TEACHING IN THE NEW CRAZY
ON THRIVING IN AN OVERWHELMING, POLITICIZED, AND COMPLICATED WORLD
From book bans to AI to a loneliness epidemic to alarming polarization, teachers face a surge of new challenges in their day-to-day efforts to educate their students.
In his timely new book, Teaching in The New Crazy, high school social studies teacher Dr. Glen Coleman leverages his 28+ years of innovation in the classroom to craft a vision for educators, which is bold, humble, and — in a word — real.
He does so in three-parts:
In Part 1, Coleman explores new trends that have upended today’s educational landscape, such as the intensifying mental health crisis; unprecedented, unchecked, exponential technological growth; and deepening and widening polarization.
In Part 2, Coleman shares actionable strategies to help teachers manage this momentous moment of change. His recommendations — born from experience — include everything from personal mindfulness techniques to innovative pedagogy.
In Part 3, Coleman presents a series of interviews with fellow teachers, featuring candid conversations to further the insights of the book’s premise — we are stronger together — as well as debates on the real world practicalities of implementing his recommended strategies.
The result is both a thoughtful and resourceful guide for teachers that acknowledges The New Crazy with tools to help them better navigate their way through, for themselves and their students.
“Twenty years ago Glen Coleman was my teacher who did something exceptionally well — he created a space for students to explore big ideas and was courageous enough to let learning get messy as we looked for the answers, together. In this book, with humor, optimism and at times, stark realism, Coleman asks and seeks to answer the biggest questions educators face today — how to teach and reach students in the new chaotic normal. Offering actionable strategies to employ in and out of the classroom, Coleman reminds us that, ‘one lesson can still change a life.’ It did for me.”
28+ YEARS AND COUNTING AS A PUBLIC SCHOOL TEACHER
Dr. Glen Coleman has been teaching social studies at River Dell High School, a public school in North Jersey, for over twenty-eight years. His doctoral dissertation focused on laptop integration and student-centered learning. He organizes his teaching around essential questions to encourage divergent thinking and believes students must be afforded ample opportunities to fail “gloriously” and try again. When given those opportunities with the support of constructive feedback and a caring community, all boats rise.
In 2019 Glen was named an HP Teaching Fellow for helping to reinvent the classroom and employing powerful learning with technology. His publications include articles for the NJEA Review and Digital Promise, and he is the author of two books — 100 or Nothing: Reimagining Success in the Classroom and the just-published Teaching in the New Crazy: On Thriving in an Overwhelming, Politicized, and Complicated World.