What Teachers Make: In Praise of the Greatest Job in the World

by Taylor Mali Narrated by Adam Verner

Overview

Former middle-school teacher and teachers' advocate Taylor Mali struck a chord with his passionate response to a man at a dinner party who asked him what kind of salary teachers make-a poetic rant that has been seen and forwarded millions of times on Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter.

Based on the poem that inspired a movement, What Teachers Make is Mali's sharp, funny, reflective, critical call to arms about the joys of teaching and why teachers are so vital to America today. It's a book that will be treasured and shared by every teacher in America-and everyone who's ever loved or learned from one.

Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly

An insult from “an arrogant young lawyer” delivered to a prize-winning slam poet led to a work that was “copied and pasted and e-mailed around the world” and watched on YouTube by millions; this led Mali to become “a poet with a plan to improve the world one teacher at a time.” In vignettes from his peripatetic career as a middle school teacher (teaching variously English, history, and math, in locations as widespread as New York, London, Kansas, and Maine), and in interspersed poems, Mali recounts his experiences as teacher and pays tribute to those who taught him. Thoroughly anecdotal, his examples of lessons, activities, and projects are offered, not as patterns to be followed but modes of liberation for teachers. Part memoir, part encomium, this prose extension of the slam “What Teachers Make” keeps an eye on pedagogical usefulness, while eschewing a manual tone. Although occasionally treacly, the slammer in Mali keeps the work straightforward, fast-paced, and trenchant. Mali’s goal, “to convince one thousand people to become teachers,” formalized in his the New Teacher Project, finds an effective boost in this evocative small book bulging with a big idea—“to remind teachers that they are dearly loved.” (Apr.)

From the Publisher

An inspirational tribute to teaching and learning.”—Booklist

“A valentine to teachers everywhere. Big, bright life lessons in a pocket-sized package.”—Kirkus Reviews

“Straightforward, fast-paced, and trenchant. An evocative, small book bulging with a big idea—to remind teachers that they are dearly loved.”—Publishers Weekly

“I think every teacher will appreciate Mali’s passion for teaching and his insightful wisdom. However, it is a book for all of us—not just teachers.”—Norwood Transcript & Bulletin (Massachusetts)

Library Journal

A former middle school teacher and now a teacher advocate, Mali wrote a poem, "What Teachers Make," that has been viewed more than five million times on YouTube and was read at Yale's commencement by Thomas Friedman of the New York Times. The essays here, on teaching hard work and reaching a difficult student, for instance, were inspired by the poem. With everyone debating the real value of what teachers do, here's a heartfelt explanation. A crucial book on a crucial subject; get it for believers and doubters alike.

APRIL 2012 - AudioFile

Adam Verner's reading starts off with a tone of sarcasm as author Taylor Mali discusses the negative remarks some people make about teachers and his anger at those remarks. However, Verner’s tone gives way to excitement and pride as Mali tells listeners what teachers do to shape their students. Listeners can feel Mali's joy when his ideas "catch fire." Mali, who wrote the poem "What Teachers Make," no longer heads a classroom. Still, he draws on years of experience as he tells anecdotes that illustrate the book's points. It's a breezy listen, with Mali's writing and Verner's delivery often taking on poetic qualities. The book is likely to attract those who already agree with Mali, but critics of educators should listen as well. J.A.S. © AudioFile 2012, Portland, Maine

Product Details

BN ID:	2940170462902
Publisher:	Tantor Audio
Publication date:	03/29/2012
Edition description:	Unabridged

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