85 books like Why Did I Get a B? And Other Mysteries We're Discussing in the Faculty Lounge

By Shannon Reed,

Here are 85 books that Why Did I Get a B? And Other Mysteries We're Discussing in the Faculty Lounge fans have personally recommended if you like Why Did I Get a B? And Other Mysteries We're Discussing in the Faculty Lounge. Shepherd is a community of 10,000+ authors and super readers sharing their favorite books with the world.

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Book cover of Teacher Man: A Memoir

Jennifer Nelson Author Of Teaching with Heart: Lessons Learned in a Classroom

From my list on becoming a great teacher.

Why am I passionate about this?

For almost 20 years, I worked in public and private schools, first teaching with the Peace Corps in Niger and finally in a public high school in New Jersey. For a while, I didn’t feel I knew how to teach. I struggled to reach American teens. I thought they had attitude—and were nasty and lazy. I didn’t want to be in the classroom. But then matters turned around and I began to see how I could make a difference in their lives, enjoying the time I spent with them, and shaping them into decent, hardworking types. And, in the process, they all learned some French—and respected me.

Jennifer's book list on becoming a great teacher

Jennifer Nelson Why did Jennifer love this book?

A memoir by a high school teacher in New York, who explains how he learned how to work with disillusioned teenagers and make them care about learning.

He brings up what is going on in his personal life, adding an extra dimension to the story. I appreciated his struggles and honesty about what it takes to lead in a classroom, where not everyone is motivated to succeed.

Kudos to this author who made me see how it’s not always easy or fun to teach, but that it’s always worthwhile. He gave me the courage to stick to teaching even when sometimes I wanted to quit. 

By Frank McCourt,

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked Teacher Man as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Nearly a decade ago Frank McCourt became an unlikely star when, at the age of sixty-six, he burst onto the literary scene with Angela's Ashes, the Pulitzer Prize -- winning memoir of his childhood in Limerick, Ireland. Then came 'Tis, his glorious account of his early years in New York.

Now, here at last, is McCourt's long-awaited book about how his thirty-year teaching career shaped his second act as a writer. Teacher Man is also an urgent tribute to teachers everywhere. In bold and spirited prose featuring his irreverent wit and heartbreaking honesty, McCourt records the trials, triumphs and surprises…


Book cover of The Priority List: A Teacher's Final Quest to Discover Life's Greatest Lessons

Jennifer Nelson Author Of Teaching with Heart: Lessons Learned in a Classroom

From my list on becoming a great teacher.

Why am I passionate about this?

For almost 20 years, I worked in public and private schools, first teaching with the Peace Corps in Niger and finally in a public high school in New Jersey. For a while, I didn’t feel I knew how to teach. I struggled to reach American teens. I thought they had attitude—and were nasty and lazy. I didn’t want to be in the classroom. But then matters turned around and I began to see how I could make a difference in their lives, enjoying the time I spent with them, and shaping them into decent, hardworking types. And, in the process, they all learned some French—and respected me.

Jennifer's book list on becoming a great teacher

Jennifer Nelson Why did Jennifer love this book?

This tearjerker book made me want to get back to the classroom to make students feel as strongly about me as they had about David.

The author visits former students to find out how he impacted their lives. He has cancer and marital issues, but it doesn’t stop him for being positive and grateful about his encounters with students he taught in high school.

On his travels throughout the country, he slept on their couches, broke bread with them, and conversed with them for hours. He came to the conclusion that his life had been richer through knowing and guiding them into people he was proud of.

Through this book, I discovered the generosity of spirit that exists among educators as they create communities in classrooms that encourage growth and learning.

By David Menasche,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Priority List as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

In this “beautiful, heartfelt, and ultimately important story about love, kinship, gratitude, and miracles” (Elizabeth Gilbert, #1 New York Times bestselling author), a beloved high school English teacher with terminal brain cancer undertakes a cross-country journey to reunite with his former students in order to find out if he made a difference and discovers what is truly important in life along the way.

David Menasche lived for his work as a high school English teacher. His passion inspired his students, and between lessons on Shakespeare and sentence structure, he forged a unique bond with his kids, buoying them through personal…


Book cover of Teach Like a Champion: 49 Techniques That Put Students on the Path to College

Jennifer Nelson Author Of Teaching with Heart: Lessons Learned in a Classroom

From my list on becoming a great teacher.

Why am I passionate about this?

