Teacher Man
Published on Dec 05, 2015
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PRESENTATION OUTLINE
Teaching Days
- McCourt details his life as a teacher
- Describes events in his life during his teaching days
- He thinks most teenagers are stupid!
McCourt begins the book by describing his very first day as a teacher at a vocational school. He writes about all the stories he told his students at McKee High School to keep his students busy and to actually keep their attention. He does the same at another vocational school as well as a dominantly black high school: He just tries to find ways to survive in the classroom and keep their attention. In between his complaining about the terrible kids, he tells the reader some stories about how he became a teacher, his early life in Ireland, and just other random stories that he told his students.
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About frank
- Frank McCourt was born in New York, raised in Ireland.
- Moved to New York to study at NYU
- First teaching job: McKee Vocational High School
- After numerous teaching positions, he becomes a teacher at Stuyvesant High.
- Born 1949, died 2009.
McCourt stayed at McKee for maybe 7 or 8 years (I can't remember exactly), and he writes that he went to several other schools in the years following. He obtained his masters from Brooklyn College and failed to earn his Ph.D at Trinity College. He ends up at Stuyvesant High School, New York's most prestigious high school, or the "Harvard of high schools."
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Organization
- The book is mostly chronological
- He describes his teaching experiences...
- ...And diverges with stories about his life in New York
An example of McCourt diverging is seen in chapter 4 when one of his students ask McCourt if he has done any "real work" (i.e. physical work). Frank McCourt responds with a story of how he worked as a dockside worker. In chapter 11 (which is pretty long compared to other chapters) the author describes his trip to Dublin and his efforts at obtaining a PhD. This was, of course, after he writes about two students who caused trouble in his classroom (different periods).
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Tone
- Very condescending towards students.
- Always annoyed when talking about students.
He calls students at McKee the future "plumbers, carpenters, and firemen" of America, as if making fun of them. In chapter 11 he says "in every class there's a pest put on earth to test you" (pg. 149). In that chapter he proceeds to detail his struggle with controlling two kids who challenge McCourt's authority in the classroom, and he sounds annoyed the whole time. The way he described the kids also made them sound irritating.
Language/Vocabulary
- He uses the kids' slang and language sometimes
- Simple vocabulary
The language is basic and easy read. One thing he sometimes does is incorporates that kids' language into his writing. For example on page 67 he writes "I don't wanna hear no more about people having no toilet paper." He kinda quotes the kids, too, without really quoting them: "White kids gonna see this play just because this prince be white" (page 143).
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Students' Questions
- Uses students' questions to start new topics
- Continues using questions to continue his stories.
The author sometimes starts new strings of writing with questions that are asked by students, like the beginning of chapter 4: "Hey, Mr.McCourt, did you ever do real work, not teaching, but, you know, real work?" This question gives the topic for the rest of the chapter.
Confusion at McKee
- Can't handle kids because he can't keep their attention.
- Has doubts about continuing his teaching career.
He starts off the book by describing two ways he almost got fired on the first day of school at McKee. He also says he is not the kind of teacher who could brush aside "all questions, requests, complaints, to get on with the well planned lesson" (page 24). On the same page he describes the perfect classroom for him: a class where he could tell all the kids to "go to sleep." He also describes himself as "scrawny" and that he looks like some immigrant off Ellis Island even though he had been in New York for 8 years (page 25).
Confusion (still)
- Doubts his teaching ability throughout book.
- Always had a hard time keeping kids control.
- Even at Stuyvesant he would complain about all the time spent grading.
The next three schools thatMcCourt teaches at are almost as bad as McKee. He has trouble keeping the kids' attention (even in a community college). At one school, for example, the kids would complain about how all the other classes went out on field trips while they didn't do anything (page 137). He gives in to the students' begging and he takes them to a movie called Cold Turkey. He is embarrassed the whole time he is out with them because he cannot control them in public (one girl almost started a fight with a random old lady). He complains about the amount of papers he has to grade while at Stuyvesant and all the time it eats up (especially because the kids there will definitely write an essay if you assign one, even each week!). His days at Trinity College and his failed attempt at obtaining his PhD because he had no clue how he could write his dissertation also contributed to the overall theme of cluelessness about what to do with his life.
Student Dialogue
- McCourt "quotes" students without quoting them
- In other words, they are their own sentences
The author doesn't quote the kids' (or anybody else's) words when they speak. Instead they just become their own sentences. This technique makes the reader believe that the words of the students become his own. It also makes the students' questions, complaints, and comments part of the story he is telling.
Overall Theme
Doggedness gets you through teaching
McCourt's book was a memoir of his life as a teacher in New York, but it was also a tribute to the profession of teaching. Even though he writes that most teachers he knew tried to rise up in the world of education by becoming administrators and leaving the classroom, he still sticks to his teaching career. Whether it be the challenge of keeping the kids' attention (like at McKee) or grading the tons of homework (like at Stuyvesant), teaching is always a stressful job. He writes that the only thing that got him through his career was "doggedness" (page 2).
