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Ms. Moffett's First Year: Becoming a Teacher in America
In summer of 2000, legal secretary Donna Moffett answered an ad for the New York City Teaching Fellows program, which sought to recruit "talented professionals" from other fields to teach in some of the city's worst schools. Seven weeks later she was in a first grade classroom in Flatbush, Brooklyn, nearly completely unprepared for what she was about to face. New York Times education reporter Abby Goodnough followed Donna Moffett through her first year as a teacher, writing a frontpage, award-winning series that galvanized discussion nationwide. Now she has expanded that series into a book that, through the riveting story of Moffett's experiences, explores the gulf between the rhetoric of education reform and the realities of the public school classroom. Ms. Moffett's First Year is neither a Hollywood- friendly tale of ‘one person making a difference,' nor a reductive indictment of the public education system. It is rather a provocative portrait of the inadequacy of good intentions, of the challenges of educating poor and immigrant populations, and of a well-meaning but underprepared woman becoming a teacher the hard way.
While the story takes place in New York, Ms.Moffett's first year is a metaphor for the experiences of teachers everywhere in America, one that illuminates the philosophical, economic, political, and ideological dilemmas that have come more and more to determine their experience —and their students' experiences — in the classroom.
While the story takes place in New York, Ms.Moffett's first year is a metaphor for the experiences of teachers everywhere in America, one that illuminates the philosophical, economic, political, and ideological dilemmas that have come more and more to determine their experience —and their students' experiences — in the classroom.
272 pages, Paperback
First published August 16, 2004
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 36 reviews
October 31, 2018
I gobbled this book up because I couldn't wait to hear about the ending of Ms. Moffett's first year. This book follows a woman in 2000 who makes a mid-life career change to become a teacher in a rough NY school as part of the NY Teaching Fellows program that encouraged professionals to make a change and become teachers. I remember seeing the subway ads for the program when I lived in NYC. Really fascinating, heartbreaking, heartwarming and an excellent reminder of why teachers should be our most prized profession and how grateful we should be to them.
September 15, 2012
Written by an education reporter for the New York Times, this book details the experiences of Donna Moffett, during her first year as a first grade teacher. Previously an executive secretary for a law firm, she embarked on her second career by applying to be an Education Fellow, talented members of other professions who were being recruited to teach at troubled New York public schools. It was hoped that their idealism, fresh outlook, and varied skills would leaven the educational establishment. (As an inducement, recruits were offered free Master's degrees in education through evening classes which they would attend while teaching full time.)
This is not a feel-good story about how one person made a difference in the lives of disadvantaged children. But neither is it a hopeless narrative.
Despite the physically exhausting work, the skimpy summer training, and the lack of continued mentoring which the Fellows had been promised, Donna Moffett did manage come to terms with the sometimes adversarial school bureaucracy and the wilting of her own idealism during her first year of teaching. And despite serious doubts about whether she could even stick it out, she was eventually able to integrate her clueless education classes, the restrictions of the school's mandated reading and math programs, and the requirements of her immediate supervisors with her own hard-won experience working with her students and her inherent desire to share her love of reading. At the time the book was published, several years later, Ms. Moffett was still teaching first grade and with a level of competence she could not have imagined midway through that first tempestuous year.
On a more personal note: as a retired homeschooling mom, part of of me was was screaming, "I'm soooo glad we homeschooled!" But another part was filled with admiration for classroom teachers in the trenches. I don't think I could ever do what they do.
This is not a feel-good story about how one person made a difference in the lives of disadvantaged children. But neither is it a hopeless narrative.
Despite the physically exhausting work, the skimpy summer training, and the lack of continued mentoring which the Fellows had been promised, Donna Moffett did manage come to terms with the sometimes adversarial school bureaucracy and the wilting of her own idealism during her first year of teaching. And despite serious doubts about whether she could even stick it out, she was eventually able to integrate her clueless education classes, the restrictions of the school's mandated reading and math programs, and the requirements of her immediate supervisors with her own hard-won experience working with her students and her inherent desire to share her love of reading. At the time the book was published, several years later, Ms. Moffett was still teaching first grade and with a level of competence she could not have imagined midway through that first tempestuous year.
On a more personal note: as a retired homeschooling mom, part of of me was was screaming, "I'm soooo glad we homeschooled!" But another part was filled with admiration for classroom teachers in the trenches. I don't think I could ever do what they do.
January 23, 2010
Reviewed January 22, 2010; read the book 2 or 3 times in 2009.
This was my favorite book of 2009. I kept referring to it throughout the year.
