Synopsis:
Teachers are given a great responsibility and
challenge when they enter a classroom. The way they see, interpret, and act
will determine the difference between effective or weak communication and
teaching. It is the task of the teacher to learn and prepare for this classroom
setting, including the intrusion of trouble spots, such as anger in its many
forms.
The overbearing emotion of anger has many faces
and can lead to a complicated array of feelings, actions, and consequences.
There is no set plan or technique that can address all of the hazards or
nuances of anger. Solutions may need to vary from one student to the next, or
from one moment to the next for an angry student or teacher.
Although Anger in the Classroom is written
specifically for teachers and other educational professionals, it also is an invaluable resource for parents and anyone else who works
with the young. Recognizing the difficulty that anger and similar strong
emotions can cause in schools and in children’s lives, this book proposes techniques
and practices aimed at preventing and circumventing the damaging effects of
these destructive behaviors.
Goals of Anger in the Classroom for the
Teacher/Reader:
- To realize the depths of knowledge, ability,
and understanding currently hidden beneath one’s awareness
- To head off anger and its manifestations
before it can
take hold in the classroom or the individual
- To create a classroom environment that fosters
appreciation, rather than resentment
- To provide specific practices for exploration
and specific results
- To prepare the teacher for passing on
experience and knowledge to students
- To rekindle the excitement and joy of teaching
Specific Features:
- Case stories illustrating concepts and
techniques
- Specific exercises conducive to reader
development and enriched classroom practices
- End-of-chapter questions for readers,
especially college students on a path to teacher certification.
From Kirkus Reviews
A practical manual that helps teachers manage their students’ anger—and
their own.
According to debut author Nystrup, it’s hard to overestimate the potential
influence teachers wield over their students—instructors incapable of
controlling their own anger may pass that infirmity to pupils who do the same.
The good news, the author says, is that teachers can control their ire as well
as that which emerges within a classroom. First, a teacher needs to rein in his
or her own temper, a process that involves meticulous introspection.
To that
end, Nystrup provides an Anger Manifestation Chart, a tool that tracks the
various ways anger rises from, say, anxiety or a negative thought. Once one
looks inward and explores the sources of unrest, a “realm of deeper freedoms”
can be experienced and imparted to a classroom that, while emotionally
moderated, avoids devolving into “drab, torturous monotony.”
The author
provides an abundance of practical counsel, using case histories to illustrate
his principal points. He astutely acknowledges that “teaching is not an exact
science” and so articulates broadly conceived advice that can be customized. At
the heart of Nystrup’s approach is the achievement of mindfulness, a sense of
self-awareness that fosters mental and emotional equanimity.
He covers an
impressive span of pedagogical territory, including special education
classrooms, and incorporates a wide array of approaches, like yoga. His prose
can be both vague and exuberantly optimistic.
His goal is to “facilitate
teacher growth, including the ability to move through each teaching day with
clear thinking, unclouded emotions, and a physical state of strength and
endurance.”
Of course, no book or didactic strategy will deliver all that all
the time, but Nystrup does thoughtfully examine the way in which a teacher can
maintain a lively classroom that is also a peaceful “setting of trust.”
An intelligent, meditative, and effective guide to creating a productive
classroom atmosphere.
-Kirkus Review - Posted on Aug. 16th, 2019
About The Author
Glenn Nystrup's passions have guided his teaching to numerous
settings over a wide range of disciplines, including multiple academic subjects
for all ages; the fine arts of stone carving, sculpting with teens and adults;
technical rock climbing with teens; movement and dance with teens in New York
City; and school navigation for struggling students.
Throughout, his aim has
been to work with the heart as well as the mind and body, both for himself and
students, sharpening perception and knowledge across all personal resources.
