How I read business/marketing books and apply to education

I have been asked multiple times since this summer about what I am reading. People usually start to lose interest the minute I tell them I am reading a great business or marketing book. It seems boring or non educational. I think they are expecting me to say I am reading some new educational book with strategies or lesson plans.

To be honest, besides Teach Like A Pirate, I have not read a good quality education book in quite some time. There are some great ones out there, but for the last two years I just don’t see anything new or groundbreaking.

I am finding that reading the latest marketing/business books have really opened my eyes up to a new perspective. I am not reading them to make money or start my own company, but I read them with the lens of education.

Let me explain how I do this.

1. Vocab transfer

The following words I exchange in my mind while reading

business = education
product = students or goal of my classroom depending on context of material
customers = students and sometime parents/community
making money = helping students learn

2. I read in chunks

I don’t speed read. I will read a few pages or a chapter and stop. I will then stop to think about what I read. Go back over a paragraph or two and then make notes using Evernote or my notepad. I will jot down ideas from the book into my own words moving the ideas to education.

3. Read other material

Even though I am reading the book I am still paying close attention to other blogs, Twitter, newsletters, etc. looking through it all to further apply the content to education. Many times when I have this focus I can pick and pull from several other resources to solidify my ideas

4. Blog

Most of the blog posts lately have derived from this method. I simply share out an idea when I think that I have one worth sharing. At some point I would like to mold these into a cohesive book, but with two books already in the process this will have to wait.

I have been sharing my weekly reads on my new podcast.

I am also working on creating a newsletter where I share out what books, magazines, and resources I am currently focusing on. I hope to have this up and running soon.