1. There Are No Shortcuts There Are No Shortcuts By: Rafe Esquith

2. Who is Rafe Esquith? He is an award winning teacher from Los Angeles who works mainly with inner-city children. He teaches 5 th grade. His class, the “Hobart Shakespeareans,” is known around the world for their high achievement and of course, their Rock n’ Roll Shakespeare plays.

3. Why is Rafe Esquith Awesome?? Rafe has been a classroom teacher for more than 20 years. He is able to take inner-city children and create such an amazing classroom atmosphere that his students VOLUNTARILY come to school at 6:00am and stay until 5:00pm. He shares some of his strategies and insight into WHY he is successful.

4. My goals for this presentation… Understand: this is a book that will change the way you view our jobs. At times, it will make you feel lazy and unproductive… but will also help push you to WANT to become a better teacher. If you read the book--- you will be a fan of Rafe forever!

5. Run against the pack! The book is meant to challenge how teachers view their jobs and to try to help us become great teachers and not worry about test scores and administration---do what’s best for the kids! He focuses on making the children lifelong learners by building relationships based on trust and encouragement.

6. Students Schedule….. http://www.hobartshakespeareans.org/ou rclass_day.php http://www.hobartshakespeareans.org/ou rclass_day.php

7. Teach Like Your Hair’s on Fire… This book is a continuation of There Are No Shortcuts  This book includes Kohlberg’s levels of moral reasoning (I use them even in 1 st grade)  Tips for enhancing literacy  Math games  History projects  Writing ideas ***He does not have a “curriculum” guide…he just shares things that work for him in his classroom.

8. A little snip…. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i0ik0R fteRg http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i0ik0R fteRg http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6z8pG XRzLWQ&feature=relmfu http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6z8pG XRzLWQ&feature=relmfu