mr. strickland would have us believe that everyone that stays in teaching is simply to stupid or lazy to find a "real" job. He claims several times in his book that students never fail to do work through laziness or attitude. Every elementary classroom will contain at least one "darling" that thinks that everything the rest of the class is doing is boring or too hard. Their parents request nothing from the child and thats exactly what the child is ready to give back. I read this book hoping to find ways to help with my relationships with parents. Instead I was constantly insulted by the authors lack of experience about what goes on in a classroom. Don't let the award winning teacher bit fool you! Too many awards are given to the teachers that looks good on paper and couldn't teach honor students to appreciate literature.