EduBook Recommendations

This blog is a compilation of my favourite EduBooks with a brief summary of why I love them so much. I'll be continually updating and will always welcome any further recommendations!

During 2019 after I settled into island life in Singapore I found my love of reading renewed. I'm not sure whether it was the continual summer weather or the fact that Singapore life is lot slower than London life but books have now become my favourite relaxation tool!. I also have been lucky enough to work with colleagues who love to recommend amazing EduBooks to me (@KarenComptonEdu) and some of them have massively changed my practice, impacted the learners I work with, and made me a whole lot happier! Read below for more details...

Photo by Thought Catalog on Unsplash

Summer holidays: June - August 2020

Limitless Mind: Learn, lead and live without barriers by Jo Boaler (@JoBoaler)

I started this one back in 2019 too and the introduction blew me away. If you really want to delve deeper into the ideas of growth versus fixed mindset and it's huge impact within Mathematical education then this book is the one! I absolutely love it and I love the research Boaler uses to back up her Limitless Mind thinking!

Keep an eye on my most recent blog series Anyone Can Smash Maths as I will be talking a lot about Boaler's findings, strategies and just general awesomeness. I also highly recommend her Mathematical Mindsets course via Stanford University online it covers a lot of neuroscience research around brain growth, mindset and activities within the Maths classroom that build pupils belief in themselves and their skills for conquering Mathematics!

I Thought It Was Just Me: Women Reclaiming Power and Courage in a Culture of Shame by Brené Brown. (@BreneBrown)

So I have been fully on a Brené Brown brown binge this summer and it has been so good. This is her first book based on her shame research conducted initially through just interviewing women. It explores shame as a physco-socio-cultural emotion and the strategies that we can use to become more shame resilient. From recognising your physical feelings when you're in shame to understanding the proliferation of shame within society today, especially shame that is targeted at women. This book is epic!

I also absolutely loved using and looking through the reading guide that is availabe on B's website (click here).

Creative Schools: The Grassroots Revolution That's Transforming Education by Ken Robinson (@SirKenRobinson)

I would describe this one as the education version of Sapiens. Sir Ken talks you through how the mass education system began in the UK and US and relates it to an industrial system. He then discusses the impact of standardised testing and international benchmarkers like PISA on creativity in schools.

Overall the main thing I loved about this book was the historical context that was given and the proliferating message of:

All pupils have amazing strengths and weakness. All pupils can find successes through their own passions, curiosities and skills. This should be nurtured in every school so that all pupils know they matter and can succeed in whatever they desire!

Daring Greatly by Brené Brown. (@BreneBrown)

Having finished The Gifts of Imperfection I rushed straight onto this one! Wow - what an amazing amazing read. Brené goes in even deeper into how we can become more shame resilient by Daring Greatly. Every page taught me something new about myself, society and the cultures that we currently live in. A great book that increases your critical awareness around shame and completely normalises it! I am also a huge fan of all the downloadable bits that are available on Brené's website (check them out here).

The Gifts of Imperfection by Brené Brown. (@BreneBrown)

I started this one back in the Christmas holidays of 2019 and I just couldn't get in to it! It's 100% a book that requires you to be in an open, reflective and self-aware state of mind - so it was a perfect summer holiday read. I love how Brené discusses how embracing your imperfections and becoming more aware of how we try to run and hide from them is brilliant. All the evidence, theories and strategies provided in this book come from Brené's qualitative research into shame and vulnerability. Love this one and will definitely be reading it again! A great read for any educator (or human) who suffers at the hands of perfectionism.

Working from home: April - June 2020

Teaching online due to COVID-19 for three months meant some fun apartment reoganisation. I sorted by books into a "to read" floor piles and I've realised I 100% need to buy a bookshelf.

Empower by John Spencer (@spencerideas) and A.J. Juliani (@ajjuliani)

A fantastically quick yet inspiring read with lots of ideas and strategies for empowering our learners in our schools! I love the LAUNCH acronym for design thinking and I am definitely going to have to add their book of this name to my "to read" list.

My favourite bit of learning from this book so far is 100% the thinking of intrinsic assessment, an assessment that pupils do themselves as an integral part of their learning process. Consider a pupil when they're playing basketball with their friends, they are continuously assessing whether a pass, a shot or a dribble worked through intrinsic assessment. Imagine creating assessment opportunities like that in your own room.

