Tony Danza!

I wanted to point out that my teacher suggested I watch Tony Danza's new show, Teach. It plays Friday nights at 10PM on A&E. It's so funny to see Tony Danza teaching! He apparently went to school to become a high school English teacher, but then became famous, so he never ended up teaching. A&E's website has information about the show, including clips from episodes. Unfortunately, I could not find full episodes of the show on the A&E website, but I was able to locate some on Hulu.com. I was hoping to find the first episode so that I could watch his first day(s) of teaching, but I still have not been able to find it anywhere. Maybe I'll order the DVD set when it comes out eventually, because I think that I can learn a lot by watching him struggle.

I have only gotten to see one episode so far, and Tony struggled with classroom management in the episode that I watched. He couldn't get his class to quiet down, but it seemed to me that he wasn't raising his voice enough or being assertive enough. Instead of gaining control of the class, Tony shuts down, says "I give up," and walks into the hallway. I was shocked to see him begin to cry in the hall! Maybe because he is male, it was extra shocking to me, simply because I haven't seen many men cry. I'm not trying to be sexist, but I'm just stating gender roles that I have witnessed. We talk about gendered stuff like this in my gender and communication class, but that is a whole different realm of discussion. Anyway, I felt that I could relate to Tony in his frustration and need to cry, but no matter how hard things get, I feel that you really shouldn't let your students see you break down and cry (especially not when it is because you can't control the classroom!) But, I was happy to see how the students reacted: they felt bad, and ended up coming together to make him a poster with an apology in which all the kids signed. Things like that keep me optimistic about teaching, because although the kids might push your buttons and try to wear you down, some of them genuinely do care about their teachers as human beings. I'm really excited to eventually have a classroom full of kids whom I know and connect with and hopefully interact with on a personal level!



PS -- Here is the A&E description of Tony Danza's show:

"During the 2009-2010 school year, he took on his most challenging and rewarding role yet as he stepped into the classroom as a full-time teacher at Philadelphia’s Northeast High School. 'Teach: Tony Danza' follows the first year-teacher as he instructs a 10th-grade English class with 26 students in back-to-back 45-minute periods. The series will look at the challenges Danza faced and the rewards he experienced as a first-year high school teacher."