Professional Reading

In my ASCD Voxer PLN, someone was asking about some good ASCD reads. We found ourselves recommending books so I thought, why not write a little about reading.

My routine - I tend to read a professional book simultaneously with a non-preofessional read to balance my mind between work and imaginary. Since the fall I've read a few professional reads, and unfortunately my pile of books never gets smaller, it keeps growing and growing. Sometimes I choose the book that seems the most relevant for the moment in my role, and others I chose because of interest.

1. Eric Jensen's Engaging Students With Poverty in Mind 

What I learned from the book: The discussion of the "seven engagement factors" was helpful as were the practical actions and solutions to engage students living in poverty. While the structures and suggestions are geared for students living in poverty, I'd use many of the actions and solutions with any students.

2. Richard Dufour & Michael Fullan's Cultures Built to Last: Sytemic PLCs at Work 

What I learned from the book: Zeroed in on the difference between accountability and building capacity, and the reasons why systemic change is hard but necessary.

3. Pete Hall & Alisha Simeral's Building Teachers' Capacity for Success: A Collaborative Approach for Coaches and School Leaders

What I learned from the book: Learned about a continuum for teacher practice and a practical approach for offering feedback to teachers. A valuable read for building a safe and positive culture of professionals who can trust an learn from each other.

4. Marilyn Chu's Developing Mentoring and Coaching Relationships in Early Care and Education 

What I learned from the book: Suggestions around specific mentoring and coaching strategies for early childhood educators. Great reflection questions and informative coaching/professional development plans.

5. Derald Wing Sue's Microagressions in Everyday Life (currently reading)

What I'm learning from this book: Wow, what am I not learning. A very informative read about society, how we judge people, and how the unintentional judgmental looks or comments we make can have a profound physical and psychological effects on groups of people.

What are you reading?

Why Write?

Why not?

But as a leader in education, who has the time to write? Well, in order to grow professionally sometimes you have to carve out that time at first until it becomes part of your routine.

Writing is an integral part of teaching and learning. To me, writing is one of the best ways to share not only expertise, but what you have been learning, what would you have read, what's happening in your classrooms or districts. I value the blogs that so many educators write to reach beyond their immediate community and get their ideas out to other educators.

I've met a lot of educators in recent months who are writing to be published, or have already published works. To say I'm envious is an understatement. But the only person who can make me write more is me. For me, it's about getting my ideas sorted out and sticking with it. I often have so many ideas to write about, I start many pieces and never finish any. The good thing about that is, I can always go back because the ideas really never become obsolete, and sometimes sitting on a piece for a time enables me to get a clearer picture of what I actually want to say.

In all honesty, writing is a great outlet to reflect and decompress from our busy days in classrooms, with teachers or principals. It's about becoming more and more reflective as your career progresses, and that says a lot about someone.

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