Are you a high school teacher looking for an inspiring read? Or are you considering a career in teaching and want to know more about current research in your future career? Whether you’re looking for ways to motivate students and improve your own classroom or just test what the best teachers in their profession think, check out these five great books for high school teachers.
1. mindset: the new psychology of success, by carol dweck
In this groundbreaking book, the author uses psychological research to explore the ways our thinking affects our ability to learn. The surprising findings clearly show that how students approach a problem and whether they believe they have the ability to learn and improve is the strongest predictor of success. His discussion of the differences between fixed and growth mindsets touches on everything from how parenting affects students, to the dangers of praising intelligence, to how a fixed mindset can continue to hold us back into adulthood. Ultimately, the best part of this book is how empowering a little knowledge and its concrete strategies can be for helping kids, students, and ourselves develop a growth mindset and achieve great things.
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2. teach like a pirate: increase student engagement, boost your creativity, and transform your life as an educator, by dave burgess
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If you’re looking for an inspiring and slightly irreverent take on how to develop meaningful relationships with your students, staff, and content, this workbook is a treasure trove for you. Using a series of stories and scenarios, Teach Like a Pirate guides readers through a systematic way of thinking about their teaching as a more integrated way of life. Brainstorming questions give you space and structure to apply the practice lessons and teaching strategies to your own practice, and there are plenty of prompts and options so you can plan your lesson with confidence and creativity, no matter what material you’re teaching.
3. notice and note: strategies for close reading, by kylene beer and bob probst
Humanities or social studies teachers struggle to get students to read a text carefully. This book is a pedagogical guide to teaching close reading strategies simple enough for any student, yet scaffolded enough to challenge your best students. Beers and Probst describe six “signs” found in literature that readers can look for and engage in close reading. once students notice a sign, this book provides a series of questions that will help them explore any text to interpret the author’s meaning and extract evidence. If you’re working to increase students’ critical thinking skills, this book will help you provide a new and effective reading strategy for your students.
4. the courage to teach: exploring the inner landscape of a teacher’s life, by parker palmer
parker palmer is known as a teaching guru. Not only is he an effective teacher in his own right, he inspires others to consider his teaching persona and how his own identities impact and enhance his teaching. Good teachers come in many forms, he argues, and authentically embracing your true self in the classroom is essential to being the best teacher you can be. Palmer uses skillful storytelling and anecdotes from high school teachers from all disciplines to illustrate her point that being yourself as a teacher is the first and most important step in creating classroom community, keeping content interesting, and finding happiness in your life. role.
5. drive: the surprising truth about what motivates us, by david h. pink
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How do you motivate your students? If you’re like most teachers, use grades (and sometimes bonus points or even candy) to keep them focused and turning in work. however, this extrinsic reward system is not as effective as we might think, and this book uses scientific research from educational psychology to prove it. The author shows that developing intrinsic motivation, that is, the drive to learn because we want to understand or achieve, is the key to student achievement. Exploring the scientific theories of autonomy, mastery, and purpose, Pink shows practical and transformative ways to change our teaching by helping our students develop their own individual motivation.
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High school teachers certainly have a lot to read to prepare for their own courses, but these five great books are easy to read and will re-energize your classroom. Respected as highly effective teachers, these authors speak directly to high school teachers and write about manageable techniques to try in your classroom while acknowledging the everyday challenges real teachers face. Pick one of these five books for high school teachers today and your students will improve their learning tomorrow.
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