Professional books reviewed by educators
Using personal anecdotes, educational research, and practical strategies, Kelly Gallagher offers both a call to action and a guide for educators invested in students’ literacy development as he explores the connection between background knowledge and reading comprehension.
Teaching Storytelling in Classrooms and Communities calls on educators to trust in the power of student narratives and to create learning environments where stories become a launching pad for critical reflection, social change, and community-building, writes Melinda Stewart.
Mona Iehl provides a practical framework to ignite math learning for elementary students, says fifth grade teacher Kathie Palmieri. Iehl’s book offers a structured, daily routine that makes word problems less scary and builds confidence, connections, and wonder in each session.
The AI Assist by Nathan Lang-Raad offers a solid starting point for using artificial intelligence in the classroom, writes teacher Ralph Covino. Raad emphasizes the need to keep the human teacher at the center of instruction and includes a framework and useful guiding questions.
In a new edition of Well Spoken, Erik Palmer stresses the subtle shift from public speaking to “all speaking” – introducing activities to practice skills needed not just in speeches but in digital environments and “any time a speaker gives thought to what they are going to say.”
The authors of Educating for Justice provide a comprehensive framework for schools looking to move beyond superficial diversity initiatives and create meaningful, school-wide change that empowers students to critically engage with social injustices, writes Melinda Stewart.
In The Writing Teacher’s Guide to Pedagogical Documentation Angela Stockman zeroes in on documenting the learning process, which consists of collecting multimodal, qualitative evidence while students work, to assess learning and adjust instruction, writes Andrew Krasnavage.
Conflict in schools isn’t abstract – it’s lived daily. Offering tools, examples, and mindset shifts, veteran school leader Jen Schwanke helps principals understand and manage conflict and lead beyond it with clarity, empathy, and a steady hand, writes principal Dennis Schug.
Deeper Competency-Based Learning provides educational leaders, teachers and policy makers both the vision and the tools necessary to move from traditional grading and assessment toward a competency model that accurately reflects student mastery, writes coach Kathee Lamberies.
Zaretta Hammond examines the cultivation of “cognitive justice” to ensure that every student, especially those from historically marginalized groups, experiences the full rigor, challenge and coaching necessary to develop as an independent, powerful learner, says Melinda Stewart.
