In this post, we will see the book Diary Of A School Teacher by F. Vigdorova.

About the book

Later I wrote a feature story about a young school-teacher for Komsomolskaya Pravda. When I met her again a year later, she told me she had received a great many letters from people who had read the story. One of these was a sailor named Anatoli Negora. A lively correspondence had sprung up between the sailor and the young school-teacher’s class, and at the end of May, just before the examinations, he had come to Moscow and paid a visit to the children.

I have made use of this friendship between the sailor and
the schoolboys in the present book. The sailor’s name has been
changed, but the letters arc genuine. As for the children I describe, they include both my own pupils and other children I have known. Marina Nikolayevna is neither a self-portrait nor a portrait of anyone I have known; she is a composite character in whom I have sought to depict the traits of many young Soviet teachers whose work I have had occasion to observe. In a word, my purpose has been to tell you about the first steps of a young Soviet school teacher, her successes and mistakes, her quests and reflections, her joys and disappointments; how she teaches the children and herself learns in the process, and how great is a gratification she derives from her calling.

The book was translated from Russian by Rose Prokofieva, illustrated by H. Vinokurov and designed by V. Smirnov. The book was published in 1954 by Foreign Languages Publishing House.

You can get the book here.

Original scan by DLI.

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Contents

Foreword 7

PART ONE

September First. 13
Forty-Five Minutes. 15
How Shall I Begin?. 18
In the Common-Room. 20
Stumbling-Blocks. 22
A Game of Chess. 25
“I Hit Him Back First….”. 28
Lyoslia to the Rescue!. 31
Page by Page. 33
Ten Films. 35
What Is To Be Done?. 38
The Most Important Thing. 43
New Bools. 51
On the Way Home. 54
The Fight. 58
Galya. 60
The Vorobeiko Brothers. 64
Our Pioneer Leader. 72
“Deft Hands”. 74
“I Stole the Apples Too….”. 77
The Fur Cap. 80
Without Fanfare. 83
A Parents* Meeting. 88
A Visit to Sasha Gai. 98
Head of the Family. 105
Fat her and Son. 108
“Daddy Has Come Home!” 111
Pioneer Rally. 114
Zoya’s Teacher. 120
Heroes in Our Midst. 123
All Old Friend. 131
Getting Acquainted. 142
New Friends. 146
The Reply. 152
Red’Letter Day. 157
Eighth of March. 161
The Blue Book. 163
Examinations. l67

PART TWO

On the Volga. 179
Nocturnal Reflections. 183
September. 189
Day by Day. 193
Football. DM 194
Object-Lesson in Teaching. 199
I Disown a Pupil. 201
In Their Own Words. 205
A Day in the Woods. 212
Dima Kirsanov. 216
Composition. 220
Copy-Books Nos. I and 2. 224
The Operation. 230
The Grammar Lesson. 231
Trip to Bolshevo. 237
Stamp-Collectors. 249
Kira’s Album. 252
The Little Ones. 256
Our Botanist. 261
An Apple of Discord. 265
“A Splendid Idea!”. 272
The New Boy. 278
“Professional Duties” and the School. 288
Step by Step. 292
A Visit to the Pioneer House. 299
A Pioneer “Factory”. 302
“What Is Heroism?”. 307
After the Debate. 315
“I Was Ashamed”. 319
Pioneers Meet. 324
Two Compositions. 331
Walking-Tour. 335
May Ninth. 338