By Todd Nesloney and Travis Crowder
Something beautiful happens when people come together to read a book. Reading a book independently has powerful benefits, but when we unite around a common text, our conversation deepens and our thinking grows. Book studies are potent experiences and have the potential to change the culture of a campus. Choosing the right book is transformative, and reading and discussing the book alongside fellow staff members can grow a group of educators.
As the campus principal, one of the expectations is to guide the vision of the campus—to have a plan of where everyone is headed. Using books to help facilitate that journey allows your team to find their own ways to that vision.
Here are some of our favorite books on a variety of topics:
Building Culture
- Culturize by Jimmy Casas
- The Energy Bus by Jim Gordon
- Kids Deserve It! by Todd Nesloney and Adam Welcome
- Move Your Bus by Ron Clark
Campus Literacy
- The Book Whisperer by Donalyn Miller
- 180 Days by Penny Kittle and Kelly Gallagher
- Disrupting Thinking by Kylene Beers and Bob Probst
- Sparks in the Dark by Todd Nesloney and Travis Crowder
Diversity
- Being the Change by Sara Ahmed
- For White Folks Who Teach in the Hood…and the Rest of Y’all Too by Chris Emdin
- White Fragility by Robin DiAngelo
- Troublemakers by Carla Shalaby
Innovative Teaching
- Teach Like a Pirate by Dave Burgess
- The Wild Card by Hope and Wade King
Communication
- Talk to Me by Kim Bearden
- The Power of Moments by Chip Heath and Dan Heath
There are countless other texts administrators can use as well to help guide conversations, keeping in mind sometimes the best book study is one that gives teachers choice. The power to choose promotes agency, especially in a time when curriculum may be mandated. Providing several options and allowing teachers to choose within those options allows an element of choice while staying true to the campus goals and initiatives.
We often hear time is an issue, and it’s true. Finding the time to read can be difficult, especially when compounded by lesson planning, assessment, meetings, and extracurricular obligations. There are times when the minutiae of everyday life slices into our personal reading time, but we make the time for what we deem is important and if we’re going to tell our students reading is a transformative act, it only seems right as adults we do the same. The best way to get someone to read is to find a book that touches their hearts and surround them with others who are reading the same thing, even if those readers are your faculty members.
We encourage you to find the books that will speak to you and your staff. The element of choice lets teachers know you value the thinking they bring to the school. Conversations started around books are sustained across time because they are tied to literacy. We invite you to read, talk, think, and transform your school with books.
Todd Nesloney is the principal of Webb Elementary in Navasota ISD. Todd co-authored Kids Deserve It! and Sparks in The Dark, and is the author of Stories from Webb. @TechNinjaTodd
Travis Crowder, a National Board Certified Teacher, teaches middle school students in North Carolina. He co-hosts the popular podcast series “Sparks in the Dark” and is co-author of Sparks in the Dark. @TeacherManTrav
TEPSA News, November/December 2018, Vol 75, No 6
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