home

=CRACK THE CODE=

A wiki featuring books every graduate student in the school of education at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro should read.


 * EVERYONE CAN CONTRIBUTE** - just click "edit" in the top right corner and add your book and its description. Click the "chain" button to add a link. Click the "file" button to add a photo or PDF or Word document. Try to place your book under a category, or make a new category. And let's try to keep it alphabetical order for easy browsing! Please move any book that you think might be better under a different heading.

Email whpurcel@uncge.edu with any questions.

=BOOKLIST=

=Black Masculinity= gggg

=Critical Race Theory=

(ISBN-13: 9781442202184) //In this text, Bonilla-Silva deconstructs the popular assumption that racism no longer exists in U.S. America, instead arguing that "color-blindness" is in fact the new racism of society today. In his efforts to "describe the main components of color-blind racism and explain their functions" (p. 13), the author forces readers to examine and re-examine their own assumptions about race and identity in society today, challenging us to confront the future of race relations given our inability and/or unwillingness to confront the everyday persistence of racism in U.S. America.// Bonilla-Silva, E. (2006). //Racism without racists: Color-blind racism and the persistence of racial inequality in the United States// (2nd ed). Boulder, CO: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
 * //Racism without Racists: Color-Blind Racism and the Persistence of Racial Inequity in the United States// **- Eduardo Bonilla-Silva

"Yearning: Race, Gender, and Cultural Politics" **bell hooks (1990)**
 * hooks is references several times in __Integration Matters__ by Dr. Gause, so I was reminded of this book. She talks about the margin in terms of being a marginalized person, yet she talks about how this margin can be reclaimed and used as a site of resistance against oppression. Since we have read so much about marginalized students in this course, I thought this book fit in and had a somewhat upbeat tone about it.**
 * One article that really gets at this point is:**
 * hooks, b. (1990). Choosing the margin as a space of radical openness. In //Yearning: race, gender, and cultural politics// (pp. 145-155). Boston, MA: South End Press.**
 * --I like this article because it offers a way for people that are oppressed and silenced to gain back their agency, gain pride in their marginalized position, and understand how they can operate in two different cultures without compromising themselves.**

=Democracy=

= =

= = =Disability Critical Theory=

**Equity and Equality**

**Feminist Theory**

= //Women Without Class: Girls, Race, and Identity// **- Julie Bettie (ISBN-13: 9780520235427) //The intersection of race, class, and gender is a topic that continues to be highlighted in many of our Blackboard discussion posts. The author of// //Women Without Class does an amazing job articulating and depicting these social constructions in her investigation of the transitional experiences of both Latina and White female students at an urban California highs chool. Bettie spent an entire academic year interviewing and getting to know these women and provides amazing insight into how race, class, and gender together construct individual identity. This is actually her published dissertation and may especially be of interest for those of you who will soon begin the dissertation process!// Bettie, J. (2003). //Women without class: Girls, race, and identity.// Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.

History of School
//The American School—1642–2004 -// **Joel Spring (ISBN-13: 9780072875669)** **//We read this book in Dr. V's History of Ed class. A true look at the history of education in the United States. A real eye-opener!//**

=LatCrit=

=Pedagogy=

//From the Publisher:// **This book is for teachers who have good days and bad — and whose bad days bring the suffering that comes only from something one loves. It is for teachers who refuse to harden their hearts, because they love learners, learning, and the teaching life." — Parker J. Palmer [from the Introduction]** **For many years, Parker Palmer has worked on behalf of teachers and others who choose their vocations for reasons of the heart but may lose heart because of the troubled, sometimes toxic systems in which they work. Hundreds of thousands of readers have benefited from his approach in THE COURAGE TO TEACH, which takes teachers on an inner journey toward reconnecting with themselves, their students, their colleagues, and their vocations, and reclaiming their passion for one of the most challenging and important of human endeavors.**  **This book builds on a simple premise: good teaching cannot be reduced to technique but is rooted in the identity and integrity of the teacher. Good teaching takes myriad forms but good teachers share one trait: they are authentically present in the classroom, in community with their students and their subject. They possess "a capacity for connectedness" and are able to weave a complex web of connections between themselves, their subjects, and their students, helping their students weave a world for themselves. The connections made by good teachers are held not in their methods but in their hearts — the place where intellect, emotion, spirit, and will converge in the human self — supported by the community that emerges among us when we choose to live authentic lives.** **BONUS: Includes an audio CD featuring a 45-minute conversation between Parker Palmer and his colleagues, Marcy Jackson and Estrus Tucker from the Center for Courage & Renewal. They reflect on what they have learned from working with thousands of teachers in their "Courage to Teach" program (www.CourageRenewal.org)and with others who yearn for greater integrity in their professional lives.** **Retrieved from: []** **//This book changed my life!!This is the first book I read in beginning my Graduate Studies in the Educational Leadership and Cultural Foundations Department at The University of North Carolina at Greensboro. This book provided me with a renewal of my committment in knowing I am making a positive difference in the lives of my students I teach everyday. This book also fueled my desire to beome a leader and step out from the door of my classroom to underatnd the importance of collaboration. YOU MUST READ THIS BOOK!//**

Queer Theory
=Race= //The Dream Keepers: Successful Teachers of African American Children// **by Gloria Ladson Billings (ISBN: 13: 9780787903381)** **//This is an easy read and definitely worth it.//**

