These are a few of my favourites and I expect to add to them from time to time. Please let me know if you have come across particularly useful books or web sites in your travels. I would be happy to check them out and add them to these lists.
“Could Do Better”: Why Children Underachieve and What to Do About It by Harvey P. Mandel and Sander I. Marcus (Hardcover – Sep 8 1995)
We look at our underachieving students and write them off as lazy – or wonder if there is any way we can help. Mandel and Marcus reinforced my sneaking suspicion that there is no such thing as a lazy child. Well worth reading for parents and teachers alike.
Being Smart about Gifted Education: A Guidebook for Educators and Parents by Dona J. Matthews and Joanne F. Foster (Paperback – Aug 2009)
An excellent guidebook.
Teaching Gifted Kids in the Regular Classroom: Strategies and Techniques Every Teacher Can Use to Meet the Academic Needs of the Gifted and Talented by Susan Winebrenner and Sylvia B. Rimm (Paperback – Nov 1 2002)
I have used the two Winebrenner books on this list and found them so useful, I would be inclined to try any of her other books. We hear about compacting the curriculum for gifted kids; she shows us how to do it with a minimum of work and maximum impact.
Teaching Kids with Learning Difficulties in the Regular Classroom: Strategies and Techniques Every Teacher Can Use to Challenge and Motivate Struggling Students by Susan Winebrenner (Paperback – Nov 1 2002)
The Pampered Child Syndrome: How to Recognize It, How to Manage It, and How to Avoid It by Maggie Mamen (Paperback – Oct 5 2004)
Highly recommended for both parents and teachers. Parents sometimes worry or are even fairly sure that they are indulging their children a bit much. This book explains the consequences and what to do. It is also useful for teachers who receive pampered children in their classrooms.
Mismeasure Of Man by Stephen Gould (Hardcover – Jun 26 1996)
An fascinating account of the origins of IQ tests. Worth the read but you will never take an IQ test too seriously again!
Proust and the Squid by Maryanne Wolf
An excellent book about reading and the process of reading from a potted history to a careful explanation of the neurology of the reading brain and the dyslexic brain. You will never look at dyslexics the same again.
Unless you have a good understanding of the construction of the brain, you may need to slow down, study the diagrams and find an app that shows a 3D model of the brain. It took me a while to get through the last chapters with reasonable comprehension and I will probably go back to them again.
Teachers Outside the Box 