According to the author, students need to be engaged in the process of learning in ways that connect with their experience. Students learn better when they know the teacher cares about them. One saying came to mind while I was reading this book, "Students don't care how much you know, until they know how much you care." In the opening of the book, the author says:

"To be a passionate teacher is to be someone in love with a field of knowledge, deeply stirred by issues and ideas that challenge our world, drawn to the dilemmas and potentials of the young people who come into

This book is full of passionate ideas that can be used in every classroom. One of the ideas to use for an eleventh grade English class is to propose that every major writing assignment should have a real audience outside of school. This may be done through writing letters to the editor, complaints to manufacturers about shoddy products, stories or poems for older folks or younger children, speeches for candidates for public offices, and writing handbooks and informational pamphlets on subjects of public concern. If we are to prepare students for the real world, then why not have them doing real work with real life applications. Giving them an audience other than just their teacher or classmates gives more importance to every writing assignment.

This first paragraph hooked me into the book right away. If this book and the author's ideas are incorporated into a classroom, students will know how much you care.

Robert L. Fried makes the point that classrooms need to have a safe and comfortable atmosphere in order to be as successful as they can be. Only in an atmosphere where students feel they can be themselves without facing ridicule, prejudice, or alienation, can students take risks, make mistakes, and keep growing as persons. Without such respect, everyone's energies get diverted toward self-protection and survival-the very opposite of what is needed for learning to take place. I believe that this is especially important in the classrooms of today. So much is fostered by the media regarding unsafe schools and unsafe classrooms that this question of safety is often on students' minds as well as everyone else's. But beyond safety, he believes that classrooms need to be warm and caring places for students to reach their potential.

The author talks about being passionate about the work you do as a teacher. But then he goes beyond this by giving many examples of ways to incorporate this passion into your curriculum. His lesson plans and ideas would be so easy to fit into performance packages. The funny part is that this book was written before performance packages were incorporated into the schools. He gives ideas that can be incorporated into any subject matter. When a teacher becomes stagnant, so do the students and the classroom atmosphere. You cannot inspire students to do good work if you yourself are not inspired.

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Approximate Word count = 1669
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)