= Re ligion=

**The Left Hand of God: Healing America's Political and Spiritual Crisis -** Michael Lerner (ISBN-10: 0061146625)
**// Given our ongoing discussions regarding religion and social justice, I thought this might be a meaningful book to add to our WIKI Book List. In this book, Rabbi Michael Lerner describes his philosophical and theoretical perspective regarding the ongoing strive between what he terms the "Right Hand" and the "Left Hand" of God. Lerner does an excellent job at articulating the responsibilities that both sides have played in this political standoff, which has resulted in a world founded on competition and marginalization. In my opinion, Lerner's "solution" for a more socially just world does an excellent job at showing the role that all religions can play in healing America's crisis. This book was part of the curriculum in another ELC class, where we also read Cornel West's Democracy Matters, discussed elsewhere in the Wiki. Both books are great to read together! //**

** Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis **

** //"Mere Christianity" lays out a very rational view of the Christian Faith's relationship with social justice. Lewis wrote:// ** **//“What is the good of telling ships how to steer so as to avoid collisions if, in fact, they are such crazy old tubs that they cannot be steered at all? What is the good in drawing up, on paper rules for social behavior, if we know that in fact, our greed, cowardice, ill temper, and self-conceit are going to prevent us from keeping them? I do not mean that we should not think and think hard about improvements in our social and economic system. What I do mean is that all that thinking will be mere moonshine unless we realize that nothing but the courage and unselfishness of individuals is ever going to make a system work properly. It is easy enough to remove the particular kinds of graft or bullying that go on under the present system: but as long as men are twisters or bullies they will find new ways of carrying on the old game under the new system. You cannot make men good by law: and without good men you cannot have a good society.” (Lewis, 1952 p. 74)//**

//The World's Religions// **- Huston Smith (ISBN-13: 9780061660184)** **//If you are interested in learning about other religions this is an awesome book! It's a very easy read and easy to understand as well. I highly recommend it. BE AWARE! It will really open your mind about religion. It changed my life.//**

=Social Justice=

=Whiteness Theory=

=Volunteers needed to put these books below under appropriate subtitles above!!!! Just cut and past where you think it goes or make a new category.=

//Mama's Boy, Preacher's Son, A Memoir -// **Kevin Jennings (ISBN-13: 9780807097267//)//** **//When he was just a junior high school boy first getting involved in community politics, Kevin Jennings’ local paper, the Winston-Salem Journal, wrote that he could “cause more frothing and fulmination with one letter to the editor than can a rabies epidemic.” Jennings would go on to use his talent for political agitation to lead one of the critical social justice movements of the last decade, ultimately establishing a widely influential education organization focused on creating safe schools for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender students.//**

//Beyond Heroes and Holidays// **- Editors: Enid Lee, Deborah Menkart, Margo Okazawa-Rey (ISBN-13: 9781878554178)** **//This was a required reading for Dr. Cooper's class but is an excellent resource for all people wanting to lead educators to a more culturally aware environment. Reading was easy and informative. It is a collection of many diferent authors and topics. There are activities that can be used with staff. Page 84 talks about Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack. If you have not read or heard about this, I highly recommend it.//**

//Where We Stand: Class Matters -// **bell hooks (ISBN-13: 9780415929134)** **//This book explores "the elephant in the room" of America -- class. From the back cover of the book: "Why is it that the face of poverty in America is black, even though most of the thirty-six million poor in America are white? How do fantisies of whelth's power help keep the poor poor? What do black teens want and how do they learn to want it?" This book is smart and talks about the intertwining of class and race... and how we as Americans can learn to think beyond both.//**

//Culturally Proficient Leadership// **- Raymond D. Terrell and Randall B. Lindsey (ISBN-13: 9781412969178)** **//This book is referenced in Marshall/Oliva's text in talking about a cultural continuum and steps to take to reach cultural proficiency. But also this book will help you to realize more about yourself, it is all about getting to know who you are and what events have shaped your life so you are fully aware of what biases you bring into the classroom. The 2 authors also provide their cultural autobiography.//**

//Privilege, Power, and Difference -// **Allan G. Johnson (ISBN-13: 9780072874891)** **//This text has been referenced by several of us thus far in our discussion posts and is a great introduction to the existence of privilege in our society, as well as how it manifests itself within our societal institutions. Not only does Johnson provide insight into the values (individualism, capitalism, etc) that perpetuate privilege and separation, but also provides readers with the knowledge to create change in our social world. An ongoing theme throughout the book is a focus collective and collaborative action. As Johnson asserts, "What each of us does may not seem like much, because in important ways it// //isn't much. But when many people do this work together, they can form a critical mass that is anything but insignificant, especially in the long run" (p. 132).//** **Johnson, A.G. (2006). //Privilege, power, and difference// (2nd ed.). Boston: McGraw-Hill.**

**//“//**//Cultural Diversity- A Primer for the Human Services**”**// **by Jerry V. Diller (ISBN-13: 9780495127642)** **//In the book they discuss Assimilation and Acculturation of AA students and other minority cultures. They explain that AA tend to go through a “series of predictable stages” regarding their racial identity. This really helped me understand our readings better. Excuse my ignorance but I needed more background information regarding this subject.//**

//The Five Love Languages// **- Dr. Gary Chapman (ISBN-13: 978-0802473158)** **//An excerpt taken directly from// [|www.5lovelanguages.com]. . ."//After many years of counseling, Dr. Chapman noticed a pattern: everyone he had ever counseled had a “love language,” a primary way of expressing and interpreting love. He also discovered that, for whatever reason, people are usually drawn to those who speak a different love language than their own.//** **//Of the countless ways we can show love to one another, five key categories, or five love languages, proved to be universal and comprehensive—everyone has a love language, and we all identify primarily with one of the five love languages: Words of Affirmation, Quality Time, Receiving Gifts, Acts of Service, and Physical Touch."//** **This book has helped me learn the love languages of my students, staff and family. It really works to learn someone's love language and the to "speak" directly to their heart and what motivates them. Oh, it's also fun to take the quizzes to learn more about yourself! I hope you enjoy.**

