Chapter 1, Beginning, The Challenge of Teaching Summary and Analysis

The life of a teacher is a compilation of many difference experiences and is full of invention and imposition. Teaching is always the teacher's own. Ayers sees the fragments of his own teaching everywhere. He then recounts the story of playing "I Spy" with a child who, when he spied something brown, proudly pointed out herself. She had been educated to admire her distinctiveness, rather than be ashamed of it.

Next Ayers recounts a young thirteen-year-old Hispanic boy who hated school and felt embarrassed there, leading him to act out. When Ayers saw Jose leading a group of skateboarders outside of class, Ayers had the idea of asking him to teach a mini-course to students about skateboarding and he agreed. Jose did not immediately turned around, but for a moment, there...