As a part of your education, you likely read a ton of texts in preparation for becoming a teacher. While those books are certainly an important part of your journey, they are only a small part of what it will take. Personal experience, learning from veteran teachers, and reading beyond what you learned in school are also a part of shaping your career and life as a teacher. The following books provide you with some of what you will need to know–including books specifically for new teachers, books that share tips and strategies for successful teaching, books that will inspire you as a teacher, and books that will help you in specific areas such as behavior management, special education, and technology in the classroom. You will also find classic books about both real and fictional teachers and classics that every teacher should have read and can share with their students.
New Teachers
If you are in your first years of teaching, these books will be valuable resources for learning how to become an effective teacher.
- The First Days of School: How to Be an Effective Teacher. Learn about topics such as classroom management, effective teaching strategies, and student achievement.
- Teaching in the Middle and Secondary Schools. Specifically written for pre-service teachers, this book also offers great advice for teachers who have already had a few years under their belts.
- First Year Teacher’s Survival Guide: Ready-To-Use Strategies, Tools & Activities for Meeting the Challenges of Each School Day. Find all sorts of checklists, tips, and tools to help you ease into teaching.
- A First-Year Teacher’s Guidebook. Elementary level teachers just starting out will appreciate the tips found here.
- First-Class Teacher: Success Strategies for New K-8 Teachers. Get strategies and tips made just for new elementary and middle school teachers.
- Survival Kit for New Teachers. This spiral-bound book is one to keep handy through your first year and beyond.
- Learning to Teach…not just for beginners (Grades K-8). From how to set up your classroom to helpful resource lists, this book is a great resource for teachers.
- The Organized Teacher: A Hands-On Guide to Setting Up and Running a Terrific Classroom. New teachers, especially in the younger grades, will enjoy the practical advice given here.
- Jumbo Book of Teacher Tips and Timesavers. This is a great book full of useful reproductibles that both new and veteran elementary level teachers will find helpful.
- How to Plan Your School Year. Find tips for planning your curriculum, setting up your classroom, welcoming students, and more.
- Your First Year As a High School Teacher: Making the Transition from Total Novice to Successful Professional. Take a look at what new teachers should consider as they begin teaching, including discipline, organization, setting up the classroom, and more.
- The First Days of School: How to Be an Effective Teacher. This revised version of a classic is filled with helpful strategies, Internet resources, and much more to get your teaching off to a great start, no matter what grade level you are teaching.
No matter how long you’ve been teaching, these books provide helpful strategies that can give your teaching a boost.
- Creating Classrooms Where Teachers Love to Teach And Students Love to Learn. Follow along with this small group of teachers who are implementing the Love & Logic principles in their classrooms.
- Teach to Reach: Over 300 Strategies, Tips, and Helpful Hints for Teachers of All Grades. This small handbook offers a ton of great ideas and is a good book to keep on your desk for inspiration any time.
- The Creative Teacher: An Encyclopedia of Ideas to Energize Your Curriculum. Re-energize your teaching and your students with the awesome ideas here.
- Teaching Outside the Box: How to Grab Your Students By Their Brains. This book provides excellent advice for connecting with your students, especially if you work with at-risk or difficult classes.
- The Daily Five. This program shows you how to implement literacy independence in students in a way that will not only positively affect learning, but the classroom environment as well.
- Class Meetings: Building Leadership, Problem-Solving and Decision-Making Skills in the Respectful Classroom. Learn about the importance of class meetings as well as how to implement them successfully.
- How to Differentiate Instruction in Mixed-Ability Classrooms. This is an excellent resource for differentiated instruction and promises to benefit every teacher.
- Intelligence Reframed: Multiple Intelligences for the 21st Century. This book on multiple intelligences is a reworking of the original and a must-read for teachers who want to understand the differing abilities of all students.
- Classroom Instruction That Works: Research-Based Strategies for Increasing Student Achievement. No matter how long you’ve been teaching, this book will provide you with strategies that really work.
