Innumerable books and collections of essays on curriculum, theory, research, methods, careers, statistics, activities, concepts, and learning styles are available to readers. Some of these texts form the basis for decisions that teachers, administrators, and researchers make everyday. While there are many texts about education that offer enlightening perspectives and useful information, the very best texts are works that also interest the reader and enrich the teaching profession with positive viewpoints, engaging writing, and personal character that engages the reader. In the spirit of the NCTE standards, the best texts that contribute to the ongoing discussion of education do not claim to be absolute. Books that carry a sense of responsibility and urgency accept the idea that refining education is a constant process that requires a sense of equality and optimistic determination.
Stern, B. S., & Kysilka, M. J. (Ed.). (2008). Contemporary Readings in Curriculum. London: Sage Publications.
I consider this a critical book for any secondary school teacher. Although I feel as if the book works extreemly good with English, the main ideas can be applied to any particular field. This book offers 40 essays on curriculum, with individual emphasis placed on such topics as the dangers of over relying on standardized tests, the potential benefits of the "slow school movement," the history of prominently black schools struggling to generate funding and support, integration, and the importance of athletics and extra curricular activities in today's school systems. Each essay is carefully researched and offers multiple insights into some of the lesser-know and rarely discussed corners of the education world, as well as problems that seem to0 far-reaching and permanently fixated to our culture to remedy.
The most beneficial aspect of this book is that the many essays are varied and colorful. While there are fewer strategies, review games, and lesson plan templates, themes such as the need for equality, the urgent necessity to foster student creativity, the importance of preparing students to become global citizens, and the idea that curriculum is everything that is taught - directly and indirectly - within the classroom easily encourage even the most pessimistic of readers to take on a more positive perspective.
Spandel, V. (2004). Creating Writers Through Six Trait Writing Assessment and Instruction. (4th ed.). New York: Allyn & Bacon.
Unlike Contemporary Readings in Curriculum, this guide to teaching students how to write both professionally and creatively is practical, direct and designed to be used during instruction. Although the "how" of writing is addressed, Spandel also discusses the "why" of writing through the philosophy behind using words to express thoughts and share information. Spandel's approach to writing consists of 6 focus points: voice, ideas, organization, word choice, sentence fluency, and conventions. This approach is a very practical type of differentiation in itself, allowing students to work on weak areas and remain proud of the points they feel come naturally to them. Spandel offers suggestions for using this book with ELL learners and other students that can potential have difficulty with writing. Throughout the book, Spandel emphasizes editing, peer editing, working in groups, differing perspectives and opinions, and the importance of writing and rewriting: viewing writing as a process. The book is full of charts, example rubrics, and tables that are easily transferred to the classroom. The task of writing is often a daunting and intimidating challenge to many students, but Spandel abandons the old-fashioned approach of "Introduction, Thesis, Supporting Point, and Supporting Point" to focus on the details that make writing rich, interesting, clear, and professional.
The direct and sensible approach this book takes towards writing makes it a very unique resource that many students will enthusiastically gravitate towards. Spandel's ideas can be used to address any number of SOL's, from the persuasive essay to creative poetry. While many writing resource texts seem to have failed to evolve along with the student's needs, challenges, and interests, Spandel is recommended to teachers because her text has the potential to make writing fun.
Beers, K. (2002). When Kids Can't Read: What Teachers Can Do: A Guide For Teachers 6 - 12. New York: Heinemann.
This book is a practical guide for helping adolescents who have difficulty reading. Although the book is especially valuable to me as an English subject text, the guide can be used in conjunction with any subject that requires reading, such as History and Social Studies. Beers discusses different approaches that could help struggling students with vocabulary, fluency, word recognition, comprehension, interpreting different texts, and other aspects of reading. Some texts focus on reading as a skill closely associated with the English classroom. While this is obviously true, Beers acknowledges the real importance of reading and recognizes that a student must read well to succeed in both the classroom and everyday life. The ideas within this book can appear simple at first: the importance of sounding out words and "rereading" a text for more complete understanding. However, it is just that simple and novel appeal that makes these strategies easy for students and helps them build confidence with reading. The book is written from the perspective of a professional who has actually tried, revised, modified, and tried again to apply simple strategies - such as "think alouds" and "say somethings" - in a real classroom environment.