//Outliers The Story of Success -// **Malcolm Gladwell (ISBN: 13: 9780316017930)** **//Malcolm Gladwell speaks of the true reasons for success. He discusses biological factors, environmental factors, and how students are "showered" with opportunities to succeed while others sit back and observe. This book is eye opening to inequities seen within a school building that you didn't even realize existed. Outliers is FULL of research and "proof". I looooved it!//** **Read more about the Outliers at gladwell.com and see the below link.** ****

The Glass Castle **by Jeannette Walls (ISBN-13: 9781416550600)** **//Jeannette Walls writes aharrowing account of growing up with an alcoholic father and mentally ill mother in the coalfields of WV,//**

//Black Ants and Buddhists: Thinking Critically and Teaching Differently in the Primary Grades// **- Mary Cowhey (ISBN-13: 9781571104182)** **//Several of our Discussion Board threads have included ongoing discussions regarding our students inability to think critically and engage with subject matter (from any area) in reflective and post-modern way. I know that as an instructor at the college level, I sometimes struggle with// //how// to engage students in critical ways, but in //Black Ants and Buddhists Cowhey illustrates our ability to teach and think critically in any classroom and with any subject matter and age group. Interspersed with stories and anecdotes from her own second and third grade classrooms, Cowhey provides teachers with both tools and suggestions to engage their own students in the critical conversations necessary for social justice.//**

//Writing to Change the World// - Mary Pipher ( **ISBN-13: 9781594482533)** **//We're all interested in change. This book uses stories, narratives, quotes, and more to inspire passionate people to start writing to achieve social justice by having their voices heard. For this reason it would be a good teaching tool and an asset to the classroom.//**

//Fist, Stick, Knife Gun -// Geoffery Canada ( **ISBN-13: 9780807004234)** **//"Geoffery Canada tells the story of the most dangerous areas of the Bronx where he grew up. As a young child, he learned that only those who can fight will survive. When he reached adolescence, the knife was the weapon of choice, but for today's youth, which he calls "the handgun generation," it is the pistol. Canada explains exactly what growing up in this war zone does to the psyche: fear, doubt and anger crowd the mind, driving out love, friendship and laughter. There is no post-traumatic stress syndrome, because there is no "post." Greedy drug dealers and gun manufacturers, he says, by flooding the inner cities with their products, have made urban violence, which always existed, more deadly. He has a series of recommendations, rooted in his own experience as a child and as an adult, that are thoroughly convincing. A more powerful depiction of the tragic life of urban children and a more compelling plea to end "America's war against itself" cannot be imagined." (Amazon)//** **//I am in the middle of this book currently.. it's traumatic.//**

//Whatever it Takes: Geoffrey Canada's Quest to Change Harlem and America -// Paul Tough ( **ISBN-13: 9780547247960)** ** //We read this book in Dr. Casey's class and everyone loved it! It is definitely a must read for all. It depicts how Geoffrey Canada used community resources to turn schooling in Harlem, NY around with innovative ideas and just plain hard work. He has been recognized by our current president and immediate past president for his successes.// **

//The Autobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr.// **- Edited by Clayborne Carson (ISBN-13: 9780446676502)** **//One of the best autobiographies I have ever read! You will gain a real understanding of the oppression experienced by African Americans during the Civil Rights era and the power of community and passive resistance.//**

//A Piece of Cake// **- Cupcake Brown (ISBN-13: 9780307345479)** **//This book is an autobiography of an African American female who overcame tremendous obstacles and became a success. Currently, she speaks to groups about her experiences and how she overcame the challenges she faced in life. It is a page turner; parts of the story are humorous, some are sad, and others are gut wrenching. It is not based in the educational field; however, it is a story that demonstrates how one person can make a difference in the life of another human being.//**

//The Minds of Boys// **- Michael Gurian (ISBN: 13 978-0-7879-7761-0)** **//I read this book as part of a professional development course here in Guilford County entitled "How to help adolescent boys succeed in middle/high school". This course and book enlightened me into the ways that educators are doing our boys a disservice in the way we educate boys. The book discusses the differences between boys and girl brains and how to better serve boys. From the book: "Boys receive up to 70% of the Ds and Fs given all students, they create 90% classroom discipline problems, 80% all high school dropouts are boys, millions of American boys are on Ritalin and other mind-bending control drugs, only 45% college students are boys, and three out of four learning disabled students are boys!" What are we trying to teach these students when we cannot even relate to these students?//**

Reviving Ophelia: Saving the Selves of Adolescent Girls **As a counterpart to book above, I added this book. My dad read it when I was still a teen, and he said it was one of the most eye-opening books he had seen in a while. From the Amazon.com review section: "At adolescence, says Mary Pipher, 'girls become 'female impersonators' who fit their whole selves into small, crowded spaces.' Many lose spark, interest, and even IQ points as a 'girl-poisoning' society forces a choice between being shunned for staying true to oneself and struggling to stay within a narrow definition of female. Pipher's alarming tales of a generation swamped by pain may be partly informed by her role as a therapist who sees troubled children and teens, but her sketch of a tougher, more menacing world for girls often hits the mark. She offers some prescriptions for changing society and helping girls resist."**

A Framework for Understanding Poverty **- Ruby Payne (ISBN: 1-929229-48-8)** **//Ruby Payne in her book explains the concept of poverty, what are the educational terms designated with the different types of poverty and examples of poverty. What I do enjoy about this book is that Payne does give many scenarios that you can use to analyze how you react to different situations if you were living in poverty. She gives hidden rules among the classes. For example money in poverty situations would be used, spent. Middle class tends to manage money. Wealthy class tends to conserve and invest money. Payne also goes into the emotional aspects of poverty and what educators and schools can do for these students and families.//**

