Retired Daniel Boone teacher releases book of funny quotes by students

Retired Daniel Boone Middle School teacher Todd Sherman of Exeter Township recently released his first book, “What Did They Say? Observations from Eighth-Grade Students,” published by AuthorHouse.

The book is a compilation of more than 600 humorous comments made by eighth-graders, along with the stories behind them, compiled by Sherman over 13 years.

“It is a compendium of hundreds of statements made by students in my classroom,” Sherman said during a recent interview with MediaNews Group. “It was never my intention to write a book. It just sort of happened.”

In all, the quotes are categorized into 13 categories, featuring malaprops, clichés, misuses of words and comical remarks from his students.

Statements include: “I was in New York for like two days yesterday,” “Raisins are basically grandma grapes,” “I did the homework in my head,” and “I always thought Santa watched me through the air vent when I got changed.”

Sherman said the book has received a lot of buzz since its release.

“I can’t thank all those students enough. I can’t thank the Daniel Boone community enough for the way they have embraced the book,” he said.

Journalist to Teacher

A 1981 Oley Valley graduate, Sherman earned a degree in journalism from Penn State University in 1986. He got his start as a sportswriter at The Daily Collegian, the student-run newspaper at Penn State, for which he has been mentoring a student writer for three years.

Prior to becoming a teacher, Sherman was an award-winning journalist. He was a general assignment reporter for the Reading Eagle from 1986-87; followed by the sports editor of The Evening Phoenix in Phoenixville from 1988-90; and then feature writer, columnist, news writer and sports writer for The Mercury in Pottstown from 1990-97.

Wanting to spend more time with his wife led Sherman to transition from journalism to teaching.

Sherman was working nights and weekends in the sports department, while his wife Molly worked days as a seventh-grade science teacher at Daniel Boone Middle School.

“I never saw her,” he said. “I was at the point where it was time to move on to a bigger paper or quit journalism altogether and get a new career.”

He chose to quit his job and went back to school to get his teaching certification from Alvernia College.

“My wife is my hero so I decided to become a teacher,” he said.

He student taught seventh grade at Exeter Township Junior High School and 10th grade at Daniel Boone High School. Shortly after, he was hired at Daniel Boone Area Middle School in 1998.

“Since my wife was there, it was a natural fit,” he said.

Sherman taught literature, language arts, vocabulary and grammar to eighth graders at Daniel Boone Area Middle School for 23 years. He retired in 2021.

“I really loved the kids; they were great,” he said. “It was a perfect age. They’re all 13 and 14; almost adults but they’re not quite there. You can joke around with them yet, and I really liked that about that age.”

He described his classroom philosophy as: “Good teachers don’t teach the subject, they teach kids. You have to get to know your kids.”

“Especially that age,” he said. “They’re looking to see somebody who cares about them. I figured I did a good job if I prepared them for ninth grade and they could look back at my class fondly.”

He wanted his classroom to feel like a safe place.

“As long as they enjoyed being there, as long as it helped them get through middle school, get through that age, that’s what I hope I offered to them,” said Sherman.

His first students are now in their late 30s.

“They’re going to remember that eighth grade was a good year for them.”

His education awards include Who’s Who of America’s Teachers, 2002, 2003, 2006; Outstanding Student Teacher award by Alvernia College, 1998; and School Board Proclamation for student newspaper, 2005. He was also adviser to Daniel Boone’s award-winning student newspaper from 2000-2021.

Quote of the Day

While teaching punctuation for quotes in 2007, Sherman overheard a student say: “Floyd is not a first name.”

So Sherman asked the student to write the quote on the classroom whiteboard, using the correct punctuation and sign their name.

“It kind of became a thing, so whenever somebody said something — and that includes me because I said strange things too — and it just blossomed,” he said.

Recording their quotes on the classroom whiteboard daily became known as “Quote of the Day.” Every day he catalogued the quotes. Then at the end of the year, he gave the students the collection of the quotes. This meant he had a compilation of quotes by year with student’s first and last names spanning 13 years.

Quotes grow into a book

Sherman was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2002, and he lost the ability to walk in 2016. He taught his last few years with an electric scooter.

“With MS, you have your ups and downs. Last summer, while I wasn’t having an MS attack, my overall health wasn’t good,” he explained.

A friend, Dr. Chris Goldberg — who had also been a sportswriter at “The Mercury” and also became a teacher — recently wrote a children’s book and suggested Sherman turn “Quote of the Day” into a book.

“It was the best therapy for me, remembering all my students and the positive things that happened in my classroom. I wrote the book over the summer. I wrote it for the kids,” said Sherman.

For the book, Sherman took out the last names and organized the quotes into 13 categories such as animals, food and geography. With each, he wrote the stories behind the quotes.

“I always tell people that the kids wrote the book; I just told the stories,” he said.

The writing project began in April 2023 and he presented it to the publisher that November. The book was published in January 2024.

“It was a great experience. I never thought I would write a book,” he said. “It was an interesting experience for me.”

Since the book’s release, he has received numerous requests from former students to meet for coffee and sign the book.

“I wrote it for the kids. I just wanted to leave something behind,” said Sherman. “And I hope they can reminisce and remember school and class time fondly.”

For those who are not former students, Sherman hopes they read about a classroom that was good for kids and was a safe place for them, he said.

“And the quotes are funny,” he added. “We put some funny things on the board.”

Sherman hopes readers get a good laugh from the book.

The book is available for purchase from Amazon and Barnes & Noble.