Whether you’re looking to jump to a new grade level or just pick up a few new tips and strategies to liven up your lessons, professional development books from Scholastic are the perfect place to begin crafting a successful plan to help achieve your teaching goals. They not only feature everything you need to hone your craft and become a better teacher, our books also provide an engaging mix of ready-to-go lessons, tips, and strategies to help you get the most out of your time in the classroom.

Check out these favorite professional development books from Scholastic.

To jump-start your professional development, consider devoting time to these three focus areas:

1. Set goals to become an even more effective teacher.

In The Writing Teacher's Companion teachers are encouraged to set five short-term goals in the beginning of the school year and 10 long-term goals to focus on throughout the year. From establishing a safe environment where students can take risks to helping students build their knowledge across genres, goal-setting is a central foundation of professional development, whether you’re teaching writing, reading, or another subject.

2. Focus on reading to boost confidence and develop the next generation of students who love to read.

After reading From Striving to Thriving: How to Grow Confident, Capable Readers, you’ll not only learn that trust is a critical ingredient for developing strong readers, you’ll also take home effective and engaging strategies to build on your students’ strengths.

3. Foster family and community connections.

One of the most effective ways to make a difference for your students is by developing partnerships and building meaningful relatioships with families and the community outside your classroom.

In Powerful Partnerships: A Teacher's Guide to Engaging Families for Student Success you’ll discover why family engagement is so critical to student and teacher success and learn important strategies for putting families at the center of what children are learning.