IRB Introduction Post #1: What Teachers Make by Taylor Mali

         For my first Independent Reading Book of the year, I chose to read the memoir, What Teachers Make by Taylor Mali. The book is a tribute to "the greatest job in the world", teaching. What started out as a simple poem, whose name is the same as the book title, is now an insightful memoir on the joys of teaching. The poem was brought about when a rich man at a dinner party asked Mali the simple question: What do teachers make? The purpose of this book is to show the reader a teacher's perspective of a classroom in a humorous, yet, intuitive way. Mali also uses his memoir to explain why teaching is so vital to our society today. I was drawn to this book with the goal of acquiring a greater understanding on why teachers do what they do and how being a teacher has affected their lives. Every teacher I have had, has an effect on who I am as a person today. I am hoping that I will gain from this book a greater appreciation on what it takes to be a teacher. I also hope to learn how students have an affect on their teachers, just like how teachers have an affect on their students.