Teaching skills and techniques Books

Book SynopsisAmericans have seen it all in education over the last twenty years: charter schools, vouchers, private schools, ever-changing sets of technology, increased funding for schools, decreased funding for schools, accountability measures for teachers, and on and on. These schemes never seem to make any real changes in student outcomes. This is because the obsolete educational system is simply not compatible with what we now know about how students learn and how teachers are developed and sustained. Beyond Obsolete: How to Upgrade Classroom Practice and School Structure delves into the history of Western Civilization, shows how a misunderstanding of this history informs our current educational system, and then makes a broad argument for a full-scale upgrade in teacher practice (the software) and school structure (the hardware). If educational reform is to be achieved, then superintendents, assistant superintendents, principals, assistant principals etc. will have to be declared obsolete. EducTrade ReviewChris Edwards is one of the most interesting and creative integrative thinkers working across multiple disciplines—science, history, and education—to put together a program for examine our past and present in a new light with an aim toward improving our educational system, which hasn’t had a hardware upgrade or software update in centuries. Beyond obsolete indeed! Reading this sparkling book is to see the world anew. -- Michael Shermer, publisher, Skeptic magazine; monthly columnist, Scientific American; presidential fellow, Chapman University; author, "Heavens on Earth", "The Moral Arc", "The Believing Brain", and other booksI have followed the development of Chris Edwards’ thinking about the U.S. educational system through his writing and lectures. His analysis of its “software” and “hardware” is revolutionary and brilliant. Dr. Edwards’ critique of how America educates, or doesn’t, our children raises the alarm and offers solutions. Every educator and person concerned about the state of public education should read Beyond Obsolete. -- Jeff Rasley, Scientech Club PresidentScattered across world history are points of genius. If one connects these dots, as Edwards urges his students to do, the arc of modern Western civilization emerges. Its accomplishments are due in large part to successful development of science and higher education. However, Edwards argues, America’s secondary education is stuck in a feudal structure and ripe for its own intellectual revolution. These essays represent the voice of a classroom teacher decrying the institutionalized education leadership and its misguided attempts to manage a failing public school system. -- John Langdon, PhD, Professor of Biology and Anthropology, University of IndianapolisGood things happen when a very bright, experienced and talented teacher has the courage to take a hard look at what is happening in education. Dr. Chris Edwards is just that person. His book, Beyond Obsolete really puts the hammer down on many current practices and proposes a brave new world of ways to improve the transfer of knowledge from experts to students. He is dedicated to empowering teachers in ways that will make them better and make their life in the classroom more enjoyable. This is a very stimulating addition to the literature of education. -- Richard W. Garrett, Author, "The Kids Are Smart Enough, So What’s the Problem? A businessman’s Perspective on Educational Reform and the Teacher Crisis"Table of ContentsIntroduction Chapter One: Civilization, Science, and Genius Chapter Two: The Scientific Revolution and Western Civilization: New Understandings Chapter Three: Platonic Fallacies, Big History, and Education Chapter Four: Software Update Chapter Five: Hardware Update and Compatibility Conclusion

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Book SynopsisAmericans have seen it all in education over the last twenty years: charter schools, vouchers, private schools, ever-changing sets of technology, increased funding for schools, decreased funding for schools, accountability measures for teachers, and on and on. These schemes never seem to make any real changes in student outcomes. This is because the obsolete educational system is simply not compatible with what we now know about how students learn and how teachers are developed and sustained. Beyond Obsolete: How to Upgrade Classroom Practice and School Structure delves into the history of Western Civilization, shows how a misunderstanding of this history informs our current educational system, and then makes a broad argument for a full-scale upgrade in teacher practice (the software) and school structure (the hardware). If educational reform is to be achieved, then superintendents, assistant superintendents, principals, assistant principals etc. will have to be declared obsolete. EducTrade ReviewChris Edwards is one of the most interesting and creative integrative thinkers working across multiple disciplines—science, history, and education—to put together a program for examine our past and present in a new light with an aim toward improving our educational system, which hasn’t had a hardware upgrade or software update