Serving Lake &
Geauga Counties

Staff Recommended Read/Podcast List

The staff of State Support Team 4 would like to use this space to share with you our favorite books and podcasts. Each month you will be introduced to a new staff recommended book or podcast. We hope that you find something new to consider and possibly impact your personal professional development.

Happy Reading!

November Recommended Podcast

Family to Family Podcast

By: Tom Capretta and Fara Allen from the Ohio Statewide Family Engagement Center

(Click photo to go to podcast)

Podcast Reviewed By: Tricia McCollum

Podcast Synopsis:

Join host Tom Capretta as he hears the experiences, advice, and expertise from families on topics and questions about the education system. This podcast blends the stories of Ohio families with strategies from education professionals. the range of topics is designed to support families as they partner with schools.

Why I Recommend This Podcast:

I am so excited for this new podcast! It is created for families by families throughout the state of Ohio. The episodes are short (30 minutes or less) so they are easy to listen to in one session. Within each episode, you can hear the experiences from real families as they advocate for their children and learn effective ways to partner with their child's school.

October Recommended Read

Culturally Proficient Leadership: The Personal Journey Begins Within

By: Raymond D. Terrell, Eloise K. Terrell, Randall B. Lindsey and Delores B. Lindsey

Book Reviewed By: Liesl Blackwell

Book Synopsis:

The authors of this book have worked to provide the reader the opportunity to:

explore and learn "how" and "from whom" you developed your assumptions, values, and beliefs about people who are culturally different from you
learn from people who are culturally different from you
develop an international frame for culturally proficient leadership practice
learn how to model appropriate responses to persons who are like and who are different from you
develop the skill and will to address issues of inequality that abide in your school or district.

It is the hope of the authors that the readers of this book will be able to seek opportunities to develop meaningful relationships across racial, gender, class, religious, language, and gender-identity linked in order to have dialogue and reflection together.

Why I Recommend This Book:

Is this book for you? It is, if you wish to make a positive difference in the lives of ALL children, youth and adult learners. Reading this book is a way in which you can begin to take the journey to create your own leadership equity story. It is necessary to reflect on your personal cultural learnings and determine how those learnings inform the leader that you are today and in turn, provide you with the information to be intentional in choosing the leader that you will be tomorrow.

September Recommended Read

Upstream: The Quest to Solve Problems Before They Happen

by: Dan Heath

Book reviewed by: Dr. Teresa Brown

Book Synopsis:

"When you spend years responding to problems, you can sometimes overlook the fact that you could be preventing them." Upstream is all about the power of prevention. The book explores the psychological forces that push us "downstream" and keeps us from preventative "upstream" thinking. These forces include "problem blindness", tunneling, and lack of ownership. The book is full of case studies that give concrete examples of how shifting your thinking can have big results.

Why I Recommend This Book:

I am a huge fan of Dan Heath. He is also the author of "Switch", which is one of my favorite books on change leadership. I like this book because it challenges you to get out of the cycle of putting out fires and start to think of how to prevent problems from occurring in the first place.