Reconnect: Building School Culture for Meaning, Purpose, and Belonging by Doug Lemov

Reconnect: Building School Culture for Meaning, Purpose, and Belonging Reviews

• 
  Rachel Miller Wright

  Started a new job this month and was finally able to return and finish this book. This is a post-pandemic book, timely, relevant, and needed by school leaders. I found the framing of the three big challenges in the introduction especially helpful and the treatment of cell phone policies as well. There are a number of specific strategies and recommendations, which I always find helpful in school leadership books, but they may be especially relevant to large public or charter schools where I, at least, imagined most of them playing out. A quick read and worth it (quickly!) for school leaders.
• 
  Becca

  Feelings I have been having as educator in the past 3 years validated by research. Now, the question is- can the cell phone policy be changed in my district?
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  Olivia

  I wish this was longer! I noted down several practical changes I can make to my teaching practice and interactions with students outside of the classroom.
  
  I'm particularly interested in involving student-student gratitude notes. The book suggests students distribute these by placing them in each other's lockers, but I can imagine many of my students writing inappropriate or mean messages to each other this way. Instead, I would provide class time to write notes, collect them (maybe in a nice box or container), and read over them before distributing. This way, I could also identify students yet to receive one, and subtly encourage someone to write them a note next time.
  
  I valued the explanation of why and how to explicitly teach discussion and apology skills. The book directs teachers on how to make this meaningful for the kids- it's been done in a cheesy and out of touch way in my previous schools.
  
  The final chapters on year level dean responsibilities, including liaising in a cooperative and supportive way with classroom teachers, helped me reflect on where behaviour managements have gone awry in the past. I have more clarity on what procedures I'll follow/ ask my dean to work with me on now.
  
  Super frustrated at my current school for allowing phones to be out on desks with no consequences for checking them. Reading this book while witnessing my schools utter failures of providing kids with phone-free time and clear boundaries was painful.
  
  Unfortunately students singing/ chanting together is an unrealistic vision for the majority of Australian state high schools, despite it being a beautiful way for kids to experience unity and connection.
• 
  April

  4.5 stars...
  
  This post-pandemic look at schools considers how interpersonal connections and school culture can help to recover from the pandemic (socially and academically) and fight and/or protect against the teenage mental health crisis.
  
  The authors focus on just a few key, foundational ideas that increase student-to-student and student-to-adult connection. The simplicity and depth is where this book works. Instead of a whole bag full of "tricks" to pick and choose from or try here and there, it favors consistency and whole-school buy-in.
  
  I have a feeling these ideas would be a much bigger challenge for big public schools than for smaller charter and private schools that can focus on culture and individual students more effectively.
  
  This is one that I want to come back to and that I want to share with others at my school.
• 
  Kristin

  In a world where teaching has gotten harder when everyone needs more support (both adults and scholars in the building), this book brings to the forefront concrete ideas for how to build connections in school and do so in a sustainable way. This book has given me a lot of next steps that feel doable as a 5-8 Assistant Principal of Culture next year.
• 
  Michelle

  My first PD audiobook perfect for my commute. Despite the really awful narrator (sorry dude I kept debating if it was AI), a good mix of practical application and philosophical considerations that have definitely, positively affected my approach to the new school year so far- a clear, strict no phone policy amongst others.
• 
  Olivia

  This is probably my favourite of the books I have read on education. It details how to build and maintain a positive, respectful culture in a school, especially post-pandemic, and is both theoretical and practical in its approach with lots of examples. I’ll definitely be revisiting parts and using some of the ideas in my own practice.
• 
  Tweller83

  I received this book free from Libro.fm as part of the Educator ALC program.
• 
  Pete

  Good book with helpful tips somewhat diminished by the charter school rant at the end that is unsupported by the rest of the book’s lessons
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  Heather Johnson

  From start to finish, this book offered tangible answers as to what teachers and school leaders can do to help students re-connect to what matters in school.
• 
  Kelly Louise

  Brilliant. A must-read for teachers and leaders
• 
  Robin

  I was hoping that Reconnect: Building School Culture for Meaning, Purpose, and Belonging would talk about building school culture among staff and students. It gave a lot of advice on cell phone policies for schools, but the school where I work already has a no-cell phone policy so much of the book was not helpful in my situation. The book also centered around Teach Like a Champion procedures that not all school use. I wish the principles in this book were applicable to all schools, not just those using the TLaC system.
  
  Thank you to Tantor Audio and LibroFM's Educator ALC program for a review copy of the audiobook.