I am currently enrolled in the business college at the school I attend but have recently grown tired of worrying about "maximizing the bottom line". Recently, I have seriously contemplated teaching in order to "maximize peoples' lives," which I find much more rewarding and important. With that in mind, I have bought a few books about teaching experiences so I can know what it is actually like.
This book has a collection of 25 stories related from first-year teaching experiences. The stories cover a spectrum of wealth, class and racial circumstances which was nice because it gives you a feel for the slightly different struggles each circumstance gives. This book gave me more hope that perhaps teaching is the road I want to go down. Through all of the trials, there is joy in the end for these teachers. I would be naive to think that the case for all teachers but if one is to teach, it should be to get a certain level of joy from it (I think).
I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who wants a taste of first year teacher jitters and how it IS possible to deal with them. I only I hope that the teachers-to-be, in school today, deal as well in their circumstances as the teachers in this book did...it's a great book.