#mtboschallenge Week 2: Professional Books

This is Week 2 of the #mtboschallenge on twitter.  The challenge is to blog once a week for the remainder of 2014.  Each Saturday there will be a different prompt shared to blog about.  The prompt will be shared prior to Saturday on twitter using #mtboschallenge  You can link up on my blog (or any other blog that shares the link up). Also link your blog post on twitter with #mtboschallenge .  You can copy the following graphic into your blog post.  Each Sunday @druinok from  Teaching Statistics will host a 3-2-1 Summary prompt where you can blog about anything you choose.  We really hope you join the challenge!

This week's prompt is "Professional Books".  Please share one or more professional books that you've read and loved, are currently reading, or have on your need to read list.  These books can be about math or anything education related.  It's always great to see what other people are reading and better yet, what books they found to be worthwhile.  I am constantly adding books to my Amazon cart based on recommendations I get on twitter.  Feel free to post about an article you read rather than a book if you prefer.  The point of this challenge is getting you blogging every week, the prompt is just to inspire your thoughts.  Be sure to add your link at the bottom of this post so everyone will see your blog post!

Week 2:  Professional Books

I consider myself a bit of a professional book hoarder. I hear about a great book on twitter or in a blog post and then I feel compelled to add it to my Amazon cart.  Luckily I get lots of Amazon gift cards for my birthday and Christmas to support my professional book addiction reading.

A little background for anyone new to my blog.  I teach 7th grade math in WI using CC aligned Carnegie Learning curriculum with a workshop model of delivery.  This year I really want to focus on my math students having a growth mindset.  This has inspired many the books I'm sharing with you today.  This is just a fraction of my professional collection, but I am sharing some of my very favorite books today.

I think two of the very best/most important books for any math educator to read are Accessible Mathematics and Sensible Mathematics by steveleinwand.com or follow him on twitter here @steve_leinwand. I read Accessible Mathematics a few years ago as part of a K-12 Math Review Committee I helped lead.  I had the pleasure of hearing Steve speak at the WI Math Leadership Council meeting a few years ago when I was a Middle School Math Liaison. He is an inspiring speaker and a champion of improving math education in the US. Sensible Mathematics is geared to school leaders, but another great read for any math educator.

Two of the best books on math education.

My book signed by Steve.

A few years ago I read Carol Dweck's book Mindset.  I don't have a photo of it because I let my husband borrow it and don't know where he has it stashed.  Two books I purchased to help my promote a growth mindset in my math classroom this year are Classroom Habitudes and Mindsets in the Classroom.  I'm currently reading both of these books.  If you are looking to incorporate Growth Mindset in your classroom I would recommend either or both of them.

Two great books for Growth Mindset in your classroom

I use a workshop model delivery in my classroom.  I participated in a book study on Guided Math by Laney Sammons a few summers ago.  It is definitely geared toward elementary level, but I really found it helpful and informative to me.  Last summer I hosted a book study on Minds on Mathematics by Wendy Ward Hoffer.  This book was an excellent resource for planning on setting up workshop in my 7th grade classroom because it was geared to grades 4-8.  This summer I have been reading Guided Math Conferences by Laney Sammons as conferring is an area of workshop I definitely need to improve on.

Love both of these!

Ratio and Proportional Reasoning is the most important CC domain of 6th/7th grade.  Our first two chapters of Carnegie cover this.  I have been using these three books this summer to further my understanding of the important concepts related to proportional reasoning.  It's All Relative by Anne Collins & Linda Dacey would be an excellent resource for any 6th or 7th grade math teacher.  If I have to choose just one book to help my understanding/planning I would choose this one.  I could devote an entire post to this book alone.  The other two books are also a great resource.

Great resources to help in your understanding or Ratio and Proportional Reasoning

If I had to choose only one book to recommend to a math teacher to help them in planning and understanding the math concepts they teach it would be Elementary and Middle School Mathematics Teaching Developmentally by John VanDeWalle, Karen Karp, and Jennifer Bay-Williams.  I think this may actually be the textbook used in some college math programs.  It came recommended to me years ago when I first started blogging.  I purchased the 2013 edition and let me tell you it's not for the faint of heart.  It was the most expensive book I have ever purchased (other than maybe college textbooks).  This is my bible when it comes to finding information on a math concept I am teaching.  This book also deserves its own blog post.

The bible of math education K-8

This year I will be responsible for working with all Tier 2 Math Intervention students in 7th grade.  Last year they worked with our math interventionist, but this year I will be responsible for Tier 2 RTI.  This was highly recommended on twitter during #sunchat one week and my principal was nice enough to order it for me and have it delivered to my house this summer.  I have been perusing it throughout the summer and will be using it as a resource once school begins and my Tier 2 intervention group starts. I see another possible blog post.

Math RTI

These are other books I purchased this summer or just wanted to share.  I started reading The Together Teacher by Maia Heyck-Merlin on vacation this summer, but didn't get too far.  I have had Embedded formative assessment by Dylan William for awhile and have used some of the techniques in his book. This is an excellent resource for creating a toolkit of formative assessment techniques.  I highly recommend it.  The rest of the books are on my future reading list.  They are all great books that came highly recommended and I'm looking forward to reading them. 

All on my reading list

I can't wait to see what everyone else is reading or highly recommends.  I have a feeling that this weekly prompt just might cause my Amazon cart to overflow. Thanks for joining in and linking up your blog posts everyone. Please read and comment on others blog posts shared below.  I can wait to read what you all are reading.

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