(Part 2) Best education theory books according to redditors

Read 'The Smartest Kids in the World', which provides some stories and data about the countries whose kids earn the highest marks as a group -- Korea & Finland.

The stories about Korea are frankly horrifying -- MOST families pay for after-school tutoring for up to eight hours. Your entire life, your family name, dependent on your high school final test, which determines your education, which determines your career potential.

Finland is completely different, but has a similar result -- very well educated young people.

You might as well ask 'Which religion is the one true religion'.

Some people strongly believe that the only way to end sexism is to stop treating people differently based on their sex, to the degree that is permitted by our physical/biological differences. That means you'd just have opportunities and people would apply. Male, female, trans, other, etc....would be irrelevant. You should treat everyone equally and choose candidates based on their merits.

Other people strongly believe that the only way to end sexism is to ensure 'equality'. That usually means something like, 'If a less dominate group is under-represented in a beneficial field, it's sexist for us to not work at achieving equal representation'.

I think there are strong arguments to be made on both sides. When I was in college, I was firmly in the first camp. "Just treat everyone the same" but there is a reasonable amount of evidence that suggests everyone isn't the same (for a lot of different reasons that people will largely debate).

Without getting into it too deeply, it seems that most people (even those who say they'd treat everyone equally) don't. It's not an intentional thing, but it seems to be a real thing.

In one example, they gave scientists a bunch of job applications to review, containing equally qualified male and female students. The female students were evaluated less favorably than the male students. But these were fictional students with identical qualifications.

>...which Yale researchers found to be prevalent when scientists were asked to review job applications for identically qualified male and female students

There are also students that seem to show that, despite people generally being polite and friendly, we still treat women worse than we do men.

> Indeed, several studies have shown that when women do speak, they’re more likely to be interrupted, they’re likely to speak for shorter periods of time than their male classmates, and it’s less likely that instructors will listen to what they have to say

Now you might say, 'Hey - it's not my fault women speak for shorter periods of time than men!' but if I were interrupted often and felt like the Prof wasn't really listening, I'd be a lot less verbose too.

I actually tried to get one of my past employers to anonymous resumes before sending them to the devs to evaluate. It was a small company and we didn't have like a dedicated HR team. So, HR did a very initial, just friendly level phone chat, and if they seemed alright, our dev team would look at the resume.

I wanted to remove the name and anything that would state or imply gender. Again, I had good intentions, but if we know that people evaluate men and women differently, let's just remove that from the equation. The problem was that too many other people objected on the grounds that, basically, we wanted to promote diversity and that if we didn't know a candidate was a woman, we'd pass on them....but if we knew it was.....we might bring them in for an interview.

So yeah, I got nothing. Except, no matter what you do, someone will think you are sexist.

There have been a lot of studies that find that school teachers give more attention to boys: they call on boys more frequently, they wait longer for boys to articulate their thoughts, they use more eye contact with boys, they reward boys more often for speaking out while punishing girls for the same behavior. Here's a book about it. The authors, Sadker and Sadker, wrote another article in 2004 about the same stuff, but I can't find a copy of it online.

There was a study that came out of Israel a couple of years ago where they found that teachers gave girls lower grades on a math test when they knew the kids were girls.

MtF trans people benefit from these sorts of teachers' biases as long as MtF trans people are in the closet. What I mean is: until a trans person comes out as trans--at 15, at 26, at 50--everyone around them will treat them as their birth sex, and so even if a MtF trans person doesn't feel like a boy inside while they're in school, the teachers around them will still treat them like boys, not like girls.

I second the motion to wait a year and get to know the kids and program. Also, it's good to get to know the political climate a bit and to build some networks of support with people who will be willing to put in a good word for you. Build a rapport with the kids who will tell their friends about you.

Meanwhile, use your year, which might be fairly easy, to do the following:

Here are the ELA state standards for OK. Get to know them like the back of your hand. Know which years are generally the same, and which years take a jump forward in expectations.

