10 Summer Reads for the Best School Year Ever

Summer is underway and it’s time to hit the beach, figuratively or literally. To help you up your teaching game while you relax, we’ve compiled 10 of the hottest summer reads for teachers. So, grab your lounge chair, umbrella and a book of your choice. Let summer reading begin.

Summer’s must-reads for teachers:

Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times
Yes, a book about wintering in the summer. But, with lots of important information about self-care. This moving personal narrative is shot through with lessons from literature, mythology and the natural world. The story offers instruction on the transformative power of rest and retreat. 

The Happy Teacher Habits: 11 Habits of the Happiest, Most Effective Teachers on Earth

If you’re happy and you know it, let your teaching show it. Author Michael Linsin guides you through 11 little-known habits of the happiest, most effective teachers on Earth.

The Unexpected Joy of the Ordinary

Thinking that your life seems to be extraordinarily ordinary? This book may just inspire you, with humor and soulful insight, to see and reclaim joy in ordinary things.

Finding Joy in Teaching Students of Diverse Backgrounds: Culturally Responsive and Socially Just Practices in U.S. Classrooms

Diversity, once the oddity, has become the norm. How has that changed the way teachers address language and cultural and ethnic differences in the classroom? This compilation of 22 interviews of teachers from varying backgrounds and school settings help answer the question of what effective, culturally responsive teaching looks like in the real world. 

Culturally Responsive Teaching for Multilingual Learners

How can you promote teaching multilingual learners equitably? If that question is on your mind, this book will offer practical, replicable ways to draw from students’ strengths and promote multilingual learners′ success within and beyond your classroom. 

This is Not a Test: A New Narrative on Race, Class, and Education  

Does your classroom pass the test of inclusion and diversity? Check out José Vilson’s outspoken narrative about race, class, and education. He uses stories from the classroom and researched essays to provide a new perspective on the joys and burdens of teaching.

Thank You, Teacher: Grateful Students Tell the Stories of the Teachers Who Changed Their Lives

Who doesn’t want to be the teacher that inspires greatness in students? This book is an entertaining collection of stories about how engaged teachers have changed their students’ lives for the better.

Humble Pi: A Comedy of Maths Errors

Take a fun look at how math can rock everyone’s world. Math is everywhere and when it works, it’s wonderful. When it doesn’t, well… In this book, Matt Parker shows the bizarre ways math can trip us up, and what this reveals about its essential place in our world.

Rough Draft Math: Revising to Learn 

Rough drafts for math? It’s an idea whose time has come, according to author Amanda (Mandy) Jansen. She and collaborating teachers share the power of showing students that math class can be a series of revisions through talking. Rather than speaking up only when they know the right answer, students can feel comfortable thinking aloud as they talk to learn problem-solving.

In Teachers We Trust: The Finnish Way to World-Class Schools

It’s possible to build a school environment based on mutual trust. Educators and authors Pasi Sahlberg and Timothy D. Walker tell you how, offering practical ideas for educators and school leaders who want to develop teacher-powered education systems. 

Here’s to summer reading. This list is one way to relax and learn at the same time. Enjoy!