Holler If You Hear Me: The Education of a Teacher and His Students (The Teaching for Social Justice Series)

Books on education typically come in two varieties--the extremely technical textbooks and the loosely based stories of someone's experiences. Michie is able to take this idea of having strong technical detail while not boring his audience to death and basing the entire reading on his own stories of teaching without feeling like you are reading a fiction novela.One of the most interesting and what I believe to be promising parts of his book is the fact that he constantly critiques his own teaching style and to be blunt, himself as a person and a teacher. And with his critique, comes the relevance perspective of the book. Schools today no matter where you are deal with this issue of racially different students, different achievement levels for students and the overall atmospheres our students live and grow up in.Through Michie's absolutely unique style we are presented with a new way of looking at education, looking at our own educational process, and most importantly our students. If you are looking to get into education, are already in it, or plan on doing some reading about education this is one of those must haves.4 Hopeful Stars out of 5!

Holler If You Hear Me was a pretty good book. Michie did a great job at giving his experiences at Ellison and Quincy. The thing I liked the most was how he humanized not only his students but also himself. Michie knew these kids were forced to have difficult lives from the start and that they continue to have difficult lives; no one chooses to go into poverty. But he also acknowledged that most of his work was done with other people. He wasn’t some sort of white savior but an honest, inexperienced teacher who found ways to reach these students along with the help of other colleagues. In the end, Michie not only taught his students well but also his students taught him well and judging by the looks of it he’s still learning, even after twenty-five years.

Well written and informative perspective on teaching at a elementary school that has Hispanic students.

One of the readings for my credential program. This definitely isn't one of those hero teacher stories, but that's what makes each vignette poignant. It is more inspiring for the truths it carries and from the difficulties that Greg Michie faces as a teacher learning through trial and error, and illustrates what it means to care for students. If you're looking for a book that will show you raw experiences of what teaching is like, this is it. I know I will be rereading the stories when I need a reminder of how the grind of education reaps amazing, sometimes bittersweet rewards in how students' lives are impacted by good teachers.

every teacher should read this book

The book has a lot of great lessons for teachers who are considering working in low-income urban areas.

Michie opened the book by saying it this is not a hero story, which helps defeat the stereotypes of white teachers in an urban school. Michie not only gives his takeaways from his experiences but also shows the students perspectives. He shows his intimate stories and experiences in the classroom and connects it to their school performance showing us that teachers don’t always understand why a student is acting a specific way.This book stresses that students have lives outside the classroom that can affect their performance. This book is enjoyable if you are currently or plan on going in to teaching. A must read if teaching students with different. Gives one mans truthful perspective of teaching in an urban school.

Great book that really gets to the heart of true education. When an educator meets students where they are and makes a conscious decision to step into their shoes and lives to teach the whole student, they truly make a difference. Should be mandatory reading for all Education majors.