Category Archives: Books

Here s a list of books written for teachers that are worth reading. Enjoy!

Leonard Covello and the Making of Benjamin Franklin High School by Johanek and Puckett

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Here’s a great book for anyone who is interested in progressive education or pluralism in education: Leonard Covello and the making of Benjamin Franklin High School: Education as if Citizenship Mattered. The authors are Michael C. Johanek and John L. Puckett.

Leonard Covello came to the United States in 1896 as a nine-year-old Italian immigrant. Despite immense cultural and economic pressures at home, Leonard wanted to get an education. As an adult, he analyzed the cultural and economic pressures he faced as a child and teen, which were common in Italian immigrant households at that time. He realized that Italian parents viewed the school as a wedge between their children and the family. He recognized the pressure even the youngest Italian children faced to go out and get a job rather than succeed in school. His answer? Involve the parents in the school, and involve the students in the community. The result was New York’s Benjamin Franklin High School, a truly innovative marriage of school and home. Lots of lessons in this story are relevant even in today’s times, especially for school personnel who are clamoring for more involvement from parents in the school system.

You can find this eye-opening book on amazon.com at the Leonard Covello link. You can also read the abbreviated version of Leonard Covello’s life story in my first book Chalkboard Champions: Twelve Remarkable Teachers Who Educated America’s Disenfranchised Students.

Tisha: The true story of Anna Hobbs, a pioneer teacher in the Alaskan wilderness

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One of my favorite “teacher” books of all time is Tisha: The Story of a Young Teacher in the Alaska Wilderness. The volume is the memoir of pioneer teacher Anne Stevenson Hobbs, as told to masterful chronicler Robert Specht.

I absolutely love this action-packed true story about a young teacher who travels to the Alaskan wilderness in the 1920’s to teach in a frontier school. This book is as much an adventure story and a romance as it is a chronicle of early Alaskan history.

At the age of 19 in the 1920’s, Anne Hobbs, a plucky young lady, travels from her home in Colorado to the Alaskan wilderness with the intention of setting up a frontier school. She knows nothing about Alaska or living in the wilds, and she is completely naive about the social conditions or customs there, but she is full of a desire for adventure. She certainly finds it when she lands in a small village called Chicken. Besides encountering the expected lack of teaching materials and frigid temperatures, Anne heroically battles prejudice against the Native Alaskans when she falls in love with one of them.

If you haven’t read this book yet, run—don’t walk—to your nearest brick-and-mortar bookstore and buy it right away! You can also order Tisha on Amazon.com, but don’t wait too long to read this exciting story. This tale will keep you on the edge of your seat.

Read inspirational stories about teachers over summer vacation! Terry Lee Marzell recommends…

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Congratulations! You have nearly made it to the end of another school year! Dedicated educators all over the country are busy wrapping up their current instructional programs, grading projects and working on finals, calculating semester grades, and cleaning up their classrooms. Many are preparing for commencement ceremonies, from pre-school to college. So much to do before the onset of summer vacation!

You might be considering buying end-of-year gifts for that favorite co-worker at your school, especially the one that is retiring, the teacher in your family, your child’s special teacher, or maybe that history buff you know. Or you might be thinking about indulging yourself, and stocking up on something inspirational to read during your much-needed time off. The kids aren’t the only ones who can benefit from a summer reading list, right?

Reading the stories of inspirational teachers in American history is a terrific way to reflect upon your successes from the past year. And they can really add that extra oomph that helps you recharge your batteries for the year to come. I have two splendid titles to suggest:  Chalkboard Champions: Twelve Remarkable Teachers who Educated America’s Disenfranchised Students (available here) and Chalkboard Heroes: Twelve Courageous Teachers and Their Deeds of Valor (available here), both by Terry Lee Marzell. Each one available in print or in e-book formats and is reasonably priced. You can also browse the titles on the Books to Read list found elsewhere on this website.

However you decide to spend your precious time off, enjoy!

Gifting Marzell’s books on Teacher Appreciation Day

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Teacher Appreciation Day is just around the corner! This year, the celebration will take place from May 6 to May 10. When trying to decide just the right gift to give to your friends and family members that are teachers, or that special teacher that works with your child, consider copies of my books, Chalkboard Champions and Chalkboard Heroes. Each volume is packed with inspirational stories about remarkable educators in American history and the historical implications of their pioneering work. These books make great gifts for individuals in the teaching profession and those aspiring to become teachers some day. They are also appealing to history buffs and social scientists.

Among the captivating stories in Chalkboard Champions is the story of Charlotte Forten Grimke, an African American born into freedom who volunteered to teach emancipated slaves as the Civil War raged around her. Read the eyewitness account of the Wounded Knee massacre through the eyes of teacher Elaine Goodale Eastman, and educator Mary Tsukamoto, imprisoned in a WWII Japanese internment camp. Read about Mississippi Freedom Summer teacher Sandra Adickes who, together with her students, defied Jim Crow laws to integrate the Hattiesburg Public Library. Marvel at the pioneering work of Anne Sullivan Macy, the teacher of Helen Keller, the efforts of teacher Clara Comstock to find homes for thousands of Orphan Train riders, and the dedication of Jaime Escalante, the East LA educator who proved to that inner city Latino youths could successfully meet the demands of a rigorous curriculum.

In Chalkboard Heroes, read about dedicated educators who were heroes both inside and outside of the classroom, including WWI veteran Henry Alvin Cameron and Civil War veteran Francis Wayland Parker. Learn about teachers who were social reformers such as Dolores Huerta, Civil Rights activist Robert Parris Moses, suffragist Carrie Chapman Catt, and Native American rights advocate Zitkala-Sa, all of whom put themselves at risk to fight for improved conditions for disenfranchised citizens. Discover brave pioneers who took great risks to blaze a trail for others to follow such as Christa McAuliffe, the first teacher in space; Willa Brown Chappell, the aviatrix who taught Tuskegee airmen to fly; Etta Schureman Jones, the Alaskan teacher who was interned in a POW camp in Japan during WWII; and Olive Mann Isbell, who established the first English school in California while the Mexican american War raged around her.

All these remarkable stories and more can be shared with someone you know this year on Teacher Appreciation Day!