These are great book recommendations. Thanks to Mr. Hill’s Musing. I’m sharing his article here
Article found here:
In an older post, Teacher workload: why less is more, I offered ten reasons why teachers’ workload should be lessened in places such as the England (still my most popular post to date). One of these reasons was to allow time for professional reading. I love it! Along with blogging, reading is something else that I do that benefits my teaching practice without feeling like additional workload. Now that summer is coming up, we can all enjoy some handheld PD. I’ll be travelling and relaxing (rightly so), but I’ll also be working through my summer reading list. I can’t wait! How about you? Reading in the summer will motivate and inspire you as you prepare to go back to work.
I have read the first five books on this list and personally recommend them. The bottom three are on my summer reading list. Even though I can’t personally recommend them (because I haven’t read them yet), they are highly recommended by others in my PLN. Many of these books were read and studied as part of #pypbookstudy (a bi-weekly Twitter chat that I facilitate). If you’re a PYP teacher (or even if you’re not), join us! Click here for details.
My five recommendations:
Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking by Susan Cain, 2013
After watching Susan Cain’s TED Talk, The Power of Introverts, I was very keen to read this book. I consider myself to be very introverted so I could relate to everything that is written. Generally speaking, the world has been designed for extroverts (our schools especially). This is a very important book to help teachers to understand and appreciate their introverted students (a third to a half of all children). I love the way that Susan Cain not only normalises introverts but celebrates their unique and important qualities.
“There’s zero correlation between being the best talker and having the best ideas.” Susan Cain
Mathematical Mindsets by Jo Boaler, 2016
Simply a must-read for anyone who teaches mathematics at any age. In fact, I’d recommend it even if you don’t! Jo Boaler applies Carol Dweck’s growth mindset work to a maths context (the foreword is written by Dweck). I call it a must-read because Jo highlights prevalent bad practices that are too common in mathematics classrooms. Traditional lessons instil a fixed mindset in all students. The book outlines how we can promote growth mindsets in this subject area and ensure that all students enjoy mathematics through inquiry, deep thinking, curiosity and open-ended tasks.
Lead Like A PIRATE by Shelley Burgess and Beth Houf, 2017
Following all of the hype on Twitter (#LeadLAP), I thought that I should read this book for myself. I have been entrusted with a leadership position in the next academic year so this book was exactly what I needed. I finished it this week. Amazing! I can’t praise it enough! Whilst offering some fantastic advice, honest reflections and important questions, it has given me something even more valuable – confidence. I’m not exaggerating. I can’t wait until next year. I’m going to be a PIRATE leader!
Kids Deserve It! by Todd Nesloney and Adam Welcome, 2016
If ever there was a book title worth remembering, this is it. Forget all the challenges, problems and stresses of teaching and refer back to these three words. This book is fantastic for reminding us what’s important – the kids – and offering ideas for continually building those relationships. There are many quotable books on this list, but I reckon Kids Deserve It! is the most quotable. Every sentence could be a staff room poster and every chapter ends with the three words. Order this book because your #KidsDeserveIt.