In Real Talk for Real Teachers, Esquith tackles the three stages of life for the career teacher, and outlines both practical advice and inspiration for managing your classrooms, challenging your students, and keeping your own passions alive. Esquith's candor about the inevitable frustration and cynicism that strike at the heart of every teacher at some point offers both comfort and connection to those who experience doubt and struggle with difficult students, endless bureaucracy, and other standard pitfalls. Esquith's years of teaching have given him gems of wisdom about how to work smarter, not harder, and how to draw on those years of experience to flourish and continue growing.

The Sistine Chapel and my wife's kitchen -- Once upon a time. Badlands ; First things first ; Everything put together sooner or later falls apart ; An inside job ; The quiet man ; 19th nervous breakdown ; A question of balance ; Even the Devil can quote scripture for his purpose ; There's no place like home ; Haters ; Keeping it real -- Growing up. Bitter fingers ; Middle man ; Leave some children behind ; Eyes wide open ; The soft sell ; Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow ; Thomas Jefferson's big mistake ; The price you pay ; The undiscovered country ; One of a kind ; All for one and one for all -- Master class. Getting better all the time ; Looking out my back door ; Stairway to heaven -- No retreat, no surrender! -- Appendix A. A day in the life -- Appendix B. The play's the thing.