Read some books about how to teach in an English classroom. Write Like This and Deeper Reading from Kelly Gallagher will give you concrete strategies you can use for any grade. Some of them you could even do with mixed groups of mixed ages. Jim Burke's English Companion is also good.

While you have time and a fairly mild workload, plan, plan, plan. Put things on paper. Look into how LMS's work (my personal fave is Schoology, and I've tried at least a dozen different ones over the years) and what they can do for a classroom where kids have computer access.

Don't get discouraged if, after all this, they say no. What you have then is everything you need to walk into any regular classroom 6-12 if you decide to look for a new job. Good luck!

Taught Fifth for one year, first year as a teacher in my own right. It was an amazing experience and I learned a TON. Brace yourself, lots of text incoming! Please feel free to PM me if you want to talk more.

Get to know your students, particularly what they're interested in. It sounds like a no-brainer, but you'd be surprised what lessons you can generate if you use their interests as a spring-board. It shows them you care about them, too, which will go a long way toward keeping them invested.

Not sure if you like Minecraft, but don't underestimate it as a teaching tool! My fifth graders used it when we talked about Colonial America--built their own village with each of them doing different colonial jobs they'd researched. Minecraft could also lend itself well to math, though I didn't have a chance to utilize it that way.

Google Classroom is also an amazing tool to use with them, particularly if you're going to have them do any collaborative writing. Speaking of collaboration, don't be afraid to connect with the teachers on your team. See if you can tie what they're reading in someone else's class to what they're learning in social studies. Check if the science units have connections to Math. I was a one-woman show and the only teacher for my grade--I know for a fact that if I had other teachers on a team with me, the year would've been MUCH smoother.

Start strict, loosen up later. (I didn't and had to play catch-up with classroom management which wound up costing me lots of instructional time.) "Setting Limits in the Classroom" (amazon link here: https://www.amazon.com/Setting-Limits-Classroom-Revised-Discipline/dp/0761516751) was a life-saver and really helped me to shape up my classroom management. I'd HIGHLY recommend buying and reading it.

I know this is a lot of text...I'm happy to talk more if you want, just PM me!

It's not uncommon in Title I schools. It's also not uncommon in Title I schools to be given little guidance or resources to do your job.

Here a couple of things that are (IMO) crucial to keep in mind:
(1) You need age appropriate literature that is also at your kids' reading level. Do not insult them with "See Spot Run." NewsELA allows you to adjust the same article to different reading levels. It's a brilliant resource you should use. https://newsela.com Same for The Simthsonian's Tween Tribune. https://www.tweentribune.com

(2) I highly, highly, HIGHLY recommend Discovering Voice for middle school. https://www.amazon.com/Discovering-Voice-Lessons-Middle-School/dp/0929895894/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1502141983&sr=8-1&keywords=voice+lessons+middle+school Spend the $20 something. It comes with permission to make copies for your classroom so you only need the 1 book. It's a bunch of mini-lessons that work brilliantly at helping students read and write better with voice.

(3) Kelly Gallagher.
(a) Article of the Week http://www.kellygallagher.org/article-of-the-week/
(b) Try this book https://www.amazon.com/Reading-Reasons-Motivational-Mini-Lessons-Middle/dp/1571103562/ref=sr_1_6?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1502142077&sr=1-6
(c) And this one https://www.amazon.com/Deeper-Reading-Comprehending-Challenging-Texts/dp/1571103848/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1502142077&sr=1-3

(4) The New York Times Learning Network https://www.nytimes.com/section/learning

That should give you a more than decent start.

I recommend the book:

Setting Limits in the Classroom, Revised: How to Move Beyond the Dance of Discipline in Today's Classrooms https://www.amazon.com/dp/0761516751/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_BE6MybT9YSYG1

Long story short: set CLEAR simple expectations (no mode than 4-5 rules that could apply to many situations) and be incredibly, INCREDIBLY consistent about consequences with ALL students.

I'm convinced the Finnish know what they're doing having read Smartest Kids in the World

I can't even imagine how hard writing a blog is, so I absolutely commend you for trying it out!

