Teaching is a challenging job. Even before entering the classroom, teachers have to prepare schedules, lesson plans, and homework. They experience a mixed bag of feelings throughout their career: disappointment, frustration, joy, love, and triumph. Fortunately, there are books that provide real stories, tips, and motivation that will make teaching easier and more effective. The following is a list of the 10 best education books to read in 2019.
Ken Robinson is an influential voice in education. In this book, he focuses on how to transform our nation’s educational system. At a time when many schools, students, and teachers are struggling, Robinson proposes a highly personalized approach that draws on today’s technological and professional resources to engage students, develop their love of learning, and enable them to face the challenges of the 21st century.
Filled with anecdotes, recommendations, case histories, and groundbreaking research, Creative Schools will inspire teachers and policy makers to rethink the nature and purpose of education.
Created by teachers for teachers, this book is the ultimate guide for unleashing your students’ potential through creative lessons and innovative teaching. This book will provide the things you need to foster a growth mindset classroom, including a month-by-month program, research-based activities, hands-on lesson plans, and real life educator stories.
Studies show that a growth mindset results in improved grades and more in-class involvement. This book can help you motivate students to believe in themselves and achieve anything.
Eric Jensen knows firsthand the relationship between poverty and education as he himself had his share of adverse childhood experiences. In this book, he highlights the importance of rich teaching for economically-disadvantaged students. This resource details the work that teachers must do to establish the essential changes to overcome adversity and positively impact students from low-income families.
Full of ideas that can be implemented in any classroom, Poor Students, Rich Teaching will help you understand how poverty affects student engagement and academic achievement. Learn how a growth mindset for students and creating a positive school culture can be beneficial in overcoming adversity. Gain these powerful mindsets to bring change: relational mindset, rich classroom climate mindset, engagement mindset, and achievement mindset.
With attention spans waning, teachers are searching for new ways to help their students concentrate, learn, and thrive. This book is a practical guide for cultivating attention and well-being not only in students, but also in teachers as well. Packed with lesson plans and exercises, The Way of Mindful Education demonstrates the real-world applications of mindfulness practices in K-12 classrooms.
Research show that mindfulness has a positive effect on social, emotional, and cognitive development. This book invites educators to take advantage of this tool and practice a mindful, compassionate, and effective way of teaching.
In this book, you will find inspiration, heartfelt advice, and pearls of wisdom from one of the nation’s leading authorities on teacher leadership. With understanding and wit, Todd Whitaker describes the beliefs, attitudes, and interactions of great teachers and what they do differently.
Key aspects include: meaning what you say, focusing on students first, and putting yourself in their position. The bundle also includes a DVD that will motivate teachers to be the best they can be each and every day.
Changing education requires a human-centered approach and special tools. Learn to make sense of change journeys and accelerate implementation with a practical framework that includes resources, human-centered tools, and mini case studies.
Among other things, this book will help you: 1) understand how to get through resistance, 2) discover three kinds of change strategies and when to use each one, and 3) learn how to utilize the “messy middle” of change, where the real transformation usually happens.
Onward tackles the problem of stress and provides a practical framework to avoid teacher burnout. Stress is part of the job, but when a great number of teachers quit within their first 5 years because stress is making them ill, things have gone too far. These effects are highest in math, science, foreign languages, urban areas and secondary classrooms – places where teachers need to be especially motivated. This book will help teachers become more resilient, weather the storms, and bounce back.
Aside from knowing how to take care of yourself physically, emotionally, and mentally, you will learn how a shift in mindset can affect your outlook. Rediscover yourself and your passion for teaching with the help of this book.
To close the achievement gap, diverse classrooms need a framework for optimizing student engagement. In this book, Zaretta Hammond draws on neuroscience research to offer an innovative approach for designing and implementing culturally responsive instruction.
This book contains: 1) information on how culture affects learning relationships and programs the brain to process data, 2) ten “key moves” to prepare students to become independent learners, and 3) prompts for action and self-reflection.
What are essential questions? How do they differ from other types of questions? Why should you use essential questions in your classroom? Essential questions are used to stimulate discussions and promote a deeper understanding of content.
In this book, Jay McTighe and Grant Wiggins provide tips on how to design and initiate inquiry based teaching and learning in your classroom. With dozens of examples, the authors explore the usefulness of essential questions in all K-12 content areas. Learn how to create a culture of inquiry to attain increased rigor and deeper understanding.
Engagement is an important aspect of effective teaching. If students aren’t engaged, there is little chance that they will learn what’s being addressed in class. A basic premise of this book is that student engagement is the result of careful planning and execution of strategies. Simply put, student engagement isn’t serendipitous.
This book provides a better understanding of how to generate attention and engagement. Using the suggestions contained in this book, teachers can create a classroom environment wherein engagement is the norm.
The Highly Engaged Classroom goes a step further to translate research into applications for the classroom. It addresses emblematic questions students ask themselves, such as: “Is this important?”, “How do I feel?”, “Am I interested?”, and Can I do this? For each of these questions, specific strategies are provided in chapters 2 to 5.
Conclusion
These 10 best education books to read in 2019 contain helpful and practical ideas on effective teaching, boosting student achievement, improving school culture, and so much more. Re-energize your passion for teaching so you can bring out the best in your students. The books listed above are all great; take your pick.
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