Category Archives: Books

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

Tisha: The Wonderful True Love Story of a Young Teacher in the Alaskan Wilderness

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9780553265965_p0_v1_s260x420[1]If you haven’t read this book yet, run, don’t walk, to your nearest brick-and-mortar bookstore and buy it right away! I absolutely loved this action-packed true story about a young teacher, Anne Hobbs, who travelled to the Alaskan wilderness in the 1920’s to teach in a frontier school. Besides encountering the expected lack of teaching materials and frigid temperatures, she heroically battled prejudice against the Native Alaskans. As much an adventure story and a romance as it is a chronicle of early Alaskan history, this tale will keep you on the edge of your seat. Don’t miss it! If you are good at deferred gratification, you can also order Tisha on Amazon.com, but don’t wait too long to read this exciting story!

Homeless Children Find Homes Via the Orphan Trains

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9780618432356[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 the 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.

Educators of the Wild West Spotlighted in Book about Frontier Teachers

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9780762748198_p0_v1_s260x420[1]Between the years of 1847 and 1858, more than six hundred women left their comfortable, civilized homes and traveled across the country to teach in America’s frontier schools. These women dedicated their lives and their talents and overcame untold hardships to educate the children of the Wild West. The true stories in this book, Frontier Teachers: Stories of Heroic Women of the Old West by Chris Enss, spotlight twelve of these most amazing teachers.
One of the most compelling tales is that of Olive Mann Isbell and Hannah Clapp, who opened school each day armed with guns to protect their students from hostile natives, and Sister Blandina Segale, who became a teacher to outlaws, including Billy the Kid, and Eliza Mott, who taught her students the alphabet using the inscriptions on tombstones because she didn’t have any textbooks or supplies.
In addition to these compelling stories, the volume possesses numerous high-quality black-and-white photographs of the teachers and their classrooms, plus a handy appendix furnishing additional details about teaching in frontier schools. The book is a treasure-trove of information for anyone interested in the history of education during this particular time period.
If you’re interested in finding out more about these historic women, you can find this book at amazon.com through the following link: Frontier Teachers.

The Inspirational Stacy Bess

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51+zayASt4L._SY344_BO1,204,203,200_[1]Here is a teacher who is truly inspirational: Stacey Bess of Salt Lake City, Utah. As a first-year teacher, Stacey landed in a classroom set up in a storage shed in an area homeless shelter. The facility was literally referred to as the School With No Name. As you can imagine, her students wrestled with a variety of issues, including unstable living arrangements, domestic abuse, poverty, and alcohol and drug-abusing parents. Not the most desirable circumstances for learning. But this remarkable teacher created a safe and loving classroom environment for her kids. She went to battle with the local school board for a more suitable teaching space and better resources. And, oh, yeah, she raised her own family and defeated cancer at the same time.
You can read the story of the dynamic Stacey Bess in Beyond the Blackboard, available through amazon.com.

Elaine Goodale Eastman: Sister to the Sioux

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574055-M[1]One of the most fascinating books I have read in recent times was Sister to the Sioux: The Memoirs of Elaine Goodale Eastman (1863-1953). This inspirational teacher was born and raised in New England, but decided to give up all the comforts of home to travel to a South Dakota Indian reservation. She wanted to establish a day school for Sioux Indians because it was her strong belief that it was better to educate Native Americans in their tribal environments rather than follow the alternative practice, which was to take the children out of their homes and send them far away from home and family to Indian boarding schools. Before long, this talented classroom teacher was promoted to the position of Superintendent of Indian Education for the Two Dakotas. While serving in this capacity, Elaine witnessed the Wounded Knee Massacre, and with her fiance, Santee Sioux Indian Dr. Charles “Ohiyesa” Eastman, nursed the Native American survivors back to health. Great story, well worth taking the time to read. You can find this book on amazon.com at the following link:
If you prefer, you could read a chapter about her in my book, Chalkboard Champions. See the following link to amazon.com:
Enjoy!