However, I think mistercow had some very valid points to go along with his cool username. I had a lot of the same thoughts, and almost stopped reading on several occasions even though the subject matter is of immense interest to me (I'm a pediatric neuropsychologist). I don't think mistercow was offended by your blog entry, but I think he was justifiably confused and maybe even frustrated by some of the vagueness and conflation of related concepts in your post (and 'prefrontal visual cortex' doesn't make it any better... I have no idea what you might mean by that? Maybe 'primary visual cortex'? But that doesn't make sense either...).

If you want suggestions, I read a lot of sciency blogs as a diversion from all the usual textbooks and journal articles I read, so I'm happy to give some friendly advice.

The blogs that I find most successful focus small - they only try to tackle one thing at a time, for example. If you want to talk about using visualization to help improve your memory, great, awesome, do it - but only do that. I don't think you need to also go into your views on caffeine, or hydration, or chess, or mentally-effortful series practice, or the use of imagination to solve problems, or your lizard brain, or visual pattern recognition (which is done by entirely different brain systems than the ones involved in active problem solving, BTW - that's what mistercow had a problem with... you can't just "make" a logical problem that requires cortical effort into a subcortical visual recognition problem even if you wanted to, though you can use visualization strategies to help you solve problems, which sounds similar but is really entirely different), or any of the other things you touch on in about one sentence each. You could save all of these ideas for other posts, for example. This gives you more to write about in subsequent posts, keeps your focus for each post laser sharp, and directs your readers' attention exactly where you want it.

Once you've figured out what you want to talk about, get a hook. A lot of popsci bloggers use a current research study, a classic research finding, or an everyday example as the introduction to a topic. So, if you want to talk about visualization in the pegs of loci sense (which I think is where you're headed?), you might introduce readers to the general topic by having them first try to remember something using a verbal cue (e.g., quick - what brand of spaghetti do you usually buy?), and then try to remember it using a visual cue (much easier: what color is the box? where in the grocery store is it located?). Or, briefly describe a classic study on how effective visualization is as a memory strategy. Alternatively, talk about someone who is really good at memorization using visualization strategies, like those people who can memorize hundreds of playing cards at once, or someone like Daniel Tammet.

Then, give your readers what they've come for - explain science in a way that's directly applicable to their everyday lives. That's a lot easier said than done... you've got to get the science right, the explanation right, and the implications of the science correct, all without being too simplistic or going beyond what the science can support -- a delicate balance to be sure!

As an example of why this is so tricky, and I promise I'm not trying to poke holes in your specific post here, but I had a lot of trouble with your assertion that "At some point, people stop using their imagination to solve problems" -- I am literally not even sure what specific scientific findings you might be thinking about.

Certainly people don't "stop" using visualization or imagination or creativity or any such thing. I think you might be thinking about the sort of 'common sense' idea that as kids grow up, they 'lose' their creativity and imagination? However, science doesn't really support this. In fact, somewhat counterintutively, this common 'experience' that adults report results from the fact that we get better at thinking linearly and using useful cognitive heuristics as we age, but this massive increase in problem-solving ability comes at the possible expense of the ability to think in illogical and/or inefficient (and therefore potentially creative) ways. This leads to some strange research findings (that in fact might make a good blog post!), such as that kids are better than adults at not falling into some easy cognitive traps (e.g., together, a ball and a bat cost $1.10 - the bat costs $1 more than ball - how much do each cost?). Ironically, though, you then go on to recommend some 'repetitive' pattern-recognition-y mental exercises, which train the very skills adults have that kids have less of! So, here's an area where I think you might want to tighten up what you're thinking about, and/or your explanation, and/or your understanding of the research base in the area.

In general, while you seem to have great intentions, I think a general cognitive psych book might provide you with some helpful background... a technical but yet understandable one on how people learn to think is Why Don't Students Like School?.

You don't. When we lie to students and tell them that such and such mathematics relates to their lives, when they know better and we know better, you lose credibility and they lose interest.

