Teacher appreciation books:
THE LITTLE PRINCE
By Antoine de Saint-Exupery
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Antoine de Saint-Exupery first published The Little Prince in 1943, only a year before his Lockheed P-38 vanished over the Mediterranean during a reconnaissance mission. More than a half century later, this fable of love and loneliness has lost none of its power. The narrator is a downed pilot in the Sahara Desert, frantically trying to repair his wrecked plane. His efforts are interrupted one day by the apparition of a little, well, prince, who asks him to draw a sheep. "In the face of an overpowering mystery, you don't dare disobey," the narrator recalls. "Absurd as it seemed, a thousand miles from all inhabited regions and in danger of death, I took a scrap of paper and a pen out of my pocket." And so begins their dialogue, which stretches the narrator's imagination in all sorts of surprising, childlike directions.
Teacher appreciation books:
PLATERO AND I
By Juan Ramon Jiménez
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These autobiographical vignettes are a classic prose poem about the poet and his donkey and their remote mountain village. Teachers will find rich material here for creative writing projects in both Spanish and English. The short pieces are simple, but they have a lot to say about affection and friendship ("We understand each other. I let him go wherever he wishes and always he takes me where it is I wish to go"). With vital imagery and a wry, casual voice, Jimenez celebrates community and carnival as well as solitude. He's candid about hardship and hunger and longing. A Nobel laureate for Literature, Jimenez transports you to an unparalleled world of innocence and beauty.
Teacher appreciation books:
MY TEACHER FOR PRESIDENT
By Kay Winters
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Oliver's class has been learning about elections and presidential responsibilities. He writes a letter to Channel 39, putting forth a plethora of reasons why his teacher would be perfect presidential material. The story proceeds with a single sentence and appropriate illustration on the verso depicting a school activity, with a picture opposite demonstrating how that activity would play out when his teacher holds the reins in Washington. For example, "She's used to being followed everywhere" shows the class parading after her in line, while on the right, secret service agents and cameramen tag along as she jogs. Winters keeps these parallels both humorous and pithy, and Brunkus's cheery, color cartoons add to the fun. Oliver's appreciation of his teacher (she can only be president if she doesn't leave before the end of the year) is refreshing. An enjoyable and timely read-aloud, and good fodder for discussion.
Teacher appreciation books:
CHICKEN SOUP FOR THE TEACHER’S SOUL
By Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen
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It's no secret that teachers are underpaid, overworked, and undervalued, and bestselling authors Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen have compiled Chicken Soup for the Teacher's Soul as both a tribute and encouragement to those who make a difference in the lives of their students. It's inspiration in bite-sized, manageable chunks. Under 11 different topical headings such as "A Day in the Life" and "Overcoming Obstacles," readers will discover motivating quotes ("Love first, teach second"), hilarious cartoons, and touching stories that combine to make this book a testimonial of thanks, sure to revitalize weary educators. Teachers, coaches, childcare professionals, and educators from preschool to college, Sunday school to public school, will find in these pages a renewed passion for changing lives, and fresh vision to go the extra mile with every student. The essays are by turns entertaining, motivating, and funny, and most are deeply touching. Keep the Kleenex handy.
Teacher appreciation books:
DEAR TEACHER: DAILY AFFIRMATIONS FOR TEACHERS WHO INSPIRE
By Anthony P. Withan
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This is a very inspirational book that will help teachers face the challenges of everyday teaching. It is highly recommended for teachers dealing with early education, but the affirmations contained are in fact useful food for thought even in university. This book makes an excellent token of teacher appreciation when your national Teacher Day (or the World Teachers Day) is approaching. Also, it’s a perfect gift for former students to give to their dearest teachers.
Teacher appreciation books:
THE FIRST DAYS OF SCHOOL
By Harry Wong
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Hands down, by far, the best selling book in education. With over 2.3 million copies sold, it continues to be at the top of the chart. The revised and updated Version Three of The First Days of School includes a 38 minute bonus multimedia Enhanced CD. The CD features Harry Wong, the most sought-after speaker in education on an audio and a video track. His message, Never Cease to Learn, is one that will inspire all educators. The First Days of School is for new and veteran teachers, from kindergarten to college instructors. The graphic layout, with 302 photos and illustrations, is partnered with text that flows silken smooth. You will learn about classroom management, teaching for mastery and to standards, and creating positive expectations. The First Days of School will bring you instant results so that you can become an even more effective teacher.
