Summer 5! What are you reading this summer?

The last day of school for students is in a few days.

I'm in project mode. Working on 7 projects this summer.

I'm in a reflecting-on-the-past-school-year mode. Will be blogging about it soon.

I'm in a getting-ready-for-summer-reading-mode. Went on Amazon last night and ordered books.

Here's my Summer 5 list of books:

Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us - Seth Godin

I've been meaning to read this one for a while. Of all of the areas I'm interested in, social networking seems to continue to take precedence. Seth Godin defines tribes as "A group of people connected to each other, to a leader and to an idea. Smart innovators find or assemble a movement of similarly minded individuals and get the tribe excited by a new product, service or message, often via the Internet (consider, for example, the popularity of the Obama campaign, Facebook or Twitter)." " Tribes," Godin says, "can be within or outside a corporation, and almost everyone can be a leader; most are kept from realizing their potential by fear of criticism and fear of being wrong. Change isn't made by asking permission. Change is made by asking forgiveness, later."

The Technology Director's Guide to Leadership: The Power of Great Questions - Don Hall

ISTE published this a year-and-a-half ago. It is on their top 15 list currently. The author walks the reader through identifying their leadership style. As described by Amazon, "Each chapter contains practical activities and exercises designed to assist you as you provide leadership in your organization. Hall explores how to more effectively facilitate communication between you and your team. Strategies are included to help you manage the performance of different personality types in order to bring out excellence in everyone."

A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future - Daniel H. Pink

Have to read this book. Yes, it has been around for a while. Daniel Pink, former chief speechwriter for former vice-president Al Gore, writes with a strong, but soothing style that makes me want to read more. He says "The keys to success are in developing and cultivating six senses: design, story, symphony, empathy, play, and meaning." Looking forward to stretching my right-brain senses!

Classroom Habitudes - Angela Maiers

Someone told me at a party a few weeks ago that I remind him of Angela Maiers. That is the greatest compliment I'd received all year. If you haven't taken an opportunity to learn from Angela, you need to follow her on twitter and visit her website. I attended a webinar with her a few months ago that was lifechanging. (Can you hear how fabulous I think she is?) LOL Looking forward to reading her new book. In it, she invites the reader to "explore together the behaviors, habits and attitudes that we'll know with conviction will ensure our students for success both inside and outside our classroom walls."

Grown Up Digital: How the Net Generation is Changing Your World HC - Don Tapscott

I've been meaning to read Don's newest addition to the sequal. Read this description from Amazon:

The Net Generation Has Arrived. Are you ready for it?
Chances are you know a person between the ages of 11 and 30. You've seen them doing five things at once: texting friends, downloading music, uploading videos, watching a movie on a two-inch screen, and doing who-knows-what on Facebook or MySpace. They're the first generation to have literally grown up digital--and they're part of a global cultural phenomenon that's here to stay.

The bottom line is this: If you understand the Net Generation, you will understand the future.
I'll be reading this one along with a Summer Book Club. The cool thing is that the 4 weeks of the Book Club discussions will be entirely virtual. I'll tell you a secret. One of my goals to stretch myself professionally is to moderate an online book club for the parents at my school this fall, and to lead another one with my PLN. Participating in this group will allow me to learn from the amazingly talented moderator, who is leading it this summer. I hope to learn from him, then take that skill to start moderating 3 virtual book discussions each year. Now that I've typed that secret goal, and made it public, I'll have to actually do it!

If you've been reading my blog, you'll know I am all about valuing people, making connections, collaborating, and helping to make each other stronger. Post a comment here and with your summer book list. We would all benefit from your recommendations of what you plan to read this summer. Give us your list! :-)

Secondly, if you plan to read any of these books, let me know. Let's check in a few times this summer on the Summer Reading tab of this blog (wink! wink!), and discuss what stands out for us in the book! It's more fun when you can learn together!

Happy Summer!