in centuries. Beyond obsolete indeed! Reading this sparkling book is to see the world anew. -- Michael Shermer, publisher, Skeptic magazine; monthly columnist, Scientific American; presidential fellow, Chapman University; author, "Heavens on Earth", "The Moral Arc", "The Believing Brain", and other booksI have followed the development of Chris Edwards’ thinking about the U.S. educational system through his writing and lectures. His analysis of its “software” and “hardware” is revolutionary and brilliant. Dr. Edwards’ critique of how America educates, or doesn’t, our children raises the alarm and offers solutions. Every educator and person concerned about the state of public education should read Beyond Obsolete. -- Jeff Rasley, Scientech Club PresidentScattered across world history are points of genius. If one connects these dots, as Edwards urges his students to do, the arc of modern Western civilization emerges. Its accomplishments are due in large part to successful development of science and higher education. However, Edwards argues, America’s secondary education is stuck in a feudal structure and ripe for its own intellectual revolution. These essays represent the voice of a classroom teacher decrying the institutionalized education leadership and its misguided attempts to manage a failing public school system. -- John Langdon, PhD, Professor of Biology and Anthropology, University of IndianapolisGood things happen when a very bright, experienced and talented teacher has the courage to take a hard look at what is happening in education. Dr. Chris Edwards is just that person. His book, Beyond Obsolete really puts the hammer down on many current practices and proposes a brave new world of ways to improve the transfer of knowledge from experts to students. He is dedicated to empowering teachers in ways that will make them better and make their life in the classroom more enjoyable. This is a very stimulating addition to the literature of education. -- Richard W. Garrett, Author, "The Kids Are Smart Enough, So What’s the Problem? A businessman’s Perspective on Educational Reform and the Teacher Crisis"Table of ContentsIntroduction Chapter One: Civilization, Science, and Genius Chapter Two: The Scientific Revolution and Western Civilization: New Understandings Chapter Three: Platonic Fallacies, Big History, and Education Chapter Four: Software Update Chapter Five: Hardware Update and Compatibility Conclusion

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Book SynopsisCurious about the world around you? Brushing up for Trivia Night? Studying for a test? Looking for new dinner-table discussion topics? Take a deep-dive into subjects you may have learned about in school, but not in the kind of depth you wanted or needed. Entertaining, educational, and full of interesting information, Fun Facts to Engage Students: Questions to Inspire Thinking and Learning includes hundreds of multiple-choice, true/false, and open-ended questions about myriad topics ranging from astronomy to zoology, history to modern technology. Written for all ages and grade levels, Fun Facts to Engage Students takes everyonefrom children to seniors, casually curious to trivia buffsdown a path of learning, enrichment, and enlightenment. Special Did You Know facts provide a more detailed look into the topics and leave you thirsting for more.Trade ReviewJane Flinn has created another trivia book that is an excellent addition to your home or classroom library. This and her other books are excellent resources for teachers and parents seeking educational enrichment tools which can be used independently or cooperatively. Make this your first Jane Flinn trivia book or add it to your collection. -- Norma Jean Kissner, retired middle school teacher and elementary school tutorFun Facts To Engage Students is another great trivia book fun for friends, family, and colleagues to get together and have a fun trivia night! I particularly enjoyed the “health and the human body” section. -- Camille Kramer, M.S. speech-language pathologistHaving attended private school during my high school years, I would have loved to have had access to such a fun and interesting trivia book to read at school. I am an avid fan of Jeopardy, watching it religiously during the week and enjoy knowing random facts and trivia, and this book makes a great resource for such knowledge. I highly recommend purchasing a copy for yourself if you enjoy fun facts like myself. -- R. Cappelen, financial advisorTable of ContentsPreface Introduction Categories Science Plants Animals Government History Geography Technology The Human Body Entertainment Potpourri Answers Science Plants Animals Government History Geography Technology The Human Body Entertainment Potpourri About the Author

