Mike Matthews

As the George Floyd protests rated in 2020, I made a commitment to read and learn more about how to address racism in our country. In terms of their impact   […]   View Post →

I can’t remember how I came across this book, but I’m glad I did. This is a very intellectual book that combines economics with art, literature, poetry and more. I   […]   View Post →

How to Raise an Adult, by Julie Lythcott-Haims (2015) I had the chance to hear Julia L-H speak near Stanford University last year. She is a highly enthusiastic person who   […]   View Post →

I had all of our administrators read this book this summer, and they loved it. He asks and advises on three questions. How can I be sure that: I will   […]   View Post →

My wife recommended this book to me. It is a nonfiction story of an ill-fated journey to the north pole in the 1870’s. There were many theories about the north   […]   View Post →

I don’t know why I have not read this book until now. But Bryan Stevenson has been someone who’s been mentioned to me by several of my friends in the   […]   View Post →

After the untimely death of Anthony Bourdain, I began to learn a lot about this TV celebrity that so many in the world were inspired by. I have to admit   […]   View Post →

I actually did not find a lot of application for this book for the public education sector. If I were starting a charter school or an internet-based school, two ideas   […]   View Post →

Schmoker’s original book, simply called Focus, remains one of my favorite educational books of all time. Schmoker’s point remains the same: schools need to narrow their focus on what they   […]   View Post →

This is a book my wife read with her book club. It’s not my typical read. It’s a Pulitzer Prize winner which means it’s pretty “literature-y” for my tastes. I   […]   View Post →

This book tells the story of the power of data in transforming schools and helping all students to achieve. I am a bit ambivalent about this one. While I agree   […]   View Post →

I am a big goal-setter. I find that I am much more focused and driven when I write down my goals or when I have target events to shoot for.   […]   View Post →

I’ll get to the title of the book later. This is written about the trials and travails of life. It’s about how life can kick you in the teeth, whether   […]   View Post →

This is another book from the good people at America’s Test Kitchen/Cooks Illustrated. So I do a heck of a lot of outdoor cooking. I even built a new outdoor   […]   View Post →

Our Education Foundation brought in Yalda Uhls to speak to our parents about students and technology. I introduced her and to do so felt a need to read her book   […]   View Post →

This is another book on the Mira Costa reading list that I had not yet read. It deals with difficult family issues, coming of age, race and rural living. I   […]   View Post →

This is a thoughtful book about how technology should be used in education and learning. In spite of increasing amounts of money invested in technology in schools, there have not   […]   View Post →

This was recommended to me by my father. It is a story of a 70+-year-old cowboy and war veteran whose main occupation was going around Texas and other western states   […]   View Post →

Our summer trip this year will be a bicycling trip to Nova Scotia in eastern Canada. We take big biking trips every other year with a close group of friends   […]   View Post →

This book has become a very important book in our district.  Written by a group of Stanford University School of Education leaders, and former teachers, it talks about the fact   […]   View Post →

We have trained almost all of our elementary teachers in writing the way Lucy Calkins and Columbia University teach writing. It’s a method that works to make all students believe   […]   View Post →

I listened to Mr. Dungy read his books while driving back and forth to work. Again, www.audible.com for great downloads right to your iPod. I’ve always admired the man and   […]   View Post →

It’s been on the best seller list since it came out. It’s corny and very simply written. But as a parent and an educator, there’s not better book to give   […]   View Post →

Liz Wiseman is a great author and an even better speaker. I heard her at an ACSA Conference in San Diego and saw her in a whole different light. She   […]   View Post →