What's The Best Education-Related Book You've Read in 2008?

On my blog, I’m compiling a list of The Best Education-Related Books That Have Been Read In 2008. If you'd like to share your picks, you can share it on this forum. It seems to me that many might find this useful. If you share it here, I'll assume you wouldn't mind my adding it to my blog post, either. Let me know how you'd like me to describe you, and if you'd like me to link it back to your blog or website.

Of course, if you don't want me to include it in my post, just let me know and I'll certainly respect your wishes.

In my thinking about this list, the books could have been published earlier. The only requirement would be that you’ve read them sometime this year. They might not be obviously connected to education — just briefly explain how it is connected in your mind.

If you'd like to contribute (and wouldn't mind me giving you "credit" on my blog post), it would be great if you could leave the title of the book; author’s name; why you like the book (or books) so much — please keep the explanation to no more than two or three sentences.

Thanks!
Larry Ferlazzo

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I read Rafe Esquith's Teach Like Your Hair's On Fire. Not rocket science but an easy read.

Last year I read all of Torey Hayden's books. She taught severely disabled kids in a self contained classroom. They were written in the early 80s so they are somewhat dated---but she is an amazing teacher.
First off Larry, your blog rocks.... your blog, plus "Free Tech for Teachers," are the two best education blogs I know of.

The best book I read this year was Kelly Gallagher's Teaching Adolescent Writers. The man has a great philosophy on teaching writing and, more importantly, gives practical applications on how ALL teachers, regardless of subject, can help to improve writing skills. This book is a must-read for any English teacher.
Alfie Kohn's The Schools our Children Deserve and Punished by Rewards.
The best book I have read is Born Digital by John Palfrey and Urs Gasser. It has changed the way I have thought about the entire world. I can now better understand why social networking sites have changed the way students (and people in general) think and identify with the world.
I will have to check this out. Paperback yet?
Let me add two more to the list -- Disrupting Class by Christensen, Johnson and Horn, and Grown Up Digital by Don Tapscott. Both help make sense of the notion that we are in transition from the age of schooling to the age of learning!
The best book I read this year is Classroom Assessment & Grading That Work. It gave me plenty of ideas on how to use assessment to help my students grow. Here is an overview of the book.
Just looking at the overview (i.e. not having read the book), it seems it is still suggesting hat you can, in fact, reduce a student's performance and understanding of a subject to a letter (or number) grade, which I fundamentally disagree with. Grades are subjective and arbitrary no matter how you calculate them.
Hands down, Brain Rules by John Medina. Read about it on the Presentation Zen Blog and watch a clip of the author presenting for Authors@Google. It changed the way I think about learning in so many ways!
Thanks to everybody who contributed. Here's the final, compiled list:

The Best Education-Related Books Visitors To This Blog Read In 2008
(http://tinyurl.com/8ax8pd)
The World is Flat by T. Friedman. I have read it three times now and pick up something new everytime. He has a new book out that I want bad. Anyway..... His stories are vibrant-clear-and open to discussion. I am looking for a good unbiased way to present in my class (HS). Any ideas?

Kirk

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