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Book SynopsisProtecting Student Data Privacy: Classroom Fundamentals provides educators with the comprehensive and practical guidance they need to protect their students' privacy in and out of the classroom. It breaks student data privacy laws down into core concepts that are easy to apply across a variety of situations and use cases. It also encourages educators to engage fully in the work of protecting student data privacy, with the tips and best practices they need to create a more secure environment for student data across the education institution. From classroom technologies to social media use, this book provides the frameworks to help teachers protect student data privacy, regardless of the technology, to better support their students, their education institutions and to elevate their own positions as transformational leaders in the classroom.Trade ReviewEvery year, many school districts hit the news for privacy breaches, leading to shattered trust in the community. Protecting Student Data Privacy: Classroom Fundamentals, written by Linnette Attai, a well-known expert in the field, provides invaluable, actionable guidance for teachers to understand how to properly protect the privacy of student data, while simultaneously leveraging digital tools for learning. Today’s educators need robust training on how to protect student data privacy, but few districts are actually making that happen. In this book, Attai provides incredible foundational training, with actionable guidance and support, that will support teachers, while simultaneously building the needed trust in your community. -- Thomas C. Murray, Director of Innovation, Future Ready SchoolsMs Attai’s new book on student data privacy is an essential read for every educator. She effectively provides context for the concerns, an educator's perspective, practical technical knowledge and relevant solutions in accessible language. As the CIO of a large public school district, it would be helpful if all of our Instructional leaders and teachers read this book so that they are knowledgeable about what data privacy means and how to keep student data safe, since it is so dependent on human action. -- Serena Sacks, Chief Information Officer, Fulton County Schools; 2019 Woman of the Year, Woman in IT AwardsTable of ContentsIntroduction Chapter 1: What is Data Privacy and Why Does it Matter? Chapter 2: How Did We Get Here? Chapter 3: What Information Are We Trying to Protect? Chapter 4: Key Privacy Concepts Chapter 5: Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act Chapter 6: Still More Laws Chapter 7: Bringing Technology into the Classroom Chapter 8: Social Media Chapter 9: New Technologies Chapter 10: Sharing is not Caring Chapter 11: Security Simplified Chapter 12: All Hands: Building a Partnership with your Technology Team Chapter 13: Working with Parents Epilogue About the Author

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Book SynopsisTeachers handle student data every day, but too often they are not provided with the guidance they need to protect student data privacy.Trade ReviewEvery year, many school districts hit the news for privacy breaches, leading to shattered trust in the community. Protecting Student Data Privacy: Classroom Fundamentals, written by Linnette Attai, a well-known expert in the field, provides invaluable, actionable guidance for teachers to understand how to properly protect the privacy of student data, while simultaneously leveraging digital tools for learning. Today’s educators need robust training on how to protect student data privacy, but few districts are actually making that happen. In this book, Attai provides incredible foundational training, with actionable guidance and support, that will support teachers, while simultaneously building the needed trust in your community. -- Thomas C. Murray, Director of Innovation, Future Ready SchoolsMs Attai’s new book on student data privacy is an essential read for every educator. She effectively provides context for the concerns, an educator's perspective, practical technical knowledge and relevant solutions in accessible language. As the CIO of a large public school district, it would be helpful if all of our Instructional leaders and teachers read this book so that they are knowledgeable about what data privacy means and how to keep student data safe, since it is so dependent on human action. -- Serena Sacks, Chief Information Officer, Fulton County Schools; 2019 Woman of the Year, Woman in IT AwardsTable of ContentsIntroduction Chapter 1: What is Data Privacy and Why Does it Matter? Chapter 2: How Did We Get Here? Chapter 3: What Information Are We Trying to Protect? Chapter 4: Key Privacy Concepts Chapter 5: Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act Chapter 6: Still More Laws Chapter 7: Bringing Technology into the Classroom Chapter 8: Social Media Chapter 9: New Technologies Chapter 10: Sharing is not Caring Chapter 11: Security Simplified Chapter 12: All Hands: Building a Partnership with your Technology Team Chapter 13: Working with Parents Epilogue About the Author

