Outskirts Press, INC.

Have you ever had a student pretend to bring in Cocoa Puffs and instead she fed the whole class dog food? Have you ever had a kid threaten to take his clothes off if you asked him to read? Do you have a student who thinks he is Michael Jackson and grabs his crotch saying "hee, hee" instead of raising his hand? Follow these real life stories of an inner city teacher's struggle to instruct unruly kids and find simple solutions a teacher or parent can use to manage children. When you have children of your own, you realize the struggle of preoccupying one child. Add 20 or more children into the mix and you have teaching. How are you going to keep every child occupied and group different learners? How are you going to manage the kid who jumps out of windows? Instead of writing a textbook, Dan Henderson decided to write a compilation of teachable moments. That’s Special is arranged with each chapter starting with how the situation went awry. The tension builds, and the student pushes the teacher to the inevitable standoff. Are you going to issue a consequence, or will you chicken out? The book relays the importance of standing up to threats during child rearing. Incorporating recent research, these stories relay a lesson behind the calamity. Dan presents teaching tools that anyone can use to improve their teaching. Dan’s experiences can help you better ward off teaching mistakes before they happen, such as responding calmly to kids who claim they have seen the devil. While holy water is not included, it is recommended while reading this book. When Dan saw his students doing something strange, he would think “That’s Special,” as a cue to not take his job too seriously. It is his inspirational mantra for his mental health. He used it to remind himself to get back in the saddle, laugh it off, and develop one of life’s greatest skills, perseverance. From the Author Layered in all the ridiculous stories are real experiences you might encounter, which I pair with practical, functional tips. These tales are the product of inner city pressures and many social dilemmas. We can’t solve all of the world's problems. We can help a child in our community. We can laugh at their silly mistakes, and we can learn through our failures. Just as we teach our students to learn though their failures, new teachers can feel overwhelmed and need to know many teachers have had similar experiences. Few people told me I would cry myself to sleep or admit that I failed. Yes, I failed and learned more through the challenges. Challenges are good; they help you grow. My hope is you can take a lesson from this book to improve your teaching or parenting. About the Author Dan Henderson was recruited in his late twenties to serve as an elementary school teacher in an inner city school in the United States.  Day two of teaching involved being spit on, cussed out, hit, and generally abused by the students he was trying to help. Dan’s collection of stories span three different inner city schools. He recalls how things went awry and provides tools to teach the labeled unteachable. 10% To Charity Ten percent of the profit from this book will go back to supporting local schools and organizations that support K-12 education. My hope is that you will give this book as a gift to a teacher, parent, or friend that needs a laugh, and we can give money back to our desperately underfunded school systems. Thank you for your purchase.