Fires Chapter 9

Chapter 9 discussed what goes wrong in schools in general, and what teachers can do to help. In schools, not only can the students get discouraged, but so can the teachers. In one quote, from page 168, Mika stated that “teachers need to get a harder shell. After that, students won’t see that you’re scared.” Building upon that, on the same page Vance said, “We’re like dogs, we can sense fear and sniff it out.” One last quote that I feel sums up this chapter came from Montoya on page 171, where she says, “Think about the kids: We need you, we want to get out of school and become someone.”

The first two quotes I mentioned from 168 made me think of my dad because I feel as though that is what he lives by. My dad is an Ed. Tech and I constantly hear stories about kids that swear at him and call him names, and he just lets it roll of his back. You have to because most of the time they don’t really mean it, you just can’t take it to heart. The second quote kind of made me laugh, but at the same time I knew it was true. Kids know whether or not you’re going to stick to your word, and if you don’t they’re going to take advantage of you. The last quote just sums up the chapter as a whole, as well as teaching in general. Teaching is all about the kids you want them to be successful, and deep down they want to be too.