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Washington Post education columnist Jay Mathews is the author of the book about Garfield High School that became the movie “Stand And Deliver” as well as several other books. He’s also a big fan of Hobart Boulevard Elementary School teacher Rafe Esquith, as you can see from a recent column:
“It’s hard to get the full effect of what has been happening in Room 56 of the Hobart Boulevard Elementary School in Los Angeles in the last 29 years just by reading about it.
“The 25-by-30-foot fifth-grade classroom in a school full of low-income Hispanic and Korean kids is the domain of Rafe Esquith, 59.
“His kids, who all call him Rafe, put on a rock-and-roll Shakespeare play every year in that little room. They all memorize the words. They learn to play instruments. They travel the world. They run their own economy.”
You can read the entire column here: Inside the class of America’s best teacher. Mathews is returning to Esquith’s classroom in part because Esquith has a new book coming out, Real Talk for Real Teachers.
Are there any other new or amazing books by LA teachers we should know or write about? Let us know in comments, twitter (@laschoolreport), or email us at info@laschoolreport.com