Teacher appreciation books:
DEAR PROFESSOR EINSTEIN
By Alice Calaprice
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"What holds the sun and planets in space?" "I want to know what is beyond the sky. My mother said you can tell me." "One question I would like to ask is if you make any mistakes?" We are often amazed by the wide-eyed innocence and boundless curiosity of children and the questions they ask. And letters to and from children are always appealing, especially so when they are written to someone famous. In Dear Professor Einstein, Alice Calaprice has gathered a delightful and charming collection of more than sixty letters, most never published before, from children to perhaps the greatest scientist of all time. Obviously, Einstein could not respond to every letter written to him, but the responses he did find the time to write reveal the intimate human side of the great public persona, a man who, though he spent his days contemplating mathematics and physics, was very fond of children and enjoyed being in their company. Whether the children wrote to Einstein for class projects, out of curiosity, or because of prodding from a parent, their letters are amusing, touching, and sometimes quite precocious. Enhancing this correspondence are numerous splendid photographs showing Einstein amid children, wearing an Indian headdress, carrying a puppet of himself, and donning fuzzy slippers, among many other wonderful pictures, many published for the first time in this book. Complete with a foreword by Einstein's granddaughter Evelyn, a biography and chronology of Einstein's life, and an essay by Einstein scholar Robert Schulmann on the great scientist's educational philosophy, this wonderful compilation will be welcomed by teachers, parents, and all the young, budding scientists in their lives.
Teacher appreciation books:
THE QUEEN OF EDUCATION
By LouAnne Johnson
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Johnson, an ex–Marine Corps officer turned high-school teacher whose 1992 memoir, My Posse Don't Do Homework inspired the movie Dangerous Minds, crowns herself the titular queen and hands down royal edicts in this straightforward, valuable book. Her "rules for making schools work" are grounded in the worthy premise that schools should be designed for student learning, health and development—not for administrative efficiency or corporate profit—and should be places where students actually want to be. Johnson is a keen, empathetic observer of students, especially "at-risk" kids (she prefers the term "disenchanted"), and she's quick to point out what harms them: labeling ("big business—and a dangerous business"), detention ("creates more problems than it solves"), junk food ("fat and failure in school may be linked") and standardized tests ("wrong and pointless"). But she offers more than critiques. In addition to inspiring stories of her own classroom successes, she offers an outline for her dream school, where good funding would allow a gorgeous, high-tech closed campus, a big library and low student-to-teacher ratio, and a shift in thinking would proscribe age-based classes, standardized curricula and competitive interschool athletics. Teachers, administrators, parents and policy makers should take note of Johnson's simple but compelling ideas. Maybe having a "queen of education" is something to consider.
Teacher appreciation books:
ATLAS SHRUGGED
By Ayn Rand
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One of the most brilliant novels in History. Atlas Shrugged is known as Ayn Rand's magnum opus, and the reasons for this honor are easily found within the pages of the book. The novel challenges thousands of years of collectivism in human civilization. Atlas Shrugged is Ayn Rand's tribute to the men of the mind: scientists, philosophers, businessmen, artists, teachers. It is a mystery novel, not about the murder of a man, but the murder of mankind's spirit and the struggle to bring it back. The novel unites metaphysics, ethics, economics and romantic love. The integration of theme, plot, characterization and style are unparalleled by any other philosophical work of the century. These elements, combined with the novel's scope and depth, lead the reader into Ayn Rand's world, where he discovers and enters the lost Atlantis, a world of moral giants.
Teacher appreciation books:
THE WORLD IS SWEET
By Valerie Bloom
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A collection of children's poems by performance poet Valerie Bloom. Her subjects range from the philosophical to taking sandwiches to school and being afraid of ghosts, and they use a mixture of standard English and dialect. This book is a magnificent celebration of teacher-student cooperation and understanding.
Teacher appreciation
