Amazing Books – Recommendations from Podcast Guests

There have been some amazing book recommendations on the podcast.

I wanted to create a page where visitors can stop by and peruse.

Do you have a book that is essential reading for new and soon-t0-be teachers? Please email me at:  sam@theamazingteacher.com.

 

 


Project-Based Learning for Gifted Students by Todd Stanley

(From Amazon) Project-Based Learning for Gifted Students: A Handbook for the 21st-Century Classroom makes the case that project-based learning is ideal for the gifted classroom, focusing on student choice, teacher responsibility, and opportunities for differentiation. The book also guides teachers to create a project-based learning environment in their own classroom, walking them step-by-step through topics and processes such as linking projects with standards, finding the right structure, and creating a practical classroom environment. Project-Based Learning for Gifted Students also provides helpful examples and lessons that all teachers can use to get started.

 


The First Days of SchoolHarry Wong
(From Amazon) The best-selling book ever on classroom management and teaching for student achievement with over 3.7 million copies sold. The book walks a teacher, either novice or veteran, through structuring and organizing a classroom for success that can be applied at any time of the year at any grade level, pre-K through college. The book is used in thousands of school districts, in over 120 countries, and in over 2,114 college classrooms, and has been translated into 5 languages. It’s practical, yet inspiring. But most important, it works! The 4th edition includes updated research, photos, and more examples of “how-to” along with an implementation DVD, “Using The First Days of School” featuring Chelonnda Seroyer. This is the most requested book for what works in the classroom for teacher and student success.


What Great Teachers Do Differently – Todd Whitaker

(From Amazon) This book describes the beliefs, behaviors, attitudes, and interactions that form the fabric of life in our best classrooms and schools. It focuses on the specific things that great teachers do … that others do not. Readers of author Todd Whitaker’s best-selling WHAT GREAT PRINCIPALS DO DIFFERENTLY asked him for a companion volume focusing on great teachers and their classrooms. This book is his response to those requests.This book focuses on the specific things that great teachers do … that others do not. It answers these essential questions:
– Is it high expectations for students that matter?
– How do great teachers respond when students misbehave?
– Do great teachers filter differently than their peers?
– How do the best teachers approach standardized testing?
– How can your teachers gain the same advantages?

 


Discipline without Stress Punishment or Reward
– Dr. Marvin Marshall

(From Amazon) Library Journal Review

A blending of three subject fields–education, parenting, and personal growth–this work is replete with helpful suggestions that show both teachers and parents how to heighten positive thinking in school or at home, give students and other family members the power to choose, and discover productive means of reflection and self-evaluation. For the past seven years, Marshall has been giving seminars on “The Raise Responsibility System,” and his solid research, coupled with countless practical examples, makes this a natural and inviting read. His experience in elementary and high schools, counseling, and teacher education, plus his doctoral work in curriculum, counseling, and instruction, serve to deepen the quality of his observations and techniques. Conveniently structured into distinct yet interrelated chapters, the book can be read from start to finish or piecemeal, focusing on particular chapters of concern (e.g., reducing stress, motivating, or promoting learning). The comprehensive bibliography enables the reader to conduct further research.

Calmer, Easier, Happier Parenting: Five Strategies That End the Daily Battles and Get Kids to Listen the First Time – Noel Janis-Norton

(From Amazon) Tired of nagging, pleading, negotiating, or yelling just to get your kids to do the simple things you ask? There is a better way.
The best English import since Supernanny and an instant bestseller in the U.K., Calmer, Easier, Happier Parenting brings the joy back into family life.
Based on her forty-plus years of experience, behavioral specialist Noël Janis-Norton outlines a clear, step-by-step plan that will help any parent raise a child who is cooperative and considerate, confident and self-reliant. Transform your family life with these five strategies: Descriptive Praise, Preparing for Success, Reflective Listening, Never Ask Twice and Rewards and Consequences. You’ll begin to see results almost immediately:
• Kids start cooperating the first time
• Mornings, bedtimes, mealtimes and homework all become easier
• Even very resistant kids start saying” yes” instead of “no” Full of examples and real stories from parents, this book gives you the complete tool-kit to achieve Calmer, Easier, Happier Parenting.

 


He’s the Weird TeacherDoug Robertson

(From Amazon) He’s the Weird Teacher explores the wonder and challenge of teaching from the perspective of Doug Robertson, elementary school educator, self-proclaimed rock star, and student-proclaimed weird teacher. Learn what to do when a bird flies into your room, what whisper-shouting is, why tetherball is the best playground game ever, and how best to disrupt the straight line of a kindergarten class. Mixed with schoolhouse stories are thoughts on keeping the classroom positive, handling parents and administrators, bullying, and taking responsibility for student learning. He’s the Weird Teacher takes on the education system from a sideways perspective, showing just how joyful teaching and learning can and should be.


