Need Some College Credit?BOOK STUDY Coming Summer 2026
Flexible Learning on Your Schedule
Our courses are designed to fit into your budget and seamlessly into the busy lives of educators.
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Each course is offered by semester with flexible start dates, allowing you to begin when it works best for you. Courses must be completed by the end of the semester. VHConsultants will use the semester dates for Newman University. Dates are listed on this website for your convenience.
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Participants may complete coursework at their own pace and enroll in as many or as few courses as desired. Completion certificate presented at the end of the course for those taking for professional learning only. Course is equal to 20 hours of seat time.
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College credit available! VHConsultants LLC has partnered with Newman University to offer one graduate-level college credit per course for an additional $60 per credit hour. Educators interested in earning college credit may apply directly through Newman University at: https://apply.newmanu.edu/register/workshops. College credit fees are paid separately to Newman University.
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Each book study (course) costs $100 and is payable to VHConsultants LLC through our website.
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Books can be conveniently ordered through our Amazon affiliate link located beneath each course description.
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New course offerings are added regularly, providing ongoing opportunities for professional growth.
Summer Session 2026
begins June 1 and closes July 25. All courses need to be completed by July 18, 2026 at 4:00 PM unless it has been sent back for revisions. Revisions are due July 18, at 4:00 PM.
Fall Semester 2026
Begins August 24, 2026 and ends December 4, 2026
All courses need to be completed by December 4, 2026 at 4:00 PM unless it has been sent back for revisions. Revisions are due May 9, at 4:00 PM.
Register for a Book Study Today!
Book Study
Mindset The New Psychology of Success
Carol S. Dweck, Ph.D.
Mindset invites educators into a powerful conversation about how beliefs shape learning, motivation, and success. This book study encourages reflection on how effort, feedback, and challenge influence both students and adults, helping schools move toward a culture where growth, persistence, and learning from mistakes are valued. Participants will engage in meaningful dialogue that connects research to real classroom and leadership practices.
For administrators, this mindset shifts leadership from evaluation to growth, strengthening trust, collaboration, and professional learning across the school. For teachers, it transforms daily instruction by changing how struggle, feedback, and progress are framed for students. Together, administrators and teachers build a shared language and vision that supports continuous improvement, stronger relationships, and a learning culture where everyone is expected and supported to grow.
Book Study
The Anxious Generation
Jonathan Haidt
The Anxious Generation invites educators and leaders into a timely and thought-provoking examination of how childhood has changed and why student anxiety, depression, and disengagement are rising at alarming rates. Drawing on research, data, and real-world examples, Jonathan Haidt explores the impact of phones, social media, reduced independence, and well-intended adult practices on student well-being. This book study creates space for honest reflection and shared understanding around what today’s students are experiencing.
For administrators and teachers, this study moves beyond awareness to action. It helps school leaders rethink policies, structures, and expectations that influence student mental health, while supporting teachers in building classrooms that promote resilience, belonging, and healthy risk-taking. Together, participants develop a common language and practical strategies to better support students, families, and one another in creating schools where well-being and learning can thrive side by side.
Book Study
Building Equity: Policies and Practices to Empower All Learners
Dominique Smith, Nancy Frey, Ian Pumpian, and Douglas Fisher
Building Equity by Dominique Smith challenges educators to move beyond good intentions and examine how daily classroom practices shape student experiences. Rather than positioning equity as an abstract concept or district initiative, this book brings the focus directly into the classroom, asking teachers to reflect on how beliefs, relationships, routines, and instructional decisions influence who feels valued, supported, and successful. Smith invites educators to examine the difference between intent and impact and to recognize how equity is built through consistent, thoughtful actions rather than isolated programs.
Designed with educators in mind, Building Equity offers practical insights for creating classrooms where all students experience belonging, voice, and opportunity. Through real-world examples and reflective questions, teachers are encouraged to examine their own practices and make intentional shifts that promote fairness, inclusion, and engagement. This book study supports educators in translating reflection into action, empowering them to implement meaningful changes that not only strengthen their classrooms but also contribute to a more inclusive and equitable school culture.
Book Study
Coming Soon - The Energy Bus for Schools
Jon Gordon and Dr. Jim Van Allan
The Energy Bus for Schools is a practical and inspiring guide for educators who want to strengthen classroom culture, improve relationships, and show up each day with greater purpose and positivity. Using a simple yet powerful metaphor, Jon Gordon challenges educators to examine their mindset, recognize how their energy impacts others, and take ownership of the culture they help create. This book study invites teachers to reflect on their beliefs, attitudes, and daily practices—and to reconnect with the “why” behind their work in education.
Through guided reading, reflection, and application, participants will explore how positive energy, strong relationships, and intentional leadership can transform classrooms and influence school culture. The study is designed to move beyond inspiration into action, helping teachers identify concrete strategies they can implement with students and colleagues right away. The experience concludes with a deep reflection and interview, allowing participants to synthesize their learning, articulate key takeaways, and commit to meaningful changes that support a more positive, connected, and resilient learning environment.
Book Study
Lost at School
Ross Greene
Lost at School by Ross W. Greene invites educators to rethink challenging student behavior through the lens of lagging skills, unmet expectations, and collaborative problem solving. Rather than asking, “How do we make this student behave?” this book study encourages participants to ask, “What is getting in the student’s way, and how can we help?”
Through reading, reflection, and practical application, participants will explore Greene’s Collaborative & Proactive Solutions model and consider how it can support students, strengthen relationships, and reduce repeated behavior concerns. This professional learning experience is designed for teachers, administrators, counselors, and support staff who want to respond to challenging behavior with greater understanding, structure, and purpose.