//Taking Sides: Clashing Views on Controversial Education Issues// **//-// by James Wm. Noll (ISBN: 978-0072968903)** **//In this collection of essays: for every subject, there are two strong arguments for an issue. From essentials for basic schooling, "accomidating religion" in schools, high stakes assessments, charter vs. public schools: no rock is left unturned. My copy is the 13th edition, from 2005 and still seems extremely topical!! For anyone searching for the two sides of each story, this is a great read and even if you think you know how you stand on an issue, you begin to see both sides crystal clear.//**

Dreams from My Father - Barack Obama **(ISBN-13: 9781400082773)** ** // If you have never read the story of our first African American President, it is a very compelling story of race and identity. I purchased this book when President Obama was just a candidate for the Presidency. His story of discovery is honest, thought provoking, and complex all at the same time. I think you will enjoy it. Submitted by Robin Buckrham // **

//Difference Matters: Communicating Social Identity **-** Brenda J. Allen// **(ISBN978-1577663041)** ** //Difference Matters focuses on the importance of accepting and communicating difference and diversity in professional organizations so that they can be successful in achieving their institutional mission. I initially read this book as part of a Professional Development Book Read and would recommend it for any kind of group PD project. my experience was that the text sparked great discussion (similar to what we have seen on the discussion boards in this class) and could be especially meaningful for a group focused ons ocial change in an education setting.// **

// Gendered Lives: Communication,Gender, and Culture - Julia T. Wood //

Code of the Street: Decency, Violence, and the Moral Life of the Inner City. ** Elijah Anderson ** ** //This book is just one of many in Elijah Anderson's ethnography of inner-city Philadelphia. As a sociologist, Anderson examines every aspect of inner city society and how they play out in the lives of those living by "The Code". Anderson's most recent work Against the Wall: Poor, Young, Black, and Male (the City in the Twenty-First century) is a broader continuation of his study of the Streets and what it means today.// **

//Freedom is not Enough// **- James T. Patterson (ISBN-13: 9780465013579)** **//The author of this book, James Patterson was on the Diane Rehm Show on NPR yesterday, 6/10 but I only caught the end of it. From what I understand its focus is the African American family and controversy concerning the Moynihan Report. The back of the book states, "All who are committed to social justice and equality will profit from James Patterson's riveting account." I'm definitely going to read it.... but only after I finish all the reading for this course!! Ha!Ha! El//**

Bridges out of Poverty - Ruby K. Payne, Philip E. DeVol, Terie Dreussi Smith - (ISBN 13:978-1-929229-69-7) **Bridges Out of Poverty takes the concepts of hidden rules of economic class and uses them to educate social workers, employers and community organizations about hte unique and sometimes hidden obstacles that individuals from poverty face.** **Strategies help improve services for clients, raise retention rates for new hires from poverty, and increase understanding of the differences in economic cultures and how those differences affect opportunities for success.** **I like this book and have used it's content to better understand the varying socio-economic levels and how to relate to each, especially in a professional setting which gives me the opportunity to work with a more affluent board of directors and a more impoverished clientel.**

Who Moved My Cheese? - Spencer Johnson, MD - (ISBN: 0-399-14446-3) **Who Moved My Cheese? is the story of four characters living in a "Maze" who face unexpected change when they discover their "Cheese" has disappeared. Sniff and Scurry, who are mice, and Hem and Haw, little people the size of mice, each adapt to change in their "Maze" differently. In fact, one doesn't adapt at all...** **This timeless allegory reveals profound truths to individuals and organizations dealing with change. We each live in a "Maze", a metaphor for the companies or organizations we work with, the communities we live in, the families we love places where we look for the things we want in life, "Cheese". It may be an enjoyable career, loving relationships, wealth, or spiritual peace of mind. With time and experience, one character eventually succeeds and even prospers from the change in his "Maze".In an effort to share what he has learned along the way, he records his personal discoveries on the maze walls, the "Handwriting on the Wall". Likewise, when we begin to see the "writing on the wall", we discover the simplicity and necessity of adapting to change.** **This is a fantastic story. The book has large print and only 94 pages, but it is the best story ever. I've even had young people read it themselves and share their thoughts. It's a great book.**

The Measure of Our Success - Marian Wright Edelman - (ISBN: 0-06-097546-6) **//The Measure of Our Success// is a book to turn lives around: a compassionate message for parents trying to raise moral children, a tough and searching book that out to be required reading for every young American.** **The book speaks powerfully to the author's three sons about the mothering Marian Wright Edleman gave them - mothering, she explains, that could not iguore other people's children who were in greater need. In the book's centerpiece, "Twenty-five Lessons for Life," we're invited to listen as a loving and extraordinarily committed mother gives her children lessons to live by.** **//The Measure of Our Success// is an open letter to all of America, and a timely message of hope and purpose for everyone.** **This is another short and easy, but awesome book to read and share with the young people we teach and/or the teams we work with. The book can easily rejuvenate the hope that sometimes gets lost in the everyday stress of the job.**

Schools of Fish: Welcome Back to the Reason You Became an Educator - Philip Strand, John Christensen, and Andy Halper - (ISBN: 1-4013-0300-5) What is the FISH! Philosophy? **The FISH! Philosophy includes four simple, interconnected practices:**

Be There **is being emotionally present for people. It’s a powerful message of respect that improves communication and strengthens relationships.**

Play **taps into your natural way of being creative, enthusiastic and having fun. Play is the spirit that drives the curious mind, as in “Let’s play with that idea!” It’s a mindset you can bring to everything you do.**

Make Their Day **is finding simple ways to serve or delight people in a meaningful, memorable way. It’s about contributing to someone else’s life, not because you want something out of it, but because that’s the person you want to be.**

