School and Community Fall 2022

The Art of Teaching Children

BOOK REVIEW BY TODD FULLER E ach month a new book comes out like the textbooks that caused us to drift off to sleep during a long college study session. Rarely do we see a book that uses the Trojan horse strategy of providing stories and anecdotes rather than theory to keep the reader simultaneously engaged and learning. The Art of Teaching Children by Phillip Done easily succeeds at providing useful, tested examples without the need to highlight the author’s credentials or expertise. It’s evident from the first chapter that Done (“It rhymes with phone . It is not Mr. Dunn. And - with a half-smile and a half don’t-you-dare-call me-this expression – it is not Mr. Donut.”) is an expert. Done uses his more than thirty years’ experience in the classroom to provide practical ideas and tips that will benefit both new and veteran teachers. Often, books like The Art of Teaching Children are thin in content and ideas. They are not much more than a quick lunch break read (I’m talking teacher lunch break read, not the kind of lunch break everyone else experiences). Done’s work is extensive. The book is divided into chapters including the children, the classroom, the curriculum, the craft, colleagues, parents, mentors and the challenges. Each chapter has too many smaller sections to mention. Suffice to say, everything seems to be covered. Done is honest about his experiences and the challenges teachers faces in their classroom. Everyone who has been in the classroom for even a short period of time can attest to the fact that some experiences are more challenging than others, and lunch duty is not fun. Done explains, “Lunch supervision, also known as cafeteria duty, is the bane of most teachers. For teachers, duty can be a four-letter word. If you have to be out from school, you pray it falls on a day when you have lunch duty. I’ve known teachers who begged colleagues to swap (I’ll do your bus duty for a week if you take my lunch.) If I get an Alexa, Amazon’s virtual assistant, I will say, ‘Alexa, do my duty.’” While Done spent the majority of his with “cutting edge” ideas surrounding education pedagogy. Most are written

BOOK REVIEW

career as an elementary school teacher, not all the chapters are geared towards teaching a student in their first school years. All educators will be able to identify with sections that focus on the first day of school, parents, principals and principles and the dreaded back-to-school blues. Any teacher will be able to find ideas and principles that provide new options to consider or reinforce methods that have already been implemented in their classroom. Done doesn’t shy away from challenging topics in his work. For instance, he tackles the cursive writing debate and makes sound arguments for cursive when he explains, “The advantages of learning handwriting go beyond cognitive ones. Cursive is creative. Some would even call it an art. When children write in longhand, they can express their personal style. When practicing their cursive letters in the air, kids look like they’re conducting an orchestra.” Done also addresses Americans’ lack of geographic literacy. However, rather than focusing only on what we are doing wrong, he provides examples of exercises that teachers can use with their students. Maps without pencils or geography in the car sound simple enough, but the practical application is only evident if there is follow through with the activities. The Art of Teaching Children , is a comprehensive collective of ideas and stories that will enhance the skillset of any educator. For that matter, it should also be recommended reading for anyone who has considered the teaching profession as a career or wondered why someone would go into the teaching profession in the first place. Done understands how teachers persevere through the challenges, setbacks and extraneous forces in education that can settle like added weight on the shoulders of a teacher (read the chapter titled Melt and you will see what I mean). He recognizes the importance of education and sees the artistry in what it takes to be a truly gifted classroom teacher, which earned him a recent feature on the TODAY Show.

Enter to win a free copy of The Art of Teaching Children by emailing editor@msta.org with The Art of Teaching Children in the subject line. Email by October 31 to be considered.

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