This book made me laugh. I bought it after seeing a review in the TES and wasn't disappointed. It tells the story of a young teacher trying to survive his NQT (Newly Qualified Teacher) year in what seems a pretty scary comprehensive school. There are ups and downs and its realistic which makes it very readable. I really enjoyed this book, although it did make me glad i'm not teaching at secondary level!

I'm now opening this up as a bookring.

Bookring Rules (Adapted from Muffin77)

1) Everyody should try to leave a journal entry when receiving the book and after they have read it! Please let us know what you think about it...

2) When you have finished reading the book PM the next person on the list for a mailing address and if that person doesn't answer within 7 days please PM the one after...

3) Everybody should also try to read the book relatively soon after getting it - but take the time to enjoy it. It's not about how many books someone can read within a certain amount of time - it's about having quality time with a good read! ... and also to remember the story... one day you may be in the same situation and then it's good to know that those things don't only happen to you :)

4) You can send the book via surface mail or airmail - that is completely up to you!!!

5) If you find you don't have the time to read it when it's your turn please PM me and I'll move you to a later slot. Or if I've put you in an slot where you need to send internationally and don't want to do this, let me know.

Thanks and happy reading!

The order for this book ring is:

1. Inkognitoh (UK)
2. Tabyorky (UK)

3. KatColorado (Switzerland)
4. Evacorges (Netherlands)

5. Keeprdg (US)
6. Reader1107 (US)
7. Lorit5 (US)
8. AspenMoonlight (US)
9. Cmjuliep (US)
9. Natasha 13 (Canada) (no longer wishes to read)

10. EDDI (Australia)
11. Pajarito (Australia)

12. Lilb (Japan) (away til 4 April)

13. DEESSE (France)

14. Loribee (UK)
15. Chelseagirl (UK)

... and back to Reading-Fairy

Sending this book out this afternoon... bracing the rain and cold that mother nature has decided to send us in the month of June!

On its way to Inkognitoh!

Enjoy it!

I am thrilled to be in receipt of this book as I've been hankering to read it. It received a great review in The Guardian.

Having spent two years in an Education Degree I am looking forward to patting myself on the back over my decision to get out hah hah.

I thoroughly enjoyed this fast and furious run through the halls of an inner city school. This book arrived at just the right time for me to take a break from reading a heavier tome.

The thing that comes across loud and clear is that Gilbert loves the kids, I wish I'd had him as a teacher! I don't think I would have been able to plough on through conditions like he had to face with the same amount of energy and enthusiasm and this book enforced for me that I made the right decision not to complete my Education Degree all those years ago.

Thanks Reading Fairy for giving me the opportunity to read this fabulously inspired tale of education on the fly.

Received in the post today.

Started reading this book.

An interesting read of how a teacher copes working in a school.

Posted book to Katcolorado today.

It arrived today in perfect shape. I'm looking forward to read it soon, I'll give my best to read it before my holidays otherwise it can do a littel journey extra with me to Italy ;-))

thx Reading-Fairy and tabyorky

I'm a teacher and so I compared myself to Francis Gilbert and his story. It's not easy to imagine this school he taught, 'cause I only ever was once in an English school and that was for a visit of a few hours. It seemed really different from Swiss schools. But the school he describes seems even further away from my reality. I think the situation in Switzerland is a lot easier. We have smaller classes, probably more funds. On the other hand we don't have this system with support teachers, which sounds really interesting to me.

I also think that Francis Gilbert is a good teacher to have, because he cares, but he doesn't care so much that he gives up himself, which I think would be quite dangerous. It's sad that good teachers often leave difficult schools and a lot of failures stay there. As it seems, it wasn't like that at Truss school, in the end it turned out to be ok.

Released on Monday, July 05, 2004 at Postal release in Zürich, Zürich Controlled Releases.

I will send this book on to evacorges this afternoon. I hope it travels safely.

This was sent to me as part of a book ring, and I read it from cover to cover in a single day (hmm, reading while cooking is not necessarily a good thing...)
and of course enjoyed it very much.
This is not a difficult book, but the content provides a nice read for a day off. Take it with you on holiday!
I won't, I shall be sending it on to the next lucky person on the list...

I received this book in today's mail. Thank you so much for starting this book ring! I look forward to reading this book!

It took me a little while to get into this book because I didn't originally care for the jumpy essay style, especially after the book I'd just finished prior to this. However, I stuck with it and was glad I did. I really could relate to some of his experiences, including with his fellow teachers, evaluations, disruptive students, etc. He reminded me that I'm REALLY glad I'm in third and not still teaching sixth grade! It really does make a difference how much support you have! In my first teaching job, it was my mentor who was stabbing me in the back to the other teachers and the parents.

Should be able to mail this tomorrow, or Saturday at the latest!

Released on Tuesday, October 26, 2004 at about 4:00:00 PM BX time (GMT-06:00) Central Time (US & Canada) at Enjoy! in Controlled Release, Given to a fellow bookcrosser Controlled Releases.

RELEASE NOTES:

This book is finally on its way to the next person! :-)

Received this book as part of a bookring yesterday, 5 Nov. I am reading another bookring now and this will be next. Thanks, I am really looking forward to reading this!!

Well, I'm having a hard time getting into this book, but I'm not sure if it's because of the book itself or if it's because I'm having a challenging year as a first-year teacher and am not able to sit a enjoy reading anything besides my TE's at this point. I'm going to give it another shot and will journal on it again before I send it on to the next person.

RELEASE NOTES:

Sending off to cmjuliep. I was never able to get into this book; it was time to send it on. Hope everyone else enjoys it though!

I received this 2 days ago and read it the same day. I thought it was mediocre, as I've had the first year of teaching from hell experience already and my second year is WONDERFUL! So I guess this was too realistically depressing for me when at the moment I just want to celebrate how joyous it is to teach secondary school. I was disturbed by the capital punishment and inappropriate handling of the children--I felt bad that Gilbert sold out, in a sense. But then again, so did I. In my teacher ed courses I maintained that I wanted to reach the down-and-out, less fortunate kids, but I'm thrilled to be teaching in a "good" district after all. Not an overly uplifting, shocking, or entertaining read--just mediocre.