Online Book Studies for 2023-24
This is our sixth year of hosting book studies on TeachIllinois, and we are able to offer them 100% free thanks to generous support from the Area 5 SEL Hub Grant, courtesy of the Illinois State Board of Education (that's why they're all SEL-related, in case you wondered/noticed!). This year's titles were selected with intention - sometimes because of the author/illustrator, the title, or the subject.
You need to find your own copy of the book. It can be borrowed or bought. It can be an e-book, an audio book, or a traditional print book. You will have to cite textual evidence, so make sure you understand how to bookmark the format you choose!
The format will be week-long chats about a given section of the book. For example, week one of the Book Study will be when people post their own takeaways and respond to other readers' posts for the first quarter of the text. Week 2 will be for the second quarter of the book, etc. Matt Weld will moderate each title, and we are in talks with some of the authors to have them join in for a final 'meet the author' session. Those will be virtual and optional.
You need to find your own copy of the book. It can be borrowed or bought. It can be an e-book, an audio book, or a traditional print book. You will have to cite textual evidence, so make sure you understand how to bookmark the format you choose!
The format will be week-long chats about a given section of the book. For example, week one of the Book Study will be when people post their own takeaways and respond to other readers' posts for the first quarter of the text. Week 2 will be for the second quarter of the book, etc. Matt Weld will moderate each title, and we are in talks with some of the authors to have them join in for a final 'meet the author' session. Those will be virtual and optional.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS and SOCIAL MEDIA GRAPHICS / FLYER at the bottom of this page.
TO REGISTER:
- Log In (or create a new account - it's free to join) at TeachIllinois.org
- Find the e-course that matches the book study you'd like to join.
- Register
- Start Reading and join the conversation on the start date!
September - Motivating Students Who Don't Care: Proven Strategies to Engage All Learners, by Allen Mendler ( 5 PD Hours)
This book is a comprehensive and practical guide for reconnecting with discouraged students and reawakening their excitement and enthusiasm for learning. With proven strategies from the classroom, Dr. Mendler identifies five effective processes you can use to reawaken motivation in students who aren't prepared, don't care, and won't work. These processes include emphasizing effort, creating hope, respecting power, building relationships, and expressing enthusiasm. [From Amazon]
STARTS 9/5/23
October - Relationship, Responsibility and Regulation: Trauma-Invested Practices for Fostering Resilient Learners, by Kristin Souers with Pete Hall (7 PD Hours)
In this stirring follow-up to the award-winning Fostering Resilient Learners, Kristin Van Marter Souers and Pete Hall take you to the next level of trauma-invested practice. To get there, they explain, educators need to build a ""nest""—a positive learning environment shaped by three new Rs of education: relationship, responsibility, and regulation.
Drawing from their extensive experience working with schools, students, and families throughout the country, the authors:
- Explain how to create a culture of safety in which everyone feels valued, important, and capable of learning.
- Describe the four areas of need—emotional, relational, physical, and control—that drive student behaviors and show how to meet these needs with interventions framed around the new three Rs.
- Illustrate trauma-invested practices in action through real scenarios that identify students' unmet needs, examine the situation from five stakeholder perspectives, and suggest interventions to support students and their families.
- Offer opportunities to challenge your beliefs and develop deeper and different ways of thinking about your role in your students' lives.
STARTS 10/2/23
November - Why Won't You Apologize? Healing Big Betrayals and Everyday Hurts, by Harriet Lerner. (7.0 PD Hours)
Renowned psychologist and best-selling author of The Dance of Anger sheds new light on the two most important words in the English language - I'm sorry - and offers a unique perspective on the challenge of healing broken connections and restoring trust.
Dr. Harriet Lerner has been studying apologies - and why some people won't give them - for more than two decades. Now she offers compelling stories and solid theory that bring home how much the simple apology matters and what is required for healing when the hurt we've inflicted (or received) is far from simple. Listeners will learn how to craft a deeply meaningful "I'm sorry" and avoid apologies that only deepen the original injury.
Why Won't You Apologize? also addresses the compelling needs of the injured party - the one who has been hurt by someone who won't apologize, tell the truth, or feel remorse. Lerner explains what drives both the non-apologizer and the over-apologizer, as well as why the people who do the worst things are the least able to own up. She helps the injured person resist pressure to forgive too easily and challenges the popular notion that forgiveness is the only path to peace of mind. With her trademark humor and wit, Lerner offers a joyful and sanity-saving guide to setting things right. [From Amazon]
STARTS 11/6/23
January - Whole Child, Whole Life: 10 Ways to Help Kids Live, Learn, & Thrive, by Stephanie Malia Krauss. (5.0 PD Hours)
In a world that seems to grow more unpredictable and challenging by the day, how can we increase learning and joy for children while offering them much-needed support?
Uncertainty and disruption have created a youth mental health crisis that requires all hands on deck. This urgently needed guidebook offers comprehensive and scientifically-grounded methods you can use to support young people’s well-being, no matter what obstacles they face. Written by an expert with decades of experience in education, youth development, and social work, this timely and timeless resource includes:
- 10 practices that can prevent and address mental health challenges and enable young people to thrive
- Strategies for taking care of kids while also taking care of yourself
- Information on the most pressing issues youth face, from nurturing healthy relationships to building community and belonging
- Key takeaways and reflection questions for individual use and group discussion as well as "Try Now" sections with tips and tools that can be used immediately
Providing essential information, practical advice, stories, and time-tested strategies to help kids live and learn, Whole Child, Whole Life is required reading for anyone who is working with, caring for, or raising young people. [From Amazon]
STARTS 1/8/2024
February - Emotional Inheritance: A Therapist, Her Patients, and the Legacy of Trauma, by Gailit Atlas. (9.0 PD Hours)
Award-winning psychoanalyst Dr. Galit Atlas draws on her patients' stories—and her own life experiences—to shed light on how generational trauma affects our lives in this "intimate, textured, compassionate" book (Jon Kabat-Zinn, author of The Healing Power of Mindfulness).