Book Study
Managing ADHD in School
Russel Barkley
Students with ADHD often bring creativity, energy, curiosity, and insight to the classroom, yet they may also struggle with attention, organization, task completion, impulsivity, and self-regulation. Managing ADHD in School by Russell A. Barkley provides educators with practical, evidence-based strategies for understanding and supporting students with ADHD in ways that are structured, proactive, and respectful of student needs. In this book study, participants will explore how ADHD affects learning, behavior, executive functioning, motivation, and classroom performance.
Through reading, reflection, and application activities, educators will examine classroom routines, behavior supports, academic scaffolds, and collaboration strategies that can help students experience greater success. Participants will leave with a practical action plan they can use to better support students with ADHD while maintaining high expectations and positive classroom relationships.
Book Study
Rigor by Design, Not by Chance: Deeper Thinking Through Actionable Instruction and Assessment
Karin Hess
Rigor by Design, Not Chance invites educators to rethink rigor as something intentionally designed through strong instruction, meaningful assessment, purposeful questioning, and deeper student thinking. In this book study, participants will explore Karin Hess’s practical framework for helping students move beyond task completion and surface-level learning toward reasoning, reflection, explanation, and transfer.
Throughout the study, participants will connect the reading to their own classroom practice by examining current lessons, revising questions and tasks, planning scaffolds, and creating opportunities for students to reflect on their learning. This professional learning experience is designed for teachers, instructional coaches, and school leaders who want to strengthen instruction in ways that support engagement, ownership, and deeper learning for all students.
Book Study
Tackling the Motivation Crisis: How to Activate Student Learning Without Behavior Charts, Pizza Parties, or Other Hard-to-Quit Incentive Systems
Mike Anderson
Tackling the Motivation Crisis by Mike Anderson invites educators to rethink common classroom incentive systems such as behavior charts, prizes, pizza parties, and other reward-based approaches that often produce short-term compliance but do not always build lasting motivation. This book study helps participants explore what students truly need in order to become engaged, self-directed learners who see value in their work.
Throughout the study, participants will reflect on current classroom practices, examine how external rewards can affect student ownership, and consider practical ways to create learning conditions that support autonomy, purpose, belonging, effort, and growth. Educators will leave with a clearer understanding of how to move from managing behavior with incentives toward building classrooms where students are more invested in learning itself.
Book Study
The Writing Rope
Joan Sedita
The Writing Rope: A Framework for Explicit Writing Instruction in All Subjects by Joan Sedita offers teachers a clear and practical framework for understanding the many skills students need in order to become successful writers. Sedita organizes writing instruction around five essential strands: critical thinking, syntax, text structure, writing craft, and transcription. Together, these strands help educators see writing as more than a final product. Writing becomes a process of thinking, organizing, communicating, and learning.
This book study is designed for teachers across grade levels and content areas who want to strengthen writing instruction in meaningful and manageable ways. Participants will explore how explicit writing instruction can support student learning in every classroom, not just in English language arts. Through reading, reflection, and classroom application, teachers will consider how to help students use writing to explain their thinking, deepen understanding, and communicate ideas with greater clarity and confidence.
Book Study
Teaching with AI: A Practical
Guide to a New Era of Human Learning
Jose Antonio Bowen, C. Edward Watson
Artificial intelligence is changing how students learn, write, research, create, and demonstrate understanding. In Teaching with AI: A Practical Guide to a New Era of Human Learning, José Antonio Bowen and C. Edward Watson offer educators a practical and thoughtful guide for navigating this shift with purpose. This book study invites teachers to explore how AI can support instruction while keeping the focus on student thinking, academic integrity, creativity, feedback, and meaningful learning.
Throughout the study, participants will consider how AI may influence lesson design, writing assignments, assessment practices, grading, classroom policies, and student support. Teachers will reflect on responsible AI use, revise an assignment or assessment through an AI-responsive lens, and develop a practical classroom application they can take back to their students. The goal of this study is not simply to learn about AI, but to help educators make informed decisions about how to use it wisely, ethically, and effectively in today’s classrooms.
Book Study
Why Don't Students Like School?
Daniel T. Willingham
Why Don’t Students Like School? by Daniel T. Willingham offers teachers a practical look at how students think, learn, remember, and apply new information. Grounded in cognitive science, this book helps educators better understand why some lessons capture students’ attention while others do not, why background knowledge matters, and why students often remember unexpected details instead of the intended learning.
In this book study, participants will connect Willingham’s ideas to everyday classroom practice. Teachers will reflect on lesson design, student engagement, memory, practice, and instructional decision making. Through reading, reflection, and classroom application, participants will identify practical ways to make learning more meaningful, memorable, and accessible for students. This course is designed for educators who want to strengthen instruction by better understanding how learning works.
Book Study
Not Just Cute: How Powerful Play Drives Development in Early Childhood
Amanda Morgan
This book study invites early childhood educators to take a deeper look at the power of play as a foundation for learning and development. Using Amanda Morgan’s Not Just Cute: How Powerful Play Drives Development in Early Childhood, participants will explore why play is not separate from learning, but one of the most important ways young children build language, thinking, relationships, self-regulation, creativity, and problem-solving skills.
Throughout the study, participants will connect the reading to their own classrooms or early learning settings through reflection, observation, documentation, and practical application. The study is designed to help educators strengthen intentional play-based practices, communicate the value of play to others, and create developmentally rich learning experiences that support the whole child.