Instead, you should be upfront with them. Admit to them that unless they get a job that uses maths, they will never sit down and derive two systems of equations in two variables and solve them. Instead, the act of learning the maths--of thinking about them, struggling with them, and understanding them--will arm them with cognitive tools which translate to all thinking processes in all areas, which is unmatched in studying any other area.

You tell them that you study maths because it makes you a smarter person, physically, through shaping the way neuron connections are eroded into their brains. Convince them that the time they put into studying the abstractions and structures of problems in mathematics will erect a permanent filter in their mind which they will push every thought through for the rest of their lifetime.

And then you prove it to them. You take an idea that you know is just past their understanding--through formative assessment--and you demonstrate to them that they understand it. This part takes work because it is necessarily one-on-one.

Maybe you have a student that doesn't understand a concept. You give him a problem that has that concept and he hits "the wall." This is where you get excited, because you're about to blow their mind. Don't give him the answer or show them the steps, teach him to understand the question. Teach him how to think about the problem, how to reach into what he knows already and put the ideas together to understand this concept. Lead him there, don't take him there.

When this happens you'll get some sort of "eureka" moment from him, and you will have begun a process of successes that you can build off of that will invariably convince the student that he can do it. He'll begin to see that math isn't some magical manipulation, but rather that he can understand it with enough hard work and intentional thought. Most importantly, you've built yourself credibility, and the student has a glimpse into the meaning of what would otherwise seem like idealistic bullshit.

And then, you have built a student who will willingly study maths for the sake of studying maths.

See Daniel Willingham's book Why Students Don't Like School. He makes a much better argument against "making it relevant" and goes through the brain processes to describe what happens in learning and what motivates us to do it.

It wouldn't be graded and it would be questions about their lives, interests, what they care about, what they want to see in instruction, questions they have. I imagine it as a silent free write for five or so minutes. It's actually pretty commonly recommended in pedagogy research, especially when students do not share the teachers cultural, class or racial background. I haven't personally tried it.

Edit: it's also featured in books where students are interviewed as something they like
https://www.amazon.com/Fires-Bathroom-Advice-Teachers-Students/dp/1565849965

Yes, we got some, including some specialist behaviour sessions from an expert! But the most numerous and useful tips I got are from the excellent "Getting The Buggers To Behave" by Sue Cowley. It should also be available from the US. In short, there's no one way to "do discipline", but there are certain things you can always be sure are not good ideas (e.g. humiliating a student in front of class), and some that are almost always the right thing to do (e.g. talking to them on their own after the lesson).

It is normal for new teachers, and especially subs, to feel like they have trouble. You don't know the systems, you don't know the kids and they don't know you. The best foundation for discipline as I've found it is a reputation, which takes time to build. If the kids know you aren't a soft touch, they won't try as much. Appearance is an issue at first, but stops being one once they know you. This doesn't help a sub much, sadly. Although this point from another comment is also excellent:

> I discovered pretty quickly though that it doesn't matter what you know or what skills you have, the students respond to your attitude and your display of confidence. They have no idea how old you are or how good at your job you are, so they essentially take you at your word the minute you open your mouth. You have exactly as much authority as you think you do, and as long as you stick with that you will be fine. Just imagine yourself as an actor on the stage playing the role of a master teacher. Being yourself is for going on dates, not teaching.

What I would like from any subs is that they give the work to the students, think about what I've really asked the students to do, and help out as much as they can bearing in mind they're probably not experts in the subject. If there are any students who refuse to do the work, get their names and let us know. I don't expect you to be able to get Lazy McSleeperson in the back row to do his work if I can barely get him to do it anyway, but I've sometimes come back and asked "So did you do the work I sent you? Did they play the video?" and been told that all the teacher did was put the email I sent up on the board.

Good luck in your career! I really do recommend that book.

John Holt's work defends a pretty radical idea of how to educate children.

>How would you define a good vs bad school, or is it just about movement of students?

>How would you assess if a teacher is good or bad?

The parents decide, just like they do for everything else for their kids.

>Should private and/or charter schools be required to go through some sort of process to certify their merit before being allowed to enter the educational system

No.

