I’d Like to Apologize to Every Teacher I Ever Had: My Year as a Rookie Teacher at Northeast High by Tony Danza

              When I saw Tony Danza on Tavis Smiley I knew he had become a teacher but I did not know he had written a book about it.  That is what Mr. Danza was on Tavis Smiley to talk about.  Not being a teacher myself, but knowing people who are, I was intrigued.  After the protests by teachers, amongst many other groups, in Wisconsin’s state capitol last year, I thought reading about someone’s experience with teaching would be a really good idea.  Having the book be about his first year teaching made it even more interesting.              

                To start off, Mr. Danza does admit that his year of teaching was a little different as he did not have a full class schedule.  All the other teachers did, but he did not. So with all that Mr. Danza went through, multiply that stress in order to figure out how much the teachers with the full class schedule dealt with.  I am not saying Mr. Danza did not give it his all.  He certainly did as he truly cared about the students and the school.  Aside from his class (Mr. Danza taught English) he tried to make his room a place where anybody could come in for help.  The students came.  Mr. Danza also became involved in extra-curriculars including the football team and putting together a teacher talent show.  In the classroom Mr. Danza did whatever he could to keep the students engaged.  Sometimes he held debates, assigned group projects, and sent them on scavenger hunts.  He even took the students on field trips.

                Despite his efforts, Mr. Danza ran into a fair amount of problems.  The students did not always want to cooperate and he kept running into problems with school rules.  Mr. Danza did not intentionally break the rules, there was just so many he did not know about.  I feel he really made his best effort to do everything correctly and make a difference.

                There is one thing I do have to take Mr. Danza to task for.  He had a tendency to change people’s names without their permission.  I do not mean changing them in the book for privacy reasons.  What I am referring to is giving someone a nickname even though they expressly said to call them something else.  This is something people do all that time and it is a giant pet peeve of mine.  I find it disrespectful to change a person’s name simply because it is more convenient.  Someone tells you what their name is for a reason.  Listen to them!  It is not that hard to get someone’s name correct.

                Other than the name thing, I have great respect for what Mr. Danza did.  Deciding to become a teacher is very honorable.  Reading his book helped me see a little more of what teachers go through.  The book was interesting all on its own, but I think what helped make it feel even more personal was I could hear Mr. Danza’s voice the entire time I was reading.  He definitely writes as he speaks and that created a really great effect.

                I think everyone should have an understanding about what teachers do and have to deal with on a regular basis. Reading Mr. Danza’s book is one way people can do this. I am sure there are others. Maybe once people learn what is it like in the schools the education budgets will stop getting slashed. I have yet to figure out how cutting education funding helps the future. Mr. Danza showed how important it is to support teachers and all they do.