It Won't Be Easy: An Exceedingly Honest (and Slightly Unprofessional) Love Letter to Teaching

The author writes in his POV of being a teacher and it is so spot on you can relate so much to this book. One of my college professors used it as a opener for our class each day so I had to by it!

Just finished reading this book -- I purchased it after reading some excerpts published in an article that drifted around onto the social media pages of several educator friends. It's a great book. So great, in fact, that I've already convinced at least 3 other people to get their own copies -- I'm happy to lend mine out, but it's already marked up by my highlighter and I expect that many of my teacher friends will want to do the same to theirs.First of all, Rademacher's writing is authentic and funny. Especially if you work in an urban school, his stories will speak directly to you and your experience. He also challenges educators with some tough questions about the right way to run our classrooms. The fact that he (mostly) leads with questions, followed by stories, followed by a few maybe-tentative-answers means that the book allows the reader to do a large degree of self-reflection about their own classroom. For the most part, it rarely feels preachy about "the right" way to do things for our kids.I also appreciate that Rademacher is pretty open about the fact that yes, he is yet another white male writing a book about education. He owns that. He openly talks about race and his role in an oppressive, systemically racist system -- again, while relying mostly on stories and questions, rather than answers. I do think this is an especially important book for white educators to read, but could absolutely see how some teachers of color might be turned off by hearing another white guy tell them what it's like to be a teacher. All in all, I think the book works because it stays genuinely rooted in Rademacher's experience, rather than trying to speak some universal mantra of what it's like for all teachers everywhere.I read this book at the end of the school year and it was perfect timing as I look forward to planning for next year, but I think it would also make great summer reading, beginning-of-year reading, or mid-year reading. Honestly, is there every a wrong time to think critically about why you became a teacher and how we can do the best job for all of our kids?

I'm a first-year teacher and if you don't read the rest of this review just know:1. This is the first product I've felt compelled to write a review on.2. I belly laughed and cried in public while reading this book.3. I hear Tom's little aphorisms in my head daily while teaching.4. If you know a first-year teacher, have a new teacher coming into your department, this is the perfect gift.5. I got one book for myself and bought another after reading to send around to the group of English teachers I graduated with.Okay. The first couple pages Tom states that this book is not meant to be read at once, rather, in parts throughout the course of a school year. I felt a little guilty when I read the whole thing in a couple days over the summer, but I couldn't stop. Now I'm reading it again through my first year. I'm a devout Christian and it is no exaggeration when I say I read and reference this book almost more often than I do the Bible (sorry Jesus).My first year hasn't been easy (Christ, what a terrible pun), but this book has helped me keep a grasp on the important things and helped me digest the parts of this career that no one could prepare me for.~ALL~ teachers should read this.

It Won't Be Easy was a though provoking and entertaining read for educators. As an elementary teacher, there were some chapters that didn't completely apply to my teaching. However, I can see this book being a must read for all high school and most junior high teachers.

I haven’t even finished this book yet, and I hope that someone somewhere uses this book in an education classroom. As a first year teacher in a school full of teachers who have taught for at least 5 or more years, I needed this “you’re not alone” feeling. I’m not even finished but the amount of things I’ve highlighted in this book (and you should know I don’t do that to my books) is a very large number. Buy it. Read it. Feel less alone.

I am now in the throes of one of the worst book hangovers I have ever had. You know the ones: you are profoundly moved-touched-rocked to your core-convicted by what you have read that you are exhausted and weeping when you finish the last page. You sit in the quiet and think about the way you can't un-see certain things now, and how much of yourself needs to change to truly become the kind of teacher your kids deserve.Thank you Tom Rademacher, for opening my eyes to things I hadn't considered before, or hadn't seen before -- but will never again be able to ignore about myself or my classroom.When I get over my book hangover and finish my cathartic cry, I will read it again. And again. And again until the pages are dog-eared and I have run out of tissues and I will have taken one step closer to being the teacher that my kids need.Amy Hysick2017 NY State Teacher of the Year

Absolutely love this book as I am a student teacher!

A great Grad die ans teacher