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Learn Me Good Kindle Edition
Jack Woodson was a thermal design engineer for four years until he was laid off from his job. Now, as a teacher, he faces new challenges. Conference calls have been replaced with parent conferences. Product testing has given way to standardized testing. Instead of business cards, Jack now passes out report cards. The only thing that hasn't changed noticeably is the maturity level of the people surrounding him all day.
Learn Me Good is Jack's hilarious retelling of his harrowing rookie year, written as a series of emails to Fred Bommerson, his former engineering coworker. Inspired by real-life experiences of rambunctious and precocious children, lesson plans gone awry, and incredibly outrageous quotes, this laugh a minute page turner will give you a new appreciation for educators. Jack holds a March Mathness tournament, he faces a child's urgent declaration of "My bowels be runnin'!", and he mistakenly asks one girl's mother if she is her brother. With subject lines such as "Irritable Vowel Syndrome," "In math class, no one can hear you scream," and "I love the smell of Lysol in the morning,"
Jack fills each email with sarcastic (yet loving) humor, insightful observations, and plenty of irreverent wit. If you've ever taught, you will undoubtedly recognize aspects of your own students in Jack's classroom. If you've never set foot in a classroom, you will still appreciate the funny quirks, behaviors, and quotes from the kids and adults alike.
"I teach, therefore I am...poor!"
- LanguageEnglish
- Publication dateJune 28, 2006
- Reading age15 - 18 years
- File size1.3 MB
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Editorial Reviews
Review
"This book made me laugh and laugh." - apoem, Vine Voice
"The kids will keep you chuckling most of the way." - Big Al of Big Al's Books and Pals
"This book is not only laugh out loud funny but insightful aboutthechallenges that today's teachers face." - S. Orr, Amazon customer
"I laughed until I cried, literally." - LynnH, Amazon customer
About the Author
John Pearson won the Jeopardy! Teachers Tournament in 2013 and lost to the eventual grand winner in the Tournament of Champions in 2014. He was an alternate in the 2019 All-Stars Tournament and fulfilled that role admirably.
Pearson enjoys reading, watching movies, and playing games in his free time, and he has made several videos with his son Andrew, including the Pearson Olympics and the May Gladness series, all available on YouTube. He also updates the Learn Me Good page on Facebook with funny memes, anecdotes, and observations. All educators,teachers, and people who love humor are welcome.
Product details
- ASIN : B002C75GXK
- Publisher : lulu.com
- Accessibility : Learn more
- Publication date : June 28, 2006
- Language : English
- File size : 1.3 MB
- Screen Reader : Supported
- Enhanced typesetting : Enabled
- X-Ray : Enabled
- Word Wise : Enabled
- Print length : 214 pages
- Page Flip : Enabled
- Reading age : 15 - 18 years
- Best Sellers Rank: #1,187,743 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #61 in School & Education Humor
- #1,990 in Humorous Literary Fiction
- #3,913 in Education & Reference (Kindle Store)
- Customer Reviews:
About the author

John Pearson was born just outside of Washington, DC, but moved to Texas as quickly as he could. Growing up with a passion for math, science, and calculator watches, he obtained engineering degrees and basketball (watching) accolades from Duke University and Texas A&M. His first job out of college was designing small solid-state heat pumps, where his cubicle simply was not big enough to contain him. When the engineering market went sour, he decided to try his hand as a teacher, and he educated one diverse group of kids after another, mostly in math and science, but also in Star Wars quotes, bad puns, and life in general. Those students (the Good, the Bad, and the Apathetic) provided the material for Learn Me Good and its sequels. He now uses his mad math skills as an analyst in a really tall building downtown.
John Pearson won the Jeopardy! Teachers Tournament in 2013 and lost to the eventual grand winner in the Tournament of Champions in 2014. He was an alternate in the 2019 All-Stars Tournament and fulfilled that role admirably.
Pearson enjoys reading, watching movies, and playing games in his free time, and he has made several videos with his son Andrew, including the Pearson Olympics and the May Gladness series, all available on YouTube. He also updates the Learn Me Good page on Facebook with funny memes, anecdotes, and observations. All educators, teachers, and people who love humor are welcome.
Customer reviews
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To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. Instead, our system considers things like how recent a review is and if the reviewer bought the item on Amazon. It also analyzed reviews to verify trustworthiness.
