Spectacular Things Happen along the Way: Lessons from an Urban Classroom by Brian D. Schultz, Carl A. Grant (Foreword by)

From the Publisher

This is an inspiring story of one teacher who resisted the pressures of "teaching to the test" and created a curriculum based on his students' needs, wants, and desires. When Brian Schultz challenged his fifth-grade students to name problems in their community, they unanimously focused on replacing their dilapidated school building. This book portrays the students' attempts at solving this real-world problem through a year-long project that they developed together with their teacher. Throughout his narrative, Schultz shares the difficulties he encountered with the curriculum, the school system, the students, and himself, as well as the successes and discoveries made along the way.

VOYA

Hollywood loves to produce movies that feature the formulaic story line in which a white teacher in an urban school inspires students of color to succeed against all odds. Many of these stories are based on real-life events but often take great liberties in depicting the actual characters and situations. Schultz initially seems to follow the same pattern, but his scholarly tone, research-based analysis, and authentic depiction of the students place his work squarely in the realm of required reading for new and veteran classroom teachers alike. Schultz explains in his preface that the text is drawn from his dissertation, wherein he used inquiry-based teaching to guide his inner-city fifth grade class through a project to improve their school. The students spent the semester determining the most serious problems within the school, designing and implementing data collection instruments, organizing and interpreting data, and presenting their information to first the school and then eventually to local and national news and educational outlets. Their engagement and enthusiasm throughout the project is both moving and encouraging: "Like a family, they genuinely cared about one another, celebrating successes as they worked together, allowing every member to expand individual horizons to whatever level they were capable.o Especially compelling is the narrative structure of the text. The book is organized as a reflection upon the project, where Schultz describes his thought processes as each event unfolds. His use of direct quotes within the text and as chapter and section headings lends authenticity and emotion to otherwise straightforward language. Reviewer: Kathy Starks

Product Details

• Table of Contents

Table of Contents