Every week, Julie will push out a new topic, you blog about it and submit your blog post using this Google Form. On Sunday, there will be a huge list of awesome blogs to go read! :) YAY!
As always, this is a no pressure blogging challenge, so if you don't feel like blogging, that's okay! I've had many weeks already where I've failed at blogging, so I'm right there with you! However, this week is one I just couldn't pass up :)
When I first saw this week's prompt, I was like "YAY!! I've got this one!!!", but as the week went on, I stressed more and more. I struggle so much with figuring out my "favorite" anything - be it song, movie, book, TV show, etc. I have so many favorites! So here goes... my top 5 must-read books for teachers.
Must Read #1 - Make It Stick
This book was an #EduRead several summers ago. I first learned about it from Daren Starnes at the AP Statistics Reading when he spoke about it at Best Practices night. I immediately downloaded it to my Kindle and started reading. Oh my goodness - game changer! This book transformed my classroom like no other. It combined assessment strategies with cognitive psychology with statistical research. We did a Twitter EduRead on it that summer and this book has been the focus of several talks at various TMCs. If you want to help your students be active and successful learners, this is the book for you. Just writing about this book makes me want to read it again! :)
See the storified Book Chats here
Must Read #2 - Embedded Formative Assessment
Dylan Wiliam is one of the educational gurus on formative assessment. This was one of my first Kindle edu-reads and I still refer to my highlights many years later. Formative assessment has been one of my ongoing professional learning goals and this book is one of the best books out there for formative assessment. There is a newer version called Embedding Formative Assessment while I own, but haven't fully read - maybe that's a book to tackle soon! The original EFA (pictured) was one of those books that I recommended over and over and over again to colleagues and administrators. Man, I wish it were summer so I could have all day to read again! :)
See the storified Book Chats here
Must Read #3 - Mathematical Mindsets
I doubt there is a math teacher out there that is unaware of Jo Boaler and her work with YouCubed, mindset shifts in mathematics, and innovative teaching methods. This book was one of our EduReads last year - See the Storify on Beth's blog - and once I got into it, there were so many provoking thoughts that I sent a recommendation to our district curriculum director to read this book immediately. Dr. Boaler definitely pushed my thinking on several topics, but she also opened my eyes to some of the damaging methods that are commonplace in k-12 education, specifically in tracking and middle school advancement. I'm definitely not in the norm at my school with my beliefs on open enrollment and Dr. Boaler's work really pushes the fixed vs growth mindset as it comes to learning mathematics.
Must Read #4 - Literacy Strategies for Improving Mathematics Instruction
This book was one of our very first Twitter EduReads, back in the summer of 2012, even before we had the #EduRead hashtag and we used different hashtags for each book (this one was the ultra creative #lit4math). You can read my book reviews here (Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4) and the book chat was Storified over at Pam's blog. This book is a small one, but it really packs a wallop. In fact, I can see it sitting under my coffee table right now, ready for me to read it again! (So.Many.Books!!)
Must Read #5 - Every Minute Counts
This tiny book (and its sequels - Making Minutes Count Even More and Motivation Counts) were some of the first educational books I owned. At the time I purchased them (back in the late 90s), I picked them up for about $5 each at my local teacher supply store. That store has been closed for many years and these books now cost a bit more, but they are still some of my favorites. For at least the first 10 years of my career, I read and re-read this book series every summer and every time I picked up new nuggets of wisdom. Each of these booklets contains only about 70 pages, but so many ideas. Some of ideas are now dated, but practical advice never goes out of style! The author's down-to-earth writing style and ready-to-use suggestions are what originally drew me to this book and continues to draw me in 20 years later.
What are your must-read books? Blog about them, tweet about them, share them with us on the #eduread hashtag - I have at least 3 stacks of books to be read, but after writing this post, I just want to go surround myself with some old favorites :)
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