The Great Expectations School: A
Rookie Year in the New Blackboard
Jungle by Dan Brown
A Terrified Foreigner In A Crazy Country
At 22, Dan Brown was an idealistic first-year elementary teacher at P.S. 85
in the Bronx. He was even assigned a class of his own: 4-217. What he
wasnÕt told was that 4-217 was the dumping ground for all fourth-grade
problem cases, and his students would be more challenging than he ever
anticipated. Dedicated and passionate but up against volatile children,
absent parents, and a failing administration, Dan was pushed to the limit
time and again. Yet in this seeming chaos, he discovered an unexpected
well of inspiration to discipline, teach, and make a difference. THE GREAT
EXPECTATIONS SCHOOL is the touching journey of Class 4-217 and
their teacher, Mr. Brown. But more than that, it is the revealing story of a
broken educational system and all those struggling within and fighting
against it.

Personal Review: The Great Expectations School: A Rookie
Year in the New Blackboard Jungle by Dan Brown
Dan Brown's first year as a Teaching Fellow was not as bad as he thought
it was. From reading his book, I can see that he was in unfamiliar territory
with unfamiliar people. When you become a teacher, you instinctively
teach the kids the way your teachers and parents taught you. But more
often than not, the rookie teacher finds that he was educated in the past,
and kids have come a long way. Or maybe they just weren't raised that
way,
Here's an example; Brown has a constant problem with kids stealing
everything. Then one of the teachers points out that the kids' don't
understand the "don't touch what's not yours" ideal. Their households are
really communes; they have a the kids, parents, cousins, and aunts all
living in one apartment, so they're not used to the concept of "private
property." Where they live, you just use whatever you see in the home.
I found this book more funny than sad, and more of a satire than an
expose. It reminded me more of A YEAR IN THE MERDE, where an
Englishman is lost in the jungle of French life, than BLACKBOARD
JUNGLE, where a teacher is in a horrible school. Like MERDE, Brown is a
terrified foreigner in a crazy culture.
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