4 Books to Reenergize Your Teaching

Have you ever been in a teaching rut and weren’t sure were to start looking for inspiration?  Let’s face it, this year has been challenging and many of us have slipped into survival mode.  As we finish this school year, let’s finish strong.  Spring break is right around the corner and the perfect time for a little reading and reflection.

We have put together a list of 4 professional development books that will help reenergize your teaching, starting with a book that puts you first, after all, you can’t take care of others if you don’t take care of yourself.

Book #1 Note Quite Burned Out, but Crispy Around the Edges

This time of year can make a lot of teachers feel burned out, drained and just so over teaching. Add a pandemic to the mix and most of us are downright exhausted. Self-care is a critical part of any teacher’s routine, but that care needs to be authentic. Samantha from Samantha in Secondary suggests adding a bit of light reading to your regimen to warm your spirit. Not Quite Burned Out, but Crispy Around the Edges by Sharon M. Draper is Samantha’s go-to for professional reading that is meant to inspire. Although it isn’t a traditional “professional development” read, it will help to develop your soul.

In Not Quite Burned Out, Sharon Draper dives into the heart of a teacher and helps remind you that what you do makes a difference no matter if you are in your first or fifteenth year of teaching. This book is really a read for every teacher in each stage of their career. There is laughter, love, and a lot of reminders that joy is an essential part to any long-term career in teaching.

There are a lot of books on pedagogy and teaching methods, but it’s important to remember to feed your soul as well. Check out Draper’s book for a heartwarming read, especially during this difficult season.

Book #2 Book Love

After teaching for almost 20 years, Carolyn from Middle School Cafe was introduced to Book Love by Penny Kittle and it changed her entire philosophy about teaching reading.  For much of her career, Carolyn had taught reading through teaching class novels.  When she moved districts, and joined a new PLC (Professional Learning Community), she was introduced to the idea or Reader’s Workshop.  

What do struggling readers need to do most?  They need to read!  Getting the right books into the hands of students can be just the beginning to turn a struggling reader into a thriving reader.  Penny discusses how to practically incorporate more “real” reading in class even with the high demands of today’s classroom.

 Because Penny Kittle is still in the classroom, her advice is practical and easily implemented.  She offers suggestions on planning, grading, building stamina with students, the importance of book talks and so much more.  If you are looking to reenergize your reading curriculum, Carolyn highly suggests picking up a copy of Book Love.  

Carolyn has been lucky enough to attend two live professional development sessions with Penny Kittle.  If you ever get the opportunity to attend, you are in for an inspiring session.  In the meantime, check out one of her many books.

Book #3 Comprehension & Collaboration

Do you feel like you never have enough time to teach the whole curriculum? Or is it sometimes hard to get students engaged in discussions and participate? As a second year teacher, Isabel from Signé Isabel has definitely felt that way. Then, she read Comprehension & Collaboration by Stephanie Harvey* and Harvey “Smokey” Daniels, a detailed book on why and, most importantly, how to teach through inquiry. 

In Comprehension & Collaboration, Harvey and Daniels offer us all the tools we need to set-up an inquiry-based classroom today : 40 one-page lessons to teach comprehension, collaboration and inquiry skills to students ; a bank of over 30 inquiries ready to use, ranging from quick and short to completely open-ended ; some strategies and simple rubrics for assessing inquiry projects ; as well as 10 principles to follow when shifting to inquiry-based learning. 

If you’re looking for something to help you get started, this is the book for you! And even if you’re still on the fence, this book will give you great ideas to start teaching curricular content through your student’s interests. As Harvey and Daniels say “the time for inquiry is NOW!”.  

*Stephanie Harvey is one of the creators of the Comprehension Toolkit. Therefore, the lessons in Comprehension & Collaboration closely align and connect to the lessons in the Toolkit.

Book #4 Teaching Strategies that Create Assessment- Literate Learners

There are some things that undergraduate courses in education tell you about, but don’t quite teach you enough about. For Kimberlee from Cats in the Classroom, backward planning and assessment were two of those things that she didn’t really understand until taking a graduate course. That’s why she suggests teachers, especially new teachers, pick up a copy of Teaching Strategies that Create Assessment- Literate Learners by Anita Stewart McCafferty and Jeffrey S. Beaudry. 

This book highlights the importance of backward planning and showing your students where you’re going with your lessons. McCafferty and Beaudry say that it helps for students to see and understand the steps and assessments along the way to the end goal of the unit. They encourage teachers to display and refer back to a learning progression map throughout their unit. 

McCafferty and Beaudry include examples and pictures from teachers and administrators using these methods in the state of Maine, where Kimberlee teaches. The examples are from all grades K-12, which really helps to see how we, as secondary teachers, can implement these important strategies in our own classrooms. If you’re ready to make some changes in how you organize your classroom and lessons, then give this book’s strategies a try!

We would love to know the books you read to reenergize your teaching. Leave a comment with your book recommendation below.