Looking to build your summer reading list with professional development books? Check out the following titles for reflections on personal growth & finding your why; foundational literacy & math texts;
The New Teacher Handbook & The Joyful Teacher, by Berit Gordon. Available as a bundle! The New Teacher Handbook contains 100+ goals and strategies for new teachers and the mentors who support them. Learn strategies for time management, engaging students, lesson planning, classroom management, and more. The Joyful Teacher provides a structure to help K–12 teachers across all content areas reflect on their professional development needs, set goals that work, and access practical strategies that will help them meet those goals. You can take charge of your teacher growth and craft your own professional learning journey!
Humans Who Teach, by Shamari Reid. The book invites readers to explore the complicated humanity of those who teach, with a focus on how we have been socialized to accept the status quo, our very real fears in disrupting the status quo, and how we can rely on our human capacity to love to engage in teaching for social justice even in the presence of fear.
The First Five, by Patrick Harris. Patrick brings to light the realities of being a new teacher. He immerses you in his world with personal stories that validate your experience, as well as lessons, questions, and exercises to help you reflect on your own journey. Each chapter includes interviews with a diverse group of educators.
When Kids Can't Read, by Kylene Beers. Reading matters because it changes us. It changes the way we think, the way we see the world, the way we process information and dream new thoughts. A guidebook for those who teach students who struggle with reading. Extensively rewritten by Kylene Beers, it offers practical teaching scaffolds and strategies in the areas of comprehension, vocabulary development, fluency, and engagement.
Growing Language & Literacy, by Andrea Honigsfeld. A user-friendly, accessible resource to address the diverse language and literacy proficiencies that exist in so many U.S. classrooms today. Andrea unpacks the five levels of language acquisition, based on the TESOL framework, and introduces practical strategies that can be applied across grade levels and content areas to support EL students’ academic language and literacy development. Available in K-8 or 6-12.
The Teaching Life, by Kelly Gallagher. Organized from A–Z, The Teaching Life is packed with strategies and candid insights distilled from decades of teaching in-the-trenches. Whether you’re a first-year teacher or a seasoned veteran, Kelly offers a wealth of valuable information on how to manage the kaleidoscope of issues teachers encounter daily, from the mind-numbing to the meaningful. This is Kelly’s gift to the profession he loves, a resource to return to when you need clarity, perspective, or simply the reminder that you are not alone in this crazy, frustrating, rewarding, fulfilling, under-appreciated, heartwarming, inspiring, wonderful, and transformational profession.
How to Become a Better Writing Teacher, by Carl Anderson and Matt Glover. How to Become a Better Writing Teacher is a hands-on, practical guide for teachers looking to improve their writing instruction. Carl and Matt offer 50 high-impact actions teachers can take to level up key aspects of their practice. Included are tips on: getting to know your students as people and assessing them as writers; increasing student engagement in writing; becoming curriculum decision-makers; individualizing instruction; and connecting students to mentor authors.
We Got This, by Cornelius Minor. While challenging the teacher as hero trope, We Got This shows how authentically listening to kids is the closest thing to a superpower that we have. Cornelius Minor identifies tools, attributes, and strategies that can augment our listening, allowing us to make powerful moves toward equity by broadening access to learning for all children.
Young Children's Mathematics & Children's Mathematics by Thomas Carpenter et. al. Young Children’s Mathematics explores the development of mathematical understanding in the youngest learners. Reinforced with classroom video clips, this book provides an in-depth, research-based look at how children’s early learning develops and how teachers can authentically promote this kind of sense-making in mathematics. Children's Mathematics: Cognitively Guided Instruction is a must-have resource for shifting your instruction to emphasize students' mathematical reasoning and sense making. This bestselling book explores an instructional approach unparalleled in its ability to help teachers build on students' thinking to create deeper understanding. An extensive collection of online videos complement this examination of the development of mathematical thinking and problem solving.
Kids First From Day One by Christine Hertz and Kristi Mraz. The classroom of your dreams starts with one big idea. From the first days of school to the last, Kids First from Day One shares how to put your deepest teaching belief into action. Whether it's building community, designing your classroom spaces, matching instruction to students' needs, or engaging students in curriculum, Christine Hertz and Kristi Mraz help you put into action the belief that children are the most important people in the room.
Risk. Fail. Rise. by M. Colleen Cruz. Mistakes are part of learning. Every educator knows this. But what happens before and after a mistake that facilitates that learning is rarely explored practically. In Risk. Fail. Rise. teachers will learn how to address their own teaching mistakes, model with their own mistake-making, and improve their responses to others’ mistakes.
Math Workshop by Jennifer Lempp. Math workshop supports student engagement and growth in the math classroom. It is structured around accessible mathematical tasks, open-ended problem solving, small-group instruction, student choice, and time for practicing important concepts throughout the year. Available in K-6 and 6-12 (written with Skip Tyler)
For more book lists, check out the Classroom Essentials Series and Not This But That Reading series lists.
