David Greene has published a new book about teaching called Do the Right Thing.
David Greene taught social studies and coached in NYC, Woodlands HS, Scarsdale HS, and Ardsley HS for 38 years. He was a field supervisor for Fordham University, mentored Teach For America Corps members in the Bronx, was a staff member of WISE Services and treasurer of Save Our Schools March Committee. He has appeared twice on Bronx Talk with Gary Axelbank. He has been published in Ed Week online and has also been referenced by Valerie Strauss in her Washington Post web-based column, The Answer Sheet. Most recently he wrote the most responded-to Sunday Dialogue letter in the New York Times entitled, “A Talent For Teaching,” May 4, 2013.
His questions are answered in the book in plain talk, right from the heart and from decades of experience:
Who controls today’s conversation about what education should be in the classroom? Bill Gates? Arne Duncan? Michelle Rhee? Media? Politicians? Who has gained more and more control of what actually goes on in the classroom? Bill Gates? Arne Duncan? Michelle Rhee? Media? Politicians? Why? Where are the voices of the thousands of talented and loved teachers whose classrooms should be models of what works regardless of the socioeconomic environment they are located. I am but one of many. Each of us has gotten to be who we are as teachers through our own set of circumstances. We, like all other professionals learn our craft through our experiences as well as our academic preparation. Some of us get to pass on what we have learned about our craft by becoming supervisors, mentors, or university lecturers. I have mentored new teachers. I have taught a graduate education class. But those endeavours have reached relatively few. I have even spawned new teachers, inspired by me, but those are even fewer. Initially it is why started writing this book. Much of it started as advice to give to my mentees. Then some suggested to me to write a book. So I did!
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Just read the Preface. In it, he said, “Teaching colleagues, who three years ago said they loved their job and would stay until someone carried them out, are now saying they can’t wait until they are eligible for retirement.”
There are several teachers at my school who have over 25 years experience who are just like this. For years they have said that they were “lifers.” The last couple of years they have started counting down the years until they can retire. At first their was a palpable since of regret in the way they would talk about retirement. In a very short time, that has disappeared. Retirement cannot come fast enough now.
It’s not that the job is harder. They were already hard-working, going way above the necessary. That hasn’t changed at all. It’s that the joy inherent in the profession, the reason they became teachers in the first place, has been sucked out of the job. That would be bad enough; however, the space that was left by the excavated joy has been filled with stress, self-doubt, and exhaustion (not the euphoric kind experienced after working hard doing something you enjoy, but the soul-deadening kind you experience after working hard at something that you view as useless).
In any event, if this book has anything in it that will help combat this, I’ll be purchasing it. And sharing it.
“Where are the voices of the thousands of talented and loved teachers whose classrooms should be models of what works regardless of the socioeconomic environment [IN WHICH] they are located.”
“Initially it is why [I] started writing this book.”
“Then some suggested to me [THAT I] (to) write a book.
Old English Teachers never die; they just get parenthesized.
Harlan,Those typos were to be corrected by the editors… They screwed up. I guess I should have hired you. I hope you can read the book anyway.
“. . . were to be corrected by the editors. . . ”
Those editors obviously must be public high school products!!
Sounds like a good read!
it’s only a test
The book sounds enlightening. May it be said that when I retired over 22 years ago the same thing was said by a vast majority of our teachers. “How long do you have to go before you can retire” AND these were good teachers. I was among them. I LOVED teaching and miss it to this day but the politicking going on, the ignorance of our school board who, when they read and believed in the “crisis in education” – the opening shots of “A Nation at Risk” and rushed in where angels would fear to tread – killed everything for which we had worked. One of our principals, teachers as well as students loved him said after we both had retired: Gordy we must have been crazy to work so hard for people who appreciated it so little. A common denominator.
I really think we teachers should begin posting our thank you notes from students. High School students are really nice about writing these. I get at least three from students every year, and often more if you count letters from parents.