Summer is a time to recharge, but it can also be a time for professional development. the following is a list of books with the lifelong learner in mind. there’s something for everyone: books on classroom management, talking about race, improving literacy, teaching during the digital age, and more. Most professional development books are written with all grade levels and subject areas in mind, but more specific books have been noted in the descriptions.
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1. the innovator mindset: empower learning, unleash talent, and lead a culture of creativity
by george couros
get it here.
couros postulates that students first enter schools curious and full of wonder. he suggests that traditional models of education, with a written and scheduled curriculum, kill this natural innovative mindset that students bring to school. Instead of valuing compliance, couros writes, students should be taught to cultivate an innovative mind. To do this, educators must also become innovative thinkers, and this book shows you how.
2. teach with intent: define beliefs, align practice, take action, k-5
by debbie miller
get it here.
Author and teacher Debbie Miller believes that intentional and effective teaching can only occur when an educator has a strong set of intentional beliefs that describe their educational philosophy. By teaching with intent, the author shows readers how to deliberately define these beliefs and then how to align those beliefs with classroom instruction.
3. genre mix, altered style: multi-genre article writing
by roman tom
get it here.
Roman Tom is passionate about the use of multi-genre documents, in which students demonstrate their knowledge of a topic by writing in various genres. He breaks down the process of writing such a document with concrete instructions and examples spanning from upper elementary to high school. The multi-genre format is ideal for any teacher who assigns essays or research papers.
4. teaching when the world is on fire
by lisa delpit
get it here.
delpit knows that tackling tough topics in the classroom is, well, tough. But, an effective educator cannot shy away from politics, current events like Black Lives Matter, sexual assault issues in the media, and more. These are part of the world we live in, and Delpit believes that an effective educator knows how to approach these sensitive topics in the classroom in a constructive way. she gathers the voices of the experts and writes a book that can be used k-12.
5. an urgency for teachers: the work of critical digital pedagogy
by jesse stommel and sean michael morris
get it here.
This is a collection of essays in which the authors explore the world of online learning. sometimes it is a critique of a system that turns a teacher into nothing more than a supervisor. sometimes, it’s an exploration of the ways digital technologies can improve our practices.
6. why they can’t write: kill the five paragraph essay and other necessities
by john warner
get it here.
college writing professor john warner points out that, bluntly, today’s college students can’t write. they may apply a formula like the five-paragraph essay, but gone from their writing is the vigor, creativity, and enthusiasm that should indicate a student striving to communicate new knowledge. he includes a plan to fix what he thinks ails the system.
7. digital citizenship in action: empowering students to participate in online communities
by kristen mattson
get it here.
In Digital Citizenship, Mattson writes that the most powerful aspect of digital learning is often overlooked: that of the community it can help build. she encourages educators to take advantage of today’s modern technology to teach social justice and work toward equity.
8. no spinning: finding facts in a world of misinformation
by brooks jackson and kathleen hall jamieson
get it here.
While this is not strictly a professional development book for teachers, it is nonetheless essential reading. In it, the creators of factcheck.org teach readers how to separate fact from fiction, how to identify misinformation on the internet. In an era where we will be going back to school in the midst of a presidential election and a pandemic, unspun is a useful tool for the classroom.
9. teach like a pirate: increase student engagement, boost your creativity and transform your life as an educator
by dave burgess
get it here.
While there isn’t the bravado one might expect from the title (pirate is an acronym), Burgess walks readers through his teaching methods. Burgess, who was a high school social studies teacher before becoming a full-time education speaker, writes his book as a motivational speech. there are plenty of things to ‘get you excited’, along with some ideas for teaching hooks and brainstorming to help jumpstart your creativity. High school teachers of ela, social studies, and foreign languages will get the most out of this book.
10. for whites who teach in the neighborhood… and the rest of you too: pedagogy of reality and urban education
by christopher emdin
get it here.
christopher emdin first writes about his experience growing up as a young person of color. he writes about how he felt invisible in his schools. He then applies this perspective to decades of award-winning teaching, giving readers practical advice on how to teach in urban schools.
11. Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain: Promoting Authentic Engagement and Rigor Among Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Learners
by zaretta hammond
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in culturally responsive teaching & The Brain Author Zaretta Hammond applies neuroscientific research to the concept of culturally responsive teaching. She includes ten “key moves” teachers can do to help students in today’s culturally diverse classrooms.
12. classic innovation: leveraging retro tools and classic ideas to design deeper learning experiences
by john spencer
get it here.
This book defines innovation as “better as different” rather than “new and flashy.” The author makes it clear that teachers must build their toolkits from teaching strategies that work, whether they are classic or cutting-edge strategies. he also shows teachers how to try new strategies on the field.
13. an educators guide to steam
by cassie quigley and danielle herro
get it here.
This book is aimed at K-8 classrooms and examines the world of steam (as opposed to stem). The authors include extensive examples of steam at work in the classroom and include the perspective of many experts in the field.
