Teaching with Heart

Why are so many teachers leaving the profession? Theyre burned out; they feel disrespected, and unsupported. After teaching remotely during a pandemic, theyre returning to classrooms with under-socialized and sometimes out-of-control kids. What to do? Teaching by Heart chronicles the journey of a journalist-turned-teacher determined to make teaching workdespite its difficulties. Peek into Madame Nelsons classroom to see her trying to reach teens who dance, cry, and hit each other in French class; administrators who laud the latest pedagogical trends and testing regime; and parents who sometimes supportand sometimes interfere withtheir childrens education. Meet colleagues who save her from quitting, and her children who provide advice. Along the journey, she evolves from an aloof elitist into an empathetic listener to all sorts of teens. Isnt it time we create schools in which teachers want to stay and new ones enter? Without committed teachers, how can we prepare students to run our world? Teaching by Heart illuminates why its so hard to hold on to classroom teachers these daysand what can be done to better the situation.