- Fires in the Bathroom: Advice for Teachers from High School Students. Hear from high school students what they have to say about learning, school, and motivation.
- The Soul of Education: Helping Students Find Connection, Compassion, and Character at School. If you want to learn about ways to encourage spiritual and character growth among your students, then this book is a must.
- The Having of Wonderful Ideas: And Other Essays on Teaching and Learning. This inspirational classic book is about focusing teaching on the students instead of some of the more political aspects that frequently try to push their way to the forefront.
- The Courage to Teach: Exploring the Inner Landscape of a Teacher’s Life. This classic book asks teachers to look within in order to bring out the best in yourself as a teacher.
- The Passionate Teacher: A Practical Guide. This book shares how to leave behind the "business" of teaching to find a more passionate way to inspire students.
The following books offer inspiration and experience from teachers who have been there before.
- Stories of the Courage to Teach: Honoring the Teacher’s Heart. This book offers a positive look at the difficult work done by teachers every day through real-life examples.
- It’s Not all Flowers and Sausages: My Adventures in 2nd Grade. Mrs. Mimi moves from her popular blog to a book and describes with humor the ups and downs of teaching.
- 32 Third Graders and One Class Bunny: Life Lessons from Teaching. This account of teaching third grade is both funny and touching. It’s a must-read.
- Those Who Can… Teach!: Celebrating Teachers Who Make a Difference. Discover uplifting and positive glimpses at several teachers who will provide you with inspiration.
- See Me After Class: Advice for Teachers by Teachers. This teacher tells you how things really are in the teaching profession when you take off the rose-colored glasses and provides great advice, too.
- How to Lose Your Self of Steam and Other Teaching Lessons I Never Learned from Professional Development. Hear about teaching at the high school level in this funny account taken from a veteran teacher’s experience.
- Reluctant Disciplinarian: Advice on Classroom Management From a Softy who Became (Eventually) a Successful Teacher. This hilarious book looks at one teacher’s journey over the first three years of teaching as he made mistakes and became a better teacher for it.
- Why I Teach: Inspirational True Stories from Teachers Who Make a Difference. Read inspirational stories of other teachers to reinforce why you made the decision to teach.
- Why We Teach: Learning, Laughter, Love, and the Power to Transform Lives. This teacher shares real-life examples of inspirational stories from her classroom.
- Inside Mrs. B.’s Classroom : Courage, Hope, and Learning on Chicago’s South Side. Leslie Baldacci left her job as a journalist at the Chicago Sun-Times to become a teacher in a rough Chicago school. Her book touchingly tells of her work there in the midst of Chicago education reform.
Search through the following books to find positive methods of behavior management that will help you create a classroom where students are willing participants in their learning experience.
- Teaching with Love & Logic. Learn how to implement this positive approach to student behavior that will empower both teachers and students alike.
- Fred Jones Tools for Teaching: Discipline, Instruction, Motivation. New teachers will love this book for sharing the realities of the classroom and veteran teachers will enjoy the spark the ideas here will put back into their teaching.
- Discipline Survival Kit for the Secondary Teacher. High school teachers will not only learn how to better manage classroom behavior, but how to engage students and create a beneficial learning environment.
- Discipline in the Secondary Classroom: A Positive Approach to Behavior Management. Both new and veteran teachers will find practical strategies to prevent problems in the classroom and motivate students to get more from their education.
- One-Minute Discipline: Classroom Management Strategies That Work. Get many tips to help you create a positive and smooth-running classroom with this book.
- Elementary Classroom Management: Lessons from Research and Practice. Learn about research-based techniques as implemented by five master teachers that create a caring, yet orderly, classroom.
- Middle and Secondary Classroom Management: Lessons from Research and Practice. This is the middle and high school version of the previous book and follows four teachers who demonstrate effective and caring classroom management in the face of any adversity.