14. 180 days: two teachers and the search to engage and empower adolescents
by penny kittle and kelly gallagher
get it here.
gallagher and kittle are award-winning veteran language arts teachers, but they teach in radically different schools. Gallagher teaches in California; kitten in new hampshire. collaborate for a year to find the best literacy practices that work for all students. This book is the result of a year of collaboration.
15. cultivating genius
by gholdy muhammad
get it here.
muhammad approaches literacy from an equity perspective, applying a framework she calls historically responsive literacy. she writes about the ways an equitable education benefits all students, not just the marginalized. It spans grade levels and is ideal for any teacher interested in equity.
16. nurturing resilient learners: a trauma sensitive classroom
by kristin souers and pete hall
get it here.
New research has emerged in this decade showing the profound impact trauma has on both social-emotional well-being and learning. The authors of this book show teachers, across grades and content areas, how to foster a trauma-sensitive learning environment.
17. if you don’t feed the teachers they eat the students
by neila a. connors
get it here.
If you’re a school administrator or leader, this is the book for you. he’s certainly on the lighter side of professional development, but he does offer tips for school principals to make sure their teachers feel appreciated.
18. fire is not light: how to lead meaningful conversations about race in the classroom
by mateo r. okay
get it here.
After this summer’s radical cultural shift sparked by black lives matter activists, conversations about race will (and should) arise in classrooms at all levels. Matthew R. Kay guides educators through these sometimes difficult conversations.
19. make or break the year: solving the dropout crisis one ninth grader at a time
by emily krone phillips
get it here.
phillips writes that more than one f during the first year dramatically increases a student’s chances of dropping out. In this book, the author looks at how a school in Chicago, Hancock High School, restructured itself to help freshmen navigate the often tumultuous freshman year of high school. the school saw significant dropout declines and influenced the school structure across the country.
20. better than sticks or carrots: restorative practices for positive classroom management
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by dominique smith, douglas fisher and nancy frey
get it here.
Research supports the effectiveness of classroom management that teaches students to recognize and correct their behavior, a practice known as restorative classroom management. In this book, the authors examine the research and show how it is more effective over time than the usual positive/negative reinforcement model that most teachers learned to use.
21. the first days of school
by harry wong and rosemary t. wong
get it here
The First Days of School is a classic that might be worth revisiting this summer in preparation for fall. In this book, the authors argue that good classroom management does not depend on discipline but on the structure and routine of teaching at the beginning of the year. due to covid-19 many of our routines will change and students will need to learn new expectations. the first days of school can help.
22. I wish my teacher knew: how one question can change everything for our children
by kyle schwartz
get it here.
Third grade teacher Kyle Schwartz stumbled upon a question that changed the way she teaches: She asked her students to fill in the blank: “I wish my teacher knew __________.” she was surprised by the information she got, and immediately the hashtag #iwishmyteacherknew was born.
23. happy teachers change the world: a guide to cultivating mindfulness in education
by thich nhat hanh and katherine weare
get it here.
The basic practices taught by Thich Nhat Hanh are listed here and applied to classrooms. This book runs the gamut from preschool to higher education. It starts from the idea that teachers must first establish their own mindfulness practice and then cultivate mindfulness in their students.
24. the book whisperer: awakening the inner reader of each child
by donalyn miller
get it here.
Donalyn Miller writes a manual to help high school teachers turn their students into voracious readers. she offers practical advice and many examples from her own experience. she is equally worth reading the follow-up book about her in the wild.
25. Write Alongside Them: Risk, Voice, and Clarity in High School Writing
by penny kittle
get it here.
penny kittle explains how she teaches, assigns, and grades writing using a portfolio model. the backbone of her teaching practice is the fact that she writes with her students, using her own writing to model the revision process.
26. disruptive thinking: why it matters how we read
by kylene beers and bob probst
get it here.
By interrupting thought, the authors examine why students often abandon reading assignments. They suggest that this has to do with the fact that educators have misrepresented the way we use reading in our own lives. present practical ideas that can be used to increase student engagement in literacy across all grade levels and subjects.
27. the new art and science of teaching
by robert marzano
get it here.
Teachers may be familiar with Marzano’s art and science of teaching, which focuses on teacher outcomes. this new version contains 50 “new strategies for educational success” designed to improve student outcomes in the classroom. he defines three instructional principles to optimize student learning: First, students must have their basic needs met. then, students should receive meaningful feedback that follows the master content instruction.
28. raising the rigor
by eileen depka
get it here.
This is a book on interrogation techniques. the author shows teachers how to use questions to differentiate instruction to meet the diverse needs of our students. uses many examples to illustrate its main ideas and includes checklists, surveys, and templates for immediate use in the classroom.
29. how to differentiate instruction in academically diverse classrooms
by carol ann tomlinson
get it here.
Differentiated instruction recognizes that students learn in different ways at different rates. As today’s classrooms become more diverse, differentiated instruction is more important than ever. This book is a practical guide on how to implement this philosophy in the classroom.
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