The funny thing is that I happened upon it by chance. I had loved reading the New York Times articles featuring Moffett in 2000 and 2001. I had even saved them. Early in 2009 I decided to Google her name and found that a book had been written based on that "first year" profiled in the New York Times.
Wow, what a difference between reading about Ms. Moffett at breakfast time before heading off to a corporate job (in 2000 and 2001) and reading it while actually working as a substitute teacher and an elementary librarian! I relate more to Ms. Moffett now than I ever did when I sat in front of a computer in an office. In fact, Ms. Moffett made a similar change -- she was once in the corporate world as well.
I believe that both Ms. Moffett and I made the right move. I'm substitute teaching now and hope to obtain another librarian job soon. There are definitely challenges working with kids but there are numerous rewards, too. I couldn't imagine doing anything else.
This was my favorite book of 2009. I kept referring to it throughout the year.
The funny thing is that I happened upon it by chance. I had loved reading the New York Times articles featuring Moffett in 2000 and 2001. I had even saved them. Early in 2009 I decided to Google her name and found that a book had been written based on that "first year" profiled in the New York Times.
Wow, what a difference between reading about Ms. Moffett at breakfast time before heading off to a corporate job (in 2000 and 2001) and reading it while actually working as a substitute teacher and an elementary librarian! I relate more to Ms. Moffett now than I ever did when I sat in front of a computer in an office. In fact, Ms. Moffett made a similar change -- she was once in the corporate world as well.
I believe that both Ms. Moffett and I made the right move. I'm substitute teaching now and hope to obtain another librarian job soon. There are definitely challenges working with kids but there are numerous rewards, too. I couldn't imagine doing anything else.
February 1, 2014
Curled up with this random pick from library tonight and finished in one day. It journals the story of a "fellow" - someone who left a regular career to go into teaching in a special program in NYC schools in 2000. This woman taught in a 1st grade class in one of the low performing, high poverty schools with 4-weeks of training. I thoroughly enjoyed this for so many reasons. I can see relatable elements to the challenges I see in the small % of time I spend volunteering at such a school, but I also see challenges in my own children's middle class, high performing suburban school too. I think the only frustrating element of reading this book is just how overwhelming, political and the fact a one-solution fix will not work in our national issues in schools. I know this book made me much more motivated to praise, thank and ask ?'s in a partnering way with teachers. But it also challenged me to consider what are the solutions or more importantly the better questions to be asking. Overall a really great writing by a reporter & hopeful story that there are teachers who push through the system's brokenness to still do what they set out to do... Teach kids.
February 9, 2014
In 2000, Donna Moffett quit her job as a legal secretary and became a Teaching Fellow with credentials to teach in New York City with only one month's worth of classes and the promise of free classes to earn a master's degree over two years while she taught in New York failing public schools. The book covers her tough first year as a first grade teacher and also some of the politics and programs of NY public schools. I wonder if I could have put up with what she did - lack of administrative support, discipline problems, and dealing with learning difficulties with little training or support.
March 18, 2021
As a portrayal of the struggles of a first-year teacher I thought this was just about perfect: a critical but sympathetic portrayal of the classroom and school dynamics facing an idealistic teacher, and an account of her internal state and the changes she goes through over the year. Teaching changes you! Sometimes for the better, rarely for the saner.
As an account of the political issues around education…meh. Sudden discussions of ed policy felt out of place - and maybe a bit unfair to poor Ms. Moffett, to suddenly zoom out to a 3000-foot view of reading instruction. This was written in 2000, and certain aspects seem dated, like the language used to describe the poverty of Brooklyn schools and families. On the other hand, it’s also an early snapshot of the school reform era, and plenty of the tropes about NYC public schools you hear today were active in 2000 too.
Anyway, I think I probably read this in 2020 to remember what it’s like being in a classroom, and it scratched that itch.
As an account of the political issues around education…meh. Sudden discussions of ed policy felt out of place - and maybe a bit unfair to poor Ms. Moffett, to suddenly zoom out to a 3000-foot view of reading instruction. This was written in 2000, and certain aspects seem dated, like the language used to describe the poverty of Brooklyn schools and families. On the other hand, it’s also an early snapshot of the school reform era, and plenty of the tropes about NYC public schools you hear today were active in 2000 too.
Anyway, I think I probably read this in 2020 to remember what it’s like being in a classroom, and it scratched that itch.
September 9, 2021
First-year teachers have a profoundly unique experience, full of hard lessons, life-changing moments, and impressional students. However, in most cases these teachers have a college education that has directly prepared them to teach.
