Category Archives: Books

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

Turn-of-the-Century Chalkboard Champions Found Homes for New York City Orphans

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9780618117123_xlg[1]Have you ever heard of the Orphan Trains? During the early years of the 20th century, there were literally thousands of homeless children living aimlessly on the streets of New York City. The Children’s Aid Society (CAS), an organization which still exists to benefit children today, developed a method for finding loving and wholesome homes for many of these children. The CAS organized small groups of children to be transported west and placed them in foster homes on farms and in rural communities. To care for these children, the CAS recruited teachers to escort them, conduct background checks on the prospective foster parents, and make periodic checks on the children’s progress. One such teacher was Clara Comstock, born in 1879 in Hartsville, New York.
Andrea Warren has documented the phenomena of the Orphan Trains very diligently in her book, We Rode the Orphan Trains, available through amazon.com. You can also read a chapter about teacher Clara Comstock in Chalkboard Champions.

Jodee Blanco’s Powerful Memoir Describes Anguished Life of a Bullied Kid

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$RVLCHPQIn recent years we have witnessed many well-publicized demonstrations of the disastrous effects that bullying can wreak upon on our students. As  caring educators, we have dedicated ourselves to protecting our students from bullying as much as we possibly can, and to educating the bullies in an attempt to extinguish this destructive behavior. 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, she 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.

Author Sharon Flake Gives Urban Boys a Distinctive Voice

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$RRL6CXGAward-winning author Sharon G. Flake gives urban youths a distinctive voice in her unique book You Don’t Even Know Me: Stories and Poems about Boys. The volume includes ten very moving portraits of African American boys, with free-verse poems interspersed, all written in the street language of inner-city African American teens.

The haunting characters and the pathos of their life circumstances will tug at your heart strings. There’s the story of sixteen-year-old Tow-Kaye, who is getting married because his girlfriend is pregnant. He wants to do the right thing, but he’s scared to death. There’s the story of the youngster who is wrestling with the violent murder of his beloved grandfather, and his impulse to get revenge. Then there’s James, who keeps a diary detailing his plans to commit suicide. And the story or La ‘Ron, who must write a letter to his family revealing that he has been infected with the HIV virus. Despite the complex and demanding situations these boys find themselves in, there is always a note of optimism at the end of each story.

This easy-to-read volume has been recommended for students in grade eight and above, and has been recommended by School Library Journal. You can find You Don’t Even Know Me at amazon.com.

If You Don’t Feed the Teachers They Eat the Students

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9780865304574_p0_v1_s260x420[1][1]If You Don’t Feed the Teachers They Eat the Students. So says educator and author Neilia A. Connors, Ph.D. She ought to know, she’s had an extensive career as a teacher at the elementary and middle school levels, an administrator, a university professor, and a consultant.

Connors’s humorous book, which presents her message through using cooking analogies and acronyms, dishes up practical advice for classroom teachers and administrators who hunger to create a positive school environment. Her goal is to share some simple kitchen-tested recipes for creating a climate of success and high moral throughout any campus.

Highly acclaimed, the book boasts a rating of  #24 on amazon’s best-seller list. If You Don’t Feed the Teachers They Eat the Students is available through amazon.com.

Educating (Chalkboard Champion) Esme: Diary of a Teacher’s First Year

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9781565122796[1][1]A great read for any teacher regardless of number of years of service is Educating Esme: Diary of a Teacher’s First Year. This hilariously funny book, first published in 1999 but revised and republished in 2001, was recorded by 24-year-old Esme Raji Codell, a first-year teacher in an inner-city public school in Chicago.

The diary shines a spotlight on a real-life classroom from the perspective of a beginning teacher. Codell presents her daily battles with bureaucrats, gang members, abusive parents, and her own insecurities, but in the process she reveals what it takes to be an exceptional teacher.

This highly-acclaimed book is recommended by School Library Journal and Publishers Weekly. You can find the volume on the web site of Barnes and Noble at the following link: Educating Esme.