>Presumably you would support private and/or charter schools, how would you make access to them affordable for poor students?

Every kid gets a voucher, to be used at any school they wish.

>being pointed to a good resource would be appreciated.

This book.

And this book.

But to be honest, imo, the best way to educate your own kids is this way.

could you tell us more about that? i've done that kind of grading in a not-online setting and kind of liked it.

http://realwaystoearnmoneyonline.com/2011/04/pearson-scoring-at-home.html

https://survey.vovici.com/se.ashx?s=058F3B575DC152AE

http://monthlyreview.org/2010/12/01/the-loneliness-of-the-long-distance-test-scorer

http://www.amazon.com/Making-Grades-Misadventures-Standardized-Industry/dp/098170915X

http://workathomemoms.about.com/od/education/tp/Scoring-Jobs-Online.htm

Wow, I don’t even know where to start, but I will try to be brief and maybe add more later.

First and foremost, the ways in which resources- material and human- are distributed in the U.S. are woefully inequitable and unacceptable. I believe that all students should have opportunities to engage in intellectually demanding curricula and that this curricula should reflect and build on their life experiences. While I do believe a valid role in public education is “preparing our children to compete in the global economy” (www.barackobama.com/), I think that the most important responsibilities of the education system to sustain a democratic society and to support students’ critical literacy. By critical literacy, I mean students should be able to read, write, and do arithmetic, but also be able to use these skills to understand the world, in terms of social, political, cultural issues.

I was optimistic about Obama when he took office. There were rumors he was going to pick a distinguished educator/professor who is internationally known in the field of education. So I was dismayed that Obama named a non-education person for the Secretary of Education. While I appreciate and value outsider perspectives, to me Duncan just seemed like another neo-liberal business person who really didn’t understand schools or school (due to his past performance as head of CPS and his rhetoric). His record of closing neighborhood schools and privatizing public schools in Chicago was devastating. His misguided notions of merit pay were embarrassing, given the decades of educational and sociological research on the topic. Just to name a few! (From a common sense standpoint, why would “good” teachers want to teach in underperforming schools? Why would teachers in underperforming schools teach anything other than the low-level skills required on the test?)

To me, very little seems different than the Bush years in terms of action/rhetoric. I wish that the DOE spent more time listening to and collaborating with real teachers and education researchers that have more than enough accounts and research to lead the way to a more progressive, equitable, and socially just educational system...really take the notion of educating our citizens [in the public school system].

An Open Letter to Arne Duncan by Sen. (and former teacher) Herb Kohl is an excellent example of the kind of issues and hope I have for the future.
http://www.rethinkingschools.org/archive/23_04/good234.shtml

Jonathan Kozol’s The Shame of the Nation is also an excellent, albeit depressing book about schooling in the U.S.
http://www.amazon.com/Shame-Nation-Restoration-Apartheid-Schooling/dp/1400052440 - http://www.amazon.com/Shame-Nation-Restoration-Apartheid-Schooling/dp/1400052440

Fires in the Bathroom

Great book that gives perspective on teaching from a students point of view. It was remarkably insightful, and very helpful in learning how to deal with the good and the bad that comes up.

That's because I can't spell her surname, turns out it's just Cowley (no r)!

Here are the two books I got that I loved: The Seven Cs of Positive Behaviour Management and The Seven Ps of Brilliant Voice Usage.

And the one that's recommended is "Getting the Buggers to Behave"

My go-to resources are:

Baby Led Weaning

Loose Parts and Loose Parts 2: Inspiring Play for Infants and Toddlers

For discipline I prefer the Parenting with Love and Logic.

I'm a big believer in the Reggio Emilia philosophy of teaching and early childhood development. R.E., loose parts, and outdoor classroom theories all work really well together to create a natural, child-led, creative environment. The basic theory involved is that children are curious, competent, creative beings with a significant capacity for learning if we get out of their way. Instead of giving them plastic, light-up, noise-making toys that have one purpose or one way of playing, loose parts cultivates an environment of inviting materials that encourage creativity and discovery instead of "this is how you play with this toy" thinking. I was first introduced to Reggio Emilia and Loose Parts while working for a JCC and I was really impressed with the way it transformed the teaching environment. It's definitely harder the smaller your kids are, but it can be done and I have seen it jump start critical thinking and creativity in even the youngest kiddos.