- Setting Limits in the Classroom, Revised: How to Move Beyond the Dance of Discipline in Today’s Classrooms. Written by an educational psychologist, this book provides positive no-nonsense advice for any teacher.
Whether you teach special education or have special education students in your classroom, these books provide a wealth of information to create a successful learning environment for all students.
- Love & Logic Solutions for Kids with Special Needs. If you appreciate the Love & Logic ideas, then you will want to check out this book that applies those same principles for students with special needs.
- Teaching Kids With Learning Difficulties in the Regular Classroom. Get a ton of information about teaching students with all types of abilities and challenges.
- Inclusion: 450 Strategies for Success. This award-winning book provides tips and strategies for successfully establishing and sustaining an inclusion classroom.
- Teaching Students Who Are Exceptional, Diverse, and at Risk in the General Education Classroom. This book shows how small modification can make a huge impact on all students in an inclusion classroom.
- Differentiated Instruction Guide for Inclusive Teaching. Get a step-by-step approach to identify and remove barriers to learning while creating an environment conducive to learning for all students.
- A Guide to Co-Teaching. Many inclusion students have more than one teacher. If you find you are sharing your students with other teachers, then this book is a great resource to benefit the student as well as all the teachers.
- The ADHD Book of Lists: A Practical Guide for Helping Children and Teens with Attention Deficit Disorders. This is an easy-to-use and comprehensive resource for anyone who works with students with attention deficit disorders.
- I Read It, but I Don’t Get It: Comprehension Strategies for Adolescent Readers. Middle and high school teachers who want to learn strategies for increasing students’ reading comprehension won’t want to miss this book.
- Exceptional Lives: Special Education in Today’s Schools. This book covers all the government regulations for special education, stories from real students and teachers, strategies for creating effective IEPs, and much more.
- Response to Intervention: A Practical Guide for Every Teacher. Learn why and how to use Response to Intervention to help struggling learners succeed.
These books offer plenty of ideas for incorporating technology into your classroom.
- Best Ideas for Teaching with Technology. Learn how to integrate technology into your teaching to enhance students’ experience.
- Literacy, Technology, and Diversity: Teaching for Success in Changing Times. Teachers of all experience levels will appreciate the strategies offered in this book to keep up with the rapidly changing technological environment in education.
- 6 Steps to Success in Teaching with Technology: A Guide to Using Technology in the Classroom. If you are seeking a book that will help you learn how to successfully incorporate technology in your classroom, this one will step you through the basics.
- The Computer Lab Teacher’s Survival Guide: K-6 Units for the Whole Year. This spiral-bound book is full of ideas and lesson plans that are flexible enough to adapt to any elementary class in the computer lab.
- Drupal for Education and eLearning. Made just for teachers, this book will have you learning to use Drupal to enhance your teaching experience.
- Moodle Administration. Learn all the steps from planning to implementing Moodle in your educational setting.
- Media Literacy in Schools: Practice, Production and Progression. This is a good resource for secondary teachers who would like to learn how to incorporate media literacy into their curriculum.
From Annie Sullivan to the fictional John Keating in Dead Poets Society, the following books tell inspirational stories of both real and fictional teachers.
- To Sir With Love. Overcoming prejudice and a classroom full of unruly students, ER Braithwaite finds a way to not only get control over the class, but inspire his students and forge touching relationships.
- Teacher: Anne Sullivan Macy. Written by Helen Keller, this book describes the relationship between this famous teacher-student pair.
- Dangerous Minds: They Were Problem Kids With One Last Chance . . . Her. LouAnne Johnson tells her poignant and inspirational story of the work she did with her students at an inner-city school.
- Holler If You Hear Me: The Education of a Teacher and His Students. A teacher in an urban middle school, Gregory Michie develops a teaching style that revolves more around his students’ lives than the prescribed teaching style of his district. This tale of his successes and failures is an inspiration for all teachers.
- Up the Down Staircase. This classic book demonstrates the similarities of teachers and students of all generations by exploring the idealistic attempts of a high school teacher.
