The following books are books I have either read or am currently reading that I think are books that educators may like to read. Some are directly related to education, some are only indirectly related.
Blink,
The Tipping Point,
Outliers
These three books by Malcolm Gladwell are all interesting and fun reads, and all have educational portions. In Blink, he talks about the power of quick impressions. One educational point referenced a study where college students watched thirty seconds of soundless video of a professor teaching a class, and then recording their impressions. The results were almost exactly the same as the end of term reports written by the students in the class. The Tipping Point is about things slowly happening up to a point, and then unstoppable consequences, good or bad. I actually heard him speak about Outliers as the Keynote speaker at the NCTM national conference in Salt Lake City. Outliers is about people who are exceptional in their field, and how, along with a certain amount of luck and circumstance, made it primarily through “stick to it ness” or, in other words, just doing it and getting better for a long time. One educational portion that I remember because it was frightening was in regard to those math tests given to students around the world. In order to gather good statistical data about the students tested, they are given a questionnaire that includes hundreds of questions. Some students choose not to complete the entire survey. Mr. Gladwell maintains that there is an almost perfect correlation between how much of the survey they completed and their scores in math. In other words, it can be determined how well a country does in math without actually giving the students a single math question!
The Art and Science of Teaching: a comprehensive framework for effective instruction
This book is by Robert Marzano, and is a very hands on book about very specific instruction strategies. Robert Marzano is one of the most recognized experts in the field of education, and has written many books.
Teach Like A Champion
I first read about this book from an article about teaching, and how little documented evidence there is to support very specific teaching techniques. The author of the book, Doug Lemoy, started observing things that “master teachers” do that make a difference in classrooms. He found and writes about 49 techniques. One, for example, is to be stationary while giving instructions. It makes the event of receiving instruction different than other verbal information, in turn making it more “important” (emphasis mine). As an added bonus, the book comes with a DVD so you can see these techniques in action.
If you have read any of these books, do you agree? Do you have any books for teachers to recommend?