Learn more how customers reviews work on AmazonCustomers say
Customers find the book highly enjoyable and entertaining, with many noting it's a laugh-out-loud read filled with puns. Moreover, the email format works well, and customers appreciate how it tells a charming story of life after layoff. Additionally, the book provides a great teacher perspective, with one customer noting how it reflects actual third-grade curriculum, and customers find it authentic and heartwarming, with many mentioning they found themselves smiling while reading.
AI Generated from the text of customer reviews
Customers find the book highly enjoyable and entertaining, noting it's wonderful to read after a long day.
"...I gave the book five stars because it is both entertaining and poignant, and it strongly reinforces the idea that in order to survive in the..." Read more
"Great book - easy reading and flows along quickly. Made me smile, then laugh, then laugh aloud...." Read more
"This humorous account of Pearson's first year of teaching is a fun read, but also clearly records the many difficulties faced by teachers in our..." Read more
"...Great read! Great writing! Might there be a sequel!" Read more
Customers find the book humorous, describing it as a laugh-out-loud read with lots of puns and amusing emails.
"...It is funny and entertaining...." Read more
"...It's a witty and hilarious, but strangely fascinating, look at the silly and sometimes very bizarre antics of public school children (and parents!)...." Read more
"This book was great. Funny and yet a sad commentary on our inner-city educational system. Good read, especially for those involved in education." Read more
"...quot;Learn Me Good" is a quick and easy read that, as I said, can be funny. However, it lacks a plot...." Read more
Customers appreciate the teacher perspective in the book, finding it educational and interesting, with one customer noting how it reflects actual third-grade curriculum.
"...It was witty, insightful, heartwarming, and even a little bit inspirational...." Read more
"...a friend and ex-coworker, "Learn Me Good" is wickedly entertaining and clever...." Read more
"...And from what I can tell, a good teacher...." Read more
"...the three most important things necessary to become a good, effective teacher: Love what you do, appreciate the differences in your students and..." Read more
Customers appreciate the email format of the book, noting that the entire content is written through emails and the Kindle formatting is very good.
"Simply written,andt a teacher will "get it" as a former engineer emails his experiences in an elementary classroom." Read more
"...I simply loved the style of using an e-mail format; it allowed the important points to be made without excessive introspection...." Read more
"...But for a topic such as this one, the email format is workable and is a unique way to format the story...." Read more
"...But the biggest surprise was how well the email format worked...." Read more
Customers enjoy the stories in the book, with one review highlighting how they are true-to-life and another noting the clever anecdotes.
"A good plot for an interesting first year for a teacher...." Read more
"Fascinating narrative that is suitable for new teachers, people who might aspire to teach and people with children in 'problem' school situations...." Read more
"...such as this one, the email format is workable and is a unique way to format the story. Formatting wise - the book is perfect...." Read more
"...I loved how he told the stories of the children and their struggles and behavior issues...." Read more
Customers find the book charming and delightful, appreciating its look at schools and how it captures the silly aspects of teaching.
"If you're looking for a sweet, quick and humorous read, and if you get a kick out of the antics of kids, Learn Me Good is the book for you...." Read more
"...It is corny and cute, but it seems that most of the overarching chapters (emails) are extremely formulaic and are the exact same structure, tone,..." Read more
"...Charming and funny!" Read more
"Cute, entertaining..." Read more
Customers find the book authentic and true to life, with one customer noting its clean sense of reality.
"This was funny, and true!..." Read more
"...The book rings as true as a school bell." Read more
"...Very funny and so true! Thanks for the laugh!" Read more
"...The realism was so strong that I felt like I could see the classroom and the students, hear the conversations, and practically smell the odors by..." Read more
Customers find the book heartwarming and cheerful, with poignant moments that make them smile.
"...This book was both lighthearted and heartwarming; reading it gave me a great deal of pleasure...." Read more
"...I gave the book five stars because it is both entertaining and poignant, and it strongly reinforces the idea that in order to survive in the..." Read more
"...doesn't mean this book is sloppy or easily forgotten, it's just a cheerful book with fun stories about elementary school antics and some office..." Read more
"...There are poignant moments - ones where he realizes that no matter how much he does that there will be some students that need more help than he can..." Read more
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Top reviews from the United States
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- Reviewed in the United States on January 12, 2013Format: KindleVerified PurchaseWhile I never taught elementary school, I have had some experience teaching high school and I think I dealt with a lot of the same things (only add profanity and jewelry for boys). The one thing that is different is that I don't have John Pearson's sense of humor nor his incredible writing talent that let him share his experiences with others.
