Why Did I Read This Book? **THIS BOOK REVIEW IS UNDER CONSTRUCTION** I felt like I needed a bit of an intellectual challenge heading into my third year as a teacher, so I enrolled in the Master of Arts in Teaching and Curriculum program at Michigan State University. I read this book for my graduate course TE 808: Inquiry into Classroom Teaching and Learning. It was the guiding text for our Action Research Projects that we conducted over the course of the semester. When I shared with my students the title of this book during a Reading Roll Call in September, they were not that intrigued. Usually a student will ask me what the book I'm reading is about. I will provide the class with a short book talk with me either reading from the back of the book or a quick update on where I'm at in the book. I was met with silence and some laughs about this one. "Reading this for my grad class," was the response I gave the silence. No one cared to hear anything else, so I moved on to the first student and carried on with Reading Roll Call. Oh well ... I am also able to count The Power of Questions for the following reading challenges:
Strengths As stated on the back of the book, this book provides the reader with the process of action research in an illustrated and step-by-step process. My course followed this set up exactly, so it was interesting to read about the research process and then enact it with my own research question about my practice in my classroom. This was very helpful to see how the book's directions and the process of research was to be conducted. The authors also provided a wide variety of excellent examples of how action research could be done in a classroom. I enjoyed reading the secondary examples the most, as I am a secondary teacher. The examples used connected from chapter to chapter as well, so you could trace both the writing and research process from the same teacher throughout the book. WeaknessesWhile the text does an excellent job of scaffolding the reader into understanding the many ways research can be conducted, I felt like most of the chapters were dry and not compelling. I know I wasn't reading a thrilling novel or nonfiction account of an event, but, man, this book was easy to put down and walk away from. This is a minor weakness to the book, but some of the sentences were very close together meaning there did not seem to be a space in between the period of the previous sentence and the capital letter of the next. Again, minor detail, but it became distracting after a while, so much so that I am writing about it here. Recommendation The book is great for teachers of all levels whether they are a preservice teacher, a new teacher looking for a way to be proactive in their new setting, a graduate student in education, or a veteran teacher looking to investigate problems or issues that have been plaguing their practice. I would recommend it to any of my colleagues at my school or within my various networks. It is a quality text that I will keep close by as I continue to rewrite, revisit, and reflect on the teaching and curriculum decisions in my classroom.
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The Avalanche of Books
As an educator and avid reader, I am constantly hearing about books. I feel like I am being chased by a giant, rolling avalanche of titles and authors. Rating System
5 books - New fave! Read it now!
4 books - Shelf worthy 3 books - Quality read, but ... 2 books - Borrow it 1 book - Skip it Archives
December 2017
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