Ms. Moffet’s experience is different. She worked a different career entirely and left to join a Teacher Fellows program in an urban school in New York City. With minimal training, she stepped into a first-grade classroom and attempted to make a difference. Her experiences, which coincided with President George W. Bush’s No Child Left Behind and New York’s Chancellor’s District, showed some of the hardest and most challenging circumstances that teaching can throw at a person. Filled with emotional and professional ups and downs, Ms. Moffet’s First Year shows just how dedicated teachers must be in their attempt to change the world: one classroom at a time.
Ms. Moffet’s experience is different. She worked a different career entirely and left to join a Teacher Fellows program in an urban school in New York City. With minimal training, she stepped into a first-grade classroom and attempted to make a difference. Her experiences, which coincided with President George W. Bush’s No Child Left Behind and New York’s Chancellor’s District, showed some of the hardest and most challenging circumstances that teaching can throw at a person. Filled with emotional and professional ups and downs, Ms. Moffet’s First Year shows just how dedicated teachers must be in their attempt to change the world: one classroom at a time.
March 3, 2018
Like so many teachers Ms. Moffett is frustrated by the realities of urban public schools. She certainly didn't go into teaching with her eyes opened. This book doesn't portray her in a very positive light. She often appears more concerned about what she is getting out this - not the needs of her students.
When she gets fed up and frustrated, she responds by snapping at the students, instead of recognizing that they have nothing to do the bureaucratic mess that she encounters.
When she gets fed up and frustrated, she responds by snapping at the students, instead of recognizing that they have nothing to do the bureaucratic mess that she encounters.
March 26, 2020
This is a somewhat depressing book about public school education. It was written about the school year 2000, but I’m guessing many of the same problems plague the system today.
April 7, 2011
The title pretty much sums it up. The author was a reporter who was following Ms. Moffett, one of the alternatively certified teachers in New York's flagship Teaching Fellows program. It's an interesting mix of the teacher's experiences with a lot of background info on the teacher shortage, budget crisis, and educational/union politics that led to the Teaching Fellows program in the first place. As someone currently pursuing an alternative certification/master's degree in education route, this was really interesting to me. And as someone who spent a year teaching English to lots of little kids, I could so relate to the organized chaos and backbreaking exhaustion that so often characterizes teaching small children. On the other hand, Ms. Moffett's successes also brought back memories of my own high points in the classroom, which was nice. I think it's a good look into the challenges of teaching in highly structured, rigid public school classrooms in America.
July 26, 2016
A compelling and complex case study of one woman's first year as a NYC Teaching Fellow, having left her job as a legal secretary at age 45 and been handed control of a first-grade classroom in Brooklyn. The author, a NY Times education writer, chronicled Ms. Moffett's story in the Times during the NYC Teaching Fellows first year in 2001-2. Several major changes were made to the program after a chaotic first year but many of the problems Goodnough discusses still remain in the system (teacher retention rates at low-performing schools, rigid curriculum, attracting quality candidates into teaching, etc.). Having myself decided against alternative certification to become a mid-career teacher, I found it interesting to see how Moffett struggles in her classroom with only 4 weeks (!) of training and little support from fellow teachers and the administration. Recommended for anyone with an interest in teaching and urban education.
April 5, 2010
Being a teacher, I found this book interesting because it is about a woman who changed careers to become a teacher in a failing NYC elementary school. The book was written by a newspaper reporter and had quite a bit of politics in it. There were also some broad generalizations about education that I didn't agree with. For example the author asserted that "phonics proponents had embraced the standardized testing movement, saying that children must learn early that life is competitive, while the whole-language camp had opposed it on the grounds that test preparation is boring..."
I'm pretty sure that most educators' number one complaint against packaged phonics programs or standardized testing isn't "it's boring."
Overall though, the book did a nice job showing the good and bad of the profession, and it was interesting to read about NYC's Teaching Fellows program.
I'm pretty sure that most educators' number one complaint against packaged phonics programs or standardized testing isn't "it's boring."
Overall though, the book did a nice job showing the good and bad of the profession, and it was interesting to read about NYC's Teaching Fellows program.
July 20, 2015
While this book deals with the dynamics of a new teacher and the consequences of No Child Left Behind, there is no doubt that the bureaucracy and top-down approach to education have continued through programs such as Race To the Top and Common Core. The book is an easy read and you feel for Donna as she approaches education with an idealistic attitude and is quickly faced with the reality of teaching in an inner-city schools with poverty as a constant. The idea of creating teachers through an alternative track is an interesting idea, but the animosity of "real" teachers towards these fellows encourages their failure. There are no easy answers when it comes to education and this book provides an insight into one unique program and how Donna Moffett handles her first year as a first-grade teacher.
