Kare 11: Crystal teacher pens book on life in the classroom

Tom Rademacher is the son of a teacher, the grandson of a teacher and the 2014 Minnesota Teacher of the Year. So for grins, he's now adding author to the resume.

It Won't Be Easy (Tom Rademacher)"My book is full of stories of way more times that I screwed up and what I learned from screwing up, less than it is I'm an expert listen to what I have to say,” Tom said describing the book of what is essentially short stories about his time in middle school and high school classrooms.

He remains in teaching now, leading 7th graders in English in Crystal.

But his point in the book is simple. Teaching is a gift. And it’s the hardest gift in the world to get your arms around.

“It’s hard because when you struggle day after day you start to think it’s your fault because everyone else says it’s so easy and here you are every day going home impossibly tired and frustrated feeling like you aren't doing enough good and the reality of it is…that's how most teachers feel going home a lot a days,” Tom said.

He also makes one other truth very clear. About how damn rewarding it is to be that teacher.

“I mean, there are days you walk out and you can't believe you get paid for it because it's so wonderful and there are days you leave and there's no amount of money you can imagine worth coming back…and I think that's just real.”

Watch the interview with Jana Shortal.

Published in: Kare 11
By: Jana Shortal