Teachers push their students to read over the summer, and for good reason. Regularly reading in summer months when school鈥檚 not in session has been tied to all sorts of , from preventing a loss of literacy skills to improving reading proficiency to building a lifelong affinity for pleasure reading.
But summer reading isn鈥檛 just for students.
Without the daily demands of the classroom and the work that so many teachers take home to do in the evenings and weekends throughout the school year, summer presents perhaps the best opportunity to squeeze in reading鈥攐ther than poring over curricula objectives and student essays, that is.
So, what鈥檚 on teachers鈥� reading list this summer?
91直播 posed the question to teachers in an unscientific online poll earlier this month. The robust level of responses assured us that teachers do, in fact, practice what they preach鈥攁t least with regards to summer reading.
Based on our sample, it appears that teachers choose to read a bit of everything: fantasy, historical accounts, educational pedagogy, science fiction, classics, how-to, inspirational, escapist, and pretty much every other genre out there.
The following selection of books, culled from teachers鈥� summer reading lists, provides a window into the active, curious minds of educators. Responses were edited for length and clarity.
Selections that show some teachers鈥� minds never stray far from their job
I鈥檓 reading a lot of the books in my classroom library in order to place them on a new rubric our district just introduced. I鈥檝e read Kira Salak鈥檚 鈥淭he Cruelest Journey: 600 Miles to Timbuktu,鈥� Caroline van Hemert鈥檚 鈥淭he Sun is a Compass: 6,000 Miles Into the Alaskan Wilds,鈥� Natalie Babbitt鈥檚 鈥淭uck Everlasting,鈥� and Victoria Aveyard鈥檚 鈥淩ed Queen.鈥�
I鈥檓 still working on Erin Morgenstern鈥檚 鈥淭he Night Circus,鈥� Stephen King鈥檚 鈥淚nsomnia,鈥� Amy Tan鈥檚 鈥淪aving Fish from Drowning,鈥� and a few other titles that I need to become more familiar with for student benefit.
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I鈥檓 reading topics involving differentiating in the modern classroom as well as effective literacy instruction, to name a few.
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鈥淯nreasonable Hospitality鈥� by Will Guidara, 鈥淭he Anxious Generation鈥� by Jonathan Haidt, and 鈥淏ad Therapy鈥� by Abigail Shrier.
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Book lists that suggest a voracious appetite for learning
Service manual for Daddy鈥檚 last car, 茅tude study and intonation practice intervals for double bass, Stephen Hawkings鈥� 鈥漊niverse鈥� and Arthur C. Clarke鈥檚 鈥�3001: The Final Odyssey.鈥�
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Just finished 鈥淐o-Intelligence: Living and Working with AI鈥� by Ethan Mollick; finally read 鈥淎tomic Habits: Tiny Changes, Remarkable Results鈥� by James Clear; and, just for fun: 鈥淭he Paris Novel,鈥� by Ruth Reichl, which was delightful!
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The Cesar Chavez autobiography, 鈥淚t鈥� by Stephen King, 鈥淭he Radical and the Republican: Frederick Douglass, Abraham Lincoln, and the Triumph of Antislavery Politics鈥� by James Oakes, 鈥淩aising Critical Thinkers鈥� by Julie Bogart, 鈥淪ay Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland鈥� by Patrick Radden Keefe.
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鈥淭he Power of Moments: Why Certain Experiences Have Extraordinary Impact鈥� by Chip Heath and Dan Heath.
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Without reading too much into it, this respondent鈥檚 last selection leaves us pondering his intentions:
鈥淭his Side of Paradise,鈥� by F. Scott Fitzgerald, and 鈥淗ow to Retire Earlier,鈥� by Robert Charlton.
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Read all the responses to the original LinkedIn post . And check out 91直播鈥檚 own recommendations for additional summer reads and podcasts:
