Teacher of the Year: The Mystery and Legacy of Edwin Barlow

by Lawrence Meyers

Book Overview

For 35 years, Edwin Barlow taught mathematics at his beloved Horace Greeley High School in Upstate New York. For 35 years, thousands of students passed through his classroom. Yet when he died, he... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0982018312
• ISBN13: 9780982018316
• Release Date: March 2009
• Publisher: Ichabod's Cranium, Inc.
• Length: 340 Pages
• Weight: 1.23 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Philosophy, High School and War

Teacher of the Year by Lawrence Meyers is a great mixture of the fun and the serious. As I was reading this delightful book, I found myself laughing aloud at times and deep in thought a few moments later. Much of the enjoyment for me had to do with my own memories of high school. The setting of the story, Horace Greeley High School in Chappaqua, New York, could be almost any suburban high school with its range of student cliques, teenage pressures and influence of local folklore. It is easy to empathize with the author's challenging experiences while trying to survive adolescence. I suspect that most readers will find the characters and situations familiar, although they probably never had a teacher quite as frightening as Mister Barlow. I never did, but by the end of the story I found myself wishing that I had. The book is also a serious commentary on a spectrum of subjects including education, methods of discipline, philosophy, religion, and the personal ramifications of having served in combat during World War II. It includes rich literary references and chapter appendices. Some sections might especially appeal to educators or members of the clergy since there is a discussion of the relationship between these two professions. Other sections, such as those covering the War in Europe, would appeal to veterans or anyone else with an interest in history. One advantage of the book is its organization; it is easy to focus on the chapters that are most relevant to your interests. As for myself, I will be reading it again cover to cover. Teacher of the Year, the Mystery and Legacy of Edwin Barlow, is a nostalgic and intellectual journey for anyone who believes in the importance of teachers.

Mister Barlow: The Eccentric Genius of Horace Greeley High School, by Suzanne Kellner-Zinck

I was a student of Mister Barlow's by choice in both 9th and 11th grade. I was never very good at math and still couldn't do alegbra if asked today. It wasn't that Mister Barlow didn't do his job, for he did that and more. It is just that algebra was very rarely required in my life and so it is forgotten. To be honest I do believe that the lessons of Mister Barlow's classroom as the author of this book proclaims have much more to do with life skills, than the actual subject matter he taught. Mister Barlow made it very clear that paying attention was the most important aspect of any learning as well as using the method of having us take dictation when he was teaching a new subject. Learning through the senses of visual, auditory and kinesthetic (movement through the writing) would enable his students to more easily learn the content of his lessons no matter their learning style. He damanded respect and as such taught us to respect ourselves and the monetary investment our parents made in terms of the taxes paid when in class one day he made a comment to one of the students in class: "Mr. "X" your parents are not paying $3,000 a year in taxes for you to stare out that window. FACE THE FRONT OF THE ROOM NOW AND LOOK AT THE BLACKBOARD!". I went to a small school outside Boston to study Elementary Education with Moderate Special Needs, and when I would visit home I would usually go visit the high school. On a few occassions I stopped by and spoke with Mister Barlow who had much wisdom to share. He told me that he knew that anyone could teach the smart kids, it was the ones (such as myself) who had learning difficulties that required a master of a teacher to get the most out of them. He also let it be known that he knew that Bill Huppuch was there to give the love after he was a bit more stern on the students. Bill Huppuch came to teach in the resource room my Freshman year (1975)and was a sweetheart of a man who knew how to break down the difficult task of writing long term papers or studying for midterm and final exams into easy to do chunks. Later on Bill Huppuch went on to direct the special school within Horace Greeley High School for the kids who took technical classes at the nearby tech school. There was on really funny occassion that I experienced in his class during 11th grade. I had his class right after homeroom and it so happened the Student President was in his homeroom. The door was shut and that was never the case with Mister Barlow. If anything the door was wide open until the clock hit the dot of the start of class when it was closed to anyone who may be late. Because the door was shut we didn't really know what to do so we just waited outside his classroom for a few minutes till one of the kids decided to open the door. As each of us filed into the class he told us to get a pass from the principal for being late. We all came back and handed him his passes as we filed by his desk in the back of the classroom. As I handed my pass

not just for Horace Greeley Alumni

I had Mr. Barlow in 1967-68 and again my senior year, 68-69, and he's one of the few teachers I still tell people about because he was so extraordinary. I eagerly signed up for a copy when Larry announced the book, and I'm glad I did, because it was nice, after all these years, to finally learn more of the background on this man. I think Larry did an excellent job with a difficult subject -- it can't have been easy tracking all this history down, and I didn't mind Larry's excursions into supposition about Mr. Barlow's psychology. It may not be *the* explanation, but it's a *reasonable* explanation for his behaviour. My wife, who did NOT go to Horace Greeley, read the book after I did, and she enjoyed it also, just because Barlow was such a fascinating and mysterious figure. I won't critique the writing (hell, I'm an engineer, so book reports were never my strong suit) but I found the book quite readable and did not mind Larry's injection of himself into the narrative -- I think it served the book better than an "omniscient" voice would have.

Resurrection of Ed Barlow

I had Mr Barlow, and there never was, nor never will be, another teacher like this. The book is a great way to relive some of the moments of terror and fun from his class. I got stuck at the blackboard for 10 minutes once, and that was an eternity in his classroom - believe me. The book was really enjoyable, and I learned a lot about Ed that I never knew. If I felt one thing was missing, it would be adding more memorable moments of unbelieveable events that occurred in his class. For instance, he used so many colorful ways to describe students like "We see Mr XXX has a gas filled skull", or "Mr XXX is actually an escapee from an Aztec Pyramid". Another time he made the whole class say "You are not going to threaten our vegetable inferiority". We had become his "vegetable patch", and he always reminded us of this. Zany moments came and went, but you paid attention every moment. And, at the end of day, I learned more in his class than any other. Terror with a positive purpose. His methods should be studied and recreated. Thanks Lawrence. There is not one other teacher from my all my years of education that I would care to read about. Frank Wander - Ed Barlow's "Secret Messenger"

For anyone who knew Mister Barlow this is a must read!

Thank you Larry Meyers for writing this book. I graduated from Horace Greeley High School in 1965...44 years ago! I did not have Mister Barlow for math but I did have him for home room. After all these years it was wonderful to gain insight into "The Mystery and Legacy of Edwin Barlow." The book is well written and brings you right back into Mister Barlow's class room. To learn of his demons, his view of the world, the dedication he showed to his students and to gain an understanding of his lonely life made the book well worth reading. I could not put it down. It was a trip down memory lane. Most of all it made me feel grateful for having known him.