Choose Your Attitude **means taking responsibility for how you respond to what life throws at you. Once you are aware that your choice impacts everyone around you, you can ask yourself, “Is my attitude helping my team or my customers? Is it helping me to be the person I want to be?”**

**Through The FISH! Philosophy, we build stronger relationships with the team members we work with, the customers we serve, the students we teach and the people we love.** **If you are not familiar with the Fish! Philosohpy, might I strongly urge you to read all about it. This book is written particularly for educators, as the title suggests. There are several other Fish! resources out there. Enjoy - it's another fun and motivating read - Kim Madrigal**

**I do not necessarily share the same professional educational perspective with you as my peers, yet. I come to you as a leader of a social service organization and the following books that I present are done so from my lens as a certified leadership coach from Georgetown University. I wanted to share some resources that we use when we coach leaders. I know that we are all leaders in our own right and so are the young people we work with. I hope some of these resources are helpful, if not with yourself in reflection and growth, then with some of your team and/or students. Before we can create change outside of ourselves, we have to create change from within.**

What Got You Here Won't Get You There - Marshall Goldsmith - (ISBN: 1-4013-0130-4**)** **//What Got You Here Won't Get You There// is unique in that the author not only explains what we must do better, more of, and improve upoon – but he also explains the importance of consciously NOT doing certain things, which get in the way of our success. Some of these “not to do’s” include: Winning too much; Adding too much value; Passing Judgment; Making destructive comments; Starting with “No,” “But,” or “However”; Telling the world how smart we are; Speaking when angry; Withholding information; Making Excuses, Not Listening; Refusing to express reqret, and Exhibiting an excessive need to be “me” – and several more. Goldsmith goes on to make the key point that what got you here, to your current position in life, cannot be counted on to take you to the next level of success.** **Marshall Goldsmith is known as one of the most-respected executive coaches throughout the world. Inside the cover..."Marshall Goldsmith is an expert at helping global leaders overcome their sometimes unconscious annoying habits and attain a higher level of success." We all have crazy habits that hold us back and a little self-reflection can go a long way to changing not only our lives, but those whom we impact on a daily basis. We must first work on our own self before we can help others.**

the answer to how is yes - Peter Block - (ISBN-10: 1-57675-271-2) **Modern culture's worship of "how-to" pragmatism has turned us into instruments of efficiency and commerce---but we're doing more and more about things that mean less and less. We constantly ask how? but rarely why? we use how as a defense -- instead of acting on what we know to be of importance, we wait until we've attended one more workshop, read one more book, gotten one more degree. Asking how keeps us safe--instead of being led by our hearts into uncharted territory, we keep our heads down and stick to the map. But we are gaining the world and losing our souls.** **In "**The Answer to How is Yes **," Block places the "how-to" craze in perspective and presents a guide to the difficult and life-granting journey of bringing what we know is of personal value into an indifferent or even hostile corporate and cultural landscape. He raises our awareness of the tradeoffs we've made in the name of practicality and expediency, and offers hope for a way of life in which we're motivated not by what "works," but by the things that truly matter in life -- idealism, relationship, intimacy, and engagement. This is the description from Peter Block's website.** **I hope you can read the relevance that this book has to social justice and transformative change. It all starts with one self.**

Fierce Conversations - Susan Scott - (ISBN: 978-0-425-19337-2) **This is what is given as a description on Susan Scott's website... "Listed on the //Wall Street Journal, United Press International// and //USA TODAY// best-seller lists, //Fierce Conversations// is the master guidebook to transforming the conversations central to your success.**

**The result? You’ll begin to learn how to make positive organizational change, greater effectiveness in everyday interactions, a renewed sense of purpose, and a new way of relating to people at work, at home and in every area of your life."**

Language and the Pursuit of Happiness - Chalmers Brothers - (ISBN 978-0-9749487-0-6) I think you can read the description and know why this book is so important to our personal and professional development. It is a fun read, as you might guess, and it's very powerful.

The Anatomy of Change: A Way to Move Through Life's Transitions - Richard Strozzi Heckler - (ISBN: 978-1-55643-147-0 **The following is a selection from the Foreword written by Robert K. Hall, MD. "This book is about wholistic education. It is also about the mind/body schism in today's crazy world. But it is so much more than that. It examines in simple terms the very roots of aggression and violence in our global societies, and our failure to learn the law of love. Thus it is an important book."**  **One of the first sections of the book called "The Body of Knowledge" there is a quote by Pablo Casals: "And what do we teach our children in school? We teach them that two and two makes four and that Paris is the capital of France. When will we teach them what they are? We should say to each of them: You are a marvel. You are unique. . . . You have the capacity for anything. . . . And when you grow up you can then harm another who is, like you, a marvel?"** **This book is about the power of the body and how we can use the body for healing and what Heckler calls "holistic education." This book is about how we can better utilize our body strength and practices to change the way we respond to life.**

Becoming a Person of Influence: How to Positively Impact the Lives of Others - John C. Maxwell, Jim Dornan - (ISBN: 97808785288398) **From** The Publisher: **Whatever your vocation or aspiration, you can increase your impact on others by Becoming a Person of Influence. Learn simple, insightful ways to interact more positively with others, and watch your personal and organizational success go off the charts. With influence, you can achieve success at home, at work, and in every other area of life. Authors John Maxwell and Jim Dornan have spent most of their lives raising up influencers. With humor, heart, and unique insight, they share what they've gleaned from decades of experience in both business and nonprofit arenas. Best of all, their insights are practical and easy to apply to everyday life. Whether your desire is to build a business, strengthen your children, or reach the world, you can achieve it by raising your level of influence in the lives of others.** **I think we can all agree that in order to bring about social change, we need to be people of influence. This is a great book to help jump start that motivation. I like that it's easy to read and has some suggestions that are easy to implement. It's not "self-help" per say, but it is an awesome source that can help us "increase our impact on others."**

