The Dark Tower IV: Wizard and Glass

Stephen King

Book 4 of The Dark Tower Series

Roland continues his journey to the dark tower with his ka-tet. But most of this book is a flashback telling of Roland in his gunslinger youth. We learn how he becomes a gunslinger, of his first love, of the events that lead him to know of the dark tower and the fate that has been chosen for him. In hindsight, I have lost the thread of the overall search, in a way that it became less important that the story being currently told. I am sure that the big theme picks up in the next volume.

3 stars (out of 4)

Building Equity: Policies and Practices to Empower all Learners

Dominique Smith, Ian Pumpian, Nancy Frey, Douglas Fisher

This is part motivational writing to justify why equity is important in schools, and part 'how-to' for districts to assess current equity. They propose an Equity Taxonomy so you can work on different foundational problem areas, and have accompanying checklists for assessment. The book says it is for all educators, but the emphasis (most examples) are from public school districts and mostly lower schools (K-8). So while systemically this might be good for my private high school as a self assessment tool, it is not particularly useful for the individual teacher. The one exception would be the Instructional Excellence chapter that had a few good reminders on the value of explicitly establishing purpose and how to think about progression toward student centered learning.
2 stars (out of 4)