Category Archives: Books

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

Jodee Blanco memoir shares her story as a bullied child

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As teachers, we are charged with the well-being of all of our students. In order to ensure this well-being, we are always looking for ways to protect our students from bullying. The memoir Please Stop Laughing at Me: One Woman’s Inspirational Story by Jodee Blanco, gives us one more reason to renew our efforts. In her book, the author painstakingly describes her personal experiences as the kid who was bullied all throughout her school years.

This powerful memoir describes how one child was mentally and physically abused by her classmates. It offers a bold picture of what it means to be an outcast, how even the most loving parents can get it all wrong, why schools are often unable to prevent the behavior, and how bullying has been misunderstood and mishandled by the mental health community. Her story shines a spotlight on the harsh realities and long-term consequences of bullying, and how all of us can make a difference in the lives of kids.
Within 48 hours of its release, Blanco’s memoir hit the New York Times Best-Seller List. The volume is now required reading and summer reading in hundreds of middle schools, high schools, colleges, and universities, and has become part of the curriculum in many schools.
The book was published in 2003 by Adams Media Corporation in Avon, Massachusetts. It can easily be found on amazon.com at the following link: Please Stop Laughing At Me.

Give an Inspirational Book to Dad on Father’s Day

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Give an inspirational book to Dad on Father’s Day! If he is an educator. a history buff, or an avid reader, I can recommend two great choices: Chalkboard Champions and Chalkboard Heroes.

Chalkboard Champions presents stories of 12 gifted and dedicated teachers who worked with some of America’s most disenfranchised and disadvantaged students.  Among the captivating stories included is that of Charlotte Forten Grimke, an African American born into freedom in the North, who during the Civil War volunteered to teach emancipated slaves in a South Carolina school established just behind the battle lines. There’s the gripping eyewitness account of the Wounded Knee Massacre by teacher Elaine Goodale Eastman, the talented New England child poet who founded a school for Sioux Indians on a south Dakota reservation. There’s the story of Leonard Covello, the Italian immigrant turned school teacher who enlisted in the US Army during World War I to fight alongside his students, and educator Mary Tsukamoto, imprisoned in a World War II Japanese internment camp.

Then there’s Mississippi Freedom Summer teacher Sandra Adickes who, together with her students, defied the Jim Crow laws of the South and integrated the Hattiesburg Public Library. And Clara Comstock, who found homes for thousands of Orphan Train riders. And what collection about remarkable teachers would be complete without a discussion of Anne Sullivan Macy, the teacher of Helen Keller, and the dedication of Jaime Escalante, the East LA educator who proved to a skeptical establishment that inner city Latino youths could successfully meet the demands of a rigorous curriculum.

Chalkboard Heroes shines a spotlight on courageous teachers in American history who were both exemplars of teaching and role models of society. There are the veterans, such as Henry Alvin Cameron, who fought in World War I, and Francis Wayland Parker, a Civil War veteran. There are the social reformers who put themselves at risk to fight for improved conditions and better lives for disenfranchised citizens, such as Dolores Huerta, the champion of migrant farm workers; Robert Parris Moses, the Civil Rights activist; Prudence Crandall, who defied prevailing 19th-century convention to open a school for African American girls; Carrie Chapman Catt, the suffragist; and Zitkala-Sa, who campaigned for the constitutional rights of Native Americans.

Readers also learn about the 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, who was interned for four years in a POW camp in Japan during World War II; and Olive Mann Isbell, who established the first English school in California while the Mexican American War raged around her. And then there are the savior teachers like Dave Sanders of Columbine High School, who put their own life at risk to protect the students whose safety was entrusted to their care.

Share these stories with your Dad this Father’s Day. He’ll be pleased.

Recommended reading: Tony Danza’s book about his experiences in the classroom

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Tony Danza

Tony Danza’s book about his experiences in the classroom is recommended reading.

It seems to me that in every teacher’s career, there comes a desperate moment in which we just want to be understood. We fervently wish that the public, the parents, and the media comprehended just how dedicated we are to our students, and just how hard we work on their behalf, and just how tough the job is. Tony Danza goes a long way to build this understanding in his 2012 book I’d Like to Apologize to Every Teacher I Ever Had: My Year as a Rookie Teacher at Northeast High.

Having already earned his degree in history and  his teaching credential, Danza accepted a position as a first-year teacher in an inner-city school in Philadelphia, partly because he had always wanted to teach and decided now would be a good time in his career to explore that option, and partly because the experiment could be turned into a reality show that, Danza hoped, could accomplish some genuine good by turning an empathetic spotlight on our nation’s over-worked, over-criticized, and under-paid teachers.
Throughout the book, Danza provides an insider’s perspective on many of the topics that dominate political discussion in the media and professional conversation in the teachers’ lounge, including such topics as funding cuts, high-stakes testing, high absenteeism, student apathy, and lack of parental involvement. It’s amazing how he hit the nail on the head with every chapter.
I loved this book, and how Danza eloquently voiced the frustrations of practically every teacher in America. Most importantly, I loved how much his genuine affection and respect for his students, and his strong commitment to do right by them, shines through the frustrations. It’s an inspirational book I recommend you put on your summer reading list. You can find it on amazon at I’d Like to Apologize to Every Teacher I Ever Had. Find more recommended reading on this website’s “Books to Read” tab.