Teaching is not easy. You need a lot of know-how, dedication, and patience to get the results that you want. Sometimes, you may feel that what you have learned in college isn’t enough to bring out the best in your students. Thankfully, there are resources that can help you increase student engagement, reduce negative behaviors, and improve student outcomes. Introducing our list of the 10 best books for teachers 2020.
Best Books for Teachers 2020
Do you dream about increased student engagement and more effective classroom management? How about reducing teacher stress and overwhelm? Or leaving campus at a reasonable hour without dragging a cart full of lesson planning and papers to grade in tow?
If the answer to these questions is “Yes!” then this book is for YOU!
Based on current research in positive psychology and more than 15 years “real world” experience in the classroom, this book provides a practical roadmap to reduce stress, improve student behavior and be happier in your classroom and your life.
These 10 simple positive mindset habits train you to flex your “happy muscle” and easily:
Eliminate teacher overwhelm and stress
Leave school every day energized and fulfilled
Connect with students in a way that turns every group of kinds into a “dream class”
Rediscover the passion and excitement that made you want to become a teacher
A quick read in a conversational tone, this book will put a smile back on your face and laughter back in your classroom – two critical elements for teacher fulfillment and student success.
One day, third-grade teacher Kyle Schwartz asked her students to fill-in-the-blank in this sentence: “I wish my teacher knew _____.” The results astounded her. Some answers were humorous, others were heartbreaking-all were profoundly moving and enlightening. The results opened her eyes to the need for educators to understand the unique realities their students face in order to create an open, safe and supportive place in the classroom.
When Schwartz shared her experience online, #IWishMyTeacherKnew became an immediate worldwide viral phenomenon. Schwartz’s book tells the story of #IWishMyTeacherKnew, including many students’ emotional and insightful responses, and ultimately provides an invaluable guide for teachers, parents, and communities
An unforgettable memoir about a young girl who, kept out of school, leaves her survivalist family and goes on to earn a PhD from Cambridge University.
Born to survivalists in the mountains of Idaho, Tara Westover was seventeen the first time she set foot in a classroom. Her family was so isolated from mainstream society that there was no one to ensure the children received an education, and no one to intervene when one of Tara’s older brothers became violent. When another brother got himself into college, Tara decided to try a new kind of life. Her quest for knowledge transformed her, taking her over oceans and across continents, to Harvard and to Cambridge University. Only then would she wonder if she’d traveled too far, if there was still a way home.
Eliminate old-school punishments and create a community of responsible, productive learners.
Are you or your teachers frustrated with carrots and sticks, detention rooms, and suspension–antiquated school discipline practices that simply do not work with the students entering our classrooms today? Our kids have complex needs, and we must empower and embrace them with restorative practices that not only change behaviors but transform students into productive citizens, accountable for their own actions.
Replace traditional school discipline with a proven system, founded on restorative justice.
In a book that should become your new blueprint for school discipline, teachers, presenters, and school leaders Nathan Maynard and Brad Weinstein demonstrate how to eliminate punishment and build a culture of responsible students and independent learners. In Hack Learning Series Book 22, you learn to:
Reduce repeated negative behaviors
Build student self-regulation and empathy
Enhance communication and collaboration
Identify the true cause of negative behaviors
Use restorative circles to reflect on behaviors and discuss impactful change
Why do some children succeed while others fail? The story we usually tell about childhood and success is the one about intelligence: success comes to those who score highest on tests, from preschool admissions to SATs. But in How Children Succeed, Paul Tough argues that the qualities that matter more have to do with character: skills like perseverance, curiosity, optimism, and self-control.
How Children Succeed introduces us to a new generation of researchers and educators, who, for the first time, are using the tools of science to peel back the mysteries of character. Through their stories—and the stories of the children they are trying to help—Tough reveals how this new knowledge can transform young people’s lives. He uncovers the surprising ways in which parents do—and do not—prepare their children for adulthood. And he provides us with new insights into how to improve the lives of children growing up in poverty. This provocative and profoundly hopeful book will not only inspire and engage readers, it will also change our understanding of childhood itself.
With hit books that support strategic reading through conferring, small groups, and assessment, Jen Serravallo gets emails almost daily asking, “Isn’t there a book of the strategies themselves?” Now there is.
“Strategies make the often invisible work of reading actionable and visible,” Jen writes. In The Reading Strategies Book, she collects 300 strategies to share with readers in support of thirteen goals-everything from fluency to literary analysis. Each strategy is cross-linked to skills, genres, and Fountas & Pinnell reading levels to give you just-right teaching, just in time. With Jen’s help you’ll:
develop goals for every reader
give students step-by-step strategies for skilled reading
guide readers with prompts aligned to the strategies
adjust instruction to meet individual needs with Jen’s Teaching Tips
craft demonstrations and explanations with her Lesson Language
learn more with Hat Tips to the work of influential teacher-authors.
