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Rafe Esquith

Rafe Esquith Books

Teacher

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“Children are born with varying levels of talent and intelligence, but possessing natural smarts and skills is no guarantee of success. It takes more than that: it takes work on the part of parents and teachers to cultivate these qualities, to instill in children the drive and character necessary to translate their natural gifts into extraordinary results.”

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Book:Lighting Their Fires: Raising Extraordinary Children in a Mixed-up, Muddled-up, Shook-up World
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“There are so many charlatans in the world of education. They teach for a couple of years, come up with a few clever slogans, build their websites, and hit the lecture circuit. In this fast-food-society, simple solutions to complex problems are embraced far too often. We can do better. I hope that people who read this book realize that true excellence takes sacrifice, mistakes, and enormous amounts of effort. After all, there are no shortcuts.”

InspirationalEducationDisciplineDiscernment
Book:Teach Like Your Hair's on Fire: The Methods and Madness Inside Room 56
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“When the kids see the poverty in their neighborhood, but they see these successful kids who come from the countries they come from, come from Mexico, come from Korea, come from the Philippines, come from Salvador, and were doing really well, it motivates them to do better. The former students give them a vision of what's possible.”

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Author:Rafe Esquith
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“When I have children that go home and mom and dad are not home because they're working, they're trying to get food on the table, and they come home to an empty house and they go to sleep in an empty house, there is no way that child can compete against a child from the west side of Los Angeles who both parents went to Stanford. Well, good for them, God love them. That's not an equal playing field.”

WayTryingWellsChildrenHomeHouseParentSidesSleepFieldsMomDadEqualEmptyTablesWestGod LoveLos AngelesComing HomeGoing To SleepMom And DadPlaying FieldsStanfordWest SideEmpty Houses
Author:Rafe Esquith
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“One of the funny things about the racism of the system, when I started 30 years ago, I'm in an area called Koreatown and most of the kids were Asian. And when the kids did well, people said, "Well, of course, they did well. They're Asians." But when we had this huge influx of Latino children from Central America, they said, "Oh, you're gonna have problems now."”

PeopleYearsWellsChildrenSaidProblemKidsAmericaCoursesHugeRacismAreasYears AgoThey SaidAsianFunny ThingsLatinoCentral America
Author:Rafe Esquith
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“To quote the exceptional teacher Marva Collins, "I will is more important than IQ." It is wonderful to have a terrific mind, but it's been my experience that having outstanding intelligence is a very small part of the total package that leads to success and happiness. Discipline, hard work, perseverance, and generosity of spirit are, in the final analysis, far more important”

MindImportantHardSpiritParentTeacherWonderfulHard WorkDisciplinePerseveranceFinalsGenerosityAnalysisExceptionalTerrificPackagesOutstandingSmall PartsGenerosity Of Spirit
Book:There Are No Shortcuts
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“Most of us have participated in the trust exercise in which one person falls back and is caught by a peer. Even if the catch is made a hundred times in a row, the trust is broken forever if the friend lets you fall the next time as a joke. Even if he swears he is sorry and will never let you fall again, you can never fall back without a seed of doubt.”

IfsPersonsMadeFallNextForeverDoubtBrokenExerciseJokesHundredSorryCaughtSeedsSwearPeersNext TimeFall Back
Author:Rafe Esquith
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“Most children, even very bright ones, need constant review and practice to truly own a concept in grammar, math or science. In schools today, on paper it may appear that kids are learning skills, but in reality they are only renting them, soon to forget what they've learned over the weekend or summer vacation.”

NeedsMayChildrenRealityKidsTodaySchoolForgetPracticeSkillsPaperSummerConceptsConstantMathReviewsWeekendVacationGrammarSummer Vacation
Book:Lighting Their Fires: How Parents and Teachers Can Raise Extraordinary Kids in a Mixed-up, Muddled-up, Shook-up World
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“Never compare one student's test score to another's. Always measure a child's progress against her past performance. There will always be a better reader, mathematician, or baseball player. Our goal is to help each student become as special as she can be as an individual--not to be more special than the kid sitting next to her.”

ChildrenHelpingKidsPastNextIndividualGoalPlayerProgressSpecialStudentsReaderSittingTestsPerformancesBaseballCompareScoreMathematicianBaseball PlayerTest Scores
Book:Teach Like Your Hair's on Fire: The Methods and Madness Inside Room 56
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“With better vision, we sacrifice for students for whom that sacrifice will most likely pay off. I'm sorry to say this, but there are times when even superhuman effort will not save a child from his environment or himself. It's not the job of the teacher to save a child's soul; it is the teachers' job to provide an opportunity for the child to save his own soul.”

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Book:There Are No Shortcuts
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“But to paraphrase Henry Drummond in Inherit the Wind, ignorance and mediocrity are forever busy, and the forces of mediocrity aren't content with being mediocre; they'll do everything in their power to prevent even the humblest of teachers and children from accomplishing anything extraordinary. For good work shines a light on the failures of the mediocre, and that is a light which terrifies those who conspire to keep our nation's children, like themselves, ordinary.”

ChildrenLightForceNationsForeverTeacherIgnoranceWindOrdinaryShiningExtraordinaryBusyMediocrityGood WorkMediocreBeing MeParaphraseInherit The WindAccomplishing Anything
Author:Rafe Esquith
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“If a child is going to grow into a truly special adult–someone who thinks, considers other points of view, has an open mind, and possesses the ability to discuss great ideas with other people–a love of reading is an essential foundation.”

PeopleIfsThinkingMindChildrenIdeasReadingGrowsAbilityViewsSpecialEssentialsAdultsFoundationPoint Of ViewOpen MindGreat IdeaLove Of Reading
Book:Teach Like Your Hair's on Fire: The Methods and Madness Inside Room 56
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“I'd like to give every young teacher some good news. Teaching is a very easy job. Administrators will tell you what to do. You'll be given books and told chapters to assign the children. Veteran teachers will show you the correct way to fill out forms and have your classes line up.And here's some more good news. If you do all of these things badly, they let you keep doing it. You can go home at three o'clock every day. You get about three months off a year. Teaching is a great gig.However, if you care about what you're doing, it's one of the toughest jobs around.”

IfsWayGivingYearsChildrenBookShowsHomeCareJobsFormYoungThreeGivenEasyLinesClassTeacherTeachingMonthsNewsClockChaptersVeteranGood NewsGigsThree MonthsAdministratorsIf You Care
Author:Rafe Esquith
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