For almost 20 years, I worked in public and private schools, first teaching with the Peace Corps in Niger and finally in a public high school in New Jersey. For a while, I didn’t feel I knew how to teach. I struggled to reach American teens. I thought they had attitude—and were nasty and lazy. I didn’t want to be in the classroom. But then matters turned around and I began to see how I could make a difference in their lives, enjoying the time I spent with them, and shaping them into decent, hardworking types. And, in the process, they all learned some French—and respected me.

Jennifer's book list on becoming a great teacher

Jennifer Nelson Why did Jennifer love this book?

This book gave me hope that I could teach with practical tips on how to engage students, keep a lesson going at a decent pace, and discipline teens.

I learned the benefits of praising students, setting high expectations, and having fun in class. It made me aware of the importance of education equity in America.

By Doug Lemov,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Teach Like a Champion as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Teach Like a Champion offers effective teaching techniquesto help teachers, especially those in their first few years, becomechampions in the classroom. These powerful techniques are concrete,specific, and are easy to put into action the very next day.Training activities at the end of each chapter help the readerfurther their understanding through reflection and application ofthe ideas to their own practice. Among the techniques: * Technique #1: No Opt Out. How to move students from theblank stare or stubborn shrug to giving the right answer everytime. * Technique #35: Do It Again. When students fail tosuccessfully complete a basic task from entering…


Book cover of Anywhere but Bordeaux! Adventures of an American Teacher in France

Jennifer Nelson Author Of Teaching with Heart: Lessons Learned in a Classroom

From my list on becoming a great teacher.

Why am I passionate about this?

For almost 20 years, I worked in public and private schools, first teaching with the Peace Corps in Niger and finally in a public high school in New Jersey. For a while, I didn’t feel I knew how to teach. I struggled to reach American teens. I thought they had attitude—and were nasty and lazy. I didn’t want to be in the classroom. But then matters turned around and I began to see how I could make a difference in their lives, enjoying the time I spent with them, and shaping them into decent, hardworking types. And, in the process, they all learned some French—and respected me.

Jennifer's book list on becoming a great teacher

Jennifer Nelson Why did Jennifer love this book?

I enjoyed reading about an American teacher who spends a year teaching in a middle school in France.

She brings her husband with her, leaving behind a stable, well-established life in America, and views this an adventure. The struggles she faces as she realizes that living in a foreign country is much less romantic than she anticipated. It made me remember how I too found it tough living overseas as I adjusted to new cultures and learned new langauges.

I appreciated how she compared American culture with the French one, and how she let me know about her friendships with colleagues at her new school. I related to how she mastered thriving in a foreign culture, embracing the unknown, and understanding that the mysteries she uncovered were magical.

By Jacqueline King Donnelly,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Anywhere but Bordeaux! Adventures of an American Teacher in France as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Jacqueline Donnelly recounts with humor her ex-pat life teaching English in a middle school in Bordeaux, France. Hoping to escape her predictable American life in the States, she runs away in search of adventure and self-discovery.The story reveals daily life in France, and the encounters with wonderful and not so wonderful characters along the way.It is perfect reading for anyone tempted to run away and ideal for a book club.


Book cover of Happy Teachers Change the World: A Guide for Cultivating Mindfulness in Education

William Meyer Author Of Healing Breath: A Guided Meditation Through Nature for Kids

From my list on to make you rethink life and learning.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve been meditating for thirty years, leading meditations with students for the last decade, and most recently working with teachers to explore how they can deepen the experiences of their students by engaging in their inner lives. This work, as well as my own experiences in the classroom as an educator, makes the topic ideal for me to explore and share more about.

William's book list on to make you rethink life and learning

William Meyer Why did William love this book?

This book seems to be even more relevant today after the recent passing of Thich Nhat Hanh. Hanh was truly a groundbreaking monastic and peace activist. He introduced mindfulness to the west as well as the concept of “engaged contemplation.” I think Hanh’s book, Happy Teachers is the ultimate toolkit for bringing these practices fully into the classroom. It is so much more than just mindfulness, but a new way of seeing one’s own teaching and practice.

By Thich Nhat Hanh, Katherine Weare,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Happy Teachers Change the World as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Happy Teachers Change the World is the first official, authoritative manual of the Thich Nhat Hanh/Plum Village approach to mindfulness in education. Spanning the whole range of schools and grade levels, from preschool through higher education, these techniques are grounded in the everyday world of schools, colleges, and universities.