I've read Gatto's "Dumbing Us Down", and his writing style for that is a bit sensationalist, too. It was confusing that in this .txt file, near the end, someone wrote that free market, pre-Civil War style schools are "UNavailable only to the
resourceful, the courageous, the lucky, or the rich." (Huh?)

If anyone takes anything from this, though - since I'm assuming everyone reading this post has already gone through said schooling system - is to look into homeschooling yourself now. You can still learn things from people in the community and or teach yourself. Sure, we don't have as much free time as schoolchildren anymore, but that doesn't mean we ought to not try. Inside of a school building is not the only designated place where you are allowed to learn, and after you graduate high school/college/trade school, that doesn't mean you have to be "done."

Gatto's writing, along with others (John Holt, Susan Wise Bauer, etc.) have been used by many who have decided to homeschool their children, but you can can become an autodidact and "unschool" yourself, no matter what age.




Edit: If you like the idea of Ben Franklin's self-education, you might find this book to be a really fun read.

I'm in the UK, so your mileage may vary on this, but personally I find comparing the US way with British methods quite interesting. We are definitely NOT allowed to just shout any more, and when I changed schools a few years ago I went from one that allowed it to one that absolutely didn't. Overnight, I found virtually all my classroom management techniques swept away from me and had to start from scratch.

I teach in a tough school in a deprived seaside town in the UK, with a high number of kids who have English as an additional language. It has the reputation as the hardest school to teach in in a 100-mile area. It's a comprehensive school in a selective area, which means the 25% brightest students go to a grammar school, leaving our kids - often with a sense of failure that they are "thick", and with a wealth of social problems - to come to us. There's a lot of poverty and drug use. Over here we merge Junior High and High School so the school is for 12-18 year olds (seven school years). There's a strong focus on vocational rather than academic subjects. I teach Modern Languages, which is on the National Curriculum (Common Core?) and therefore has to be taught even though it is an academic subject and most of the kids struggle with English in the first place. They don't want to learn my subject. I have to make them...

You've hit the nail on the head about engagement. Even my toughest classes get pulled in by presenting the right subject matter in the right way. I have a class of seventh-graders who I only see late in the afternoon - they're very low ability and disengaged. But by presenting the subject matter in the right way, especially at the start of the lesson, I can get them achieving what I want when I want it. Carefully structuring the activities, making sure there's a mixture of teacher-focussed activities with independent activities, and making sure you've differentiated appropriately, is absolutely critical. Looking at the material from left-field to see how you can introduce a difficult topic almost by stealth is the way I've managed to get this right so far.

Equally, giving regular feedback (and praise) to build up self-esteem works really well, even if it's going round with "well done" stamps or stickers, or using raffle tickets, or whatever. Works a treat.

Routines, as well - don't change up how you do things. If you want equipment out on the desk at the start, TELL THEM, get it right once (it might take a while) and then do that EVERY SINGLE TIME, EVERY LESSON. Hand signals, or a countdown, when you want them to be quiet and listen. That sort of thing.

With a 105 minute lesson you've got your work cut out to keep focus going, but I always find with my double lessons which are similarly lengthy, if you approach it as a series of smaller lessons (roughly, say, 20 minutes) with a small learning outcome for each it keeps the pace up and allows clear progress to be made. That said, it also gives you an opportunity for extended independent work with you circulating to keep focus and motivation going. But I always feel roughly 30 minutes of independent work is more than enough before they all grind to a halt - I would always aim for smaller, more structured tasks to be worked through.

Talking regularly to parents works well - especially positive phone calls, but of course negative ones too.

