Holler If You Hear Me: The Education of a Teacher and His Students

I am a teacher for Chicago Public Schools in an Hispanic neighborhood and could not put this book down. After reading it I have a renewed vision of what I would like to share with my students. Greg Michie shares stories, ideas, events, problems as well as solutions that any inner city teacher can relate to. It is written in an honest,candid style that is easy to read and anyone who comes in contact with children must read. What makes this book even more refreshing is the voice of the students and the relationships the Michie develops with them. I have already highly recommended this book to my colleagues. I would love to read more of his experiences!!

In the very spirit of Greg Michie's approach to teaching, he titles his book. Throughout the book, Michie champions the idea of listening to the students in order to better understand them, and ultimately, better teach them. The title, "Holler If You Hear Me," is a colloquial expression used by kids in the inner-city. I, myself, am in college and seriously contemplating teaching in the inner-city and picked up Michie's book in a book store simply because I couldn't believe a teacher/author had used that phrase to title his book! Michie's approach to teaching was equally as amazing!I read through this book in nearly one day because of Michie's complete candidness and acute observation in teaching in an inner-city school. He shares real-life stories of those he's taught and the lessons he's learned along the way. If anyone out there is considering teaching (as I am), I would strongly recommend this book! And if anyone out there currently teaches in the inner-city and is feeling frustrated, Greg Michie's views may be just the kind of thing you need to get your teaching back on track. As my review title states, (and stealing another inner-city colloquial expression), this book is tight! (Which, for those who don't know, means "great"!) -Andy

To start, I must first address that I have been interested and mystified by the harsh violence and prejudices that many minorities students are faced with everyday. Growing up in a small predominantly Caucasian community, I cannot fathom the idea of dodging bullets, watching drug smuggling and gangsters take over a neighborhood, or having to quit school at age 10 to work and support my family. These are the dirty truths that author Gregory Michie discovered as he left his North Carolina security blanket and headed for Chicago's nororious South Side. As Michie signed up for a $54 a day substitute he had no idea what challenges he was up against. He knew the "Back of the Yards" was the poor section of Chicago. The section which was home to Mexican AMericans, Polish, Palestinians, and African Americans who worked in the slaughterhouses and factories. Home to families of 12-13 children. These children whom are put to work in the same factories at the ages of 13-14 years old. Back of the Yards features no YMCA, movie theater, or fun club for the children. What it does boast is a liquor store on every corner, graffite, and the oozing smell of the slaughterhouse (a pungent reminder of where most of the children will spend their future career). Mr Michie quickly finds out that the school is not kept up to proper educational code. Students are given academic books from 1972. They are not equipt with a proper ventilating system for the frigid winters or sweltering summer temperatures. As if the classroom environment weren't discouraging enough, the students are also faced with the continuous taunting from teachers "Your dumb" or "stupid gangbanger". Michie's mission is to prove to his students that he does care. He throws out the textbooks, provides multicultural tools, and demands the students to critcally analyze what fears and frustrations they have. He explores how life in the Back of the Yards is comforting and terrifying. Part of Michie's magical touch is his ability to understand and empathize with his students. He goes out of his way to take students to concerts, make home visits, and attend parades in the barrio. Gregory Michie is not the sole author of this book. Throughout the whole story, students voices are heard in their writing and quotes. They depict relentless hardships they are forced to deal with everyday. These hardships which include abuse, both physical and mental, poverty, and gangs. Yet, they still show up Quincy Elementary School at 9 A.M. everyday hoping to salvage some integrity and prove that they can be successful. The rollercoaster ride that Greg Michie takes provides to be one of great highs and extreme lows. While he is persistent in the hope to make a just society for his students, he is often faced with the perpetual downward spiral of social pressures. The staircase that leads his students after 8th g

As a struggling first year teacher Michie's book proved to be a breath of fresh air. I can't really say I learned any theory or got any teaching ideas from it, but I learned a more important lesson: even great teachers struggle. As all the other reviews ave said Michie does not merely show us his successes, more often than not we see him fail, but everytime he fails we see him learn something. This is the art of reflective teaching. Michie helps remind us that the best way to improve your teaching is to reflect on it, to understand your failures and attempt to implement successes. I wish I had read this book in college, although I don't know if I would have appreciated it as much unless I had experienced the kind of failure Michie discusses and the kind of reflection. Along with Michie's ideas we also see narratives by the children he teaches, which reminds us that we often don't listen to the kids we teach like we should. Michie shows us they often have a lot to say and can be our greatest teachers about teaching. Michie's style is also very approachable and easy going, I couldn't put the book down and ended up nearly finishing it the day I bought it. Try it you'll like it.

This is a beautifully written and compassionate account of how a very good teacher learned to teach -- by genuinely listening to his students and by continuously reflecting on his experiences. It is a book with heart and insight. And it's inspiring to see Michie's growth as a teacher from one experience to the next. This book is as real as it gets. Use in in your classes, if you teach prospective teachers. Buy it for anyone who cares about kids and public education. I love this book!