What’s a new teacher to do when “she’s trying to be nice and they’re setting fires in the bathroom,” as one Oakland teenager put it? How can a teacher transcend the barriers of adolescent identity and culture to reach the diverse students in today’s schools? Forty students from three cities contributed their perceptive and pragmatic answers to help create this riveting guide for any teacher of teenagers.

Every teenager is different, these young people say, but all need teachers who know them well without violating their boundaries, who challenge them without humiliating or ignoring them. This book sets forth invaluable techniques for:

• Increasing engagement and motivation
• Teaching demanding academic material
• Reaching English language learners
• Creating classroom cultures where respect and success go hand in hand.

Fires in the Bathroom was funded by MetLife Foundation as part of its Supporting New Teachers Initiative. It will be published in spring 2003 by New Press.

To view sample exercises for teachers from Fires in the Bathroom, visit the What Kids Can Do website.

To order Fires in the Bathroom, visit Amazon.com.