Are many of you aware that my best friend was an English major, and she would recommend books for me to read every summer? Sometimes I would get to these books, and many times working full-time would somewhat distract me from completing many of the books that I had started, but this summer I am trying something new.
At least every two weeks I am going to read a book about education, and see how this book adds to my philosophy of education. I have had several suggestions so far, such as Teach Like a Champion by Doug Lemov, The Hardest Questions Aren't on the Test by Linda F. Nathan, The Promise of a Pencil: How an Ordinary Person can Create Extraordinary Change by Adam Braun, & Thrive: 5 Ways to (Re)Invigorate Your Teaching by Meeno Rami. Over this year these books have been recommended by colleagues and professors, and I am excited to see how these books impact me!
If I have time, I also want to see if Degrees of Inequality by Suzanne Mettler is good, as well as Schools of Hope by Finkelstein. These pertain more to the inequalities in education, but I still think they could influence my ideas about education.
Some of the books don't particularly pertain exclusively to education, but do apply to the inner city life of adolescents, such as Code of the Street by Elijah Anderson; this book is an anthropological view into the culture of inner-city families and youth in order to understand the function of behavior, instead of basing our interpretations of behavior upon our own experiences, backgrounds, or culture. I am excited about this one, I've wanted to read it since I took an anthropology class at James Madison University during my undergraduate career that used excerpts from this book. That professor was one of the first professors who made me think about the culture of education in America, and how education culture is different in other countries. We watched documentaries and videos of classrooms from Japan and other places, and I remember being so shocked for two reasons: that I had never previously considered how the "education" and research we study as 'truth' can be cultural; and that I had never considered that other systems and philosophies thrive in other cultures. Thank you, professor, for preventing me from continuing on as an ignorant American.
The most random pick award goes to Psychology through the Eyes of Faith by Myers & Jeeves; this was a gift from my AP Psych teacher in high school after I got a 5 on the AP Test, but I think the gift pertained more to how he wanted us to expand our minds to think more critically about psychology than our actual scores. He wanted us to succeed, and measured that in more ways than simply tests. I still remember vividly all the experiments we did in that class to discover how our brain works, and part of me wants to contribute my self-knowledge about the ways in which I learn to his class.
The last two goals for this summer? To be the best Program Director that I can be, and to learn Spanish. I found out that one of my classes next year will be a bilingual classroom, so I am already listening to lessons on YouTube and using Spanish for Beginners by Language Press in order to make sure that I at least have some conversational Spanish under my belt before beginning the new school year!
And.... GO!
At least every two weeks I am going to read a book about education, and see how this book adds to my philosophy of education. I have had several suggestions so far, such as Teach Like a Champion by Doug Lemov, The Hardest Questions Aren't on the Test by Linda F. Nathan, The Promise of a Pencil: How an Ordinary Person can Create Extraordinary Change by Adam Braun, & Thrive: 5 Ways to (Re)Invigorate Your Teaching by Meeno Rami. Over this year these books have been recommended by colleagues and professors, and I am excited to see how these books impact me!
If I have time, I also want to see if Degrees of Inequality by Suzanne Mettler is good, as well as Schools of Hope by Finkelstein. These pertain more to the inequalities in education, but I still think they could influence my ideas about education.
Some of the books don't particularly pertain exclusively to education, but do apply to the inner city life of adolescents, such as Code of the Street by Elijah Anderson; this book is an anthropological view into the culture of inner-city families and youth in order to understand the function of behavior, instead of basing our interpretations of behavior upon our own experiences, backgrounds, or culture. I am excited about this one, I've wanted to read it since I took an anthropology class at James Madison University during my undergraduate career that used excerpts from this book. That professor was one of the first professors who made me think about the culture of education in America, and how education culture is different in other countries. We watched documentaries and videos of classrooms from Japan and other places, and I remember being so shocked for two reasons: that I had never previously considered how the "education" and research we study as 'truth' can be cultural; and that I had never considered that other systems and philosophies thrive in other cultures. Thank you, professor, for preventing me from continuing on as an ignorant American.
The most random pick award goes to Psychology through the Eyes of Faith by Myers & Jeeves; this was a gift from my AP Psych teacher in high school after I got a 5 on the AP Test, but I think the gift pertained more to how he wanted us to expand our minds to think more critically about psychology than our actual scores. He wanted us to succeed, and measured that in more ways than simply tests. I still remember vividly all the experiments we did in that class to discover how our brain works, and part of me wants to contribute my self-knowledge about the ways in which I learn to his class.
The last two goals for this summer? To be the best Program Director that I can be, and to learn Spanish. I found out that one of my classes next year will be a bilingual classroom, so I am already listening to lessons on YouTube and using Spanish for Beginners by Language Press in order to make sure that I at least have some conversational Spanish under my belt before beginning the new school year!
And.... GO!