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Book SynopsisProfessional Learning Communities charts a streamlined process for creating a PLC.The highest mission of a professional learning community is academic achievement. During Dr. Culp's forty-plus years in education, she gained firsthand experience about the best way to build and sustain educational communities. Inclusiveness, strong relationships, and accountability should be woven into the fabric of the group right from the beginning. This book lays out a blueprint for thoughtful actions that transform schools and their communities. Using ideas and techniques focused on six key areas, educators discover what needs to be taught, what needs to be retaught, and who needs to be taught. Their PLCs build solutions that place academic excellence within reach of every learner. Real experiences from schools across the nation, as well as Dr. Culp's decades of experience, have been mined to generate actionable steps. Each chapter ends with a collection of charts, worksheets, checklists, and tips thTrade ReviewProfessional Learning Communities: The Ultimate Blueprint for Academic Success was written to take all the guess work out of how to restructure former Professional Learning Communities and develop new Professional Learning Communities. The book consists of strategies, tools and resources that can assist teachers, principals-- new and experienced-- in ensuring that learning takes place in the classroom. School staffs are given step by step procedures to develop guidelines for establishing Professional Learning Communities, assessing the process and reflecting on the practices that were developed. This needed and insightful book will ensure successful learning in our nation's schools. Kudos to Dr. Culp for covering the topic in such very clear and simplistic manner! -- Laura Acree, retired principalDr. Culp’s latest publication, Professional Learning Communities: “The Ultimate Blueprint for Academic Success,” is an excellent media source for educators and other stakeholders who are looking for creative ways to implement their PLC plans. Her user-friendly blueprint is uniquely designed for both novice and seasoned educators who are preparing learners for academic excellence. This book will serve them well in the “creation, maintenance, and sustentation” of their learning communities. -- B. Annette Daughtry, Ph.D., E-Learning; Adjunct Assistant Professor, Mathematics… compelling, comprehensive, targeted blueprint that enables schools and their faculties to strategically meet the academic needs of all students through professional learning communities. Dr. Culp was very thorough in her approach to the topic! -- Gloria Peebles Patterson, Retired Executive Director, K-8 SchoolsIn Professional Learning Communities: The Ultimate Blueprint for Academic Success, Dr. Culp offers sound and workable strategies that will empower and enhance the effectiveness of high performing Professional Learning Communities. This book is a valuable resource for teams beginning the journey to establish a PLC. It is a must-read for every school administrator, aspiring school leader and members of PLC’s in academia, this well-written body of work shows us how to in an easy step-by-step process. -- Thea Johnson, STEM Program Specialist, Atlanta GAThis book is an educators' must have for implementing Professional Learning Communities. It provides the guidance and direction needed to create PLCs that work, and it addresses the diverse needs of students by utilizing the expertise of professionals in schools as well as in the community. The author makes the process easy to follow, implement, and maintain. This treasure chest is the ultimate blueprint for academic success in the 21st century and beyond! -- Ethel P. Craig, School Psychologist, Math TeacherTable of ContentsForeword Preface Acknowledgments Introduction Chapter 1: Lay the Foundation Building Blocks Reflective Practices Focus on Learning Dialog Shared Responsibility Shared Values and Norms Common Practices Feedback Creating a PLC Collaboration and Trust Inclusiveness and Shared Responsibility Focus on Solutions Step by Step Set a Schedule Select a Facilitator Define the Environment Build Your Home Revitalize an Existing PLC People Come First Inform New Members Reach Out Celebrate Building Blocks for a Professional Learning Community An Accord to Open Every PLC Meeting Questionnaire for Every PLC Member Questionnaire for the Start of New Initiatives Stretches to Enhance Group Response Stretch 1: Build It Up Stretch 2: Break It Down Stretch 3: Bring It Together Stretch 4: Identify Benefits Stretch 5: Identify Challenges Stretch 6: Eliminate Obstacles Endnotes Chapter 2: Gather the Goals The Educational Forest Find the Microclimates Specify the Species How Does Your Forest Grow? Embrace Exotics Cultivate Individual Plots Forest Management Slings and Arrows (Goal Sheets) Sample Goal Sheets Blank Goal Sheets Goal Prompts Broad Goals Specific Goals Unique and Short-Term Goals Professional Learning Goals for Members Endnotes Chapter 3: Going Live Begin at the Beginning Planning for Success Develop the Program Teacher Portfolios Call on the Community Personalize Implementation Collegial Implementation Return to the Beginning Link the Connection Points Team Goals Essential Outcomes Milestone Achievements Comparison Points Resource List Lesson Plan Template Student Feedback Portfolio Tips Personalize the Plan Endnotes Chapter 4: Assess and Adapt How Many and How Often Assessing the Data A Supportive Approach Assessment Foundation Types of Assessments Building the Formative Assessment Avoid Assessment Bias Analyze and Assess Prompts for Data Collection Common Formative Assessments Summative Assessment Tips