Research and Reading

Brain Rules
by John Medina (Pear Press)

Our Annotation Medina presents a dozen research-supported "rules" for optimal brain functioning. Concise, easy-to-read, enjoyable, and highly informative!

Don't Miss The chapters on short term and long term memory—loaded with valuable insights!

Education Link Every chapter has implications for instructional practice, from how we design our schools to how we schedule our days!

Thinking Like Your Editor: How to Write Great Serious Nonfiction--And Get It Published
by Susan Rabiner and Alfred Fortunato
(WW Norton & Co Inc)

Writing Tools: 50 Essential Strategies for Every Writer
by Roy Peter Clark (Little Brown & Co)

A Writer's Coach: An Editor's Guide to Words That Work
by Jack Hart (Pantheon, 2006/Anchor Books, 2007)

Our Annotation Quite simply, this is the best book on writing. Hart takes a piece-bypiece approach in explaining the components of good writing and illustrates each with multiple examples and nonexamples. If you've got something to say and want to say it better, this is the book you're looking for!

Don't Miss The Cheat Sheet at the end of each chapter. I have these tabbed for quick reference.

Education Link This is the step-by-step approach we should use in teaching children to revise and edit their writing?one element at a time in each revision.

Five Minds for the Future
by Howard Gardner (Harvard Business School, 2007)

Our Annotation Gardner, the mind behind multiple intelligences, examines the future and identifies the thinking that will likely be most valued. The list is both logical and surprising, providing educators with new challenges for keeping instruction relevant.

Don't Miss The implied correlation between the five minds and influence.

Education Link For educators hoping to teach future world changers, Gardner offers a reasoned yet challenging vision.

Think!: Why Crucial Decisions Can't Be Made in the Blink of an Eye
by Michael R. LeGault (Threshold Editions, 2006)

Our Annotation Disturbed by the implications of Malcolm Gladwell's Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking, LeGault challenges readers to return to reason and connects many societal ills with our tendency to make emotional rather than thoughtfully considered choices.

Don't Miss The link LeGault makes between lessening stress and our thirst for knowledge in Chapter 7.

Education Link If we are to return to reason, our students must learn how to think well. This presents a challenge and a goal for educators at all levels.

The Anatomy of Hope: How People Prevail in the Face of Illness
by Jerome Groopman, M.D. (Random House, 2005)

Our Annotation Groopman beautifully analyzes hope, the sustaining force of individuals facing extraordinary circumstances. Groopman's interactions with patients perfectly illustrate his insights of true hope.

Don't Miss The breakthrough with a patient named Dan in Chapter 4. It illustrates how potent the past can be on the present.

Education Link When teachers lose hope, they've also lost vision, and without vision, teachers fulfill the actions of teaching without producing authentic learning.

Better: A Surgeon's Notes on Performance
by Atul Gawande (Metropolitan Books, 2007)

Our Annotation No matter the profession, everyone performs. Gawande applies a surgeon's mind to the art of improvement and identifies three key characteristics: diligence, doing right, and ingenuity. Challenging and inspiring, Better makes readers want to live up to its title.

Don't Miss Gawande's link between improvement and responsibility in the Introduction: The question is, having accepted the responsibility, how one does such work well.

Education Link Study after study confirms that the single most influential, school-based factor in a student's learning is the quality of the teacher in the classroom. We must be growing as individual teachers to promote true school improvement.

How Doctors Think
by Jerome Groopman , M.D. (Houghton Mifflin, 2007)

Our Annotation What are the most common errors doctors make in thinking and judgment? Groopman explores thinking through the stories of real patients, including himself, and real doctors, again, including himself. The book is instructive on many levels, including how to talk so doctors think and how to think better yourself.

Don't Miss The unforgettable and beautiful story of Rachel and Shira in Chapter 5 and the link between pattern recognition and correct diagnosis in Chapter 7.

Education Link How people think and the errors they make has implications for teaching students to think well (and the errors we educators may make in our thinking).

The Creative Brain: The Science of Genius
by Nancy C. Andreasen (Plume Books, 2006)

Our Annotation Do the brains and thinking of extraordinarily creative individuals differ from those of ordinary people? Nancy C. Andreasen explores the characteristics of the creative mind and components of the creative process. One of the best books on creativity published!

Don't Miss The great insight regarding brain activity in creativity's initial stages (Chapter 3).

Education Link Creativity enhances learning, whether its the teacher's creativity in developing lessons or the student's creativity in processing new learning.

Research-Based Strategies to Ignite Student Learning
by Judy Willis, M.D. (ASCD, 2006)

Our Annotation As a neurologist and teacher, Willis presents deep insights and practical suggestions for teaching in accordance with brain functioning. This is probably the best book on neuroscientific research and education published within the last year.

Don't Miss The great explanation of the relationship between pattern and memory in Chapter 1.

Education Link Memory, attention, instructional atmosphere, and assessment are all discussed in depth.

How People Learn: Brain, Mind, Experience, and School
by John Bransford, Ann L. Brown, Rodney R. Cocking (National Academy Press, 2000)

Our Annotation Though a few years have passed since its publication, I still consider this to be one of the best books on learning ever produced. The detailed analysis of expert knowledge and its numerous implications for instruction make this mustreading for educators.

Don't Miss The whole book—there is great material on every page of every chapter!

Education Link Learning is the book's central focus.

Habits of the Mind
by James W. Sire (InterVarsity Press, 2000)

Our Annotation Sire directly addresses thinking (which he does astoundingly well) and how to use the mind for more than personal gain. One of the few books I've read repeatedly and can't wait to read again!

Don't Miss Sire's definition of an intellectual in Chapter 1.

Education Link Thinking enhances learning—in fact, it is the only means of intentional learning.