TEACHING: Real World Stories From America’s Teachers,...

TEACHING: Real World Stories From America’s Teachers, edited by Pearl Rock Kane (Walker & Co.: $10.95). The first-person accounts of first-year teaching experiences in this anthology were among the winners in a contest sponsored by the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation and Education Week. Not surprisingly, nearly all of the stories emphasize personal accomplishment--learning to overcome fears, reaching the problem student, helping children realize their unrecognized potential, finding ways to make a subject come alive. What emerges from these pages is a timely reminder that teaching and learning depend on effective communication. Discovering the unique mixture of encouragement, discipline, affection and respect each student requires is becoming increasingly difficult due to the severe cutbacks in local, state and federal funding that have characterized the administration of the soi - disant education President.