Assess the Assessment PLC Assessment for Schools PLC Assessment for Members Key Markers for Success Endnotes Chapter 5: Digital Expansion The Value of an Online Presence Initial Online Presence Expanding Your Online Presence Documents and Files Collective Efforts Adapt Digital Tools Digital Tools for the Classroom Instant Updates and Motivation Tips for Sharing Tips for Collaboration Tips for Collective Work Assessing Digital Tools Common Classroom Digital Tools Top Digital Tools for PLCs Endnotes Chapter 6: Sail on Course Information Indigestion Wilting Enthusiasm Dysfunctional Roles Why PLCs Fail Avoid a Major Crisis Climate Control Best Research Practices Recharge the PLC Team Trust Survey Exercises for Building Trust Storytelling hour Display case Disaster day box Share praise Photo board Course Adjustments District-wide Impact Endnotes Appendix A: Stepping Onto the PLC Highway Refresher 1: Lay the Foundation Refresher 2: Gather the Goals Refresher 3: Going Live Refresher 4: Assess and Adapt Refresher 5: Digital Expansion Refresher 6: Sail on Course About the Author

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Book SynopsisProfessional Learning Communities charts a streamlined process for creating a PLC.The highest mission of a professional learning community is academic achievement. During Dr. Culp's forty-plus years in education, she gained firsthand experience about the best way to build and sustain educational communities. Inclusiveness, strong relationships, and accountability should be woven into the fabric of the group right from the beginning. This book lays out a blueprint for thoughtful actions that transform schools and their communities. Using ideas and techniques focused on six key areas, educators discover what needs to be taught, what needs to be retaught, and who needs to be taught. Their PLCs build solutions that place academic excellence within reach of every learner. Real experiences from schools across the nation, as well as Dr. Culp's decades of experience, have been mined to generate actionable steps. Each chapter ends with a collection of charts, worksheets, checklists, and tips thTrade ReviewProfessional Learning Communities: The Ultimate Blueprint for Academic Success was written to take all the guess work out of how to restructure former Professional Learning Communities and develop new Professional Learning Communities. The book consists of strategies, tools and resources that can assist teachers, principals-- new and experienced-- in ensuring that learning takes place in the classroom. School staffs are given step by step procedures to develop guidelines for establishing Professional Learning Communities, assessing the process and reflecting on the practices that were developed. This needed and insightful book will ensure successful learning in our nation's schools. Kudos to Dr. Culp for covering the topic in such very clear and simplistic manner! -- Laura Acree, retired principalDr. Culp’s latest publication, Professional Learning Communities: “The Ultimate Blueprint for Academic Success,” is an excellent media source for educators and other stakeholders who are looking for creative ways to implement their PLC plans. Her user-friendly blueprint is uniquely designed for both novice and seasoned educators who are preparing learners for academic excellence. This book will serve them well in the “creation, maintenance, and sustentation” of their learning communities. -- B. Annette Daughtry, Ph.D., E-Learning; Adjunct Assistant Professor, Mathematics… compelling, comprehensive, targeted blueprint that enables schools and their faculties to strategically meet the academic needs of all students through professional learning communities. Dr. Culp was very thorough in her approach to the topic! -- Gloria Peebles Patterson, Retired Executive Director, K-8 SchoolsIn Professional Learning Communities: The Ultimate Blueprint for Academic Success, Dr. Culp offers sound and workable strategies that will empower and enhance the effectiveness of high performing Professional Learning Communities. This book is a valuable resource for teams beginning the journey to establish a PLC. It is a must-read for every school administrator, aspiring school leader and members of PLC’s in academia, this well-written body of work shows us how to in an easy step-by-step process. -- Thea Johnson, STEM Program Specialist, Atlanta GAThis book is an educators' must have for implementing Professional Learning Communities. It provides the guidance and direction needed to create PLCs that work, and it addresses the diverse needs of students by utilizing the expertise of professionals in schools as well as in the community. The author makes the process easy to follow, implement, and maintain. This treasure chest is the ultimate blueprint for academic success in the 21st century and beyond! -- Ethel P. Craig, School Psychologist, Math TeacherTable of ContentsForeword Preface Acknowledgments Introduction Chapter 1: Lay the Foundation Building Blocks Reflective Practices Focus on Learning Dialog Shared Responsibility Shared Values and Norms Common Practices Feedback Creating a PLC Collaboration and Trust Inclusiveness and Shared Responsibility Focus on