Whether you use readers workshop, Daily 5/CAFE, guided reading, balanced reading, a core reading program, whole-class novels, or any other approach, The Reading Strategies Book will complement and extend your teaching. Rely on it to plan and implement goal-directed, differentiated instruction for individuals, small groups, and whole classes.
Inspiring and exploring creativity opens pathways for students to use creative expression to demonstrate content knowledge, critical thinking, and the problem solving that will serve them best no matter what their futures may bring. Intention offers a collection of ideas, activities, and reasons for bringing creativity to every lesson.
Burvall and Ryder explore the rich tapestry of ways in which academia can embrace curiosity and creativity, provide tools with which to dissect it for values, and take that further with actionable exercises that empower the reader to put these ideas into practice.
A handbook for teachers and administrators on creating just and equitable learning environments for students; building and maintaining healthy relationships; healing harm and transforming conflict.
Much more than a response to harm, restorative justice nurtures relational, interconnected school cultures. The wisdom embedded within its principles and practices is being welcomed at a time when exclusionary discipline and zero tolerance policies are recognized as perpetuating student apathy, disproportionality, and the school-to-prison pipeline.
Relying on the wisdom of early proponents of restorative justice, the daily experiences of educators, and the authors’ extensive experience as classroom teachers and researchers, this Little Book guides the growth of restorative justice in education (RJE) into the future. Incorporating activities, stories, and examples throughout the book, three major interconnected and equally important aspects of restorative justice in education are explained and applied: creating just and equitable learning environments; building and maintaining healthy relationships; healing harm and transforming conflict. Chapters include:
The Way We Do Things
A Brief History of Restorative Justice in Education
Beliefs and Values in Restorative Justice in Education
Creating just and Equitable Learning Environments
Nurturing Healthy relationships
Repairing Harm and Transforming Conflict
A Tale of Two Schools: Thoughts and Sustainability
The Little Book of Restorative Justice in Education is a reference that practitioners can turn to repeatedly for clarity and consistency as they implement restorative justice in educational settings.
Gerry Brooks is an elementary school principal turned YouTube celebrity who entertains K-12 teachers, administrators, and parents across the country. He tells jokes with the kind of mocking humor that gets a laugh, yet can be safely shared in school. After all, even great schools have bad days — when lesson plans fall through, disgruntled parents complain, kids throw temper tantrums because they have to use the same spoon for their applesauce and mashed potatoes, and of course, dealing with…The Horror! The Horror!…dreaded assessments.
Ranging from practical topics like social media use in the classroom and parent-teacher conferences to more lighthearted sections such as “Pickup and Dropoff: An Exercise in Humanity” and “School Supplies: Yes, We Really Need All That Stuff,” Go See the Principal offers comic relief, inspiration, and advice to those who need it the most.
Emotional intelligence affects every aspect of the way we live, from romantic to professional relationships, from our inner resilience to our social success. It is arguably the single most important skill for surviving the twenty-first century. But what does it really mean?
One decade ago, Alain de Botton founded The School of Life, an institute dedicated to understanding and improving our emotional intelligence. Now he presents the gathered wisdom of those ten years in a wide-ranging and innovative compendium of emotional intelligence which forms an introduction to The School of Life.
Using his trademark mixture of analysis and anecdote, philosophical insight and practical wisdom, he considers how we interact with each and with ourselves, and how we can do so better. From the reigning master of popular philosophy, The School of Life: An Emotional Education is an essential look at the skill set that defines our modern lives.
BONUS
In Future Driven, David Geurin describes how to conquer the status quo, create authentic learning, and help your students thrive in an unpredictable world. He shares how to simultaneously be more committed to your mission while being more flexible with your methods. You’ll discover strategies to help students learn transferable skills. And you’ll find ways to inspire creative, adaptable learning. Ultimately, you’ll invest in tomorrow by helping your students become world changers today.
Future Driven is a passionate, compelling forecast that urges all educators to engage smartly with what is coming. Teaching learners in this era of knowledge abundance requires teachers to take risks and for leaders to embrace change. A future focus, combined with action today, will ensure students are prepared for whatever they face. We need to have a long-term perspective and so do our students.
If we are going to prepare students for an increasingly complex and uncertain world, schools must be future-driven organizations. And if you are going to make a lasting difference and create a better tomorrow for students, you are needed as a future-driven educator. It’s time to push your limits and push the limits of others too. Future Driven will challenge you to move forward boldly to prepare students for a rapidly changing world.
Conclusion
If you would like to try a free month of Kindle Unlimited click here. Whether you’re a novice teacher looking for advice or an experienced educator seeking inspiration, these best books for teachers 2020 can help you reignite your passion for teaching.
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