School is out and it’s time to get serious about reading. Most teachers do some professional reading during the school year, but we seldom have an opportunity to read a book with a colleague and then discuss it. We’re all just too busy to coordinate a book club and keep it going. Summer (for teachers) is different. We have more time to read and reflect, but we don’t see each other every day, and face-to-face discussion just doesn’t happen. So, I’m ready to try something new. Consider this your invitation to join me in a summer virtual book club. Here’s how it works:
- I’ll read a book that interests me and write a post on this blog with my impressions and thoughts about it. I’ll let you know the title several days in advance so you can get the book and read it too, if you want.
- You read the post and respond to it in the comments. If you’ve read the book, we can argue about what it all means. (This is always fun!)
- If you haven’t read the book, you can ask questions of those who have read the book so you can decide if you want to read it.
- Or, you can just lurk on this blog, reading as much or as little as you want. Maybe you’ll want to join the conversation later.
- If you’re very brave, you can write a post about a book you’ve read and I’ll publish it here. (Contact me if you want to be a contributor.)
- At the end of the summer we’ll stop and I’ll put this blog on hold because, honestly, I don’t have time for this during the school year. We can start it up again in June 2016.
Interested? To get started, just type in your email address and click on the Follow button at the bottom of this page. Then you will receive a message every time there’s a new post. Clicking on a link in the message will bring you here where you can read about the books and comment if you want. Simple, right? The first book I’ll read is Assessment 3.0 by Mark Barnes. Okay, I’ll admit that I’ve already read it, but I’ll read it again and post about it this weekend. You can buy it from the publisher, Corwin Press or get it from Amazon. (There’s a Kindle version too.) The ideas in this book are revolutionary and should lead to a great discussion because everyone has an opinion about grades and grading practices. So, let me know what you think and watch for a new post in a few days. By the way, I read fiction too, but more about that later… Happy summer reading!
Teaching Teachers 
Hi Barbara,
If we want to start our own thread on another book is that possible or do I just make a recommendation to you?
I suggest that we read 50 Myths and Lies that Threaten America’s Public Schools.
Shawn, I’m sending you an invitation to be an author on this blog. You can write a post about the book and encourage others to read and discuss it. (I just bought the Kindle edition so it’s on my reading list now.) Anyone else want to be an author? The more the merrier!