Substitute: Going to School with a Thousand Kids

About this book

A New York Times Bestseller May be the most revealing depiction of the American contemporary classroom that we have to date." Garret Keizer The New York Times Book Review Bestselling author Nicholson Baker in pursuit of the realities of American public education signed up as a substitute teacher in a Maine public school district. In 2014 after a brief orientation course and a few fingerprinting sessions Nicholson Baker became an on-call substitute teacher in a Maine public school district. He awoke to the dispatchers five-forty a.m. phone call and headed to one of several nearby schools; when he got there he did his best to follow lesson plans and help his students get something done. What emerges from Bakers experience is a complex often touching deconstruction of public schooling in America: children swamped with overdue assignments overwhelmed by the marvels and distractions of social media and educational technology and staff who weary themselves trying to teach in step with an often outmoded or overly ambitious standard curriculum. In Bakers hands the inner life of the classroom is examined anewmundane worksheets recess time-outs surprise nosebleeds rebellions griefs jealousies minor triumphs kindergarten show-and-tell daily lessons on everything from geology to metal tech to the Holocaustas he and his pupils struggle to find ways to get through the day. Baker is one of the most inventive and remarkable writers of our time and Substitute filled with humor honesty and empathy may be his most impressive work of nonfiction yet.