Check Out These Three New Radical Reads!

Posted by Bill Ferriter on Thursday, 05/07/2015

CTQ

With another school year coming to an end and summer right around the corner, my guess is that at least a FEW members of Radical Nation are starting to stock up on professional reads to challenge their practice during one of the best times to dig deep into new instructional ideas.  Reflection is always easier in July, isn't it?

To that end, I wanted to introduce you to the three new books that I've had published this month.  They are all extensions of the content that I share here on the Radical -- so if you dig my blog, give 'em a look:

Creating Purpose-Driven Learning Experiences(link is external) (80 pages):  Creating Purpose-Driven Learning Experiences makes a simple argument:  If we want to create highly engaged learning spaces, we need to center our studies around real-world problems.  The text details the work that my students do to fight world poverty and to raise awareness about the amount of sugar in the foods that we eat on a regular basis.  A quick read that you can finish in about an hour, Creating Purpose-Driven Learning Experiences will challenge you to give students the chance to make a tangible difference in their worlds while simultaneously mastering the knowledge and skills necessary to succeed in tomorrow's world.

Teaching the iGeneration, Second Edition(link is external) (200 pages):  One of the messages that I push in every conversation about preparing today's kids for tomorrow's world is that our work needs to center around the kinds of essential skills that define successful individuals.  In this updated version Teaching the iGeneration, I introduce readers to best practices for helping students to master five of these skills:  Managing and evaluating information, building knowledge through collaborative dialogue, being persuasive -- both verbally and visually, and solving challenging problems together.  I also introduce readers to a set of core digital tools to faciliate these kinds of core behaviors in our classrooms.

How to Use Digital Tools to Support Teachers in a PLC(link is external) (72 pages):  I haven't hidden the fact that few opportunities have changed me more as a practitioner than the chance that I've had to work as member of a professional learning community.  I am a better teacher because I am open to the challenge of my peers.  But collaboration hasn't ever been easy because it depends on sharing, coordination and collective action -- practices that can be time-consuming and inefficient.  In How to Use Digital Tools to Support Teachers in a PLC, I introduce readers to a set of tools and services that can facilitate the core behaviors of collaborative groups. My central message is a simple one:  Digital tools can make collaboration easier for everyone.

If you are a Prime shopper or a Kindle user, I'm sure that all three titles are also available on Amazon.  Just remember that if you search on Amazon for Teaching the iGeneration, be sure to pick up the second edition!  Chances are that they are still selling the first edition as well.

You can also purchase individual chapters of each title from my Author's Page on Slicebooks(link is external).  That might be a great way to get a taste of all three titles.

And a quick favor to ask:  If you read any of these titles, I hope you will stop back here to the Radical to let me know what you think!  I'm CONSTANTLY refining my own thinking about teaching and learning -- and your feedback on my ideas plays a central role in who I am as a practitioner.

#LOVEthat

#happyreading