5 Education Books with Fresh Perspectives and Great Ideas

Professional growth is essential and can come in many forms. With options like Twitter and Google+, books are sometimes overlooked. Books can be great sources of information when seeking more in depth information on particular topics. These are some of the more informational books I have read about education and educational technology. I chose books with different focuses and objectives to avoid suggesting five books that are essentially the same thing.

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UnCommon Learning: Creating Schools That Work for Kids (Eric C. Sheninger)

I just finished UnCommon Learning by Eric Scheniger, and I found it very useful and well laid out.  Scheniger writes about the topics as an administrator who led the initiative of implementing many of the technologies and strategies in his own school. Each chapter focuses on a different initiative. The topics covered are:

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Creatively Teach Common Core Standards with Technology (Catlin Tucker) In her book, Creatively Teach Common Core Standards with Technology, Catlin Tucker goes a different route and focuses on providing concrete strategies for using technology to address Common Core in the classroom. Tucker focuses her chapters on Common Core anchor standards. She provides resorces and helpful strategies for teaching each anchor standard. I would have also suggested Tucker’s book, Blended Learning in Grades 4-12,  if I wasn’t avoiding repeats on this list. Tucker always has great ideas on her website, catlintucker.com, also.

Creating Innovators: (Tony Wagner)

Out of Our Minds (Ken Robinson) Ken Robinson focuses on creativity instead of innovation although his definition of creativity is not far removed from it. Innovation actually comes into the discussion as the ability to act on creative thoughts and ideas. Robinson argues for the importance of fostering creativity in schools. He asserts that all children have creativity, but that the common curriculum stifles creativity. Out of Our Minds, along with Robinsons’ Creative Schools and Finding your Element are engaging reads with lots of interesting ideas.

What Connected Educators do Differently (Todd Whitaker, Jimmy Casas, and Jeffrey Zoul)

 This book by Whitaker, Casas, and Zoul moves back along the spectrum toward more specific strategies for growth and success. This book provides concrete ways for educators to build and grow their personal learning networks (PLN’s).  The authors discuss various methods for PLN growth. Each chapter also ends with a Follow 5, Find 5, Take 5 section. They give 5 suggestions for people to follow, provide 5 online resources, and suggest 5 action steps to take to grow your PLN. This is a great book for anyone who is new to the benefits of using a PLN.