In the Know | September 2025

In the Know

by Dr. Christian Klaue

I (really) enjoy reading and I like sharing good resources with others. To start off this year, I am revisiting the books I recommended last year and offering my favourite read for that category this past year. I will also offer a short summary of the book to refresh everyone’s memory.

Leaders (2024-2025)

October

What Makes a Great Principal

What is the resource about?

-Couros has asked a number of educators to write on the following descriptors of an effective principal

November

Change

What is this resource about?

-Kotter describes the process for trying to implement change at an organization.

December

The Hard Hat

What is this resource about?

-This is the biography of George Boiardi and the 21 traits of a good team player that he embodied.

January

The Principals Guide to Conflict

What is this resource about?

-Schwanke describes the main types of conflict that take place in schools and then offers a three step process to resolve these conflicts in a productive manner.

February

Leaders Eat Last

What is this resource about?

- The five key lessons in this book refer to the value of a godly leader: as the culture, so the company; as the leader, so the culture; integrity matters; friends matter; and lead the people, not the numbers.

March

The Pruning Principle

What is this resource about?

-The usual experience for teachers is to have more work added every year: add another initiative or join this committee. It is almost unheard of to remove a task from the teachers.

April

What Can I Take Off Your Plate?

What is this resource about?

-Handley and Donnelly address the important issue of teacher burnout.

May

Advice From the Principal’s Desk

What is this resource about?

-Franklin provides guidance for administrators just starting out on their journey.

My top picks for this category (it is a tie) for the 2024/2025 school year are: The Pruning Principle, The Principal’s Guide to Conflict, and Advice From the Principal’s Desk. I really could not narrow it down as these are three great resources. They are written for different audiences: the first book is for seasoned administrators who know they can reduce teachers’ workloads and just need some fine tuning on how to do so. The last two are specifically for new administrators who are trying to learn how to do their job well.

Teachers (2024-2025)

October

The Discussion Book

What is the resource about?

-This book provides the top ten discussion strategies for 11 different situations

November

Building Thinking Classrooms

What is this resource about?

-This is specifically a resource to help teach math more effectively..

December

New Teacher Mindset

What is this resource about?

-This is a book about lessons that have been learned the hard way about starting a school year off right.

January

Teaching Redemptively (3rd Edition)

What is this resource about?

- Graham covers the foundations beliefs that undergird Christian education and then translates those beliefs into practices that guide Christian education.

February

Rekindle Your Professional Fire

What is this resource about?

-Anderson puts into words what we already know: teaching is challenging and it is easy to get burnt out.

March

Learning by Choice

What is this resource about?

-Juliani advocates for students that they may have increased choice at school.

April

Hanging In

What is this resource about?

-Benson provides practical steps on dealing with 13 different types of challenging students.

May

Who Owns the Learning?

What is this resource about?

-While this book is a bit dated (2012), November describes the importance of enhancing student learning through student agency.

My top pick for this category for the 2024/2025 school year is: New Teacher Mindset. It was almost a tie again for this category. I enjoy learning from Trevor Muir and John Spencer and this is probably their best book yet. It is written for new teachers to ensure that they start off on the right foot with every skill area covered.

Parents (2024-2025)

October T

Getting Back to Discipleship

What is the resource about?

-This book describes the process of becoming a disciple and then switching gears to making disciples.

November

Tolkien’s Ordinary Virtues

What is this resource about?

-Smith reviews 30 virtues and reveals their role in The Lord of the Rings.

December

Street Smarts

What is this resource about?

-Koukl has provided a way for parents to talk to their children about any and every topic.

January

A Good Return

What is this resource about?

-Lennox looks at the relationship between Christianity and work. 

February

End the Stalemate

What is this resource about?

-As the subtitle says, this book is all about helping people (parents) move past cancel culture to being able to have meaningful conversations (with their children).

March

The Men We Need

What is this resource about?

-Hansen describes the six character traits that make up a healthy masculinity:

  1. Embrace the real

  2. Protect the vulnerable

  3. Be ambitious about the right things

  4. Make women and children feel safe, not threatened.

  5. Choose today whom you plan on becoming tomorrow

  6. Take responsibility for your own spiritual life.

April

Connecting Church and School

What is this resource about?

-Coxall describes how we should go about teaching the Bible to (our) children. 

May

From Strength to Strength

What is this resource about?

-Brooks deals with the issue of aging in our society today.

I can’t pick a top book for this category for this year.These are excellent reads that will speak to a variety of parents.

Autobiographies/Biographies (2024-2025)

October

Abraham: Friend of God

Who is the resource about?

-Lennox wrote this biography of Abraham to deepen our understanding of the real individual.

November

The Savage My Kinsman

Who is the resource about?

-How would you respond if your spouse was murdered and the murderers then invited you to live with them in an isolated village?

December

In Light of Eternity

Who is the resource about?

-This is a biography of Leonard Ravenhill, one of the foremost experts on revival.

January

The Good Neighbor: The Life and Work of Fred Rogers

Who is the resource about?

-This is the first authorized biography of Mr. Rogers and describes how his childhood led to his life's-work as a pastor to America’s children.

February

Peter Fleming

Who is this resource about?

-This is the biography of Peter Fleming, one of the five missionaries martyred in Ecuador in 1956 by the Auca (Waorani).

March

God is Faithful

Who is this resource about?

-This is a collection of stories by missionaries about how God provided for them.

April

A Song of Nagasaki

Who is this resource about?

-This is a biography of Takahashi Nagai, a professor of radiology in Nagasaki who survived the atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki.

May

The Tears of My Soul

Who is this resource about?

-This is an autobiography of Sokreaksa Himm, a Cambodian whose large family was wiped out by the Khmer Rouge.

My top pick for this category for the 2024/2025 school year is: A Song of Nagasaki because of the extra-ordinary circumstances it describes: a survivor of the atomic bomb in Nagasaki who ends up leading many other Japanese to Christ because of how he responded to this event.