“In many ways, 'What Teachers Make: In Praise of the Greatest Job in th...” — Taylor Mali Quote

“In many ways, 'What Teachers Make: In Praise of the Greatest Job in the World' is just one big thank-you note to my teachers. The book is dedicated to my fifth and sixth grade English teacher, Dr. Joseph D'Angelo, a massive force of erudition, martial artistry, culture, and love.”

“When students have thanked me in the past for being their teacher, I have always felt that it was actually my love for the art of teaching they were speaking to.”

“If you've ever been to a poetry slam, you know that the highest scoring emotion is self-righteous indignation: how dare you judge me. So in that way, the poem, 'What Teachers Make,' is an absolutely formulaic slam poem designed to allow me to get up on my soap box and say, 'Let me tell you what really makes me angry.'”

“My mother was a high school arts teacher, so I was always surrounded by the arts.”

“I started out as a drummer, and when I was 9, my drum teacher had an album out. He was the rudiment king! He signed it for me, 'Rudimentally yours, Frank Arsenault.' How cool is that?”

“My mother was a first-grade teacher, so I credit her with this lifelong intellectual curiosity I have, and love of reading and learning.”