Teaching and Learning Book Discussions

A Book Discussion where it’s OK if you didn’t read the book!

Are you eager to discuss new and thought-provoking books about teaching? Do you have a pile of books you haven’t yet had the time to read?

This informal discussion group will explore a different book at each meeting. After a brief overview of the book’s main themes, we will spend most of our time engaging in informal discussion about the ideas and their implications for teaching.

Be sure to vote on a future book or suggest your own options below.

Three books about "rest" Tues, April 22, 2:00-3:00 pm

Sign up to join us!

For the last book discussion of the year, we will pull ideas from three different texts about “rest.” Join us to share the importance of rest and explore some strategies to build restful practices into our busy lives.

 

Sacred Rest, by Saundra Dalton-Smith

Dr. Saundra Dalton-Smith, a board-certified internal medicine doctor, shares seven types of rest found lacking in the lives of those she encounters in her clinical practice and research–physical, mental, spiritual, emotional, sensory, social, creative–and why a deficiency in any one of these types of rest can have unfavorable effects on your health, happiness, relationships, creativity, and productivity.

View Dr. Dalton-Smith’s 10-minute TED Talk

 

Permission to Rest, by Ashley Neese

Wellness expert Ashley Neese combines personal essays, contemplative questions, scientific research, and somatic practices to help us disrupt the state of urgency. Neese presents a series of body-focused rest practices for those who are running on empty, addresses common roadblocks when beginning a rest practice, and a number of holistic resources for developing a sustainable relationship to rest, especially useful for those short on time.

Author podcast about the book

 

Rest Is Resistance: A Manifesto, by Tricia Hersey

Tricia Hersey, aka the Nap Bishop, casts an illuminating light on our troubled relationship with rest and how to imagine and dream our way to a future where rest is exalted. Our worth does not reside in how much we produce. Rest, in its simplest form, becomes an act of resistance and a reclaiming of power because it asserts our most basic humanity. We are enough.

Interview with Elizabeth Gilbert

 

We do not have review copies of these books. Instead, all of these authors have numerous podcast and video interviews easily found online, a few of which are listed above, for those who would like to explore these books before our discussion.

Past Book Discussions

Suggested Discussion Guidelines

These discussions are intended to create save/brave spaces for thought-provoking discussions. To that end, the following guidelines are suggested.

  • Speak your own truth – use “I” statements
  • Respect the truth of others – listen to understand, suspend judgment and turn to curiosity
  • Ask questions to expand our thinking
  • Hold ourselves accountable for our statements
  • Participate at your comfort level, yet aim to hear as many voices/perspectives as possible
  • Take the learning outside the discussion, but keep any personal information confidential

Vote on or Suggest Future Books

Help steer our exploration by voting on future book discussion options and sharing your own recommendations.

Vote on Future Book Discussion Options