180 Days

When it comes to the subject of education books, one is facing a wide and diverse field. You have those that are reference books, that actually try to teach you something. Then there are those that are written for parents fed up with the educational system, featuring authors that try and explain what is wrong with education, and how they have the answers that can fix everything. Then there are those that are written by teachers for teachers. These feature expert advice that can help you in the classroom. Kelly Gallagher is a powerhouse in this category, especially for English teachers. I have read two books by him up to this point, and I have to say that this book is up to his usual standard of excellent teaching and explaining his philosophy, and it is one that I whole heartedly agree with, for the most part.

The two best positives that I found in this work (there are many here to choose from) was the ideas behind master teachers and their teaching philosophies.

Kelly and Penny state from the beginning that there are no ‘master' teachers. Teaching changes from year to year, and even class to class, so in a sense, the teacher is new every year, and their experience will be challenged and tested, especially when they try out new reading/writing strategies and management techniques. As someone who is a new teacher, this was a very comforting thought.

Then there was how they presented their teaching philosophies regarding reading and writing. I liked how they laid the groundwork, first describing the unique opportunities and challenges of each classroom, including the class makeup and daily schedule. Then before they talk about the chapter topic (be it independent reading, or narrative writing) they go into the major philosophies behind their teaching practices and their grading policy for the unit overall. This is something that was nice to include, since it allows you to see some of the nuts and bolts of teaching that one does not always see in education books. You don't have to agree with their philosophies, and they do not write as though you should, but it is more in a passive way, as though to give you ideas, nothing more, nothing less.

On the note of teaching philosophies, there are some things I disagree with that you, dear reader, should be aware of. First, the authors are both fans of conferencing with students about everything, from writing essays to independent reading. However, this strategy can be inconsistent in terms of its effectiveness, especially when it comes to what the rest of the class is doing while you are conferencing with those one or two students. I still have nightmares from student teaching when these conferences would essentially fail because I could not keep the rest of my class under control. This is something to keep in mind.

Another issue I have is their grading philosophy. One element is wholistic grading. This is where the teacher grades the essay as a whole, and assigns it a grade based on the essay overall, rather than just grading section by section. They claim that this is because the SAT and other standardized tests grade this way, and students need to get used to it. Fair enough, but I can see students not agreeing with their score, and going to another teacher who grades that same essay differently, then arguing about it. Therefore I like to do wholistic grading on small assignments, say an introduction paragraph or a conference, then grade the large essays with a rubric. This lets the students know exactly what I expect of them and how they will be graded.

Another element that I do not agree with this how much and how often they grade. They claim that they do not like their students to be graded on their writing practice because it tends to make them see the writing process for nothing more than a letter grade. Kelly and Penny argue that writing practice should be used to grow and change without the pressure of if they are doing it right. My problem with this is that, in my experience, students already have this mentality hammered into them by the 9th grade. This means that when they hear it is not for a grade, they won't do it. Also, this could get a parent angry with the teacher, as they do not see many grades, in the grade book, as there is a perceived connection with grades and quality of teaching.

Overall, though, these were just things I noticed, and not things that should scare away any potential readers. I still think that this is an excellent book that will give new teachers multiple ideas for lessons and unit plans, while also giving veteran teachers something to think about. I give this book a four out of five.