It's Monday, what are you reading?

Hello, Universe by Erin Entrada Kelly (realistic fiction, grades 4-6)

Do you believe in fate? Virgil is shy and quiet, Valencia is brave and spirited, Kaori is a budding fortune teller, and Chet is a bully, and they barely know each other until one event forces their lives to intersect and changes to occur.  Chet has always been mean to Virgil and Valencia.  One day, he takes things too far and Virgil (and his pet guinea pig) go missing.  Can Valencia and Kaori team up and use their skills to find Virgil before it's too late?  Can Virgil find his "voice" and save himself?  If you like stories that have alternating points of view or stories where the bully gets defeated, then you'll like this award-winning book!

The Innovator's Mindset by George Couros 

I love how our administrators are always looking for new ideas and they are always challenging us to think deeper about our teaching.  This summer, we were each given a copy of The Innovator's Mindset to read. When author George Couros announced in early July that he was starting an Instagram book study for the book, I jumped on board.  With the book study, we read one chapter each day and then discussed the chapter on Instagram.  George also posted a video reflection about each chapter and encouraged us to try to find new ways of sharing what we were learning.

The Innovator's Mindset is an excellent professional development book about what innovation is (and isn't) and what we can do to encourage innovation with ourselves and our students. The author presents the idea that innovation begins with empathy (asking "What does THIS learner need"), challenges us to move beyond engagement to empowerment (equipping students with the skills they need to drive their own learning), and encourages educators to become more reflective of their practice through blogging and sharing on social media.  We cannot be innovative if we are not connected to other educators around the world.  I became active on Twitter about 3 years ago and my teaching was transformed because of the ideas I found so I wholeheartedly agree with this!  Here is a short video reflection sharing these main ideas:

I loved everything about this book and encourage all educators to read it!  If you have read it, please share ways that you are planning on incorporating the ideas into your teaching in the comments below!

Happy reading!