As teachers, how do we foster and celebrate ability and natural capacities? In Out of Our Minds Sir Ken Robinson suggests that the answer may just be creativity. He points out that our world is shaped by human imagination. Emphasis is also placed on the fact that finding, and fulfilling, our creative potential helps us live a happier life.

Stretch by Scott Sonenshein will encourage you to do more with less...and then show you how to do it. Concepts such as chasing, stretching, and being cognitively entrenched, combined with cautionary tales (Gerber singles, anyone?) and success stories (Yuengling and the book Green Eggs and Ham) to frame why it’s important to think more about “stretching” than “chasing.”

Are you always asking questions about the world? Do you wish you were more curious? Warren Berger uses A More Beautiful Question to train you to think systematically and deeply about questions that we ask.

David Geurin’s Future Driven reads like he's been paying close attention to the education reform movement for the past decade, written down what he's learned on scraps of paper, and then compiled them into a book.

All Learning is Social and Emotional boldly claims the necessity of cultivating social and emotional skills in students. This is a quick read packed with valuable information for school leaders and classroom practitioners alike.

George Couros’, The Innovator’s Mindset convincingly makes the case that schools should exist to empower students to be innovative leaders, creators, problem finders, and problem solvers. He creatively introduces a blueprint for how schools can do this by introducing two different approaches focused on making meaningful connections by building trust and taking risks.

Seth Godin’s Linchpin proclaims that the industrial model of schooling and living as cogs in a machine is outdated, and in turn, explains how individuals can transform themselves into indispensable linchpins that create art, inspire human connections, and solve interesting problems. Godin chips away at traditional educational models that rely upon fear, compliance, and rote memorization; however, he also provides innovative alternatives centered around the belief in students, growth, leadership, and taking risks.

Are you ready to overhaul everything you thought you knew about assessment? In On Your Mark, Thomas Guskey asks us to unpack the philosophy of why we give grades at all.

Socol, Moran, and Ratliff’s book Timeless Learning; How Imagination, Observation and Zero-Based Thinking Change Schools takes a look at outdated American public schools and how they are currently failing students. School leaders and educators wishing to create change will appreciate this book for inspiration and for ideas on how and where to start.

Uberland is a great read for anyone interested in how data/algorithms are being used to change the world we live in. It is also fun to extrapolate what algorithms could mean for more efficient leading and reporting out on learning.

In The Model Thinker, Scott E. Page takes the reader through the whys and hows of model thinking followed by dozens of models to help us understand the world. However, in the final analysis, this book is lacking in models that are directly impactful for educators, but knowing there are models out there that drive policy will cause all of us to make decisions using logic and data via the models we find adjacently relatable.

Adam Grant’s Originals doesn’t disappoint. He looks at a whole host of variables that play a role in how original ideas are spawned, accepted and rolled out to the world.