I happen to live in Plano, TX, which is about 20 miles NE of downtown Dallas, so when he mentioned things like the weather, I knew exactly what he meant. One other thing that struck home with me was the issue of names because two weeks after my older daughter started first grade I received a phone call from her teacher asking me if it was all right to call my daughter by her legal name instead of the nickname by which she had always been known. This was at my daughter's request and I immediately agreed but when she got home and I called her by her legal name, she corrected me and said that she only wanted to be called by her legal name at school! This dichotomy, with its attendant mistakes, went on until she was 19, when she decided she only wanted to be called by her nickname! She's 27 now and still goes only by her nickname so I'm just playing it by ear.
The most important fact about "Learn Me Good" is that I enjoyed reading it very, VERY much. I simply loved the style of using an e-mail format; it allowed the important points to be made without excessive introspection. I smiled every time I read the subject line and sometimes laughed out loud at his clever signatures. I very rarely read sequels but I am making an exception in this case because I have to find out what happened with "Jack Woodson's" life and career.
The imagery and atmosphere in this book were exceptionally well done and the editing was excellent. (I only caught two tiny mistakes that in no way interfered with the smooth flow of the story.) The realism was so strong that I felt like I could see the classroom and the students, hear the conversations, and practically smell the odors by their descriptions.
This book was both lighthearted and heartwarming; reading it gave me a great deal of pleasure. I highly recommend that you get a copy ASAP so that you can enjoy it, too. Happy reading!
- Reviewed in the United States on December 30, 2010Format: KindleVerified PurchaseIf you're looking for a sweet, quick and humorous read, and if you get a kick out of the antics of kids, Learn Me Good is the book for you. Teachers, principals, aides, school counselors, youth pastors, therapists...this includes all of you.
Pearson chronicles his first year of teaching the 3rd grade. His book is written as a series of emails that are written from him to one of his former business coworkers.
I also work with kids all day, and I picked this one up on the fly because it looked interesting - I figured I'd find another professional that could validate some of my horror stories. I'm a juvenile probation officer so my work with kids is in more of a one on one setting, but I've always wondered how teachers dealt with having 30-40 kids in front of them all at once! Especially young kids! Now I know that my choice NOT to be a teacher was the correct one! Hah! But I can at least laugh at Mr. Pearson's adventures. I did not expect the humor, but indeed, humor abounds. I especially got a kick out of all the chaos! Indeed, when you are surrounded by kids all day long, this is EXACTLY what happens.
Pearson's writing style sometimes tries a little too hard to be funny - the kids are funny enough without adding too much. But overall, you'll do alot of smiling and laughing at Pearson's misfortunes. Some jokes did make me smile, and a few of them really got me laughing because I could picture the scene quite clearly - Kleenex anyone? NO I WANT TISSUE!!
I'm not sure I like the email format used here, as each new email jarred me out of the "story" and reminded me that I was reading a book. I think the book would have been a lot more cohesive had it been told in normal story format. But for a topic such as this one, the email format is workable and is a unique way to format the story.
Formatting wise - the book is perfect. I didn't find one spelling mistake or formatting error. Mr. Pearson has clearly done his job to make sure all the little annoying errors were fixed. For an Indie writer, that is very impressive. I usually find lots of errors in Indie books, but this one is mistake free. (Either that, or I was so into it I didn't notice any!)
Overall, I can recommend this book to others. It is not Mr. Hollands Opus. It's a light and funny story about a teacher growing into his new job.
And from what I can tell, a good teacher. If only all of our nation's teachers were this good and were this invested in our youth...perhaps then...I would be out of a job myself.
- Reviewed in the United States on January 2, 2015Format: KindleVerified PurchaseOkay, maybe he did try a little too hard to be funny in a spot or two; but, most of this book took me right back to my many years of teaching. This young teacher learned the three most important things necessary to become a good, effective teacher: Love what you do, appreciate the differences in your students and use your sense of humor. Humor defuses so many problems. He did show plainly one of the biggest problems in education today, which is OVERTESTING. So much of the joy of both teaching and learning is destroyed by forced testing.