Beginning firmly with teachers and all those working with students, including administrators, counselors, and other personnel, the Plum Village approach stresses that educators must first establish their own mindfulness practice since everything they do in the classroom will be based on that foundation. The book includes easy-to-follow, step-by-step techniques perfected by…


Book cover of The Courage to Teach: Exploring the Inner Landscape of a Teacher's Life

Sue Knight Author Of NLP at Work: The Difference that Makes the Difference

From my list on supporting you in growing old (dis)gracefully.

Why am I passionate about this?

NLP at Work has led me to many different countries and experiences and, most of all, an ability to choose how I live my life. NLP; Neuro Linguistic Programming is a way of studying how we do what we do, especially when we do things that are outstanding. The difference that makes the difference is the strapline, and that difference is invariably some unconscious, intuitive act – often rooted in how we think and what we believe. I have sought to present both the tools to study in this kind of way and some of the results of that – the techniques that can be discovered with NLP.

Sue's book list on supporting you in growing old (dis)gracefully

Sue Knight Why did Sue love this book?

I am an NLP teacher and this book expresses all that I believe to be important about teaching and life. This is not a description of techniques but an inner journey to discover how to have the identity and integrity of a teacher whose teachings come from the heart. I quote, "When my students and I discover new uncharted territory to explore, when the pathway out of a thicket opens up before us, when our experience is illumined by the lightning life of the mind – then teaching is the finest work I know." And that approach and the way it is written about here is a metaphor for life. Profound truth, vulnerability, connectedness, not knowing, fearful heart... all these and more. This is how teaching should be. Books I love are filled with my post-it notes and this one is overflowing with them.

By Parker J. Palmer,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Courage to Teach as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Wisdom that's been inspiring, motivating, and guiding teachers for two decades

The Courage to Teach speaks to the joys and pains that teachers of every sort know well. Over the last 20 years, the book has helped countless educators reignite their passion, redirect their practice, and deal with the many pressures that accompany their vital work.

Enriched by a new Foreword from Diana Chapman Walsh, the book builds on a simple premise: good teaching can never be reduced to technique. Good teaching comes from the identity and integrity of the teacher, that core of self where intellect, emotion, and spirit…


Book cover of Uncommon Sense Teaching: Practical Insights in Brain Science to Help Students Learn

Regan A.R. Gurung Author Of Study Like a Champ: The Psychology-Based Guide to "Grade A" Study Habits

From my list on teachers who care about students and learning.

Why am I passionate about this?

I love to teach and to do research on teaching and learning. Little compares to seeing how students’ faces light up when they get it. I want more students to experience the experience of getting it. After teaching for 25 years, and taking a deep dive into the scientific literature on learning, I have accumulated some important insights that I share in my work as Executive Director of a teaching and learning center, with my students, and with faculty across the nation. Teaching is not an impromptu act. It is an art and a science and I revel in it. These books will light a fire in you.

Regan's book list on teachers who care about students and learning

Regan A.R. Gurung Why did Regan love this book?

Sure the brain is at the heart of all we do but how do we bridge the chasm between technical neuroscience and cognitive psychology, and what we do day to day in the classroom?

The book was packed with aha moments connecting specific practices such as why it is important to pause often in class to the science (it helps move information from working memory to long-term memory). With vivid examples, the authors make neuroscience palatable and pragmatic.

Also packed with activities you can directly use.

By Barbara Oakley, Beth Rogowsky, Terrence J. Sejnowski

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Uncommon Sense Teaching as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Top 10 Pick for Learning Ladders’ Best Books for Educators Summer 2021

A groundbreaking guide to improve teaching based on the latest research in neuroscience, from the bestselling author of A Mind for Numbers.

Neuroscientists and cognitive scientists have made enormous strides in understanding the brain and how we learn, but little of that insight has filtered down to the way teachers teach. Uncommon Sense Teaching applies this research to the classroom for teachers, parents, and anyone interested in improving education. Topics include:

  •  keeping students motivated and engaged, especially with online learning
  •  helping students remember information long-term, so…


Book cover of Powerful Teaching: Unleash the Science of Learning

Regan A.R. Gurung Author Of Study Like a Champ: The Psychology-Based Guide to "Grade A" Study Habits

From my list on teachers who care about students and learning.

Why am I passionate about this?

I love to teach and to do research on teaching and learning. Little compares to seeing how students’ faces light up when they get it. I want more students to experience the experience of getting it. After teaching for 25 years, and taking a deep dive into the scientific literature on learning, I have accumulated some important insights that I share in my work as Executive Director of a teaching and learning center, with my students, and with faculty across the nation. Teaching is not an impromptu act. It is an art and a science and I revel in it. These books will light a fire in you.

