Meaghan Winnans

EDU 211

Tony Danza Assignment

17 February 2021

Tony Danza Assignment

“I’d Like to Apologize to Every Teacher I Ever Had” is a book by Tony Danza, a TV

screen and stage star. The author tells a breath-taking story of a year he spent educating tenth-

grade English at Northeast High, the largest high school in Philadelphia with a population of

3600 students. When Tony enters the crowded classrooms of Northeast high, the atmosphere

appears gay until he finds his way to a hall with twenty-six students determined to trouble him.

The students care less about Mr. Danza’s showbiz credentials, and they set him up on the hot

seat just as immediately.

Starring incredible characters of teachers and students alike, "I'd Like to Apologize to

Every Teacher I Ever Had" bespeak of how challenging modern technology can be, especially

when students misuse it, how teachers commit themselves to their roles, and the importance of

teachers' frequent counseling to students, since they (students) carry the psychological burden in

their daily activities.

Chapter one: Response One

After a successful acting career, Tony Danza decides to pursue his college dream of

becoming a teacher, a great teacher for that matter. Although it took persuasion for Danza to

agree to film his lessons, his devotion to teaching always came first. Danza gathers all the input
he can access from his colleagues, emphasizing the significance of having a close relationship

between him, teachers, and students. The teachers advised him on what it takes to be a good

leader. They tell him he has to be prepared to play many roles such as a father, a mother, a sister,

and a brother, among others.

Chapter 1: Response Two

The advice is valid, effective, and rational. The advice inspires Danza to table his

teaching brand and eventually explores his ability to connect with Northeast High personally.

Tony helps his students with their personal problems as well as their learning challenges. He

proves his devotion to teaching when he continues teaching, even when producers stop filming

his classes, citing a lack of creativity and drama.

Chapter 1: Response Three

When the talk show was canceled, Tony's marriage started to falter, and his life suddenly

become uncertain and chaotic. These circumstances pushed Tony to reconsider going back to

education and settled on pursuing a career as a teacher. Despite his desire to prove himself to

unpredictable students and suspicious leaders, there was more; he had to familiarize himself with

new materials and a stringent curriculum.

Chapter 2: Response One

While it is the assistant principal's role to supervise teachers' signing to indicate their

presence in the school, I find it rather inaccurate how Ms. DeNaples, the vice-principal, shouts,

"Ignorance is no excuse" at Tony. Despite his age, Tony had no teaching experience, and thus his
miss-steps, struggles were supposed to be handled with leniency. This reaction did not reflect a

conducive relationship between the principal and a new hire.

Chapter 2: Response Two

Well, this is not a fair treatment; I would feel gutted. Maybe how the assistant principal

shouted at Tony was a habit, but she only needed to remind him to sign and give him a warning.

On the other hand, maybe she did that to emphasize the need for teachers to avoid carelessness, a

memory that stuck in his head forever. If such a situation happened to me, I would take it

positively and ensure I fit in the school system within the shortest time.

Chapter 2: Response Three

A class with top achievers can be hectic to manage, especially if the teacher is new.

When a top student challenges me, I will first appreciate them for the challenge—this gesture

aims to maintain the students' confidentiality. In responding to the challenge, I will engage the

class in a discussion concerning the challenge and eventually find a rational response.

Chapter 2: Response Four

Tony Danza received several advises from the teachers, and he used this advice to

improve his teaching skills significantly. A retired teacher advised him to prepare to play a

variety of roles beyond the normal teaching, an advice which Tony took into consideration,

because the book displays Tony in a variety of roles. He lectures ‘kill a mockingbird, coaches the

football team, organizes a talent show, organizes field-trips to his students and hosts teacher

gripe sessions. This advice is beneficial to my teaching career because playing different roles
helps nature the talents of the adolescent kids, create a mutual relationship between the teacher

and the students and generally grow my brand as a teacher.

Chapter five: Making the Grade Summary

This chapter allows Tony to explore the different ways he can reach his students. He

gives out copies of “of mice and men” by John Steinbeck to his students, with the film version

screened in class. Tony initiates a discussion concerning the film and frequently engages his

students on their readings. When Howard, an athletic student approaches him after class to talk

about his poor understanding of the lesson, Tony asks his him to make short notes of the subject

and re-read the notes. Tony tells Howard, his student that, reading is like soccer, the more an

individual read, the more he will get better.

Chapter six: Never Smile Before Christmas Summary

Tony introduces the Shakespeare teaching challenge, and guides his students in making

artistic creations representing specific elements of Shakespeare. The main objective is to test the

ability of students to rephrase Julius Caesar in their own words. Tony’s first quiz was to help him

understand how his students are understanding and retaining the story. While Howard turns in

late for the first quiz late, and Tony learns that Matt had initially texted the answers to Howard.

Although the Howard and Matt deny texting each other the answers, Tony states that all the

students should turn off their phones while in his class.

Chapter 11: Finals Summary

In May, the school is preparing to break for the summer. Tony has six weeks to finalise

his curriculum and administer finals. He is informed that attendance is usually a common
challenge towards the end of year, with David informing him that there are no finals at

Northeast. The school allows its teachers to grade their students using standardised tests which

grades the students’ academic output over the whole school year. Since Tony maintains he wants

to measure what the students have learned, David allows him to give it a try.

Chapter 12: If and Epilogue Summary

Since it is the final week of school, the camera crew express their desire to film the end

of year activities, but Tony doesn’t want any of the filming to take place. He confronts Leslie

Grief and bars him from filming an emotional goodbye between him and his students. H expects

to be at the school for another week and therefore he does not want to fake the goodbye. Students

watch as Tony and Lesley exchange words, until one of the students interrupt enquiring on the

matter. Tony informs the students that he loves them, he will miss them, and they have greatly

influenced his life.

 Work Cited

Danza, T. (2013). I'd like to apologize to every teacher I ever had: My year as a rookie teacher
at Northeast High. Three Rivers Press.