Summer 2013

What are you reading this summer?

As educators, who doesn't want to figure out how to unlock talent in their students or themselves?

The books below are engrossing, thought provoking, and bestow insights into student’s thinking as they attempt to master new material in your classroom.  I hope the summer months are satisfying and rewarding for you.  Refer to the News section for past News updates and see you in September with helpful insights to improve students’ learning.

Learning Outside the Lines (2000) and The Short Bus: A Journey Beyond Normal (2008) by Jonathan Mooney  A young man once labeled “severely learning disabled” because he couldn’t follow directions, sit still, or read well, he feared he’d lost his chance to be a regular kid. Suddenly he was “not normal.” Suddenly he was a short-bus rider destined to travel a harder road, a distinction that screamed out his “difference” to a hostile world. Along with other kids facing similar challenges, he was denigrated daily. He almost lost hope. Yet ultimately, Jon shocked the skeptics, graduating from Brown University (with honors). But he could never shake the voice that insisted he would always be “less than.”

Both books written by Jonathan Mooney are excellent reads and extremely helpful to gather insights into the world of special education form a student’s perceptive.

Why Don’t Students Like School? by Daniel T. Willingham Contrary to popular belief, the brain is not design for thinking.  It’s designed to save you from thinking, because the brain is not very good at thinking.  What?  Along with other thought provoking ideas, Willingham presents a substantial argument supporting his model.

Mindset by Carol Dweck            Are you a person with a Fixed or Growth mindset?  Do your students have Fixed or Growth mindset?  Which one do you have?  Does one mindset result in enhanced learning and lifelong achievement?

The Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell        Is innate Asian proclivity for math real?  Is it simply a function of how smart the Asians are?  What do the Pearl River Delta, hard work, and persistence have to do with the belief that Asians are smart?