Welcome back to Ready, Set, Science! We are back with another episode and this week we are talking about books! Here in the US most (if not all) teachers are on summer break. If you are like me, summer break is a time to rest and recharge but also to catch up on some reading. I have always loved reading and this summer I am focusing on reading some of the teacher themed books that have been on my “to read” list for a while. I hope this list gives you some suggestions and I would love for you to head over to Instagram and let me know what books are on your list for the summer. Without further ado, let’s jump into the episode!
Book 1: Hacking Teacher Burnout Buy It Here
The author of this book, Amber Harper, is an educator and podcaster that focuses on helping teachers move out for teacher burnout NOT out of the classroom. Her book is amazing and it has really helped me focus on what I can do to improve my life and my teaching.
Amber breaks the process of moving from “burned out” teacher to “burned in” teacher into 8 steps, that actually spell out “BURNED IN”.
B - Begin where you are
U - Understand your teacher brand
R - Reflect on your challenges
N - Nurture your habits and strengths
E - Extend your reach and possibilities
D - Determine your long term goals
I - Initiate lasting change
N - Never settle
Amber walks you through step by step how to accomplish each of the goals in order to be a burned in teacher. In addition to the book and podcast, she also has a course on her website and a some products in her TpT store to help.
Reaction - This book is amazing. I could not put it down and I learned a lot about myself as a person and a teacher. I plan on re-reading it again before the start of the school year in order to stay positively focused going into the new school year.
Amber is currently having a summer book study on her podcast “The Burned In Teacher”, which I will link in the show notes for you.
Book 2: Never Work Hard Than Your Students Buy It Here
This book is an oldie but a goodie. I read it back in 2010 for a course I was taking and I absolutely loved it. I figured that 13 years later, I need a refresher. So much has changed in teaching and in life that I find myself working harder than ever. The principles in this book that helped me as a newer teacher, I think will be a big help to me even as a veteran teacher.
This book does focus on what the title promises, that you should not work harder than your students but that is only one part of the 7 principles that the author, Robyn Jackson, outlines in this book. The 7 principles are
Start where your students are.
Know where your students are going.
Expect to get your students there.
Support your students along the way.
Use feedback to help you and your students get better.
Focus on quality rather than quantity.
Never work harder than your students.
Another great part of this book is the direct real classroom application. Robyn offers stories and “try this” moments that give teachers practical application, not just theory. If you are like me this type of knowledge is PRICELESS.
I love the quiz at the beginning that allows you to see where you fall in each principal and overall. This was very eye opening for me both as a young teacher and when taking it a second time.
Reaction - This book is a must read for all teachers, new and veteran, who care about student’s learning and growing through hard work, responsibility and positive classroom community.
Book 3: Ambitious Science Teaching Buy It Here
Ambitious Science Teaching is an amazing book that I read before in the fall of 2022. It really helped me reevaluate my teaching practices and the expectations that we have for students in our classrooms. It is also a great book because they walk you through a variety of different planning tools.
AST is broken down into four sections which the authors call core practice sets. https://ambitiousscienceteaching.org/. I will give you a quick overview but a lot more detail can be found on the website linked on the show notes. I highly encourage you to visit the website and to keep an ear out for upcoming podcast episodes where I will go into more details about their core practices.
Core Practice Set 1: Planning for Engagement with Big Science Ideas
This part of the book introduces scientific phenomena and the process of planning your science teaching around phenomena, not topics or things. The authors give detailed instructions on how to plan along with planning tools and examples.
Core Practice Set 2: Eliciting Students’ Ideas
This part explains the start of a unit where teachers are attempting to access student thoughts on different science topics. This is where we introduce the phenomena to students and get their specific thoughts about it.
From the website: “It is designed to 1) reveal the range of resources that students use to reason about a set of science ideas (working theories, everyday experiences, language), 2) activate their prior knowledge about the topic, and 3) help you to adapt upcoming instruction, based on how students reason about the anchoring event. Please note that this set of practices is about more than “hooking” students or temporarily capturing their interest.”
Core Practice Set 3: Supporting Ongoing Changes in Students’ Thinking
In this part of the lesson or unit, we are encouraging students to think through their original thoughts after completing a series of activities, simulations, labs etc… in order to change their ideas about the science topic. It is often referred to a “sense-making”, where students are “making sense” of the science.
Core Practice Set 4: Drawing Together Evidence-based Explanations
This is the final set of processes and it helps students make conclusions about phenomena in order to show their understanding about specific topics. The driving force behind this set of practices in engaging students in using evidence to support their understanding of the science topic.
Reaction - This book is great, especially if you are reading it along with your department. Ideally, I think every science department should read this book together and use the practices as a department.
In the next few episodes of the podcast, I will be talking about this book in detail through a mini book study. So if you would like to join in on the book study, grab a copy of this book and start reading. The first part will be out next week!
Honorable Mentions:
How We Teach Science: What’s Changed and Why it Matters Buy It Here
This is still on my “to read” list but I am excited to get to it!
Teach Like a Champion Buy It Here (newest edition)
This one sounds cheesy but I have heard wonderful reviews
The Growth Mindset Coach Buy It Here
I will be reading this one to implement some of the practices with my students in the fall.
Fair Isn’t Always Equal Buy It Here
I have had this book since 2017 and forgot all about it. I just found it as I was packing my classroom to move to a new room and added it to my summer reading pile!
Well that is it for this episode! I hope you will check out one or all of these books. Don’t forget to reach out over on Instagram and let know which book you are reading or have read. And please feel free to share other books you are reading this summer.
Thanks for listening!
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