The people we love and those who raised us live inside us; we experience their emotional pain, we dream their memories, and these things shape our lives in ways we don’t always recognize. Emotional Inheritance is about family secrets that keep us from living to our full potential, create gaps between what we want for ourselves and what we are able to have, and haunt us like ghosts.
In this transformative book, Galit Atlas entwines the stories of her patients, her own stories, and decades of research to help us identify the links between our life struggles and the “emotional inheritance” we all carry. For it is only by following the traces those ghosts leave that we can truly change our destiny. [From Amazon]
STARTS 2/5/2024
The people we love and those who raised us live inside us; we experience their emotional pain, we dream their memories, and these things shape our lives in ways we don’t always recognize. Emotional Inheritance is about family secrets that keep us from living to our full potential, create gaps between what we want for ourselves and what we are able to have, and haunt us like ghosts.
In this transformative book, Galit Atlas entwines the stories of her patients, her own stories, and decades of research to help us identify the links between our life struggles and the “emotional inheritance” we all carry. For it is only by following the traces those ghosts leave that we can truly change our destiny. [From Amazon]
STARTS 2/5/2024
March - Implicit Bias: An Educator's Guide to the Language of Microaggressions, by Anni Reinking (7 PD Hours)
Educator implicit bias is often experienced by students of varying identities as microaggressions. In this book the authors define implicit bias and microaggressions, identify ways students of varying identities such as race, gender/LGBTQ+, religion, socioeconomic, ability, linguistic and family dynamics, experience microaggressions in schools, and offer an educator’s guide to using culturally responsive teaching as an antidote to microaggressions. We also provide specific ways to interrupt microaggressions in schools. [From Amazon]
STARTS 3/4/2024
April - Hacking School Discipline: 9 Ways to Create a Culture of Empathy and Responsibility Using Restorative Justice, by Nathan Maynard & Brad Weinstein (7.0 PD Hours)
WASHINGTON POST BESTSELLER
Eliminate old-school punishments and create a community of responsible, productive learners
Are you or your teachers frustrated with carrots and sticks, detention rooms, and suspension--antiquated school discipline practices that simply do not work with the students entering our classrooms today? Our kids have complex needs, and we must empower and embrace them with restorative practices that not only change behaviors but transform students into productive citizens, accountable for their own actions.
Replace traditional school discipline with a proven system, founded on restorative justice
In a book that should become your new blueprint for school discipline, teachers, presenters, and school leaders Nathan Maynard and Brad Weinstein demonstrate how to eliminate punishment and build a culture of responsible students and independent learners. In Hack Learning Series Book 22, you learn to:
Before you suspend another student ...
...read Hacking School Discipline, and build a school environment that promotes responsible learners, who never need to be punished. Then watch learning soar, teachers smile, and your entire community rejoice. [From Amazon]
STARTS 4/1/2024
WASHINGTON POST BESTSELLER
Eliminate old-school punishments and create a community of responsible, productive learners
Are you or your teachers frustrated with carrots and sticks, detention rooms, and suspension--antiquated school discipline practices that simply do not work with the students entering our classrooms today? Our kids have complex needs, and we must empower and embrace them with restorative practices that not only change behaviors but transform students into productive citizens, accountable for their own actions.
Replace traditional school discipline with a proven system, founded on restorative justice
In a book that should become your new blueprint for school discipline, teachers, presenters, and school leaders Nathan Maynard and Brad Weinstein demonstrate how to eliminate punishment and build a culture of responsible students and independent learners. In Hack Learning Series Book 22, you learn to:
- Reduce repeated negative behaviors
- Build student self-regulation and empathy
- Enhance communication and collaboration
- Identify the true cause of negative behaviors
- Use restorative circles to reflect on behaviors and discuss impactful change
Before you suspend another student ...
...read Hacking School Discipline, and build a school environment that promotes responsible learners, who never need to be punished. Then watch learning soar, teachers smile, and your entire community rejoice. [From Amazon]
STARTS 4/1/2024
Book Study FAQs
How much does a book study cost?
Each book study is $Free for the 23-24 school year and that does NOT include the book.
Is the book itself included in the price?
No, each person is responsible for finding their own text. It can be purchase or borrowed. It can be electronic, audio, or print. Basically, it doesn't matter how you get it.
How much time does it take? What do I have to do?
Not counting the actual reading which varies widely by individual, each person has to post their own takeaway and respond to at least two other people's posts in the Forum section. At the end, there will be a 250+ word reflection on how you will apply this to your professional responsibilities.
How many PD Hours is it worth?
Each book's PD value will be determined based on its length. You can find those values in each course's title and description within TeachIllinois.
How am I graded?
The moderator will keep track of your participation in the forum, and will assess your final reflection based on the rubric outlined within each course. At the end, you will receive feedback on your work and a pass/fail grade (80% or above). No partial credit (PD hours) are awarded.
I'd like for my staff to be involved. Is there a group rate?
A group rate isn't necessary for free book studies, although we can help out with group registration. Use the orange 'Contact Us' tab at the bottom of your screen and we'll send a blank spreadsheet.
I've been wanting to put my school's/district's book studies online. Can we do that on TeachIllinois?
Yes! There are different levels, based on several factors such as whether or not you moderate, whether it's private for your school/district, etc. Contact Matt for information.
This is a great resource! How can I share?
Fantastic! The more the merrier (and the better the conversation). You can use the following resource: FLYER (PDF)
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