And finally, absolutely being a stickler for the rules of your classroom, enforcing them clearly and fairly and building that crucial atmosphere of leadership and learning and collaboration that all administrators over here are looking for. Use a classroom seating plan to dictate who sits next to who and enforce that. Give out 100 detentions if you have to. It works, not because the sanction actually does much to modify their behaviour, but it takes the balance of power away from them and towards you, and they know you mean business.

One of the books I always recommend to any of my team (I'm a Head of Department) struggling with classroom management is Getting the Buggers to Behave and I warmly recommend it to you also. But, if you have a Head of Department (Maths?) who is supportive then get them to do an informal observation of you to see if they have anything they can offer. Also see if you can observe anyone else in your school to see how they do it.

Classroom management is one of the toughest things about this job, but get it right and you're 3/4s of the way there. Hope it works out for you.

I'm not a moderately granola mom yet (couple weeks to go) but I'm a librarian, and I saw some books that caught my eye the other day, called loose parts and loose parts 2 that look fascinating and super fun with great ideas for diy toys. You can always ask your local library if they do interlibrary loan if they don't have it.

In my opinion, teaching is a profession that requires an understanding of Cognitive Science and Educational Theory before you step into a classroom. That being said, Teacher Education is often terrible so you aren't far behind.

I highly recommend that you read:

• Explicit Instruction by Anita Archer
  
• Embedding Formative Assessment by Dylan Wiliam
  
• Why don't students like school? by Daniel T. Willingham
  
• Why Knowledge Matters by E.D. Hirsch

Every year I go to a book I got as a gift when I started teaching. "The First Year Teacher's Checklist" is a great resource even after the first year. I'm sure you can find some things to mull over.

The First-Year Teacher's Checklist: A Quick Reference for Classroom Success https://www.amazon.com/dp/0470390042/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_xnkqzb0ZYF47V

Be Bilingual - Practical Ideas for Multilingual Families https://www.amazon.de/dp/9526803701/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_wtoNBbYN8DYCM


This one. We have it bought but I didnt read it full sice our little one is only 4 months old. But its very good so far, she had a master in that area and a mother of one or two i guess

For us basically my wife will speak only spanish and I German. We talk Romanian between us.

My first year, I read this book from [Fred Jones](Fred Jones Tools for Teaching 3rd Edition: Discipline•Instruction•Motivation Primary Prevention of Discipline Problems https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00F2LJ0J4/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_emoHyb7RSXQ74) . I thought it really helped improve my behavior management, and even now, I still remember his thoughts that at the end of the day, I should not have a headache from having to manage behavior. The students are the ones that should be doing the work, not me.

ENVoY classroom management training might be helpful for you.

Edit: The price of this book went up since I bought it, but it's very useful.

https://www.amazon.com/Envoy-Personal-Guide-Classroom-Management/dp/188340701X

Michael Grinder, Envoy: Your Personal Guide to Classroom Management.

Was a life saver when I taught 7th graders. Really helpful strategies that I continue
to apply in high school.

Would you recommend Embedded Formative Assessment or the follow up Embedded Formative Assesment: Practical Techniques for the K-12 classroom?

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1941112293/ref=pd_aw_sim_14_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=B94VD7VF7NTW2553JN94

>https://www.amazon.de/dp/9526803701/ref=cm\_sw\_r\_cp\_api\_wtoNBbYN8DYCM

Hi,

Babies in-fact already start to pick up sounds from when they are in the last trimester. Your husband should differently stick to only speak Japanese to your child and you English. It is important that the baby learn right from the start which sounds/languages are associated with which parent. Which is the one language one parent method. Which country are you living in as this will also support with language development.

An alternative POV is Why Do I Need a Teacher When I've got Google?: The Essential Guide to the Big Issues for Every 21st Century Teacher

A genuinely useful and real-worldbook to try is this: Getting the Buggers to Behave by Sue Cowley.

Getting the Buggers to Behave https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1472909216/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_IagyCb7JA10E6

The return of segregation has been going on for a while. Jonathan Kozol wrote about in his 2005 book, The Shame of the Nation: The Restoration of Apartheid Schooling in America. I'm glad to see the NAACP taking a more aggressive stand on the issue.

