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English Grammar in Use,
R Murphy, Cambridge University Press |
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Three years ago when I started teaching I was given this teacher friendly book. I read it front to cover and enjoyed all of it. Every August, I pull the book out and skim it again just using it as a reference. Harry Wong's book is practical, sometimes funny and inspiring from beginning to end. The First Days of School will both motivate and encourage you for the new school year ahead. This books tell you what a successful teacher looks like, how to have positive expectations about student success, some awesome classroom management techniques, how to design lessons to foster student mastery, and how important it is for the teacher to always be a student. Some of the many topics covered include; What you Should Understand Before You Sign That Contract, How to Increase Positive Student Behavior, How to Introduce Yourself to Your Class, How to Maintain an Effective Record Book, How to Get Students to Work Cooperatively, and How to Achieve Happiness and Success as a Teacher. These are just a few of the many things covered in the book. The neat thing about this book is that you can skip over topics as you wish and read the book like an automobile owner's manual. Just turn to the right section if something isn't working right in your classroom. No need to read the 338 page book unless you wish. I think the most important thing to learn from this book is that the first week of school sets the tone for the rest of the year. This book will help you set that tone in your classroom. You classroom will be a warm, caring, efficient, academically structured space with the help of this book.
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How Children Learn (Classics in Child Development)
By John Caldwell Holt |
The only thing that disappointed about this book was learning that the author is deceased, so I couldn't tell him how moved and inspired I was. I was the converted, already strongly leaning towards home schooling when the time comes, but this book gave me insights that have changed how I interact with my 10 month old daughter, to my own great joy. How refreshing to read the words of a man unafraid to admit his errors and his regrets. His compassion also moved me, sometimes to tears. This book is a validation for any one who needs one, of the choice to home school. It is an eye-opening inspiration for a parent seeking greater understanding of their toddler. This book, and the "companion volume", "How Children Fail", should be required reading for education legislators, and given out with diaper packets in maternity wards. If you have a first edition, get the latest one with Holt's further thoughts and self-critiquing updated commentary.
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Setting Limits in the Classroom: How to Move Beyond the Classroom Dance of Discipline
By Robert J. MacKenzie |
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I am a student teacher, but I have a background in teaching (i.e. I was a teacher's assistant, as well as a substitute teacher). This is a great resource for those a little shaky on what EXACTLY to do when a classroom problem pops up. This book pounds into your brain the importance of taking the least amount of steps to solve a discipline problem, while still giving the children guidance in their actions. This is a wonderful book, especially the chapter that covers the disciplinary concerns of the ADD/ADHD child in your classroom. I've already lent this book to a first-year teacher I know, and I doubt I'll get it back anytime soon!
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201 Icebreakers: Group Mixers, Warm-Ups, Energizers, and Playful Activities
By Edie West |
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There are few books on icebreakers/team builders that I've found to be useful with college students (I work in Student Affairs). This book, however, offered many activities that were useful not only for just 'breaking the ice' but also for applying them to the many educational workshops we do in this field. There was also a very helpful section called "Icebreakers for the Non-Icebreaker types" that was both interesting and practical. Because I work with such a diverse range of students, I struggle to find icebreakers that are not geared solely to the extroverted-types. This collection gives a number of activities that are beneficial to teambuilding while respecting the different learning/interaction styles we see in our students. Out of the 201 offered in the book, I have found at least 180 of them that I will use as integral parts of the next staff training. This book also offers activities for groups ranging from 8 participants (good for small staffs) to 400 participants (good for all-hall activities)!
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A wonderful book for a person whose new to facilitating teams. The writing is in language that's very easy to understand, and the concepts are presented clearly. The book takes the reader on a step-by-step progression of the processes and tools required to help meetings be productive and efficient. Kudos to the authors, who created a wonderful and effective tool.
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The Mentor's Guide: Facilitating Effective Learning Relationships
By Lois J. Zachary |
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I thought I knew what mentoring meant, but it wasn't until I read this new book by Lois Zachary that I realized that I didn't begin to fathom the depth of the learning journey as it relates to the mentoring process. This author spells it out every step of the way. For those in the business sector; for those in the business of volunteering; for just about anyone who cares about nurturing others, she covers all aspects of the field. There are strategies, exercises, examples -- anything you will need to get you in the right frame to be a mentor and to "facilitate effective learning relationships." I am very impressed.