I am also in the process of planning an Internal Assessment (IA - the coursework pupils complete as part of their IBDP Maths course) style project for pupils and am hoping to trial using the LAUNCH process to get pupils creating and innovating! Thank you John and A.J. for an awesome read!!

Why don't students like school? by Daniel T. Willingham

Still working my way through this one but already it is an enlightening read all about the brain and the neuroscience evidence that can help us understand how people learn.

I am always so shocked that neuroscience is not yet a vital PD topic for all educators to take. It has hugely helped me understand my awesome pupil's brains and my own even more. It has been a great follow up to me after completing STEM Learnings Future Learn course title "The Science of Learning" (find the course here).

March 2020

It's not OK to feel blue (and other lies) by Scarlett Curtis (@scarcurtis)

An amazing compilation of essays from a huge range of celebrities, journalists, actors, etc all about their own experiences and strategies for mental health.

Such a brilliant read that really helps you broaden your understanding of mental health and how it has such a diverse effect on so many different people.

It also hugely highlights the disgusting impact that racism, homophobia, sexism, prejudice, and all forms of bullying have on individuals mental health.

I would highly recommend this to anyone wanting to broaden their understanding of mental health and increase their empathy! It's also a great read if you are working in any pastoral role within a school!

Notes on a Nervous Planet by Matt Haig (@matthaig1)

Not necessarily classified as an #EduBook, however, a phenomenal read about the modern world and how it's current nature can be linked to mental health.

I absolutely loved how Haig discusses how humans need for progress, constant technological developments, and raging consumerism could all be linked to mental health. It's an incredibly poignant read right now during the uncertainty surrounding the coronavirus, the sensationalisation by the media, and the negative whirlwinds found on social media!

I would 100% recommend this to all educators who want to gain a true insight into the world through an anxious lense whilst gaining some awesome positive advice on how to thrive with anxiety!

Find the book here.

Dare: The New Way to End Anxiety and Stop Panic Attacks by Barry McDonagh (@dare_response)

I started reading this one back in October after reading a recommendation for it on George Couros' Blog (find it here).

After experiencing my first deep dark trifle with mental health this book absolutely helped. It provides an insanely effective response to anxious thoughts and feelings through DARE (Diffuse, Accept, Run towards, Engage).

I just finished it this month and know I will be using it whenever I experience that slip-slide feeling of my worries and anxieties catching up with me again.

Not only does the DARE response work in helping you clean out that backlog of worries or anxieties that can keep you in a sensitised anxious state it is absolutely amazing for dealing with the uncertainty we are all experiencing right now!

Find the book here. There is also an accompanying app that talks you through the DARE response and other awesome sessions, find it here.

Again not a typical EduBook but it is almost 100% certain that all educators are leaders of learning for pupils who have diverse mental health needs so having an in-depth understanding and awareness of what it is like and how to apply a positive coping strategy is definitely helpful!

Feb 2020

WanderlustEdu by Micah Shippee (@micahshippee)

Started this one during the busy month of February and straight away loved how he explores the impact and struggles of changing technology in the classroom over the last 100 years!

With a discussion on the pencil vs. the slate and the possible questions educators had at the time you start to see the technology of the classroom today through a different lens. Still need to finish this one as got distracted by Dare (see above). Will update ASAP.

Jan 2020

Innovate Inside the Box - by George Couros (@gcouros) with Katie Novak (@KatieNovakUDL)

An absolutely epic book that clearly breaks down how to stay innovative, teaching through innovation and pupil innovation within the complex and sometimes constricting systems of education.

An absolute must-read for anyone who wants to make learning go viral! Check out my book study that breaks down my learning from reading this book and what I've created from that learning here

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Dec 2019

Relentless by Hamish Brewer (@brewerhm)

A fantastically reenergising book about Hamish's story in education from how he became a teacher to how he has turned around the culture of a school in the US. Hamish's constant drive to always give everything 100 really fires you up in the opening chapters. Here's my little poster of Relentless quotes that I love to read in the morning before school starts!

Oct 2019

The Writing is on the Classroom Wall - by Steve Wyborney (@SteveWyborney)

A great book to remind you about why being a classroom teacher is amazing! I made this poster with all my key learning/connections and it lives on my classroom notice board to remind me to stay connected to why being in the classroom is amazing!!