Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Teachers, save your hard-earned money and precious time for more worth-while endeavors. While Prof. Emdin may have hooked initial readers (like me) with his catchy title, don’t be fooled. Emdin does not deliver the resources he promises in For White Folks Who Teach in the Hood . In the conclusion, he states: "Throughout this work, I have provided educators and those interested in the field of education a number of concepts to think about, new approaches to consider, and new practices to implement." As a 20-year teaching veteran in an urban setting, I can tell you that all Emdin has done is re-package common teaching practices using hip hop and Pentecostal church jargon. Emdin highlights effective teaching strategies such as (to name a few): connecting new content to students' prior knowledge and making real-world connections building a classroom community based on mutual respect, personal relationships, and cultural understanding using student jobs, routines and rituals to create buy-in and promote a positive classroom atmosphere engaging students through peer to peer teaching, using study buddies and heterogeneous groupings valuing students' voices and giving them choices soliciting frequent feedback from students to best meet their needs teaching students to be metacognitive However, these same concepts (and more practical applications) can be found in resources like 1) Rethinking Schools, 2) Teaching Tolerance, and 3) Facing History and Ourselves publications. Plus, these resources do not serve up ideas or strategies with a side of condescending snark or white guilt. Overall, I did not care for Emdin’s tone, and in a culture already obsessed with teacher-bashing, he did nothing to advance the cause of public education. For that reason alone, you should skip this one.