Book Study Opportunities
Professional Learning 2019-2020
Book Study Q & A
What is a book study?
How does a book study align with effective professional development?
- Requires collaboration with peers
- Provides opportunities for deeper understanding through discussion
- Focuses on applying new knowledge in the classroom with a focus on student learning
- Includes multiple sessions over a period of time
What are the advantages of a book study?
- Flexible scheduling (Teachers may engage in the book study at any time on social media OR engage in a one-pager!)
- Voluntary participation
- Multiple opportunities for collaboration
- Continuous feedback from peers
- Permanent resource
How do I participate in a book study?
- RSVP to the Book Study Google Form in this SMORE
- Read the book or chapters
- Engage in virtual conversations on social media (Closed Facebook Groups) at a convenient time for you and at your own pace OR engage in a Book Study ONE PAGER to post and share with your department!
What do I post on the social media discussion?
- Facilitator guides the discussion and keeps the discussion focused by posting specific questions or prompts for you to respond
- Participants share ideas, ask questions, identify ideas that can be applied to the classroom, identify potential obstacles for implementation of new ideas/strategies, etc.
What is a "One Pager"?
The purpose of a one-pager is to own what you are reading. We learn best when we can create our own patterns.
A one-pager connects the verbal and the visual; it connects the ideas in what you read to your thoughts. It connects words and images. The one pager becomes a metaphor for the reading you have done.
When you do a one-pager, do any or all of these:
- Pull out a quotation or two, using them to explore one of your own ideas, and write them on the page (perhaps using a different colored pen).
- Use visual images, either drawn or cut from magazines, to create a visual focus.
- Cluster around a dominant impression, feeling or thought you have while reading.
- Make a personal statement about what you have read.
- Ask a question or two and answer it (them).
- Create the one-pager so that your audience will understand something about the reading from what you do.
Don't worry, to make it even easier. I have a template for you, too!
How can I use a book study for my PDP?
Here is a sample PDP entry (Element 3) for a book study for Teach Like a Pirate (January):
I will participate in a book study on the book Teach Like a Pirate by Dave Burgess. This book offers inspiration, practical techniques, and innovative ideas that will help me increase student engagement, boost creativity, critical thinking and effective formative checkpoints, and transform my life as an educator. I will participate by engaging in online (Facebook or Twitter) dialogue with other colleagues at my school by posting/responding at least once a week throughout the month of January. I plan to finish the book study by February 1, 2019.
Book Study Opportunities for 1.2 (Engaging Students in Content)
Learn Like a Pirate by Dave Burgess (November/December Book Study)
In Learn Like a PIRATE, teachers will discover practical strategies for creating a student-led classroom in which students are inspired and empowered to take charge of their learning experience. You'll learn strategies for
- Crafting active, relevant, and interesting lessons
- Creating opportunities for student leadership
- Providing effective and beneficial feedback
- Instilling confidence so students can take risks
- Increasing curiosity and passion for learning Incorporate the techniques and strategies
Paul Solarz uses in his student-led classroom and watch your students transform into confident, collaborative leaders.
Book Study Opportunities for 5.3b (Building Positive Student-Teacher Relationships)
Unselfie: Why Empathetic Kids Succeed in Our All-About Me World (January)
Teens today are forty percent less empathetic than they were thirty years ago. Why is a lack of empathy—which goes hand-in-hand with the self-absorption epidemic Dr. Michele Borba calls the Selfie Syndrome—so dangerous? First, it hurts kids’ academic performance and leads to bullying behaviors. Also, it correlates with more cheating and less resilience. And once children grow up, a lack of empathy hampers their ability to collaborate, innovate, and problem-solve—all must-have skills for the global economy.
In UnSelfie Dr. Borba pinpoints the forces causing the empathy crisis and shares a revolutionary, researched-based, nine-step plan for reversing it.
The good news? Empathy is a trait that can be taught and nurtured. Dr. Borba offers a framework for parenting that yields the results we all want: successful, happy kids who also are kind, moral, courageous, and resilient. UnSelfie is a blueprint for parents and educators who want to kids shift their focus from I, me, and mine…to we, us, and ours.
CULTURIZE: Every Student. Every Day. Whatever It Takes (February)
Average schools don’t inspire greatness—and greatness is what our world needs if we are going to produce world-changing learners. In Culturize, author and education leader Jimmy Casas shares insights into what it takes to cultivate a community of learners who embody the innately human traits our world desperately needs, such as kindness, honesty, and compassion. His stories reveal how these “soft skills” can be honed while meeting and exceeding academic standards of twenty-first-century learning.
You’ll learn:
- How to reach those who seem unreachable What to do when students disengage or drop out of school
- How to ensure your learners feel cared for and empowered
- How to create an environment where all learners are challenged and inspired to be their best.