- Good-Bye, Mr. Chips. A classic, this short novel tells a story of both romance and a teacher’s devotion to his profession.
- The Blackboard Jungle. Follow along as this teacher tries to reach his students despite a myriad of difficulties and violence within the school.
- Dead Poets Society. A popular classic movie, the book from which it was based is also worth a read to see how John Keating inspires his students through their study of literature.
These classics are part of a canon that all teachers should read–and many are worth sharing with older students.
- Wuthering Heights. This classic romance is a great piece of literature to share with students and you should read if you haven’t already.
- The Grapes of Wrath. Share this classic book that explores equality and justice in America during the Great Depression with your students.
- The Call of the Wild. Jack London’s tale of survival of the fittest from the dog’s perspective is one that every teacher needs to read.
- The Great Gatsby. This book offers a great exploration of morality, ethics, and society.
- Brave New World. A staple of many high schools, Aldous Huxley’s dystopian novel takes the reader to a futuristic society where humanity has taken a back seat to technology.
- Of Mice and Men. This touching story describes a special friendship as well as the struggle to survive.
- Animal Farm. Another popular book from secondary education’s canon, this famous allegory of the Russian Revolution teaches about society and politics.
- Doctor Zhivago. Love, fidelity, and loyalty are the themes of this classic novel.
- Middlemarch. The characters in this tale of a strong woman and an ambitious young doctor carry this novel.
- Pride and Prejudice. This classic tells a captivating story, has richly drawn characters, and is a must-read for teachers and students alike.
- To Kill a Mockingbird. Explore racism, justice, family ties, and more with your students when you share this classic novel.
- Mrs. Dalloway. This story of a day in the life of Mrs. Dalloway is a joy to read.
- The Good Earth. The devotion to family and the land that provides for the family in this book is a touching tale that shouldn’t be missed.
- Slaughterhouse Five. Vonnegut’s novel provides a vehicle of hope in a world driven by war and insanity.
- Frankenstein. Mary Shelly’s classic tale of the desire to control nature and personal responsibility is a must-read for everyone.
- Seize the Day. This short read delves inside the mind of a man in the midst of mid-life crisis as he struggles with what he should do.
- Howards End. Set in early 20th century England, this tale explores social class and society.
- The Sun Also Rises. Hemingway’s classic book of war should be on everyone’s reading list.
- The Catcher in the Rye. JD Salinger’s popular classic offers a great opportunity for students to identify with a character going through the difficult job of being a teenager.
- Heart of Darkness. This journey of self-exploration is one worth reading and may provide personal insight to the reader as well.
Share these classics with your students and enjoy them yourself whether it is the first time or a repeat reading for you.
- Charlotte’s Web. This classic tale of unconditional love will win your heart as well as that of your students.
- Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Follow Alice’s adventures through a topsy-turvy world where nothing is what it seems.
- Little Women. This timeless tale of family strength despite hard times is one that can be appreciated by all.
- Island of the Blue Dolphins. Teach students about resourcefulness in this adventure story of young Karana stranded on an island.
- The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Dorothy guides her famous group through Oz, stands up to the Wizard, and gets everyone what they need in this classic.
- Pippi Longstockings. Pippi stretches the truth and makes life seem fun even when faced with rules.
- Five Children and It. These children have recently moved from the city to the country and discover a magical sand-fairy who grants their wishes each day.
- Bridge to Terabithia. Friendship and imagination lifts these two children out of their everyday lives, until tragedy strikes.
- Heidi by Johanna Spyri. Heidi is a vivacious young girl who brings happiness to all she meets when she goes to stay with her family in the Alps.
- Matilda. The spunky, precocious Matilda learns to use her special talents for good as she finds unconditional love with a special teacher.
- Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH by Robert C. O’Brien. Friendship, community, technology, and nature come together in this sweet tale.
- Little House in the Big Woods. A family full of love and life on the early American frontier make for a classic loved by many.