This text is especially useful to secondary school teachers because it builds basic skills and focuses a great deal on the importance of helping students gain confidence in their abilities. The text also emphasizes the importance of deriving meaning from a text before a student reads, while they read, and after they read with strategies such as "if - then" charts. The text does not scare away students with complex and intimidating worksheets, and this is one of the book's greatest strengths.
Donelson, K.L. & Nilsen, A.P. (2008). Literature for Today's Young Adults (8th ed.). New York: Allyn & Bacon.
This popular book has been through many editions since its original publication, continuing to evolve and stay close in touch with the current pulse of culture, art, and society. Instead of offering lists of suggested books for young readers, this text instead focuses on ways to evaluate almost every type of text imaginable and encourage adolescents to become life-long readers. This text is especially important to me because I fully support the belief that all students should have a high degree of choice when it comes to the books they read in school; everyone has unique taste in books. This text celebrates the fact that different students will be interested in different books in a world where many teachers force students to read and feign appreciation for "the classics."
This text is practical for the secondary school teacher because it gives them an edge when dealing with adolescent literature of all genres, including some "under the radar" genres such as horror, science fiction, and mystery. The book provides valuable criteria for evaluating all sorts of contemporary books and poems, as well as suggestions for ways to incorporate these texts into the classroom. The text also provides coverage of controversies surrounding popular novels for young adults. This is an especially valuable resource because teachers can learn of any potential problems they might encounter when assigning a book or poem. The text provides excerpts from many authors, giving teachers a preview of their work so they can find new and potentially exciting texts for their classrooms. The text also interviews several authors, giving teachers a platform with which they can evaluate an author's work and decide if their work should be incorporated into the curriculum. This text is similar to Contemporary Readings in Curriculum because it does not shy away from controversy and is very fun and engaging to read. This text will help a teacher feel fully connected with adolescent literature and empower him or her to make informed decisions in the classroom that can help turn students into lifelong readers.
Weaver, C. (1996). Teaching Grammar in Context. Portsmouth: Boynton/Cook.
This text is very different from the typical grammar books that are usually found throughout high school classrooms. Even at the college level, many grammar books consist of nothing more than a few lines of instruction and countless "drill and kill" exercises. Many students, myself included, find these type of grammar books boring, unhelpful, and pointless. Teaching Grammar in Context breaks this mold, and the result is a book that makes this usually dreaded and notoriously difficult subject seem easier to understand and more enjoyable to work with. The most important aspect of this book is that it really places grammar in the context of writing. Weaver explains to the reader why everyday grammar rules are important, what practicing the rules of grammar can do for a writer, and why grammar should not be taught as an isolated subject. Teaching Grammar in Context discusses the history of grammar and some of the ways it has traditionally been taught in the classroom. For example, many teachers may assign grammar worksheets one day and a personal, informal essay the next. However, this book emphasizes the importance of connecting concepts such as these so that students can understand how grammar works outside of the worksheets and "drill and kill" exercises. Weaver succeeds in presenting to her readers an answer to the main question students usually have about grammar: "why do we have to do this?" Each grammatical concept is presented with a firm rationale that fully explains why this concept is significant and how it relates to the English language. Through placing grammar in its proper context, readers forget they are studying grammar because they are engaged in actually using it properly in a wide variety of lessons, mini-lessons, essay assignments, group assignments, and games.
I do not remember having to study grammar in high school to any great extent. What little grammar I studied did not stay with me throughout the years, and I know that if I use grammar properly it is because I am a native English speaker. I feel as if my position is not an uncommon one, and this is largely due to the fact that I was only subject to the occasional grammar worksheet during throughout all of my years in public school. This text is especially valuable to the secondary school teacher because it makes applying and understanding the concepts of grammar very easy for the reader and takes much of the angst and fear away from the subject. This text assists the teacher in making sure that students learn, understand, apply, and retain grammar so they will communicate effectively, interestingly, and correctly.
