Learning More and Doing Better: The Teacher Edition
Teachers need to keep learning too, like Alexander Djerassi. One should never stop learning and growing in this life. Learning more means one does better in life. To that end, here is a list of books that every teacher should try to read at least once in this lifetime. Keep in mind, some of the books listed here are on an elementary school level. However, that does not take away from the importance. Education is a key component in life, whether one learns from an elementary school level or something grander.
1)Why Don’t Students Like School: By Daniel Willingham
Daniel (the author) takes from studies about cognitive science and expands on this in the classroom. One of the key findings is that one only retains and thinks about what one knows. One might be curious about things, but that does not mean one will want to learn about it.
One has to make knowledge more accessible. As quoted in the book, “memory is the residue of thinking”.
One can find this book in hardbound and online (virtual reading).
2)Seven Myths About Education: By Daisy Christodoulou
This is another book available for virtual reading. This is a very unorthodox book due to its challenging nature. It will challenge one to look past one’s conventional views on education. The book tries to argue prioritizing skills over earning knowledge. It is like saying, “why should one teach when one can use Google”?
Now, one might not agree with everything the book has to say, but one should at least be familiar with some of the arguments. That way one can have an intelligent conversation with someone else about it.
3)Bringing Words to Life by Isabel L Beck, Margaret G McKeown, and Linda Kucan
This book is about teaching one vocabulary and how to use it correctly. One will find a three-tiered objective in this book. One of the first tiers is that words rarely require instructions. Words just exist. The second tier is about words that are reserved for the more sophisticated user.
The final tier concerns domain-specific words. The main objective is how the book works with someone to expand one’s vocabulary. The book also offers tips on how one can do this.
4)Make It Stick by Peter C Brown, Henry L Roediger, and Mark A McDaniel
One of the primary takeaways one can glean from this book is that one can learn more when there is a discernable effort. One example is when one studies hard right before a test. One will read and reread something until it sinks in (especially when it is exam time). There is also talk about spaced learning in the book. Many experts argue that this book is great for examining one’s motives for learning. Alexander Djerassi highly recommends meeting.