As a part of your education, you likely read a ton of texts in preparation for becoming a teacher. While those books are certainly an important part of your journey, they are only a small part of what it will take. Personal experience, learning from veteran teachers, and reading beyond what you learned in school are also a part of shaping your career and life as a teacher. The following books provide you with some of what you will need to know–including books specifically for new teachers, books that share tips and strategies for successful teaching, books that will inspire you as a teacher, and books that will help you in specific areas such as behavior management, special education, and technology in the classroom. You will also find classic books about both real and fictional teachers and classics that every teacher should have read and can share with their students.
New Teachers
If you are in your first years of teaching, these books will be valuable resources for learning how to become an effective teacher.
- The First Days of School: How to Be an Effective Teacher. Learn about topics such as classroom management, effective teaching strategies, and student achievement.
- Teaching in the Middle and Secondary Schools. Specifically written for pre-service teachers, this book also offers great advice for teachers who have already had a few years under their belts.
- First Year Teacher’s Survival Guide: Ready-To-Use Strategies, Tools & Activities for Meeting the Challenges of Each School Day. Find all sorts of checklists, tips, and tools to help you ease into teaching.
- A First-Year Teacher’s Guidebook. Elementary level teachers just starting out will appreciate the tips found here.
- First-Class Teacher: Success Strategies for New K-8 Teachers. Get strategies and tips made just for new elementary and middle school teachers.
- Survival Kit for New Teachers. This spiral-bound book is one to keep handy through your first year and beyond.
- Learning to Teach…not just for beginners (Grades K-8). From how to set up your classroom to helpful resource lists, this book is a great resource for teachers.
- The Organized Teacher: A Hands-On Guide to Setting Up and Running a Terrific Classroom. New teachers, especially in the younger grades, will enjoy the practical advice given here.
- Jumbo Book of Teacher Tips and Timesavers. This is a great book full of useful reproductibles that both new and veteran elementary level teachers will find helpful.
- How to Plan Your School Year. Find tips for planning your curriculum, setting up your classroom, welcoming students, and more.
- Your First Year As a High School Teacher: Making the Transition from Total Novice to Successful Professional. Take a look at what new teachers should consider as they begin teaching, including discipline, organization, setting up the classroom, and more.
- The First Days of School: How to Be an Effective Teacher. This revised version of a classic is filled with helpful strategies, Internet resources, and much more to get your teaching off to a great start, no matter what grade level you are teaching.
No matter how long you’ve been teaching, these books provide helpful strategies that can give your teaching a boost.
- Creating Classrooms Where Teachers Love to Teach And Students Love to Learn. Follow along with this small group of teachers who are implementing the Love & Logic principles in their classrooms.
- Teach to Reach: Over 300 Strategies, Tips, and Helpful Hints for Teachers of All Grades. This small handbook offers a ton of great ideas and is a good book to keep on your desk for inspiration any time.
- The Creative Teacher: An Encyclopedia of Ideas to Energize Your Curriculum. Re-energize your teaching and your students with the awesome ideas here.
- Teaching Outside the Box: How to Grab Your Students By Their Brains. This book provides excellent advice for connecting with your students, especially if you work with at-risk or difficult classes.
- The Daily Five. This program shows you how to implement literacy independence in students in a way that will not only positively affect learning, but the classroom environment as well.
- Class Meetings: Building Leadership, Problem-Solving and Decision-Making Skills in the Respectful Classroom. Learn about the importance of class meetings as well as how to implement them successfully.
- How to Differentiate Instruction in Mixed-Ability Classrooms. This is an excellent resource for differentiated instruction and promises to benefit every teacher.
- Intelligence Reframed: Multiple Intelligences for the 21st Century. This book on multiple intelligences is a reworking of the original and a must-read for teachers who want to understand the differing abilities of all students.
- Classroom Instruction That Works: Research-Based Strategies for Increasing Student Achievement. No matter how long you’ve been teaching, this book will provide you with strategies that really work.
