You're so fast, dear reader! I haven't even finished this page yet with the annotations I want to add, but here's what I've got so far.
And hey, before you go, would you mind telling me what you think about Never Finished? It, like us, is a work-in-progress — so what does it leave you wanting to know more about? Where do you wish it went into greater depth? What questions does it not tackle that you wish it did? Tell me here.
Anti-fragile: Things That Gain From Disorder, by Nassim Nicholas Taleb.
The Obstacle is the Way: The Timeless Art of Turning Trials into Triumph, by Ryan Holiday.
Little Book of Talent, by Daniel Coyle.
Outliers: The Story of Success, by Malcolm Gladwell.
In the Middle, by Nancie Atwell.
The Power of Habit, by Charles Duhigg.
A Non-Freaked Out Approach to Teaching the Common Core, by some weirdo from Michigan.
How to Read a Book, by Normal Adler and Charles Van Doren.
The Common Core Companion series, by Jim Burke.
Teach Like a Champion, by Doug Lemov.
The Organized Mind, by Daniel Levitin.
UnCommon Core, by Jeffrey Wilhelm, Deborah Appleman, and Michael Smith.
Clueless in Academe, by Gerald Graff. His observations and solutions have radically informed what I hope to help my students achieve each year. Jerry and his wife Cathy Birkenstein wrote They Say, I Say, a book we reference frequently here at Teaching the Core, after Clueless.
There Are No Shortcuts, by Rafe Esquith. I owe Rafe for my high expectations for students, and yet I don’t always agree with him. This is his earliest book; he’s also written Teach Like Your Hair’s on Fire and Real Talk for Real Teachers, but I like Shortcuts best.
Readicide, by Kelly Gallagher. Masterfully short, packed with power. Gallagher has
Results Now, by Mike Schmoker. Even though it came before Focus, Results Now is a more comprehensive book.
Well Spoken, by Erik Palmer. The dearth of quality speaking instruction is one of the greatest crimes in education today. Palmer’s book is the most helpful corrective. He’s written other books, but this remains my favorite.
English Teacher’s Companion (4th Ed.), by Jim Burke. The man is as humble as he is smart. This book almost fell into my inspectional read section, but it belongs here — I don’t know how this man puts the entirety of the English Teacher’s practice into a single book, but he does.
How Children Succeed, by Paul Tough. An engrossing look at the birth of the character strengths movement.
College, Careers, and the Common Core, by David Conley. Conley is the father of the term college and career readiness. I had a hard time choosing which of his books to put on this list, so I’ll also say that College Knowledge is sweet, but that I find C, C, and the CC, his most recent book, more developed and relevant to my school.
Good to Great, by Jim Collins. It’s a business book, but it constantly gets cited by edu-types, especially administrators. And for good reason — while there’s a lot of unhelpful “let’s think of school’s as businesses” rhetoric out there, Collins’ findings about great businesses shine a lot of light on some of the sillier things we do in schools. (Hint: the “greats” profiled in the book don’t become great through large, sweeping, hypey initiatives.)
Rigorous Reading, by Doug Fisher and Nancy Frey. I have no clue how these two do it — they write about 14 books per year and all of them seem solid (I have to say seem because I cannot for the life of me keep up with reading them all — seriously, I swear they outsource their entire lives to write like they do). This book is eminently practical.
Subliminal: How Your Unconscious Mind Rules Your Behavior, by Leonard Mlodinow.
Do Hard Things, by Alex and Brett Harris.
Character Strengths and Virtues: A Handbook and Classification, by Marty Seligman and Christopher Peterson.