Regan's book list on teachers who care about students and learning

Regan A.R. Gurung Why did Regan love this book?

I love books with specific, pragmatic ways to change what I do in the classroom.

Every chapter of this book was packed with something I wanted to try. There are a lot of general suggestions floating around (e.g., more active learning), but what exactly does a teacher do?

This book is a great compliment to my book. The former gives students pragmatic tips, and this one is packed with examples for teachers. 

By Pooja K. Agarwal, Patrice M. Bain,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Powerful Teaching as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Unleash powerful teaching and the science of learning in your classroom

Powerful Teaching: Unleash the Science of Learning empowers educators to harness rigorous research on how students learn and unleash it in their classrooms. In this book, cognitive scientist Pooja K. Agarwal, Ph.D., and veteran K-12 teacher Patrice M. Bain, Ed.S., decipher cognitive science research and illustrate ways to successfully apply the science of learning in classrooms settings. This practical resource is filled with evidence-based strategies that are easily implemented in less than a minute-without additional prepping, grading, or funding!

Research demonstrates that these powerful strategies raise student achievement by…


Book cover of Teaching to Transgress: Education as the Practice of Freedom

Alex M. Thomas Author Of Macroeconomics: An Introduction

From my list on becoming a critical economist.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am passionate about the dissemination of economic ideas both inside and outside university spaces. In addition to classroom lectures at my university, I give a lot of public lectures on economics. Through these talks, I introduce the audience to the tradition of doing economics using a critical perspective. I have an MA and MPhil in Economics from the University of Hyderabad and a PhD in Economics from the University of Sydney.

Alex's book list on becoming a critical economist

Alex M. Thomas Why did Alex love this book?

I was introduced to bell hooks only later in my teaching career—after I had taught for 10 years.

And I read hooks immediately after reading Paulo Freire’s The Pedagogy of the Oppressed

This is a book on pedagogy, especially within a classroom with students from diverse social backgrounds. This is the book on critical pedagogy, I would say.

The training of economists will significantly benefit from engaging with the work of hooks.

By Bell Hooks,

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked Teaching to Transgress as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

"After reading Teaching to Transgress I am once again struck by bell hooks's never-ending, unquiet intellectual energy, an energy that makes her radical and loving." -- Paulo Freire

In Teaching to Transgress,bell hooks--writer, teacher, and insurgent black intellectual--writes about a new kind of education, education as the practice of freedom. Teaching students to "transgress" against racial, sexual, and class boundaries in order to achieve the gift of freedom is, for hooks, the teacher's most important goal.

bell hooks speaks to the heart of education today: how can we rethink teaching practices in the age of multiculturalism? What do we do…


Book cover of Teaching Critical Thinking: Practical Wisdom

Tom Chatfield Author Of How to Think: Your Essential Guide to Clear, Critical Thought

From my list on critical thinking.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’m an author, tech philosopher, father, geek, pianist, and novelist; and I'm fascinated by what it means to think clearly and well. Our world is bristling with complexities and crises; with staggering technologies, opportunities, and threats. What does it mean to find some kind of clarity, focus, and community amid this maelstrom? How can we hope to grasp, together, the nature of our times? These are the questions that keep me up at night—and that have driven me to write books that, I hope, can help and support people in rigorously exploring such questions for themselves.

Tom's book list on critical thinking

Tom Chatfield Why did Tom love this book?

This is a slim, passionate, personal book by one of the most significant American educators and activists of the last century. It’s part of her “teaching” trilogy (the other two books cover Community and Freedom) and is founded on the belief that “one could choose to educate for the practice of freedom.” Critical thinking is often treated as an emotionless, logical discipline, but this book shows how it’s rooted in a deep human longing for understanding—and is also vital to informed, equitable democratic participation. Teaching Critical Thinking is a profound testament to the significance of emotionally, politically, and intellectually engaged pedagogy – and why these three things are ultimately inseparable. 

By Bell Hooks,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Teaching Critical Thinking as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

In Teaching Critical Thinking, renowned cultural critic and progressive educator bell hooks addresses some of the most compelling issues facing teachers in and out of the classroom today.

In a series of short, accessible, and enlightening essays, hooks explores the confounding and sometimes controversial topics that teachers and students have urged her to address since the publication of the previous best-selling volumes in her Teaching series, Teaching to Transgress and Teaching Community. The issues are varied and broad, from whether meaningful teaching can take place in a large classroom setting to confronting issues of self-esteem. One professor, for example, asked…


5 book lists we think you will like!

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