- Fires in the Bathroom: Advice for Teachers from High School Students. Hear from high school students what they have to say about learning, school, and motivation.
- The Soul of Education: Helping Students Find Connection, Compassion, and Character at School. If you want to learn about ways to encourage spiritual and character growth among your students, then this book is a must.
- The Having of Wonderful Ideas: And Other Essays on Teaching and Learning. This inspirational classic book is about focusing teaching on the students instead of some of the more political aspects that frequently try to push their way to the forefront.
- The Courage to Teach: Exploring the Inner Landscape of a Teacher’s Life. This classic book asks teachers to look within in order to bring out the best in yourself as a teacher.
- The Passionate Teacher: A Practical Guide. This book shares how to leave behind the "business" of teaching to find a more passionate way to inspire students.
The following books offer inspiration and experience from teachers who have been there before.
- Stories of the Courage to Teach: Honoring the Teacher’s Heart. This book offers a positive look at the difficult work done by teachers every day through real-life examples.
- It’s Not all Flowers and Sausages: My Adventures in 2nd Grade. Mrs. Mimi moves from her popular blog to a book and describes with humor the ups and downs of teaching.
- 32 Third Graders and One Class Bunny: Life Lessons from Teaching. This account of teaching third grade is both funny and touching. It’s a must-read.
- Those Who Can… Teach!: Celebrating Teachers Who Make a Difference. Discover uplifting and positive glimpses at several teachers who will provide you with inspiration.
- See Me After Class: Advice for Teachers by Teachers. This teacher tells you how things really are in the teaching profession when you take off the rose-colored glasses and provides great advice, too.
- How to Lose Your Self of Steam and Other Teaching Lessons I Never Learned from Professional Development. Hear about teaching at the high school level in this funny account taken from a veteran teacher’s experience.
- Reluctant Disciplinarian: Advice on Classroom Management From a Softy who Became (Eventually) a Successful Teacher. This hilarious book looks at one teacher’s journey over the first three years of teaching as he made mistakes and became a better teacher for it.
- Why I Teach: Inspirational True Stories from Teachers Who Make a Difference. Read inspirational stories of other teachers to reinforce why you made the decision to teach.
- Why We Teach: Learning, Laughter, Love, and the Power to Transform Lives. This teacher shares real-life examples of inspirational stories from her classroom.
- Inside Mrs. B.’s Classroom : Courage, Hope, and Learning on Chicago’s South Side. Leslie Baldacci left her job as a journalist at the Chicago Sun-Times to become a teacher in a rough Chicago school. Her book touchingly tells of her work there in the midst of Chicago education reform.
Search through the following books to find positive methods of behavior management that will help you create a classroom where students are willing participants in their learning experience.
- Teaching with Love & Logic. Learn how to implement this positive approach to student behavior that will empower both teachers and students alike.
- Fred Jones Tools for Teaching: Discipline, Instruction, Motivation. New teachers will love this book for sharing the realities of the classroom and veteran teachers will enjoy the spark the ideas here will put back into their teaching.
- Discipline Survival Kit for the Secondary Teacher. High school teachers will not only learn how to better manage classroom behavior, but how to engage students and create a beneficial learning environment.
- Discipline in the Secondary Classroom: A Positive Approach to Behavior Management. Both new and veteran teachers will find practical strategies to prevent problems in the classroom and motivate students to get more from their education.
- One-Minute Discipline: Classroom Management Strategies That Work. Get many tips to help you create a positive and smooth-running classroom with this book.
- Elementary Classroom Management: Lessons from Research and Practice. Learn about research-based techniques as implemented by five master teachers that create a caring, yet orderly, classroom.
- Middle and Secondary Classroom Management: Lessons from Research and Practice. This is the middle and high school version of the previous book and follows four teachers who demonstrate effective and caring classroom management in the face of any adversity.
