Mrs. Spitzer's Garden

I was looking for books on gardening, and I found so much more. The display at indigo was crawling in books about teaching! On the bottom shelf was a little book that called to me. Mrs. Spitzer's Garden by Edith Pattou and illustrated by Tricia Tusa is a short book that contrasts teaching with gardening using simple but beautiful writing. Mrs. Spitzer tends to her students in the same way that she tends to her garden.

"There are many remarkable teachers like Mrs. Spitzer in the world. Here is the book to celebrate all they do, years after year, to help our children grow and blossom."

While it might not be a book you'd take into a class or read to a student, it is a book to remind all teachers how much of an impact they can have on students and it would be an absolutely heartwarming gift for any teacher who has impacted you in your life. This book stood out particularly for me because in DrEd we often examine how metaphors can help us find our teacher identity. Especially in second year, DrEd students are asked to create a teaching manifesto, a digital file, examining who they have become as teachers in the last year and where and how they plan to continue to grow as educators in the future. This book spoke to me because of my personal manifesto from second year. Being a gardener, I chose to use the metaphor throughout my manifesto to explain how I see teaching. I spoke to the power of the teacher, and how every student needs different amounts of care and patience. You can't teach all students the same way because as humans, we are all unique & different learners! This book encompassed everything!

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