January 9, 2022
A middle aged woman leaves her job as a legal secretary to become a teacher in NYC by joining the Teaching Fellows program. This book recounts her experiences during her first year in a Brooklyn elementary school. As a former Fellow, I enjoyed reading about the issues she faced (the same that all face) working in a failing school.
I like that the book was written by a news reporter (the story was originally told through a series of front page articles in the NYT), someone who visited her classroom throughout the year, rather than being written from Ms. Moffet's point of view.
I like that the book was written by a news reporter (the story was originally told through a series of front page articles in the NYT), someone who visited her classroom throughout the year, rather than being written from Ms. Moffet's point of view.
August 14, 2009
8/14 I have finally finished this book and I enjoyed it. At times I found it sad and wondered what I would do in Ms. Moffett's position. However, at the same time I admired someone who looked up from her life and decided to do something different. It took a bit of courage to change careers and to allow a reporter to record that change. While teaching was not her first choice in life it became clear that through her dedication to the school and her students that is had become a calling.
7/14--Still reading, I like it but its something I like to take slowly.
7/14--Still reading, I like it but its something I like to take slowly.
August 17, 2007
I read this book before I started teaching. It chronicles the first year of a teaching fellow - I believe she teaches 2nd grade in Brooklyn. At the time I remember thinking that the description seemed fairly accurate - with lots of ups and downs. Books about teachers who magically transform kids in one or two years annoy me, and this book seemed like an honest depiction of what teachers experience over the course of a year. I'll have to read it again now that I'm in the classroom....
February 5, 2009
I was interested in the experiences of a 1st year teacher going through the equivilant of the ACP program in New York. It was written by a newspaper reporter who followed her class so it lacked some of the emotion it might have had written by Ms. Moffett herself. A little too much time was spent on the politic side, but an interesting story nonetheless.
April 13, 2010
I was disappointed because I thought this book would talk more about her experiences as a first year teacher. There were a lot of chapters that went on about the education system in New York, which I found to be pretty boring. I wanted to read more about her emotions, accomplishments, struggles, and time spent in the classroom.
August 22, 2011
When I got past the journalist's garb, I was able to really read a story about a woman who wanted to make a difference but was faced with difficult kids and an unsupportive school. I wanted more of Ms. Moffet's words though, more of her period, instead of the opinions and political stuff that makes up the book but that's just me. I am a future teacher so I wanted to read more of the experience.
March 18, 2007
About a first-year NYC teaching fellow teacher who left a successful career to teach 1st grade in Flatbush, Bklyn. Tells of the ups and downs of her first classroom, but more than learning about teaching styles you understand the issues with the NYC school system.
August 10, 2014
Despite the author's best efforts to understand what it was like for this teacher, it was obvious that it was written by an outsider who has never actually been in that position. Nevertheless, the insight into the politics of the New York City educational system makes it an appealing read.
January 8, 2010
An excellent book - the genuine, straightforward story of a New York Teaching Fellow's first year. It paints an honest portrait of the struggles of Ms. Moffet and the public school system in general with politics, bureaucracy and varying educational philosophy.
June 4, 2011
This book shed a lot of light on the bureaucracy in the education system and the way different districts are going about trying to improve education in the United States. It is also an interesting personal story about one first-year teacher in a New York City elementary school.
August 5, 2021
The first of three books I read for grad school regarding the journey of education, this one about a legal secretary who answer the call to teach in a challenging district. High-quality journalism makes for an engrossing read. (8)
February 8, 2022
I'm having a hard time getting through this. While it's description intrigued me, it goes too deep into the actual NY education department's regulations, which makes it a bit boring. I'll continue reading though.
October 26, 2011
i wasn't planning to become a teacher but this book ensured that i never would. interesting perspectives on what's within the control of the teacher and what's determined by the school, district, and state.
March 15, 2013
Reading this book during my first year of teaching, I felt a sense of solidarity with another new teacher through the ups and downs of becoming a teacher. Her heart, her preparation, and her attachments and frustrations with students are relatable and heart-breaking. What a year, Ms. Moffett.
November 3, 2007
Sad, frustrating, inspirational, and informative.
July 31, 2008
Mid-career shift from corporate work to teaching. Strangely, her experiences teaching 1st grade are not all that different from mine at Pioneer Pacific. LOL
November 25, 2008
Amazing view into the life of a first-year teacher -- with virtually no traditional training -- in a struggling NYC public elementary school.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 36 reviews