Cover Girl: Esmé Raji Codell (Part I) with Melissa A. Bartell

Ten years ago, the publication of our cover girl Esmé Raji Codell’s candid diary of her first year as a public school teacher was released, the world was introduced to a smart, spunky, snarky young woman who was determined to instill a love of reading in her students – and all children. This year, the book, Educating Esmé, has been re-released, this time with an extensive guide for new teachers. We sat down with Ms. Codell – or Madame Esmé as she sometimes prefers to be called – and let her educate us.

It’s been ten years since Educating Esmé first came out. Did you expect it to have as much impact as it has?

I didn’t go to fancy schools, but I found fancy teachers. I was very fortunate to have outstanding, life-saving, transformative teachers in every phase of my education.

I don’t think anyone who writes a book should expect an impact, but I did hope it would start a conversation about education in urban schools, and the challenges of being a teacher there…and anywhere. I was very gratified when the diary did indeed help to inspire dialogue around those topics. I am excited because this reissue has a whole guide for first year teachers, including 25 pragmatic pieces of advice, a teacher shopping list and a wonderful new intro by Katherine Paterson, author of Bridge to Terabithia. I hope this will incite conversation and confidence in a whole new generation of teachers!

The opening lines of Educating Esmé are about the death of your mentor. Can you tell us a bit more about Ismene, and what she meant to you?

Ismene was a teacher’s teacher who understood that the profession is a craft. She could be very cantankerous, but she also was very insightful, she knew a lot about children…not in an idealized way, in a very real way, “for better or for worse,” as they say. What most impressed me about Ismene was that she was very invested in her approach. While I didn’t always agree with it or emulate it, I appreciated her investment in it and hoped someday I could be as confident as she was in reaching children. She taught me what an important part of teacher training mentorship can be.

Are there any teachers from your own elementary school days who were especially important to you, or had a greater than usual impact on your life? If so, tell us about them?

I didn’t go to fancy schools, but I found fancy teachers. I was very fortunate to have outstanding, life-saving, transformative teachers in every phase of my education. One of my professors of education, Mr. Saiet, encouraged me to keep teaching journals. My high school English teacher, Mrs. Robinson, was as elegant as Lena Horne, and made us outline great literature so we would learn how it was done. I wrote about my grade school teacher Mrs. Schultz at length in my book Sing a Song of Tuna Fish; she kept me in for recess to improve my handwriting for weeks on end, explaining unapologetically, “someday you’ll have to sign autographs, and I want you to have good penmanship.” Talk about a vote of confidence!

As an educator, what I learned from them (and many other hardworking teachers I had) is that its important to bring yourself to the job, set the priorities based on what you have to impart as a human being, not just mandates handed down. These teachers followed curriculum, but they also had space to teach what they uniquely thought was important. I feel that education nowadays makes it harder and harder for teachers to do that. We as a culture stand to lose out as a result.

Educating Esmé is the story of your first year of teaching, but you taught for several more years after that. What made you keep teaching, and what made you ultimately decide to concentrate on writing?

If you’ve ever taught, you know there’s nothing in the world like it. Whenever I was writing full-time, I missed the classroom, and whenever I was teaching, I was inspired to write. I love to teach, and I like to write, and I try to do both whenever possible. As for concentration…well, it’s something to aspire to, I guess.

You home-schooled your son. Would you recommend home-schooling to every family, or are there times when public school is the better choice?

You hit the nail on the head…it’s a choice, and like all choices, sometimes the time is right and sometimes it’s never the right time. Public schools and home-schooling both have a lot to recommend them, and in both cases, the situation dictates whether it’s in the best interest of the child.

I think both of them have a lot of unfair prejudices against them, and people make choices based on what they fear and not what they know. In fact, public schools aren’t always dangerous, and the teachers can be outstanding, responsive, and very adept at individualizing instruction. Home-schooled kids are often very well socialized, with tons of opportunity to play and work with other kids.

When kids benefit from structure and the rich cross-section of people, or need special resources, or parents need to be at work, public schools can fit the bill nicely. When a parent feels a need to control curriculum or individualize instruction, and the child has the ability to work independently, home-schooling is worth a whirl.

On your website, PlanetEsmé.com, you refer to yourself as a “readiologist.” What exactly is a readiologist?

A readiologist is a trademarked term for a children’s literature specialist who can teach. Kind of like a librarian, but with a training focus specifically on children’s books and read-aloud. I am in development for a certification program which hopefully will be launched in Fall, 2010. It will be fabulous (if I do say so, myself!). Folks should e-mail me to get on the mailing list for that!

Encouraging children to read is one of your missions, perhaps the largest, and you’ve even written a book about it. Tell us a little bit about how and why How to Get Your Child to Love Reading came to be.

I figured, there HAD to be something as versatile as a potato to lead kids to reading, and then I realized, children’s books are our nation’s potato!

Thanks for asking! When I was on tour for Educating Esmé, a lot of people shared their frustrations with me about education. “This or that teacher didn’t do her job, now my kid’s behind.” “I come home from work, honestly, I’m too exhausted to read to my kids or check their work.” “How can books compete with video games and the internet?”

Well, after the tour, I was making potatoes au gratin, and I thought, “Wow, if I just had this potato, I could teach so much. I could cut it up and teach fractions. We could plant the eyes and chart growth. We could make potato stamps of alphabet letters, and read potato books.” I figured, there HAD to be something as versatile as a potato to lead kids to reading, and then I realized, children’s books are our nation’s potato! We can use what we have to make learning happen, through trade books found in schools, bookstores and libraries. This is called “potato pedagogy.”

I knew for this to happen I would have to help make everyone become an expert on children’s literature, so I wrote How to Get Your Child to Love Reading to do just that. And I’ll tell you, I honestly do believe children’s literature is our country’s best hope for equalizing education on America, because a great book in the hands of a rich child is the same great book in the hands of a poor child.

You can learn more about Esmé Raji Codell, and get a hint of some of the wonderful books she’s created, at her website, PlanetEsme.com. Be sure to check our blog for a review of Educating Esmé later this week, and come back in October for part two of our interview.

Melissa A. Bartell likes strong coffee, red wine, and dark chocolate. She earns her living writing web-copy for an Internet marketing firm & dabbles in fiction on the side. She lives near Dallas, TX with her husband, two dogs, and more computers than anyone really needs. She is the Managing Editor here at All Things Girl. Find out more about her on our About Page, check out her blog at MissMeliss.com, or follow her on Twitter: @Melysse