Teach Like a Pirate – Dave Burgess

(From Amazon) Based on Dave Burgess’s popular “Outrageous Teaching” and “Teach Like a PIRATE” seminars, this book offers inspiration, practical techniques, and innovative ideas that will help you to increase student engagement, boost your creativity, and transform your life as an educator. You’ll learn how to: • Tap into and dramatically increase your passion as a teacher • Develop outrageously engaging lessons that draw students in like a magnet • Establish rapport and a sense of camaraderie in your classroom • Transform your class into a life-changing experience for your students This groundbreaking inspirational manifesto contains over 30 hooks specially designed to captivate your class and 170 brainstorming questions that will skyrocket your creativity. Once you learn the Teach Like a PIRATE system, you’ll never look at your role as an educator the same again.

Intentional Interruption: Breaking Down Learning Barriers to Transform Professional Practice – Steven Katz

(From Amazon) We interrupt this program to bring meaningful change to professional learning!
Big ideas can sometimes get stuck on the way to becoming real change. The authors explain the secret to getting unstuck: interrupting the status quo of traditional activity-based professional development to help educators embrace permanent changes in thinking and behavior. You can enable true learning by:
Building a focus on learning, collaborative inquiry, and formal and informal instructional leadership in schools
Recognizing the psychological processes involved in adult learning, and overcoming the psychological biases and barriers to change
Using tools and strategies such as critical friend relationships, learning conversations, task sheets, and protocols

 

Visible Learning for Teachers: Maximizing Impact on Learning – John Hattie
(From Amazon) Visible Learning for Teachers takes the next step and brings those ground breaking concepts to a completely new audience. Written for students, pre-service and in-service teachers, it explains how to apply the principles of Visible Learning to any classroom anywhere in the world. The author offers concise and user-friendly summaries of the most successful interventions and offers practical step-by-step guidance to the successful implementation of visible learning and visible teaching in the classroom.

 

Guide My Feet: Prayers and Meditations for Our Children – Marian Wright Edelman

(From Amazon) Here are  prayers and meditations for parents and others who strive to instill values of faith, integrity, compassion, and service in our children at a time when these ideas are threatened by commercialism and violence. With warmth and conviction, Edleman shares his own prayers as well as inspirational readings from others.  Turn in this book for guidelines and support–again and again.

The First-Year Teacher’s Survival Guide – Julia Thompson

(From Amazon) Thoroughly revised edition of the bestselling resource for new teachers

This award-winning book gives beginning educators everything they need to survive and thrive in the classroom. The third edition covers new material including working as a part of a professional learning community (PLC), teaching media literacy and social responsibility, incorporating Common Core State Standards, handling “homework push-back” from parents, changes in classroom technology, techniques for motivating students, seeking feedback, and much more.

  • A fully revised edition of a trusted resource, offering solutions to challenges and typical scenarios encountered by new teachers
  • Bonus CD features downloadable versions of the book’s checklists, forms, worksheets, and self-assessments
  • Includes Discussion Questions and a handy training guide for Professional Development providers

This popular resource offers teachers an essential guide for knowing what to expect when they begin their career and ideas for solving classroom problems.

Check out a couple of Larry’s Books:

Classroom Management Q and A – Larry Ferlazzo
(From Amazon) Many teachers today are looking for sustainable, authentic solutions on classroom management and student engagement—two key aspects of effective instruction. What better way to find them than to tap the collective wisdom of expert educators? In this ebook, award-winning teacher and Education Week Teacher blogger Larry Ferlazzo investigates some of the thorniest problems in teaching by turning to leading educators for advice. Ferlazzo and his contributors respond Q&A-style to a variety of pressing classroom-management and student-engagement questions, such as:

• How can I get the new school year off to a good start?
• How can I help my students develop self-control?
• How can I stop disruptive behavior in my classroom?
• How can I engage students without resorting to a carrots-and-sticks approach?
• What does true student engagement look like?

This ebook brings together the best contributions from Ferlazzo’s Education Week Teacher blog “Classroom Q&A With Larry Ferlazzo.” Ferlazzo, who teaches English, social studies, and International Baccalaureate classes to students at Luther Burbank High School in Sacramento, Calif., offers his take on effective classroom management along with a network of leading experts. Together, they provide the strategy-based answers that get to the heart of high-quality instruction.

 

Helping Students Motivate Themselves – Larry Ferlazzo

(From Amazon) Give your students the tools they need to motivate themselves with tips from award-winning educator Larry Ferlazzo. A comprehensive outline of common classroom challenges, this book presents immediately applicable steps and lesson plans for all teachers looking to help students motivate themselves. With coverage of brain-based learning, classroom management, and using technology, these strategies can be easily incorporated into any curriculum.

Learn to implement solutions to the following challenges:

  • How do you motivate students?
  • How do you help students see the importance of personal responsibility?
  • How do you deal with a student who is being disruptive in class?
  • How do you regain control of an out-of-control class?
  • And more!

 


The Complete Guide to Evernote in Education. – Nick Provenzano

Evernote Education Ambassador has written the definitive book on integrating Evernote into Education. See how lesson planning, sharing and content creation become easy tasks with Evernote.