To start 2018 off right, I made a goal: read 15 new books this year. I hadn’t made a reading goal since….ever? By the end of the year I made it to 21 books, which was a bit of a shock considering I managed to do that while having a toddler. (What the heck?!) Here are my Top 5 books from 2018 that I consider professional development for me as a teacher.
#1: The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
I haven’t felt this way about a book since the Harry Potters! I couldn’t put down Angie Thomas’s debut novel! It’s essential that I, a white teacher, familiarize myself with the experiences of students of color. Despite being fiction, this book did just that, drawing on real-life stories of kids in the American news.
#2: Oscar et la dame rose by Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt
This book made it into the rotation for my IB French 4/5 class as a unit in the spring of 2018. It’s a short, terribly sad read, but it is rich in discussion topics. My students routinely laughed out loud and quietly cried reading this in class, and they all loved it. The writing project I used at the end produced the best writing I have ever read from students.
#3: The New Jim Crow: mass incarceration in the age of colorblindness by Michelle Alexander
Such an important read. Michelle Alexander is a lawyer, so I was nervous the book would have too much “lawyer speak”. As it turns out, it did not; but what it did have was solid legal examples and a historical analysis of the oppression of black Americans. This book was thoroughly researched, and it gives important insight into how the deck is stacked against black male students.
#4: Americanized: rebel without a green card by Sara Saedi
This was my first YA book in quite a while, so I had gear switch a bit to read the tone of a teenager. Saedi skillfully wove together the hormone-driven life of a teenage girl and the scary existence of knowing you could be sent back to a country you don’t even know at any moment.
#5: Culturally Responsive Teaching & The Brain by Zaretta Hammond
Sensing a theme here? Social justice is on my radar in a big way. This book is, I’m sure, now used as a textbook in undergraduate and graduate education classes, and it should be. It gave simple ideas we can implement in our classrooms to account for different cultural backgrounds of students, but I have one gripe: I found 30 spelling and grammatical errors in the book. Ugh.
Honorable Mention: My Twenty-Five Years in Provence: reflections on then and now by Peter Mayle
I was elated to discover Peter Mayle’s new book about France was set for a summer release, but I was crushed to learn he died a few months prior. His bestseller, A Year In Provence, remains one of the reasons I fell in love with Provence, and I was glad to get one more little taste of his writing.
How about you? What did you read in 2018 that helped you grow as an educator or understand more about your students?
I love your list! I also read The Hate U Give and loved it… though I found it difficult to read rather than impossible to put down. 🙂 Here was my list from 2018 (favorites are starred!)
Red Queen Series
Moxie
A Simple Favor
The Wife Between Us*
The President Is Missing
Crazy Rich Asians Series*
The Princess Diarist
One of Us Is Lying
The Hate U Give*
Born A Crime*
IQ
The Woman In The Window
The Waiting Room
I also loved Born a Crime and read it last year! I am starting this year off with I Am Malala….a few years late, I know. For professional development purposes, I have been slowly getting through Class and Schools by Richard Rothstein. Last year I read Gary Howard’s You Can’t Teach What You Don’t Know and really enjoyed it, but it didn’t make my “Top 5” for professional development–probably would’ve been Top 6. Thanks for your list! I’ll check some out!