Summer is a great time to reset your personal pedagogy to an education-friendly mindset and catch up on what’s been changing in the ed world while you were teaching eight ten hours a day. My X friends gave me great suggestions, but first:
A comment on the selections: I did get more than I could list so I avoided books with hot-button subjects teachers are divided on and focused on positive and uplifting reading. Yes, there is a lot wrong with education around the world but I wanted a selection of books that would send me — and you — back to teaching in the fall with a can-do attitude for how to accomplish miracles with your next class of students.
Having said that, here’s a granular list of teacher-approved books to keep you busy this summer:
by Todd Whitaker
What are the beliefs and behaviors that set great teachers apart? In this internationally renowned bestseller, Todd Whitaker reveals 19 keys to becoming more effective in the classroom.
This essential third edition features new sections on why it’s about more than relationships, how to focus on a consistent, engaging learning environment, and the importance of choosing the right mode―business, parent, child―to improve your classroom management.
Perfect for educators at any level of experience, for independent reading or for schoolwide book studies, this practical book will leave you feeling inspired and ready to do the things that matter most for the people who matter most―your students.
by Rob Plevin
You’ll discover:
- The simple six-step plan to minimise & deal with classroom behaviour problems
- How to gain trust & respect from tough, hard-to-reach students
- How to put an end to power struggles & confrontation
- How to have students follow your instructions… with no need to repeat yourself
- The crucial importance of consistency (and how to achieve it)
- Quick and easy ways to raise engagement and enjoyment in your lessons
- The ‘Clean Slate’ – a step by step method you can use to ‘start over’ with that particularly difficult group of students who won’t do anything you say.
180 Days of Self-Care for Busy Educators
by Tina Boogren
Follow this self-care plan designed to support your health and wellness during the school year:
- Understand how prioritizing your own self-care will better equip you to positively impact student learning and achievement.
- Discover low- and no-cost self-care ideas for teachers and administrators designed to help make meaningful, positive change.
- Explore the dangers of stress in the classroom and in an educator’s personal life, and understand how this stress affects students.
- Learn how to assess what you need, check in with yourself throughout the day, and act on what you learn.
- Utilize reflection questions to help you think through which strategies worked — and which didn’t.
- Let go of the expectations of perfection while practicing these self-care techniques and teacher wellness ideas.
The Happy Teacher Habits
by Michael Linsin
What do daffodils, baseball announcing, and Tina Fey have to do with teaching? As it turns out, a lot. In The Happy Teacher Habits, Michael Linsin guides you through 11 little-known habits of the happiest, most effective teachers on Earth.
Based on the latest research, and drawing on experts from the worlds of business, marketing, sports, entertainment, music, and medicine, you will learn simple, actionable strategies that will eliminate your teaching stress, supercharge your ability to motivate and inspire your students, and empower you to really love your job.
This is no ordinary teaching book. It is a success roadmap through an educational system that is becoming increasingly harder to navigate. It will expose the falsehoods and misinformation teachers are bombarded with every day, and reveal the secrets to what really matters in creating a happy and fulfilling career.
Brave New Words: How AI Will Revolutionize Education
by Salman Khan
From the founder of Khan Academy, the first book on the AI revolution in education, its implications for parenting, and how we can best harness its power for good.
Whether we like it or not, the AI revolution is coming to education. In Brave New Words, Salman Khan, the visionary behind Khan Academy, explores how artificial intelligence and GPT technology will transform learning, and offers a road map for teachers, parents, and students to navigate this exciting (and sometimes intimidating) new world.
by Harry and Rosemary Wong
This is a solutions book that shows how to organize and structure a classroom to create a safe and positive environment for student learning and achievement to take place. It offers 50 procedures that can be applied, changed, adapted, and incorporated into any classroom management plan. Each procedure is presented with a consistent format that breaks it down and tells how to teach it and what the outcome of teaching it will be. While all of the work and preparation behind a well-managed classroom are rarely observed, the dividends are evident in a classroom that is less stressful for all and one that hums with learning.
Understanding and Using Educational Theories
by Karl Aubrey and Alison Riley
This textbook gives readers a clear overview of a selection of 19 of the most influential thinkers on education, including established names (Vygotsky, Bruner, Dewey), more recent thinkers (Freire, hooks, Claxton) and other key names whose writing has helped shaped our views on teaching and learning.
Each chapter includes practical examples showing how theories can be used to inform classroom teaching, and critiques of each theorist exploring opposing viewpoints and the strengths and weaknesses of different ideas.
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Pick one or more of these oft-discussed books, be it pedagogy or hands-on experiences, overarching or specific applications. Or read them all. You will come away feeling informed and current on the best thinking in the education field.
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Jacqui Murray has been teaching K-18 technology for 30 years. She is the editor/author of over a hundred tech ed resources including a K-12 technology curriculum, K-8 keyboard curriculum, K-8 Digital Citizenship curriculum. She is an adjunct professor in tech ed, Master Teacher, webmaster for four blogs, CSTA presentation reviewer, freelance journalist on tech ed topics, contributor to NEA Today, and author of the tech thrillers, To Hunt a Sub and Twenty-four Days. You can find her resources at Structured Learning.