A Death in Texas by Dina Temple-Raston **From the publisher: This perceptive, grimly compelling account of the brutal 1998 murder of James Byrd in Jasper, Tex., is the first book on this nationally reported incident and a fine piece of journalistic reporting, covering the prosecution of Byrd's killers and the social and political aftermath for Jasper. On June 7, 1998, Byrd, a 49-year-old black man, was intentionally dragged behind a truck in such a way that his head and right arm were severed. Three white men were quickly arrested;. two were eventually sentenced to death and one to life imprisonment. Temple-Raston, a former foreign correspondent, uses this basic crime narrative as the backdrop for a complex, multilayered portrait of a small town coming to grips with its own history of racial hatred while simultaneously being thrust into the national limelight. Temple-Raston has a fine eye for detail: she documents how the town's lumber industry had historically abused black labor and mutilated black male bodies. Elsewhere, she presents the father of one of the killers remembering his brother's 1939 trial and acquittal for the murder of a gay man. And she captures the hysteria and fear that grip the town's population in the aftermath: the black community wonders what they might have done to prevent this; a policeman complains that Byrd was "the town drunk." Unsparing in her examination of the race hatred that led to the crime two of the men were members of "Christian Identity" white supremacist groups Temple-Raston is extraordinarily nuanced in exploring how poor, white men (often in prison) are drawn to this horrific ideology. Through a plethora of telling moments here, Temple-Raston painfully explores and exposes the lives of her subjects and the complications of hate and prejudice in the U.S.**

The Laramie Project **-- a play my Moises Kaufman and members of the Tectonic Theater Project** **As a counterpart to book choice above, the Laramie Project recounts the 1998 murder of Matthew Shepard, an openly gay Wyoming college stundet. The cool thoing about the Laramie Project though is that it is in the form of a play. The members of the Tectonic Theater Project went to Laramie Wyoming in the days and months after the murder to conduct over 200 interviews with anyone and everyone who knew Matt. The story is ultimately the story of a town coming to grips with the homophobia and violent undercurrent they did not even know existed.** **When President Obama signed the national hate crimes bill in January 2010, it's lond title was The Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act in honor of these two men. The hate crimes bill expands the 1969 United States federal hate-crime law to include crimes motivated by a victim's actual or perceived gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability.**

A People's History of the United States by Howard Zin **From the publisher: According to this classic of revisionist American history, narratives of national unity and progress are a smoke screen disguising the ceaseless conflict between elites and the masses whom they oppress and exploit. Historian Zinn sides with the latter group in chronicling Indians' struggle against Europeans, blacks' struggle against racism, women's struggle against patriarchy, and workers' struggle against capitalists. First published in 1980, the volume sums up decades of post-war scholarship into a definitive statement of leftist, multicultural, anti-imperialist historiography. This edition updates that project with new chapters on the Clinton and Bush presidencies, which deplore Clinton's pro-business agenda, celebrate the 1999 Seattle anti-globalization protests and apologize for previous editions' slighting of the struggles of Latinos and gays. Zinn's work is an vital corrective to triumphalist accounts, but his uncompromising radicalism shades, at times, into cynicism. Zinn views the Bill of Rights, universal suffrage, affirmative action and collective bargaining not as fundamental (albeit imperfect) extensions of freedom, but as tactical concessions by monied elites to defuse and contain more revolutionary impulses; voting, in fact, is but the most insidious of the "controls." It's too bad that Zinn dismisses two centuries of talk about "patriotism, democracy, national interest" as mere "slogans" and "pretense," because the history he recounts is in large part the effort of downtrodden people to claim these ideals for their own.**

Schools that Learn - Senge et al - (ISBN: 978-0385493239) **This is a great tool book to help educators and those passionate about education think outside of the box of how we currently operate. --Anna Simon** **//Review From Publishers Weekly//** **Thankfully, organizational management theory guru Senge doesn't make the kind of simplistic prescriptions for improving schools that often come from the business community. At the heart of his handbook for educational change are the ideas Senge first articulated in The Fifth Discipline and subsequent books on building organizations where learning can thrive. His five key themes highlight the importance of developing realistic personal goals, establishing a shared vision, cultivating awareness of attitudes and perceptions, practicing positive group interaction and understanding interdependency and change, feedback and complexity. Although there aren't any genuine breakthroughs or original ideas here, the book succeeds in offering a compendium of useful concepts and innovative practices that may be of use to educators struggling to redefine themselves and their work during a time of rapid global and technological change. The book's broad sweep is both a strength and weakness. Some readers may be frustrated by the lack of depth and focus, though the book's helpful resource lists will steer them to other valuable sources. By popularizing ideas about learning theory, leadership, group dynamics and school/ community partnerships that are already accepted in much of the educational community, this handy volume may help parents better understand the struggles of educators to create dynamic and effective learning environments.**

Good to Great and the Social Sectors - Jim Collins **This monograph sprang from the realization that the //Good to Great// concepts have use far beyond business - in government, non-profits, schools, and just about everywhere else. The monograph rejects the idea that the social sectors should operate more like business and shows how the //Good to Great// concepts can be successfully adapted to worlds in which success is not measured in economic terms.** **This book is much better for our social sectors and it's a very small book compared to Good to Great. I know our public school system used this as part of a training program for their teachers, administrators and staff teams.**

