Synopses & Reviews
I’d Like to Apologize to Every Teacher I Ever Had is television, screen and stage star Tony Danza’s absorbing account of a year spent teaching tenth-grade English at Northeast High -- Philadelphia’s largest high school with 3600 students.
Entering Northeast’s crowded halls in September of 2009, Tony found his way to a classroom filled with twenty-six students who were determined not to cut him any slack. They cared nothing about “Mr. Danza’s” showbiz credentials, and they immediately put him on the hot seat.
Featuring indelible portraits of students and teachers alike, I’d Like to Apologize to Every Teacher I Ever Had reveals just how hard it is to keep today’s technologically savvy – and often alienated -- students engaged, how impressively committed most teachers are, and the outsized role counseling plays in a teacher’s day, given the psychological burdens many students carry. The book also makes vivid how a modern high school works, showing Tony in a myriad of roles – from lecturing on To Kill a Mockingbird to “coaching” the football team to organizing a talent show to leading far-flung field trips to hosting teacher gripe sessions.
A surprisingly poignant account, I’d Like to Apologize to Every Teacher I Ever Had is sometimes laugh-out-loud funny but is mostly filled with hard-won wisdom and feel-good tears.
About the Author
TONY DANZA, before he grew up and starred in such classic TV series as “Taxi” and “Who’s the Boss?” as well as on Broadway, was a “discipline problem” at Long Island’s Malverne High School, for which he is deeply apologetic. These days, he divides his time between New York City and Los Angeles.
Table of Contents
Preface
FIRST SEMESTER
1. You're Fired, Go Teach
Teachers Lounge: Lesson Plans
2. Ignorance Is No Excuse
Teachers Lounge: The Real Deal
3. Do Now
Teachers Lounge: Everybody Cries
4. The Half-Sandwich Club
Teachers Lounge: Bobby G
5. Making the Grade
Teachers Lounge: No Fear Shakespeare
6. Never Smile Before Christmas
Teachers Lounge: Northeast's Got Talent
SECOND SEMESTER
7. Field Tripping
Teachers Lounge: Gone Bowling
8. Poetic Justice
Teachers Lounge: Happy Hour
9. Our Atticus
Teachers Lounge: Adequate Yearly Progress
10. Spring Fever
Teachers Lounge: Fight Night
11. Finals
Teachers Lounge: The Sons of Happiness
12. If…
Teachers Lounge: Saving Starfish
EPILOGUE
Acknowledgments