Ann Monroe Assignment: Read The Reluctant Disciplinarian and write a reaction.
Gary Rubinstein's The Reluctant Disciplinarian is an anecdotal account of the author's transformation from a shaky first year teacher, incapable of managing a classroom, to a teacher with five years of experience and enough tricks up his sleeve that classroom control looks almost effortless. I found The Reluctant Disciplinarian to be a really great read. It was short, quick, and oftentimes funny. Several of its pages had me on the edge of laughing out loud.
But although I thoroughly enjoyed reading Gary Rubinstein's account, it was just that. The book points out that finding ones teacher persona is a very personal journey, and its pages lay out the path that the author had taken. Knowing how the author went from inexperienced first year teacher to real teacher doesn't help me to get there any quicker. Although it was mostly about the author's journey, solid, noteworthy advice was definitely integrated throughout.
Amusingly, a lot of the advice Gary Rubinstein gives was reiterated in Delta Autumn, so I guess I'm not the only one that felt that there was something to be taken away from The Reluctant Disciplinarian. When I start teaching on my own in August, I'll be sure to look the part of a teacher, dressed my best and appearing to be well organized, and I'm going to make a point of it to be instantly decisive, no matter what the question or situation.
Despite the fact that the author was one of the enemy, a Teach for America participant, I enjoyed reading the book. In all seriousness though, I don't hate TFA; it's just not as cool as Mississippi Teacher Corps.
TFA is definitely not as cool as MTC.
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