- Setting Limits in the Classroom, Revised: How to Move Beyond the Dance of Discipline in Today’s Classrooms. Written by an educational psychologist, this book provides positive no-nonsense advice for any teacher.
Whether you teach special education or have special education students in your classroom, these books provide a wealth of information to create a successful learning environment for all students.
- Love & Logic Solutions for Kids with Special Needs. If you appreciate the Love & Logic ideas, then you will want to check out this book that applies those same principles for students with special needs.
- Teaching Kids With Learning Difficulties in the Regular Classroom. Get a ton of information about teaching students with all types of abilities and challenges.
- Inclusion: 450 Strategies for Success. This award-winning book provides tips and strategies for successfully establishing and sustaining an inclusion classroom.
- Teaching Students Who Are Exceptional, Diverse, and at Risk in the General Education Classroom. This book shows how small modification can make a huge impact on all students in an inclusion classroom.
- Differentiated Instruction Guide for Inclusive Teaching. Get a step-by-step approach to identify and remove barriers to learning while creating an environment conducive to learning for all students.
- A Guide to Co-Teaching. Many inclusion students have more than one teacher. If you find you are sharing your students with other teachers, then this book is a great resource to benefit the student as well as all the teachers.
- The ADHD Book of Lists: A Practical Guide for Helping Children and Teens with Attention Deficit Disorders. This is an easy-to-use and comprehensive resource for anyone who works with students with attention deficit disorders.
- I Read It, but I Don’t Get It: Comprehension Strategies for Adolescent Readers. Middle and high school teachers who want to learn strategies for increasing students’ reading comprehension won’t want to miss this book.
- Exceptional Lives: Special Education in Today’s Schools. This book covers all the government regulations for special education, stories from real students and teachers, strategies for creating effective IEPs, and much more.
- Response to Intervention: A Practical Guide for Every Teacher. Learn why and how to use Response to Intervention to help struggling learners succeed.
These books offer plenty of ideas for incorporating technology into your classroom.
- Best Ideas for Teaching with Technology. Learn how to integrate technology into your teaching to enhance students’ experience.
- Literacy, Technology, and Diversity: Teaching for Success in Changing Times. Teachers of all experience levels will appreciate the strategies offered in this book to keep up with the rapidly changing technological environment in education.
- 6 Steps to Success in Teaching with Technology: A Guide to Using Technology in the Classroom. If you are seeking a book that will help you learn how to successfully incorporate technology in your classroom, this one will step you through the basics.
- The Computer Lab Teacher’s Survival Guide: K-6 Units for the Whole Year. This spiral-bound book is full of ideas and lesson plans that are flexible enough to adapt to any elementary class in the computer lab.
- Drupal for Education and eLearning. Made just for teachers, this book will have you learning to use Drupal to enhance your teaching experience.
- Moodle Administration. Learn all the steps from planning to implementing Moodle in your educational setting.
- Media Literacy in Schools: Practice, Production and Progression. This is a good resource for secondary teachers who would like to learn how to incorporate media literacy into their curriculum.
From Annie Sullivan to the fictional John Keating in Dead Poets Society, the following books tell inspirational stories of both real and fictional teachers.
- To Sir With Love. Overcoming prejudice and a classroom full of unruly students, ER Braithwaite finds a way to not only get control over the class, but inspire his students and forge touching relationships.
- Teacher: Anne Sullivan Macy. Written by Helen Keller, this book describes the relationship between this famous teacher-student pair.
- Dangerous Minds: They Were Problem Kids With One Last Chance . . . Her. LouAnne Johnson tells her poignant and inspirational story of the work she did with her students at an inner-city school.
- Holler If You Hear Me: The Education of a Teacher and His Students. A teacher in an urban middle school, Gregory Michie develops a teaching style that revolves more around his students’ lives than the prescribed teaching style of his district. This tale of his successes and failures is an inspiration for all teachers.
- Up the Down Staircase. This classic book demonstrates the similarities of teachers and students of all generations by exploring the idealistic attempts of a high school teacher.
