"'Warn the whole Universe that your heart can no longer live without real love.' Those words from the poet Hafiz are the reason you must buy this book, as the best possible field guide to accompany you through the brambles, over the chasms, up and down the treacherous slopes that every teacher with heart traverses every day of the year, while carrying society's most sacred trust."

--DIANA CHAPMAN WALSH, president emerita, Wellesley College

"As a poet and a teacher, I'm always looking for what is essential and how it can be of use. Teaching with Heart inspires and models the use of what matters in life and community."

--MARK NEPO, author of The Book of Awakening and Seven Thousand Ways to Listen

Teaching with Heart honors the heroic optimism of teachers and their belief that despite the many challenges and obstacles of the teaching life, much is possible. The book is a collection of ninety treasured poems, each accompanied by a teacher's brief personal reflection on how poetry helps them make sense of the challenges and possibilities in their work. Teaching with Heart is the highly anticipated sequel to the wildly popular Teaching with Fire, and like the original it will guide, renew, and inspire teachers.

Written by and for teachers of all levels of experience across the entire educational spectrum, Teaching with Heart explores the gamut of emotions teachers experience--joy, outrage, heartbreak, and hope--helping teachers to make sense of the ups and downs, and to stay invested and inspired, especially during difficult times.

This anthology includes a rich variety of poems from Emily Dickinson, to William Stafford, to Maya Angelou, to Mary Oliver, to Tupac Shakur, and moving commentaries that speak directly to everyone who teaches, exploring the questions, challenges, and triumphs that lie at the heart of the profession.

"I wish I could afford to buy copies of Teaching with Heart for all the teachers I have interviewed in my forty years of reporting. My budget can't handle that. Instead, I recommend that all of us non-teachers buy copies of this inspiring book for teachers we know. You will probably want one for yourself, too."
--JOHN MERROW, Education Correspondent, PBS NewsHour; President, Learning Matters, Inc.

"Teaching with Heart is the rarest kind of book: one that actually does justice to the full range of emotion and skill teaching requires. It provides a personal and powerful antidote to the caricatures and misperceptions we often see in the headlines or popular culture, and it speaks to the heart of the teaching experience."
--WENDY KOPP, Founder, Teach For America; CEO, Teach For All

"Although we understand that teaching is an intellectual activity, we also understand that it is a moral activity. To do it well, great teachers engage both the mind and the heart. Teaching with Heart describes that wonderful combination of the heart and mind."
--GLORIA LADSON-BILLINGS, Kellner Family Chair in Urban Education, University of Wisconsin-Madison

"In this exhilarating collection, ninety teachers use poetry to illustrate the ups, downs, joys, frustrations, and, ultimately, the redeeming value of both teaching and poetry. In spite of the increasing demands, the disrespect, and the appalling conditions, these teachers, and millions of others, practice their craft with courage, hope, and love. This book will be a bedside companion to teachers who need to know they are our nation's unsung treasure, as well as a wake-up call to the nation about the value of its teachers."
--SONIA NIETO, professor emerita, University of Massachusetts, Amherst

Each and every day teachers show up in their classrooms with a relentless sense of optimism. Despite the complicated challenges of schools, they come to and remain in the profession inspired by a conviction that through education they can move individuals and society to a more promising future.

In Teaching with Heart: Poetry that Speaks to the Courage to Teach a diverse group of ninety teachers describe the complex of emotions and experiences of the teaching life - joy, outrage, heartbreak, hope, commitment and dedication. Each heartfelt commentary is paired with a cherished poem selected by the teacher. The contributors represent a broad array of educators: K-12 teachers, principals, superintendents, college professors, as well as many non-traditional teachers. They range from first year teachers to mid-career veterans to those who have retired after decades in the classroom. They come from inner-city, suburban, charter and private schools.

The teachers identified an eclectic collection of poems and poets from Emily Dickinson, to Richard Wright, to Mary Oliver to the rapper Tupac Shakur. It is a book by teachers and for all who teach.

The book also includes a poignant Foreword by Parker J. Palmer (The Courage to Teach), a stirring Introduction by Taylor Mali (What Teachers Make), and a moving Afterword by Sarah Brown Wessling (Teaching Channel).

Where Teaching with Fire honored and celebrated the work of teachers; Teaching with Heart salutes the tenacious and relentless optimism of teachers and their belief that despite the many challenges and obstacles of the teaching life, much is possible.