欢迎来到东哈德逊私利学校，是一所在美国纽约的精英学校。这里的孩子们每一位都专心就学、老师们互相支持大气、学费让大众看到会跌破眼镜。你可能会认为这里的老师一定跟外面公立学校差别很大，但是作者（他是一位经验丰富的老师）在书中非常写实地呈现了他身边所看到的老师们。他发现，不管是公立学校、私立学校，不管在哪里，多有钱或者贫穷，所有的老师都有某些共同点。
 
作者选择无名出版，带给他更多自由去真实讨论全世界老师都可能面临的焦虑、错误、希望、抱怨、喜乐。任何在教室里待过，不论是以老师还是学生的身份，都有可能体验过这些情绪。作者带着读者进入当老师的秘密世界，讨论了许多我们不可能知道的内心思考。老师面临的挑战也都在书中一一呈现，包括经济上的困扰、被家长们骚扰、必须当孩子的心理医师、面对讨厌的孩子该怎么办等等。
 
读完这本书，你会重新思考你自己的老师，终于能够体会他们必须经历多少。他们的工作多么复杂、消耗体力以及精神，又多么重要。这本书会让你哭、让你笑，带着你一起进入老师的秘密世界！
 
关于作者：
无名是一位在纽约的历史老师。
目录：
Author’s Note
Introduction: Working Propositions
 
School’s Open
Commencing (opening day)
 
The Teacher Within
Checking Your Self (badges of identity)
Compensations (money, salary, and working conditions)
Teaching Time (seconds to decades)
Subject Matters (the role of academic disciplines)
Progressive Faith (the default philosophy of teachers)
 
Among Students
Name Games (the struggle to know one’s students)
Jealousy (dealing with tears)
Transit (apprehending student lives in motion)
Gradients (assessments and their pitfalls)
Romantics (love in various forms)
Questioning (the role of classroom dialogue)
Gingerly Revising (confronting limits)
Native Intelligence (working with unprepared students)
(Dangerous) Diversity (touchy subjects and hurt feelings)
Projection (visiting another school)
Enlarging the World (the struggle to affirm the life of the mind)
 
Among Parents
Parental Teaching (the parent-teacher power struggle)
Home Work (managing family management)
 
Among Colleagues
Smart Board, Dumb Teacher (technology and its discontents)
Positions (conflicts between teachers)
 
Among Administrators
Complaints (the faculty–administration divide)
Brownie Points (problem-solving/ student discipline)
 
School’s Close
Regraduating (closing the circle)
 
Afterword: A Note on Context
Acknowledgments
Notes