I saw a tee shirt that sums it up very well:
Those who can TEACH;
Those who can't pass laws about teaching!
Down from my soapbox now. I really enjoyed this book. So many of his experiences mirrored mine that it made me laugh out loud.
In a negative review someone criticized his supposedly sharing these events with his former colleagues and repeating their reactions as being unrealistic. Au contraire. An absolutely hilarious paragraph about Louie Pasteur' s work with cholera was written by one of my remedial sixth graders during my husband's deployment to Korea. There was a cholera outbreak over there during this time. I sent him a copy of the paragraph, he put it on a bulletin board and I got all kinds of responses from it. The soldiers loved it!
If you've ever loved teaching or loved a teacher, you will enjoy this book. It's worth reading just for the imaginative ways he signs the emails. There is a sequel, and yes, I plan to read it.
Top reviews from other countries
- SuzeReviewed in the United Kingdom on May 21, 2011
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Read
Format: KindleVerified PurchaseI really enjoyed this book which surprised me, as I had a few misgivings when I found out it was written as a series of emails.
It is well written and amusing and I just had to keep reading a litle bit more, and was quite shocked when I realised I had almost read the whole thing through.
I personally recommend all parents and teachers of young children should read this if only to find out some of the antics the kids get up to in class.
- SueReviewed in Australia on January 5, 2019
4.0 out of 5 stars Funny debut book
Format: KindleVerified PurchaseAmazingly funny and scarily true to life. A giggle all the way through.
- Kindle CustomerReviewed in Australia on July 22, 2015
4.0 out of 5 stars Four Stars
Format: KindleVerified Purchasenice story
- TopCatReviewed in the United Kingdom on January 17, 2011
4.0 out of 5 stars Light hearted, humourous and great fun
Format: KindleVerified PurchaseThis book takes the form of a series of emails from Jack Woodson to a former colleague, Fred. Jack was made redundant after nearly 4 years at a thermal design firm, and decided to retrain as a teacher. The emails cover his first year as an educator, teaching 3rd grade and while names have been changed to protect the innocent the emails are based on real experiences.
The format of the book meant it was a nice easy read, with the emails creating an equivalent to short chapters. It would have been a nice book to have dipped into when I only had a bit of spare time to read, but in reality I read this over the course of two afternoons.
Due to the nature of the book, while we learn a bit about the background and physical attributes of Jack and some of his class and colleagues, this isn't really a character driven book, it's more of a literary sit-com. There are plenty of anecdotes about what his charges have said or done, and his responses to them. Some of the stories are so shocking you have to laugh and others must have bemused Jack as they certainly puzzled me. It is certainly a funny book and I found myself chuckling quite a lot. However I am also now in a state of fear. What starts in the States often makes it's way to this side of the pond, so I guess by the time my little one starts school I'll have to buy gifts for teacher for all sorts of occasions with no relation to education.
Quips aside it was also interesting to find out incidentally about some of the issues facing urban schools. I suspect a lot of the issues are the same here as in the US, such as teaching kids for whom English isn't a first language and endless testing. Don't expect serious debate though, this is a light hearted, irreverent book that suited my need for a short, humourous read perfectly.
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kein_benutzernameReviewed in Germany on January 14, 2013
2.0 out of 5 stars Was will uns der Autor sagen?
Format: KindleVerified PurchaseBis zur 42% Marke habe ich mich jetzt vorgearbeitet, aber wenn der Autor auf einen Punkt kommen will, hat er es bis hierher nicht geschafft.
Ja, ich bin sicher, eine Grundschulklasse als Lehrer, noch dazu als Seiteneinsteiger, zu betreuen, ist eine herausforderung.
Ja, sicher gibt es bei den Schülern auch schwierige Fälle, netet und nervende Schüler etc.
ABER: Das ganze nur, in Form eines E-Mail Romans, Anekdote für Anekdote aneinander zu reihen bringt irgendwie wenig Mehrwert. Macht den Eindruck eines typischen ich-meine-etwas-zu-erzählen-zu-haben-und-greife-daher-zum-Selfpublishing Werks.