Built to Last - Jim Collins **This book was co-authored with Jerry Porras and based on their research project at the Stanford University Graduate School of Business to investigate the question: Why are some companies able to achieve and sustain success through multiple generations of leaders, across decades and even centuries? Among the findings are: Preserve the Core / Stimulate Progress, BHAGs (Big Hairy Audacious Goals), and the Genius of the And. Like //Good to Great//, //Built to Last// compares great companies to good ones during specific eras in history, and asks: What systematically distinguishes the great from the average?** **This is the follow up to Good to Great and it's good, but I didn't think it was as good as Great. I think you'll find the ideas are helpful when working with teams and especially leadership.**

The Five Dysfunctions of a Team - Patrick Lencioni **//The Five Dysfunctions of a Team// explores the fundamental causes of organizational politics and team failure. This gripping fable centers on Kathryn Petersen, an old-school CEO who comes out of retirement to accept the monumental task of transforming a dysfunctional group of high profile, egocentric executives into a cohesive and effective team. With an amazing gift for building teams, Kathryn forces her colleagues to confront the behavioral pitfalls that destroy most teams and adopt the five characteristics of a truly cohesive one.** **I love all of Patrick Lencioni's books because they are written as stories with valuable lessons within them. Also, at the end of each book he includes tools that are user-friendly for everyone. This book comes with a companion workbook, so you can actually use this as a training tool.**

The Three Signs of a Miserable Job - Patrick Lencioni **In //The Three Signs of a Miserable Job//, author Pat Lencioni takes on his most universal and human topic to date: the misery of work. In doing so, Lencioni presents managers and employees alike with a revolutionary yet simple model for making any job more rewarding and fulfilling.** **Again, here is another great story that speaks to all of us. I think we had plenty of conversation around passionate, meaningful work and this speaks directly to that. If you like a quick and easy, yet meaningful story, here is one for you. Also, I have given out each of these books because they are great to share.**

Death by Meeting - Patrick Lencioni **Tackling the most common problem in business, boring meetings, Pat reveals his model for making meetings productive, compelling and even energizing. Bad meetings almost always lead to bad decisions, which is the best recipe for mediocrity.** **How many of us have sat through meetings where we'd rather someone poke our eyes out? This book speaks directly to that and again it's another great lesson with easy tools to use to help us conduct more productive meetings.**

Silos, Politics and Turf Wars - Patrick Lencioni **In //Silos, Politics and Turf Wars//, author Pat Lencioni addresses the costly and maddening issue of silos, the barriers that create organizational politics. Lencioni provides readers with a powerful tool for addressing departmental rivalry and internal strife.** **Hello discussion forum and many of our work environments. I think this topic came up many times withinn our one of our discussions and it reminded me of this book. Please enjoy it's very practical, as is all of his books.**

The Five Temptations of a CEO - Patrick Lencioni **//The Five Temptations of a CEO// highlights the five common pitfalls faced by leaders. This special anniversary edition of Lencioni’s business fiction debut delivers a powerful wake-up call to leaders. He points out that success as a leader comes down to practicing a few vital behaviors—behaviors that require remarkable levels of discipline.** **I know that not all of us are CEO's so to speak, but I think we can all agree that title or not we lead and this book is another great story about leadership. Again, it's a story that's easy to read and I think you'll find that much of the information resonates with you from whatever lens you use to view it.**

The Four Obsessions of an Extraordinary Executive - Patrick Lencioni **//The Four Obsessions of an Extraordinary Executive// addresses the disciplines required to create a healthy organization. Readers are treated to a story of corporate intrigue as Lencioni focuses on a leader’s crucial role in building a world class organization—an often overlooked but essential element of business life that is the linchpin of sustained success.** **Last, but not least this is another great book. He actually has a couple of new ones out and I hope these are helpful resources. I've noted all of the above books that have been shared, as well as many others mentioned within the class that will help me create a new lens from which to learn and grow as an educator. I hope these do the same for all of you within your own leadership roles.**

Teaching Digital Natives: Partnering for Real Learning- Marc Prensky I had an opportunity to here him speak in our school district today. He did a great job engaging the adults and student panelists. It is difficult to purchase the books as it is on back order in all of the large book seller chains.

"Drive" by Daniel Pink

Synopsis
From Daniel H. Pink, the author of the groundbreaking bestseller //A Whole New Mind//, comes his next big idea book: a paradigm- changing examination of what truly motivates us and how to harness that knowledge to find greater satisfaction in our lives and our work. According to Pink (A Whole New Mind), everything we think we know about what motivates us is wrong. He pits the latest scientific discoveries about the mind against the outmoded wisdom that claims people can only be motivated by the hope of gain and the fear of loss. Pink cites a dizzying number of studies revealing that “carrot and stick” can actually significantly reduce the ability of workers to produce creative solutions to problems. What motivates us once our basic survival needs are met is the ability to grow and develop, to realize our fullest potential.---Taken from bn.com

Choosing Excellence: Good Enough Schools Are Not Good Enough John Merrow **This is a book that we read 7 or so years ago in the MSA program. It still holds true today. I use the tagline with our staff when they become complacent.**

Letters to a Young Brother: MANifest Your Destiny Hill Harper Letters to a Yound Sister: DeFINE Your Destiny Hill Harper **Besides the fact that Hill is my boyfriend in my head, his books are inspirational and great graduation gifts and birthday gifts to young adults.**

An African Centered Response to Ruby Payne’s Poverty Theory **Jawanza Kunjufu** **Somebody needed to check Ruby. The AHA Process is getting too much press on training people on what they call class in the professional development yet is often confused with race research. Brother Kunjufu out of Chicago was the one to do it and accepted the challenge.**

The End of Education: Redefining the Value of School Neil Postman **This book speaks to the importance or lack of importance in today's schooling processes.**

Disrupting Class Clayton Christensen ** This book challenges what you think you know about learning and the role of schools today. **

Millenials Rising: The Next Great Generation Neil Howe and William Strauss **This book speaks to the interests of our current students and recent graduates. We need to do a better job of engaging them.**