They can be good indicators, but they shouldn't be the metric upon which your graduation is based.



When my wife was studying to be a teacher, she read two books about standardized testing, and one of them posed a very interesting question:

Consider, for a moment, what would happen if 100% of the students in a given district passed a standardized test. Would the school board say "Damn, we have some good teachers!"?

Nope. They'd say that the tests are too easy. So from the word "Go!" the tests are designed so that some people will fail them.

The books she read were:

Making the Grades (http://www.amazon.com/Making-Grades-Misadventures-Standardized-Industry/dp/098170915X)

What Happened to Recess and Why Are Our Children Struggling in Kindergarten? (http://www.amazon.com/Happened-Recess-Children-Struggling-Kindergarten/dp/0071383263)

The first deals with standardized testing from the grader's perspective, and the second from the teachers perspective (which is where the above bit came from).

This may be too narrow for your needs, but I found this book very useful; "The Dreamkeepers: Successful Teachers of African American Children"

I had to read a few chapters from this book as part of my credentialing and MA program.

http://www.amazon.com/The-Dreamkeepers-Successful-Teachers-American/dp/0470408154

One of classes this summer (also a student teacher) had us read The Trouble with Black Boys. Sounds like these students have experienced what they perceive as racism from previous or current teachers and now it's become the expectation. I wouldn't let this discourage you, but try to gain their trust and break that expectation. I am dealing with this at my own placement, with an African American student as well, and I have learned a great deal about patience.

Edit: Also this book by Ladson-Billings

Something I need is either this book or this one both of which are listed on my wishlist for my classroom. I would prefer the first one though! Both of these I need to help better prepare to become a teacher and to help with my school work as I have to come up with sample lesson plans and such.

Goodbye Eleven

Can completely recommend 'Why do I need a teacher when I've got Google?' By Ian Gilbert - an optimistic, inspirational and at times laugh-out-loud book! You won't regret it!
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Why-Need-Teacher-When-Google/dp/0415468337

>I know several kids who were kicked out of private schools for having low grades. So it has at least does happen in some instances).

Ok, I'll concede that it does happen sometimes. But overall, I'd bet that schools which care very much about average test scores are probably very selective as to who they'll accept in the first place.

Of course, if we got rid of public schools entirely then all that money would be freed up for private sector education, which would mean an enormous and unpredictable variety of school choice.

If you're interested, this book examines how it has worked in the past.

What if you flipped it and tried to catch the 3 of them doing the "right" things?

It's a long-term strategy, but it might change the energy in the room with them. It reminds me of some things I learned at a Fred Jones Positive Classroom Management Course a long time ago . . . if you have your whole class "earning" for some type of reward - game time on Fridays (with the games all related to your content) or a movie day (again, a movie related to content) - then you can orchestrate it so that those students can't take time away from what the class has earned if they're misbehaving, but they CAN add additional time when they're behaving.

Example: The goal is to earn 30 minutes for the reward day. I give them 15 minutes to start with (so the goal is 45 minutes total), and students can earn minutes by being in their seats working on the warm-up at the beginning of class, everyone having all their supplies, everyone turning in their homework, etc.

For the 3 students you're struggling with, if they DON'T do any of those things, it doesn't penalize the whole class. If they DO the things, it gives the class extra time - so if they're all 3 in the same class period, that gives the class an opportunity to earn 4 minutes for each of the activities instead of only one.

In my experience, that motivates their classmates to put positive peer pressure on them, so that they get to their time goal faster.

Also, you can play it up when they misbehave: "Oh, man. I'm so disappointed that I can't add more time because you (fill in the blank.) I was really looking forward to game time on Friday, but I guess we'll just have to try again next week."

Here's the Fred Jones book, if you want to check it out: https://www.amazon.com/Fred-Jones-Tools-Teaching-Discipline%E2%80%A2Instruction%E2%80%A2Motivation-ebook/dp/B00F2LJ0J4/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=fred+jones&qid=1564510410&s=gateway&sr=8-1