7 Inspiring Books for Teachers: Tales from the Classroom

Teachers need to be constantly inspired! These inspiring books with classroom tales and professional advice will help teachers sustain their passion for teaching and gain more insight into the profession.

1. The Underachieving School by John Holt. Dr. Jose Rizal, Philippine's national hero, put it best when he said: "The school is not a torture chamber but a playground of the mind." This book perfectly encapsulates this thought, for John Holt discusses the negative effects of focusing too much on teaching as a formal job where students are treated like robots who listen and learn on command. Through several chapters in the book, Holt brings to light the many flaws of the educational system and reminds teachers that children only learn to hate school because of what their teachers do and not because they don't want to learn.
2. Fires in the Bathroom (Advice for Teachers from High School Students) by Kathleen Cushman. There is no better judge of a teacher than the students themselves. So, kudos to the people who came up with the idea for this book. It offers very valuable knowledge for first-time and veteran teachers alike. Students always have a preconceived notion of what a teacher should be like, and what teachers should or shouldn't do. The book also gives students the chance to be heard. The advice given in the book are gathered from focus groups of various American high school students who have shared their ideas of what a teacher should or shouldn't do, what an ideal class should be like, as well as some fond memories of favorite mentors, or traumatic experiences from their worst teachers.
3. Letters to a Young Teacher by Jonathan Kozol. Reminiscent of the classic "Letters to a Young Poet" by Rainer Maria Rilke, Jonathan Kozol's letters to rookie teacher “Francesca” were written to guide her into the “joys and challenges and passionate rewards of a beautiful profession”. The dedication to the book says it all: “...for all those other teachers, young in age or young at heart, who come into our classrooms with a love for children and a thirst for justice”. Kozol has useful advice for facing different challenges every young teacher will face from dealing with parents, the diverse personalities of students, and even with fellow teachers.
4. Freedom Writer's Diary. This book based on the experiences of Erin Gruwell’s class was turned into a movie that starred Hilary Swank. It contains some of the very moving journal entries of the students in Erin Gruwell’s class. The journal-writing began as an individual writing project which Gruwell required of her class. Faced with the difficult challenge of encouraging the students to learn even as the students of different backgrounds battled each other and themselves, Gruwell tasked her students to write diary entries about their lives. This book is the final result of that project, compiling selected entries by the students. This book is a guaranteed tearjerker for teachers who truly care about their students.
5. Teach With Your Heart by Erin Gruwell. This follow-up to The Freedom Writer's Diary is the personal memoir of teacher Erin Gruwell. She writes about the experiences and challenges she went through as a public school teacher in the US, including getting discriminated and opposed by fellow teachers. She persevered in getting her class—considered “rejects” by the school—to appreciate English and literature and to unite despite their differences in race. How she transformed the views of her students about school, the world and themselves will surely inspire any teacher who wishes to make a difference in students’ lives. Gruwell’s follow-up is as moving and inspiring as her earlier work, The Freedom Writers,
6. The Excellent 11 by Ron Clark. The 2001 recipient of the Disney Teacher of the Year Award and the follow up to the best-seller The Excellent 55, Ron Clark lists the 11 common denominators he discovered among great teachers and parents he has met in his many encounters while serving as a speaker in various schools across America. The Excellent 11 are Enthusiasm, Adventure, Creativity, Reflection, Balance, Compassion, Confidence, Humor, Common Sense, Appreciation and Resilience. He recounts classroom and teacher stories for each quality to illustrate it better. Each chapter is informative and inspiring. He also gives useful advice for all teachers who have—or wish to have—the passion to change the lives of their students.
7. Tales from The Teacher's Lounge by Robert Wilder. This book is, as the author puts it himself, “one man's irreverent look at being a teacher today.” Wilder's essays show the teaching profession “at its most absurd... and most rewarding”. This collection of touching and hilarious (yet sometimes disturbing) anecdotes is a refreshingly brutal but also honest reminder to us teachers that we are all still human, and that there is still much to learn even when we're supposed to know everything as teachers.