The World Is Flat Thomas Friedman **This book is kind of outdated but still insightful about our current status in the world. We are not the best at everything as some would lead us to believe.**

Mobilizing the Community to Help Students Succeed Hugh Price **This is a good book study book for School Improvement Teams and school staffs.**

The Same Kind of Different As Me - Ron Hall, Denver Moore, **Lynn Vincent - [|www.samekindofdifferentasme.com]** **"It begins outside a burning plantation hut in Louisiana... and an East Texas honky-tonk... and, without a doubt, in the heart of God. It unfolds in a Hollywood hacienda... an upscale New York Gallery... a downtown dumpster... a Texas ranch. Gritty with pain and betrayal and brutality, it also shines with an unexpected, life-changing love."** **This is a remarkable book that encompasses compassion, love and caring. A real human story with real human twists and real human faith. This book is spiritual and has discussion questions in the back that can be used within a classroom setting, but may not be appropriate for K-12 public schools because of the spiritual nature of the book. I hope you enjoy.**

Bell, L. A. (2007). Theoretical foundations for social justice education (M. Adams, L. A. Bell, & P. Griffin, Eds.). In //Teaching for diversity and social justice//. New York: Routledge. **--Helps to establish a definition and meaning of social justice. Its important to define what your aiming to produce and implement.**

Bell, L. A., Love, B. J., & Roberts, R. A. (2007). Racism and white privilege curriculum design (M. Adams, L. A. Bell, & P. Griffin, Eds.). In //Teaching for diversity and social justice// (pp. 123-144). New York: Routledge**.** **--This chapter will help a social justice advocate learn more about racism and white privilege can find its way into curriculum design and ways to combat this potential issue.**

Bruce, Jr, D. D. (1992). W. E. B. Du Bois and the idea of double consciousness. //American Literature//, //64//(2), 299-309. **--This text discusses issues of double consciousness, as it pertains to DuBois. Double-consciousness is a term that explains the awareness present in being a minority in a society and how one navigates that complexity.**

Collins, P. H. (2000). Toward a new vision: race, class, and gender as categories of analysis and connection (M. Adams, W. J. Blumenfeld, & R. Castan, Eds.). In //Readings for diversity and social justice// (pp. 457-462). New York: Routledge.

**--I like this article, because it brings to light different ways in which people can visualize the categories of race, class, gender, and their intersections.** Durodoye, B., & Hildreth, B. (1995). Learning styles and the African-American student. //Education//, //116//(2), 241-248. **--This text can be helpful in adopting a socially just educational model by understanding a particular learning style that is present within a minority population that tends to be disserviced by traditional teaching styles. By reading this, one may begin to learn about how environment and history impacts the learning styles of different groups and people.**

Edgington, A. (2000). Moving beyond white guilt. In M. Adams (Ed.), //Readings for diversity and social justice: an anthology on racism, antisemitism, sexism, heterosexism, ableism, and classism//(pp. 127-129). New York: Routledge. **--This article is helpful in trying to understand how those that occupy racially privileged positions can move past guilt and understanding to practical applications of dealing with their privilege.**

Ford, B. A., Obiakor, F. E., & Patton, J. M. (1995). //Effective education of African American exceptional learners: new perspectives//. Austin: Pro-Ed. **--This book will, again, help to better understand how black males (and consequently may spark interest, understanding, or a desire to research how other people of color) learn. Recognizing that history and environment play a giant role in the learning patterns and styles of individuals will allow educators the opportunity to transform their classrooms into spaces where not just those trained in learning in traditional ways benefit.** Kivel, P. (2002). //Uprooting racism: How white people can work for racial justice//. New York: New Society. **--This book works to illustrate how those that are seen as the oppressors within American society can actually work to help those that are being oppressed and fight for racial justice in America.** Lorde, A. (1983). There is no hierarchy of oppression. In L. Gordon (Ed.), //Homophobia and education: how to deal with name calling//. New York: Council on Interracial Books for Children **--Lorde’s article raises the issue that faces those that feel oppressed and subjugated within a society and that their disposition is worse than someone else’s. She argues that on oppression is great than another, rather they all function equally to oppress others and maintain the status quo.** Shome, R. (2006). Space matters: The power and practice of space. //Communication Theory//. **--Shome’s article addresses how someone’s physical location and the space of a particular location can allow certain power dynamics to exist that could change if the place and space someone occupies changes. This article is powerful in understanding how communication can be affected (for good and bad) merely by location.** **(Posted by: Stephanie Greene)** Posted by Cindy Corcoran June 18, 2010 Urban Education by Kathy & Dale Adams **A comprehensive look at urban schools, using history as a lens for coming to grips with present-day social, political, legal, and economic realities reflected in our urban education system.** Urban Education with an Attitude by Lauri Johnson, Mary E. Finn, & Rebecca Lewis **This book profiles local and national efforts to transform urban education and reinvent urban teacher preparation. It describes real programs in real urban schools that have developed policy initiatives that promote educational equity. Community-based curricula, teacher education and parent empowerment programs that emphasize democratic collaboration among universities, urban teachers, parents and community members are featured in this book.** = Urban Education: a handbook for educators and parents by Donna Adair Breault, Louise Anderson Allen = **This handbook is a resource for parents, community members, teachers, and administrators who want to make a difference in their urban schools. Breault and Allen provide a way for stakeholders to see the roles they can play in building civic capacity for change in urban schools and communities. It also offers critical background information to help stakeholders recognize the complexity and necessity of their efforts.** Hopeful Girls, Troubled Boys: Race and Gender Disparity in Urban Education by Nancy Lopez **This is a fascinating ethnographic study on a topic of increasing interest to people in the field of education and anyone concerned about the future of young people. **