Reading Recommendations

The Walkabouts team and our teacher advocates are all avid readers, and together we’ve read about a variety of topics! Here is a list of what we’ve enjoyed reading in the last year and recommend for your 2018 must-read list!

EDUCATION TITLES

These titles will help you build classroom management skills and provide suggestions to expand your teaching practices:

• StrengthsQuest: Discover and Develop Your Strengths in Academics, Career, and Beyond by Donald O. Clifton (Contributor), Edward Anderson, Laurie A. Schreiner (Gallup Press, 2016)
  This book, written for perpetual learners, starts with a personalized assessment to help you find your innate talents. Then, the authors explain how you can foster and develop those natural skills to find success in the classroom and beyond.
• The Reading Strategies Book by Jennifer Serravallo (Heinemann, 2015)
  If you want to impart a love of reading to your students, this is the book for you. Jennifer Serravallo provides 300 strategies to help students develop reading and comprehension skills according to their learning style.
• The Writing Strategies Book by Jennifer Serravallo (Heinemann, 2017)
  Reading and writing go hand in hand, and Jennifer Serravallo follows up The Reading Strategies Book with this sequel. She hones in on the different types of writing goals students may have and provides strategies to help students achieve those goals.
• Teach Like a Pirate by Dave Burgess (Dave Burgess Consulting, 2012)
  The title of this book pulls us in – no wonder it’s a New York Times Bestseller! Experienced educator Dave Burgess draws from his personal experience in the classroom. He provides helpful advice to rejuvenate your passion for teaching and includes effective ways to increase student engagement, establish rapport, and make learning fun!

LEADERSHIP TITLES

Teachers and educators are leaders in their classrooms and in life:

• The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell (Back Bay Books, 2002)
  Malcolm Gladwell studied various trends and trendsetters to find out what it takes to convince a large group of people to try something new or to buy a product. He discusses the personality types that tend to be the best salespeople and describes how we can learn from past trends to start our own or convince our own team to try something new.
• The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable by Patrick Lencioni (Jossey-Bass, 2002)
  Teamwork is crucial in our everyday life, but it can often be a challenge to bring together different personality types to collaborate! Patrick Lencioni tells a story that highlights some common team dysfunctions and ways to overcome them. While the strategies in this book can help smooth over communication or personality conflicts, the book also teaches us to embrace differences and respect each other’s’ viewpoints and ideas.
• How to Thrive as a Teacher Leader by John G. Gabriel (ASCD, 2005)
  Published by ASCD, this comprehensive leadership book covers the basics of effective leadership with both students and colleagues. With practical tips, checklists, and examples, John G. Gabriel covers an array of scenarios and responses to different personality types and teams.

TECHNOLOGY TIPS

• The Tech Wise Family by Andy Crouch (Baker Books, 2017)
  We all recognize the benefits of technology but also understand the importance of keeping a healthy balance between screen and non-screen time. In this book, Andy Crouch takes an in-depth look at finding a balance between technology and real life. He also encourages deeper questions about how to utilize technology to further personal and family goals without allowing that same technology to take time away from family or distract us from our true objectives.

FOR FUN

Reading should be fun! When you need a break from nonfiction and professional development books, here are some lighter reads, both fiction and autobiographical:

• The Secrets You Keep by Kate White (Harper Paperbacks, 2017)
  If you’re a fan of murder mysteries and The Husband’s Secret, this book is for you. Kate White spins a suspenseful tale of small-town secrets that start unraveling after a small dinner party and subsequent murder. Chaos, confusion, and suspicion ensue in this page-turner of a novel.
• The Magnolia Story by Chip and Joanna Gaines (Thomas Nelson, 2016)
  Anyone who watches HGTV knows the charismatic house-renovating couple Chip and Joanna Gaines. This is the behind-the-scenes autobiography of their first encounters, dreams, funny/embarrassing moments, and the path that led them to where they are today.
• The Quest by Nelson DeMille (Center Street, 1975)
  This is a Quest for the Holy Grail type of adventure that brings together some unexpected personality types “from the dusty archives of the Vatican to the overgrown jungles of Ethiopia.” If you like adventure and mystery, this book is for you. The author includes bonus book club questions if you read with a group!

What are you reading? We’d love to hear your book recommendations!