A new year, a new beginning! This year let’s make a point to improve our leadership and independence, not only in ourselves, but in our students as well. This blog post will overview works that can provide you with tools to increase your own leadership and organizational skills, how to understand your students and in turn lift them up to their best selves. In addition, we’ll highlight some excellent reads to introduce your class to inspirational figures to inspire them to reach for the stars!
Take a moment to reflect on your own leadership skills, and how you can continue to improve with Leadership and Organizational 
Behaviour In Education by William A. Owings and Leslie S. Kaplan. This work goes in depth on leadership theories and apply those theories with various pedagogies in classroom settings. This text sets out a series of standards on what an educational leader is and how to encourage your students to success. Its chapters overview, Leadership, Conflict, Problem Solving and Decision Making, Leadership and Resource Allocation, Formative and Summative Evaluation Issues in leadership. Set the best example for your students by being the best leader you can be!
Every student is unique, and learns in different ways. Reaching And Teaching Them All: Making Quick and Lasting Connections With Every Student in Your Classroom, by Amanda Yuill, will provide you with strategies to connect with each of your students uniquely. Gaining your students’ trust is a great first step to inspire confidence and independence in your class. Yuill suggests many different avenues on how to connect with your students. The text goes into detail describing various scenarios, and what approaches might work best with different students’ personalities. At the end of this book Yuill includes several checklists that can help you identify what kind of personality your students have, as well as some indicators of mental health/behaviour issues.
Cloverleaf Books has produced three picture books that encourage independence by providing a sense of financial awareness to your students, and perhaps an entrepreneurial spirit as well! Ideal for grades 2-5, these works are perfect to help you teach your students how they can earn their own money, and why earning money can help them get what they want. These works are titled, Ella Earns Her Own Money, Gabriel Gets a Great Deal, and Kyle Keeps track of Cash, written by Lisa Bullard and illustrated by Mike Byre.
I Can Handle It, written by Laurie Wright, and illustrated by Ana Santos, is a charming 
book for your primary students. Sebastian is an independent boy who can handle anything. Throughout this book he shares his solutions on how to handle anything that might come one’s way! Sebastian shares how to handle a friend who is mad, or what to do when an adult isn’t listening, or even how to handle siblings who are being a pain. I Can Handle It will make your class laugh while also offering real solutions on how to handle situations that might confront them, encouraging t0 them to independently take on anything that might come their way.
Everyone needs a little inspiration now and again, and Women In Science- 50 Fearless 
Pioneers- who changed the the world, can do exactly that! Inspire your students by introducing them to these amazing women in science throughout history. These women worked hard to achieve their dreams and in turn changed the world! Within the book you’ll read the incredible stories of women like Mae Jemison who was an astronaut, educator, doctor, and dancer. Or Hypatia, one of the earliest ever recorded women who engaged in Astronomy, Mathematics, and philosophy! This piece was written and illustrated by the amazingly talented Rachel Ignotofsky.
