{"id":126,"date":"2008-08-20T21:36:42","date_gmt":"2008-08-21T04:36:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.theamericancrawl.com\/?p=126"},"modified":"2008-08-20T21:36:42","modified_gmt":"2008-08-21T04:36:42","slug":"if-and-only-if-the-book-fits","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theamericancrawl.com\/?p=126","title":{"rendered":"If (And Only If) The Book Fits"},"content":{"rendered":"

Look:
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See, I like books. I even don\u2019t have space for all of them:<\/p>\n


\nHere you can see a handful of smaller books (the efficiently sized Salinger\u2019s and Gatsby, etc.) resting on top of other books, which are actually in front of another row of books. That\u2019s three books in the space designed for one! And I wonder why I can never find anything.<\/p>\n

Anyway, I prelude the main point of this blog with these two pictures so that you, kind reader, know I\u2019m not one that shies away from amassing a lot of books. I\u2019m a junkie.<\/p>\n

However, this \u2013 to me \u2013 seems like a problem:<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

(Donald Trump included to provide sense of scale.)<\/p>\n

See, I didn\u2019t actually buy any of these books. And these aren\u2019t all of them. These are (quote unquote) \u201cteacher\u201d books. What\u2019s that? How can you tell that these are \u201cteacher\u201d books? Well, it\u2019s the size, silly. For some reason, \u201cteacher\u201d books are large, floppy, overpriced, and (generally) pretty crappy. The pile pictured is specifically the books I amassed from participating in the LAUSD BTSA induction program.<\/p>\n

But listen, those aren\u2019t the books I like. They aren\u2019t the books I gain any kind of insight or meaning from. In fact, interestingly enough, the books that most practically affect what happens in my classroom and how I understand my practice are different. Maybe you can spot the key difference:<\/p>\n

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And just so you don\u2019t think I picked two outliers, here are a few more (with the originals still there for context):<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

What is it about \u201cteacher\u201d books? At this point (and yes, I am still considered a new teacher<\/a>), whenever I\u2019m handed a \u201cteacher\u201d book (aka a big floppy one), I automatically recoil. I don\u2019t anticipate learning anything from these books and they kind of set me up for feeling like another unnecessary protocol, worksheet, or poorly designed lesson plan is waiting between the covers.<\/p>\n

Of course, there are some \u201cteacher\u201d books that try to appear legitimate. Here\u2019s a book I\u2019d consider to be a \u201cteacher\u201d book that I\u2019m not that crazy about (next to another \u201cteacher\u201d book for comparison):<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

At the same time, there are a (very) few books that look like \u201cteacher\u201d books that are secretly awesome. Here\u2019s two of them that I\u2019ve relied on:<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Ultimately, I\u2019m pondering making a connection to our school\u2019s implementation of the Accelerated Reader program as well as discussing that whole \u201cblue-collar\u201d versus \u201cwhite-collar\u201d thing I mentioned a few posts back. We can talk about all of this sooner or later. I also think this book issue goes back to the disconnect between (primary and secondary) schools and universities. There are two very different publishing industries fuelled by each of these groups both working within very different business models. This, too, leads me down the road to think about how these two different stacks of books reveal a divide between theoretical texts and those that offer direct services, recommendations, and protocols to be used in the classroom. It reminds me of a recent comment a teacher made in a meeting: \u201cMost teachers don\u2019t want [Professional Development] that is about theory. They want something they can use in their classroom immediately.\u201d I don\u2019t agree with this approach (if you couldn\u2019t tell from the pictures), but it leads toward a (much needed) discussion about theory\u2019s role in the classroom teacher\u2019s development. I\u2019ll work up a treatise on this shortly.<\/p>\n

In the meantime, what do you think about the differences in \u201cteacher\u201d book sizes?<\/p>\n

Tell people this is awesome:<\/h3>