie Teacher at Northeast High

A sitcom icon teaches high school in inner-city Philadelphia and gives readers a backstage pass to what being a teacher is really like.

Tony Danza had it good. He was a successful actor, well liked, with several hit shows to his name. But he'd always had a nagging doubt--was this all there was? Make some jokes, flash a smile, collect a paycheck? Could he be doing something more meaningful, could he go beyond getting laughs and actually make a difference? As an actor, maybe not. But what if he became, of all things, a teacher? It seemed a little far-fetched, true. He had little training and no experience. But he had lived a rich life, and he knew and loved language, drama, and poetry. He had enthusiasm and a commitment to doing whatever it took to do the job well. He was ready to learn. So how hard could it be, really?
Well, as Tony discovered over a year teaching English at Philadelphia's Northeast High, hard. Really hard. But also rewarding, infuriating, inspiring, terrifying, and, ultimately, life-changing. Teaching was in fact the best and most difficult thing he ever attempted, and this book relives the amazing story of what happened.

Available products
Book Published 2012-08-01 by Crown Archetype
Book Published 2012-08-01 by Crown Archetype

Comments

Danza brings the profession the recognition it deserves in this touching and candid account.

“I highly recommend I’D LIKE TO APOLOGIZE TO EVERY TEACHER I EVER HAD to everyone who has thought about teaching as an encore career – and anyone who wants to know what life is like for teachers and students in American public school classrooms today. Tony’s book will make you laugh, cry, and cheer. It serves as a call to action for every one of us to take a stand and commit to the education of our young people.”

“It takes a lot of courage to stand in front of a group of teens and proclaim yourself their teacher. It takes even more to be a good one -- someone who sees each student as an individual with a unique life story. Tony Danza put himself forward to teach children and learn from them, knowing that the more he really understood these kids the better teacher he could be for them. We easily forget how truly difficult it is to be a transformational teacher and in the pages of I’D LIKE TO APOLOGIZE you can see that’s what he became.”

“I WOULD LIKE TO APOLOGIZE TO EVERY TEACHER I EVER HAD is a witty, self-deprecating, and charming account of how being a teacher extends far beyond the four walls of a classroom. From sweating through his shirt to harboring adoption fantasies, Tony Danza depicts his brutally and beautifully real experience as a first-year high-school teacher. With humor and honesty, he highlights the emotional toll of teaching and describes how one of the most important careers in America is still one of the most unappreciated. As a high-school teacher, I set out to teach my students, the Freedom Writers, lessons in literature, but I ended up being their student, receiving lessons in life. Tony Danza experienced that same kind of epiphany with his students. They taught him about humility, honoring your commitment, and not just teaching to a test. And for that, I’d give Tony an ‘A’ for his effort!”

“Tony Danza is filled with life, joy and the spirit of altruism – which makes him a natural teacher, as well as a perfect witness to the victories and tragedies in today’s inner-city classroom. Like teaching itself, this book is an emotional roller-coaster – but it’s also a sobering account of the perilous state of schools in our poor communities. This is a must-read for anyone who cares about the future of the nation’s children.”

He lucidly explains the plight of his students and his attempts to engage them with Shakespearean sonnets that may seem irrelevant to them and classic novels (Of Mice and Men; To Kill a Mockingbird). Danza’s writing style is accessible to a wide audience, and while there might be a bit of the jocular boss left in him, he provides insights into a teacher’s daily life.