Part 2: ...And the 1/2 book I've been reading

Not by any means is it 1/2 of a book.  I am only half way done with it, but had to share:

I am so excited to be reading a book my friend, Tracy, wrote.  It is: Becoming the Math Teacher You Wish You'd Had by Tracy Zager.

I first met Tracy at a conference in Portland, Maine.  I met her friend, Shawn, at that time too.  He is one of the teachers she follows in her book.  Since then, Shawn and I have met up twice in Connecticut to present at conferences.  I had the privilege of getting to hear Tracy rock her keynote speech at Twitter Math Camp last summer.  She is such an eloquent speaker, I knew I had to see her thoughts and ideas in book form.  I ordered it as soon as it became available and I got it on its first day of shipment along with a lot of my tweep friends (on twitter).  We all posted our package in the mail that day.

The first thing I noticed is that it is a large book - good - it will be chuck full of goodness.  I love the feel of the cover.  No, that isn't Tracy on the cover, by the way.  I loved the Foreword and I teared up reading the Acknowledgements.  I fell in love with the table of contents.  Just look at the titles:

There are so many amazing color pictures of actual student work to help explain what is happening in the classroom.  There are actual conversations between teacher and students.  Who wouldn't want to read it?  By the way, I recommend this for ALL teachers of any grade and any subject.  Not just math teachers.  There are so many great observations, ideas, reminders, studies, and techniques in here.  It should be a requirement by colleges for new teacher programs.  If you have a new or old teacher in your life, buy it for them.  It is a gift!

I am only half way through it because I am studying it.  I am reading it slowly, making notes in the margins.  I am thinking about how I can make changes to my lessons and questioning techniques and putting them instantly into practice.  Yes, it is written about her visiting elementary school classrooms and teachers, but the ideas are universal.  It all just makes you think.  These are things I want to remember.

As I'm reading it, I remember Tracy talking about different parts on Twitter.  It is really cool to see it all come together so beautifully.  Nice job friend!

I'm not done yet because I don't want it to end.  I had to kick this blog out of my head today though before I even finished the book.  By the way, it is cheaper on the Stenhouse site rather than the Amazon site.  What are you waiting for?  Go buy it, start it, put it into practice!