Solutions Step by Step Set a Schedule Select a Facilitator Define the Environment Build Your Home Revitalize an Existing PLC People Come First Inform New Members Reach Out Celebrate Building Blocks for a Professional Learning Community An Accord to Open Every PLC Meeting Questionnaire for Every PLC Member Questionnaire for the Start of New Initiatives Stretches to Enhance Group Response Stretch 1: Build It Up Stretch 2: Break It Down Stretch 3: Bring It Together Stretch 4: Identify Benefits Stretch 5: Identify Challenges Stretch 6: Eliminate Obstacles Endnotes Chapter 2: Gather the Goals The Educational Forest Find the Microclimates Specify the Species How Does Your Forest Grow? Embrace Exotics Cultivate Individual Plots Forest Management Slings and Arrows (Goal Sheets) Sample Goal Sheets Blank Goal Sheets Goal Prompts Broad Goals Specific Goals Unique and Short-Term Goals Professional Learning Goals for Members Endnotes Chapter 3: Going Live Begin at the Beginning Planning for Success Develop the Program Teacher Portfolios Call on the Community Personalize Implementation Collegial Implementation Return to the Beginning Link the Connection Points Team Goals Essential Outcomes Milestone Achievements Comparison Points Resource List Lesson Plan Template Student Feedback Portfolio Tips Personalize the Plan Endnotes Chapter 4: Assess and Adapt How Many and How Often Assessing the Data A Supportive Approach Assessment Foundation Types of Assessments Building the Formative Assessment Avoid Assessment Bias Analyze and Assess Prompts for Data Collection Common Formative Assessments Summative Assessment Tips Assess the Assessment PLC Assessment for Schools PLC Assessment for Members Key Markers for Success Endnotes Chapter 5: Digital Expansion The Value of an Online Presence Initial Online Presence Expanding Your Online Presence Documents and Files Collective Efforts Adapt Digital Tools Digital Tools for the Classroom Instant Updates and Motivation Tips for Sharing Tips for Collaboration Tips for Collective Work Assessing Digital Tools Common Classroom Digital Tools Top Digital Tools for PLCs Endnotes Chapter 6: Sail on Course Information Indigestion Wilting Enthusiasm Dysfunctional Roles Why PLCs Fail Avoid a Major Crisis Climate Control Best Research Practices Recharge the PLC Team Trust Survey Exercises for Building Trust Storytelling hour Display case Disaster day box Share praise Photo board Course Adjustments District-wide Impact Endnotes Appendix A: Stepping Onto the PLC Highway Refresher 1: Lay the Foundation Refresher 2: Gather the Goals Refresher 3: Going Live Refresher 4: Assess and Adapt Refresher 5: Digital Expansion Refresher 6: Sail on Course About the Author

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Book SynopsisUncommon Leaders have a gift: While inspiring and serving others with integrity, they also model a commitment to self-care and reflective practices. These skillful leaders are focused on being intentional and mindful of their values, beliefs, and guiding principles---in short, they live well. This high level of self-awareness informs the leader's capacity to model courage and integrity---to lead strong. Grounded in their beliefs and values, these leaders routinely offer skillful feedback that impacts performance; they also have the capacity to plan and hold difficult conversations with professionalism. Uncommon Leadership supplies the reader with practical strategies, information and exercises to develop skills, as well as inspirational ideas for maintaining strong and effective leadership over a sustained period of time. Each chapter includes ways in which the reader may transfer their learning to their own practice, as well as a graphic quote that serves as a reminder of key poTrade ReviewDebbie McFalone has a gift for helping school leaders find balance and fulfillment in their work. This book provides wisdom and practical ideas to help you develop habits of reflection and intentionality, stem the tide of unending tasks, and lead your school in a way that aligns to the values that brought you into this field in the first place. At the same time, McFalone provides guidance on navigating some of the thornier leadership skills: having difficult conversations, giving critical feedback, and building resilience during tough times. With all of these thoughtful practices and strategies, leaders will undoubtedly walk away recharged and better equipped to lead their schools. -- Jenn David-Laing, Publisher, The Main IdeaFilled with stories and examples, McFalone is honest, pointed, and informative as she discusses crucial aspects of leadership. She dares us to become Uncommon Leaders and provides guidance to achieve that goal. A great read for current leaders as well as those have a desire to increase their skills and grow in their leadership abilities. -- Eileen Depka Ph.D, author, educator, and consultantThis is more than a book. It is an engaging learning and teaching guide perfect to help leaders make a difference in their organization as they “Live Well, Lead Strong.” The writing is a true representation of Dr. McFalone--- warm, thoughtful and full of wisdom. Every educator needs to read this book! -- Scott Korpak, superintendent, Northview Public Schools, MichiganTable of ContentsList of Figures List of Tables Preface Acknowledgements Introduction Part I: Live Well Chapter 1: It’s Really All About You: Uncommon Leaders Think and Then Act Chapter 2: So How Am I Supposed to Do This? The Will to Develop Habits of Reflection and Mindfulness Chapter 3: So How Am I Supposed to Do This? Time Management Strategies for Reflection and Mindfulness Chapter 4: Transition: Where Mindfulness and Courage Meet Part II: Lead Strong Chapter 5: The Courage to Offer Skillful Feedback Chapter 6: Difficult Conversations: Let’s Not Avoid Them! Chapter 7: Setting Up for Success: Planning for Difficult Conversations Chapter 8: Strong for The Journey: Seven Steps to Cultivate Resilience About the Author

