Friday, January 6, 2017

Don't judge a book by its cover - preview it!

I love a challenge ... and here it is: Explore the MTBoS 2017 Blogging Initiative!  I invite YOU to blog as well!  Share what is happening in your classroom!

This week the topic is your favorite!


I love to read.  And I love to read books about education! While typically I wouldn't care who published the book, my favorite happens to be Stenhouse!  Stenhouse Publishers are my favorite because they offer free previews of whole books online.  An account is required but the account is free! Most of the books are written for K - 8; a few books are written K - 12.  In my career I've worked in elementary, middle and high schools so I still read books from all levels!  I use free previews to scan a variety of books - helps me determine what books to purchase! 

Currently I'm previewing three books ... 

Becoming the Math Teacher You Wish You'd Had: Ideas and Strategies from Vibrant Classrooms by Tracy Johnston Zager has been mentioned quite a bit on Twitter.  I'm intrigued to read the book because Zager's purpose is to connect math classrooms to what "real" mathematicians do!

The Four Roles of the Numerate Learner: Effective Teaching and Assessment Strategies to Help Students Think Differently About Mathematics by Fiore and Lebar looks interesting.  The authors include examples even for secondary math - something I wish more books did.  It appears from the brief preview that the authors make a connection between literacy and math - something Pearse did in her book on numeracy (Teaching Numeracy: 9 Critical Habits to Ignite Mathematical Thinking). I'm curious what connections overlap in the two books!

Power Up: Making the Shift to 1:1 Teaching and Learning by Roberts and Neebe catches my attention about using technology in the classroom.  Roberts and Neebe are English teachers - so many of their examples are from English classes.  That's OK with me since many times ideas can cross over disciplines.

Don't judge a book by its cover ... preview it!

3 comments:

  1. Have you ever suggested any math related books to your students? Do you have a list of books that aren't self-help?

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    1. Yes - I recommend most books by Theoni Pappas ... You can find her works on Amazon (https://www.amazon.com/Theoni-Pappas/e/B001K7YRT2/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1490386350&sr=8-1). I also recommend The Number Devil and the Man Who Counted. There are a bunch of picture books I recommend to even high school students. I wrote about a few here: http://algebrasfriend.blogspot.com/2016/08/mtbosblaugust-read-to-your-math.html

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