- Good-Bye, Mr. Chips. A classic, this short novel tells a story of both romance and a teacher’s devotion to his profession.
- The Blackboard Jungle. Follow along as this teacher tries to reach his students despite a myriad of difficulties and violence within the school.
- Dead Poets Society. A popular classic movie, the book from which it was based is also worth a read to see how John Keating inspires his students through their study of literature.
These classics are part of a canon that all teachers should read–and many are worth sharing with older students.
- Wuthering Heights. This classic romance is a great piece of literature to share with students and you should read if you haven’t already.
- The Grapes of Wrath. Share this classic book that explores equality and justice in America during the Great Depression with your students.
- The Call of the Wild. Jack London’s tale of survival of the fittest from the dog’s perspective is one that every teacher needs to read.
- The Great Gatsby. This book offers a great exploration of morality, ethics, and society.
- Brave New World. A staple of many high schools, Aldous Huxley’s dystopian novel takes the reader to a futuristic society where humanity has taken a back seat to technology.
- Of Mice and Men. This touching story describes a special friendship as well as the struggle to survive.
- Animal Farm. Another popular book from secondary education’s canon, this famous allegory of the Russian Revolution teaches about society and politics.
- Doctor Zhivago. Love, fidelity, and loyalty are the themes of this classic novel.
- Middlemarch. The characters in this tale of a strong woman and an ambitious young doctor carry this novel.
- Pride and Prejudice. This classic tells a captivating story, has richly drawn characters, and is a must-read for teachers and students alike.
- To Kill a Mockingbird. Explore racism, justice, family ties, and more with your students when you share this classic novel.
- Mrs. Dalloway. This story of a day in the life of Mrs. Dalloway is a joy to read.
- The Good Earth. The devotion to family and the land that provides for the family in this book is a touching tale that shouldn’t be missed.
- Slaughterhouse Five. Vonnegut’s novel provides a vehicle of hope in a world driven by war and insanity.
- Frankenstein. Mary Shelly’s classic tale of the desire to control nature and personal responsibility is a must-read for everyone.
- Seize the Day. This short read delves inside the mind of a man in the midst of mid-life crisis as he struggles with what he should do.
- Howards End. Set in early 20th century England, this tale explores social class and society.
- The Sun Also Rises. Hemingway’s classic book of war should be on everyone’s reading list.
- The Catcher in the Rye. JD Salinger’s popular classic offers a great opportunity for students to identify with a character going through the difficult job of being a teenager.
- Heart of Darkness. This journey of self-exploration is one worth reading and may provide personal insight to the reader as well.
Share these classics with your students and enjoy them yourself whether it is the first time or a repeat reading for you.
- Charlotte’s Web. This classic tale of unconditional love will win your heart as well as that of your students.
- Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Follow Alice’s adventures through a topsy-turvy world where nothing is what it seems.
- Little Women. This timeless tale of family strength despite hard times is one that can be appreciated by all.
- Island of the Blue Dolphins. Teach students about resourcefulness in this adventure story of young Karana stranded on an island.
- The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Dorothy guides her famous group through Oz, stands up to the Wizard, and gets everyone what they need in this classic.
- Pippi Longstockings. Pippi stretches the truth and makes life seem fun even when faced with rules.
- Five Children and It. These children have recently moved from the city to the country and discover a magical sand-fairy who grants their wishes each day.
- Bridge to Terabithia. Friendship and imagination lifts these two children out of their everyday lives, until tragedy strikes.
- Heidi by Johanna Spyri. Heidi is a vivacious young girl who brings happiness to all she meets when she goes to stay with her family in the Alps.
- Matilda. The spunky, precocious Matilda learns to use her special talents for good as she finds unconditional love with a special teacher.
- Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH by Robert C. O’Brien. Friendship, community, technology, and nature come together in this sweet tale.
- Little House in the Big Woods. A family full of love and life on the early American frontier make for a classic loved by many.
