So You Wanna Be a Teacher a Memoir: 32 Years of Sweat Hogs Teen Angst Hall Fights and Lifetime Friends

On Peter Kravitz first day as a teacher in an inner-city New York public school a veteran principal taught him the mantra that would carry him through his next thirty-two years in front of classes: Treat the children as if they were your own.Those nine words got Kravitz-Krav to his students-through three firings in one year a banishment to the library countless teenage dramas a few tragic deaths the impacts of 9/11 and Columbine on schools dozens of high school journalism awards and many many visits to the principals office. Kravs path to teaching was a crooked one. During his college years the Division 1 collegewrestler was infected with a difficult-to-diagnose virus and found himself committed to a treatment facility for mental illness.In time forever changed by his experience Kravitz resumed his trip along lifes road. He returned to college and ditched his accounting major. He met his future wife Jennifer and the pair lit out for adventures in Paris and elsewhere. After a short stint in journalism he went into teaching. His proving ground: three of New Yorks roughest Brooklyn High Schools.As Kravitz struggled to help his students (and himself) to survive and thrive he eventually found his footing in a Long Island high school as a teacher coach and mentor earning a reputation as a cool but effective educator with a permanent place in the hearts of many of his students and colleagues.Of course Krav didnt get there without breaking a few rules aggravating a few administrators and introducing a few readings that may not have been in the approved curriculum . . . but what cool teach doesnt?