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Reading, Writing and Learning in ESL: A Resource Book for K-12 Teachers (3rd Edition)
by Suzanne F. Peregoy, Owen F. Boyle |
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Peregoy and Boyle have written an outstanding resource book for elementary and secondary schoolteachers who work with English Language Learners (ELLs). This book focuses on the literacy development for ELL students which is so critical to their success in education and in life. The book includes relevant research information pertaining to second language acquisition, literacy development, and cultural issues. Theory is transformed into practice with solid guidance for teachers working with ELLs in process writing, literature study, and content area studies. Background information, scaffolding techniques, in-depth teaching strategies, and activity examples are seamlessly merged into a tremendously helpful resource guide which enables teachers to truly employ "best practices" in classrooms with ELLs. I first used this book while obtaining a Master's degree in education, and as a classroom teacher, have found it to be an invaluable resource. It is well worth the (relatively small) monetary and time investment for any teacher who cares about offering ELL students the best instruction possible.
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If John Holt had his way, today's primers would be replaced with the large-print edition of The New York Times, cursive handwriting would fade into disuse, and talking "cutesy-wootsy" to children would be considered a criminal act. This highly opinionated former teacher and original thinker spent the last half of his life challenging widely accepted classroom practices. The author of 10 books that concentrate on early child development and education, Holt is widely considered the father of the modern-day home schooling movement because he grew to believe that schools stifle the learning process. In this, his final book--compiled by colleagues from drafts, letters, and magazine essays written by Holt before he died in 1985--he strings together his own observations and philosophies to show how young children can be encouraged to learn everything from reading and math to music and science.
Holt's thoughts carry the power of common sense. One of his pet peeves: the silly, nonsensical rules of phonics drilled into schoolchildren today. One of those adages, found on the walls of many an elementary school classroom, goes, "When two vowels go out walking, the first one does the talking." Holt points out that two pairs of vowels in the sentence violate the rule. This is not only confusing to some children, but simply "dumb," he complains. He dismisses picture books and primers, with their small, simple vocabularies. In their place, Holt urges parents to expose children to the Yellow Pages, warranties, letters, ticket stubs, and newspapers--the print trappings that adults rely upon for everyday life. Holt's call for context amid learning is delivered in a sensible, delightful writing style. He even includes several graphics and number games that can easily be used at home. Anyone who comes in contact with a small child would benefit from--and enjoy--reading these last words from a man who clearly adored and remained mesmerized by children and their inquisitive minds. --Jodi Mailander Farrell
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Pedagogy of the Oppressed
by Paulo Freire, Myra Bergman Ramos (Translator), Donaldo P. Macedo (Introduction) |
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The most widely known educator in the world died on May 2, 1997. Paulo Freire leaves a legacy of dogged struggle for democracy, equality, and the social consciousness required to envision and retain a more just world. In his most widely read book, Pedagogy of the Oppressed, Freire detailed the role of education as a political force---for either liberation or domination. He argued that the process of liberatory education, reflecting the specific intersections of an educator, a student, and a community, must be a process of unveiling, questioning the central issues of life: work, culture and the construction of knowledge. He opposed his pedagogy to "banking " practices, rote memorization of the teacher's facts, which he insisted only reproduce injustice by aculturing the student to passivity. A critical education, in contrast, assists the students in methods to unravel her world--and the words which hide or expose its realities, While Freire was never able to resolve the shipwreck contradiction of socialism, critical consciousness versus national economic development, his insistence on the need for new styles of education and leadership, coupled with his own lifetime of activism, leave an indomitable testimony of hope. Most educators want to change the world. Freire did.
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I am a student teacher in Hong Kong and I have used this books several times. It is easy to modify the content to suit students from different culture! The activities can really arouse the interest of students too! It is a good book for speaking activities~!
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I am teaching English in China. Recently, I borrowed this book from a friend and it has been a lifesaver! Having to come up with topics was a chore but now...
This book has each lesson split up into four parts. First, students READ through the situation and then CONSIDER outcomes. Next they DISCUSS the questions. And if that hasn't filled up enough time, there is an EXTEND section that gives you questions to guide and continue the discussion.
Situations covered include: what would you take if you had to live on an uninhabited island, who gets the heart transplant, what advice do you give to people and so on.
If you are going to be teaching free talk anytime so, get this book. It's, well, fabulous.
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The ESL Teacher's Book of Lists
by Jacqueline E. Kress |
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If you need to whip up a lesson or you have a great activity and need some specialized vocabulary...this is it! This book is also very helpful when you can't think of examples "off the top of you head," but you know the "grammar-point" you want to make. For instance, it lists exceptions to rules, idioms, prepositions, common mistakes made by specific groups of language learners, etc... I've used it at least three times a week for four years!
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