Tales Told Out of School: Lessons Learned by the Teacher

by Ellen Jo Ljung

Anyone who is or has ever been a teacher, student, and/or parent will enjoy this collection of stories about the joys, challenges, details, and complexities of teaching. Ljung spent 30 years teaching English in high schools and middle schools in Wisconsin, Connecticut, and Illinois.She weaves together vignettes about plagiarism, Gay/Straight Alliance, Real Audiences, Problem-Based Learning, and more on her quest to be a better teacher and learn from her students.This warm collection works equally well as an inspiring memoir and as an intellectual case study. From the early days of navigating the bureaucracy of schools and the dated expectations of its leaders to a more established position of understanding, Ljung details her own development, striving to serve her students, and herself, better. Tales Told Out of School raises important questions for teachers, administrators and those who care for them about the nature of teaching, the challenges of work in schools, particularly as a woman, and what it takes to truly master an incredibly demanding profession. Varied, reflective, and interesting, these stories capture the complicated realities teachers face throughout the lifecycle of their careers.

Genres: Memoir

275 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 8, 2023

About the author

Illinois Master Teacher Ellen Jo Ljung spent nearly four decades teaching and learning from her students. She taught middle school, high school, and other teachers in three different states as her family moved. Author of two textbooks on teaching writing with computers and more than two dozen articles, Ljung published Tales Told Out of School, her teaching memoir, and maintains an education blog. She is currently writing a novel about a teacher chafing under micromanagement in Texas. In June she’ll be teaching a Creative Writing Camp for Teens and Tweens at Water Street Studios.

A trailblazer in Problem-Based Learning, Ljung developed and taught a course that became a model for a state innovation program. She wrote many of the professional development materials for that program and for Teacher-Match. Ljung also helped bring Gay/Straight Alliances to her school district and is a co-founder of the Illinois Safe Schools Alliance [www. https://www.ilsafeschools.org].

When she isn’t busy reading and writing in her home office, Ljung and her husband of 54 years create art glass sold in galleries and travel the world to kayak. They’ve kayaked on five continents, from Alaska to Africa to Asia. She is also a Court Appointed Special Advocate/Guardian ad Litem for children in foster care and a political activist. In her spare time [isn’t sleep overrated?!], Ljung creates wearable art.

You can read her blog at www.imwriter.com and reach her at imwriter@imwriter.com.

Reviews

[Trey Rice · Rating 5 out of 5]

I won this book as part of a goodreads giveaway and am writing this review willingly.

This book was an excellent memoir, while serving as an inspiration for teachers to join the profession. The book covers a wide range of topics, including Project Based Learning, teaching employment and dynamics. It should be a part of curriculum in teacher training programs, especially before student teaching or in a curriculum course, because it highlights what teachers should strive to be. Teachers should be advocates for their students, but willing to adapt and become facilitators for instruction. Components of this book feature compoenents of school mission statements across the US.

While the auto-biography aspect may cause some people to question the embellishment, it is an honest direct account, highlighting early stages of IDEA and computers in the ELA classroom. It includes high and low points, breaking them into sections while staying mostly chronological.

[Wisconsin Alumni]

Ellen Jo Ljung ’70
Author

From the author:
Anyone who is or has ever been a teacher, student, and/or parent will enjoy this collection of stories about the joys and challenges of teaching. Ljung weaves together vignettes about plagiarism, Gay/Straight Alliance, Real Audiences, Problem-Based Learning, and more on her quest to be a better teacher and learn from her students. From UW alumnus Don Fraynd PhD’04: “Ljung's memoir is a storytelling tour de force! Varied, reflective, and interesting, these stories capture the complicated realities teachers face throughout the lifecycle of their careers. The lessons this work teaches are woven together beautifully. I wish I would have had this book early in my career. I highly recommend it.” ~ Don Fraynd, PhD, CEO Transeo, former director of Chicago Public Schools Turnaround Office, award-winning principal of Jones High School

[Ashley · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am not a teacher, but I graduated college and currently have a child in elementary school. I did not enjoy this book as much as I had anticipated as it seems geared towards teachers and administrators. I am glad she taught students so effectively with unconventional methods! She won me over with her success stories, but I’m not going to use these in my class or school.

Overall, it was a fun read, but there were a few times I almost didn’t finish the book. This book wasn’t holding my attention. I realized while reading that I’m more interested in a modern take on teaching (her stories mostly took place in the 80s and 90s).

[Megan Harvell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a fun book to read! I loved this book.