Every so often I like to take a look, or another look, at a book published a while ago, and today I’ve been looking at Teacher Geek, by Rachel Jones. It is aimed at primary teachers, but it’s full of great ideas that could be adapted for secondary — or even, in some cases, transferred wholesale.
When I flicked open the book to start with I came across this:
“Passion is a hallmark of being a geek teacher, and part of that passion is about seeing those you teach do well and achieve.”
That very much chimed with me. These days I teach writing-related courses for the most part, and I get a huge thrill every time one of my students obtains a book deal, has a play perfromed, or had an article published in a magazine or newsletter. I do my best to encourage them to “go for it”.
The author goes on to write:
“It is now one of my core beliefs that the work of every child should seen and shared. Not just with parents but with a wider audience. A geek teacher should relish the opportunities that sharing student work can bring.
”
The book contains lots of great (analogue) ideas, one of my favourites being the assembly in which the kids had organised a singing flash mob!
I have a couple of quibbles. First, the subtitle: life’s too short for worksheets. Well, some of my worksheets are almost collectible items! I take great pride in my worksheets.
More seriously, while some of the websites cited as resources still work, several no longer do. Hrdly surprising, given that the book was published in 2015. It pains me to say this, because I’ve met Rachel and she was a lovely person who was as passionate about educating the young in real life as she is in the book, but I’m not sure the price of the book is value for money any more. Crown Publishing, in my opinion, should do the decent thing and ask Rachel if she would like to update it (unless she has and I’ve missed that, in which case my apologies) or reduce the price.