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Book SynopsisUncommon Leaders have a gift: While inspiring and serving others with integrity, they also model a commitment to self-care and reflective practices. These skillful leaders are focused on being intentional and mindful of their values, beliefs, and guiding principles---in short, they live well. This high level of self-awareness informs the leader's capacity to model courage and integrity---to lead strong. Grounded in their beliefs and values, these leaders routinely offer skillful feedback that impacts performance; they also have the capacity to plan and hold difficult conversations with professionalism. Uncommon Leadership supplies the reader with practical strategies, information and exercises to develop skills, as well as inspirational ideas for maintaining strong and effective leadership over a sustained period of time. Each chapter includes ways in which the reader may transfer their learning to their own practice, as well as a graphic quote that serves as a reminder of key poTrade ReviewDebbie McFalone has a gift for helping school leaders find balance and fulfillment in their work. This book provides wisdom and practical ideas to help you develop habits of reflection and intentionality, stem the tide of unending tasks, and lead your school in a way that aligns to the values that brought you into this field in the first place. At the same time, McFalone provides guidance on navigating some of the thornier leadership skills: having difficult conversations, giving critical feedback, and building resilience during tough times. With all of these thoughtful practices and strategies, leaders will undoubtedly walk away recharged and better equipped to lead their schools. -- Jenn David-Laing, Publisher, The Main IdeaFilled with stories and examples, McFalone is honest, pointed, and informative as she discusses crucial aspects of leadership. She dares us to become Uncommon Leaders and provides guidance to achieve that goal. A great read for current leaders as well as those have a desire to increase their skills and grow in their leadership abilities. -- Eileen Depka Ph.D, author, educator, and consultantThis is more than a book. It is an engaging learning and teaching guide perfect to help leaders make a difference in their organization as they “Live Well, Lead Strong.” The writing is a true representation of Dr. McFalone--- warm, thoughtful and full of wisdom. Every educator needs to read this book! -- Scott Korpak, superintendent, Northview Public Schools, MichiganTable of ContentsList of Figures List of Tables Preface Acknowledgements Introduction Part I: Live Well Chapter 1: It’s Really All About You: Uncommon Leaders Think and Then Act Chapter 2: So How Am I Supposed to Do This? The Will to Develop Habits of Reflection and Mindfulness Chapter 3: So How Am I Supposed to Do This? Time Management Strategies for Reflection and Mindfulness Chapter 4: Transition: Where Mindfulness and Courage Meet Part II: Lead Strong Chapter 5: The Courage to Offer Skillful Feedback Chapter 6: Difficult Conversations: Let’s Not Avoid Them! Chapter 7: Setting Up for Success: Planning for Difficult Conversations Chapter 8: Strong for The Journey: Seven Steps to Cultivate Resilience About the Author

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Book SynopsisPreventing School Violence: Guidelines for Teaching Civility and School Harmony, is an amazing resource that reminds the reader of the importance of establishing and maintaining meaningful relationships among the school community: teachers, administrators, students, families, and the community at large. As educators, we are responsible for modeling civility in our schools, by creating significant connections with others. This book provides the reader with profound scenarios, approaches and strategies to promote civility and encourage school harmony, and to explore what dignity for all really means.Trade ReviewIn Preventing School Violence, Dr. Schiering invites you to enter her classroom, where the continuity between teaching and learning, between school and home, between character and inspiring knowledge are apparent. In these pages, you will find a road-map to creating a classroom as a safe, caring, and respectful community, and as a foundation for an amiable and healthy society. -- Jonathan Borkum, PhD, adjunct associate, Professor of Psychology, University of Maine; Clinical Psychologist, Health Psych Maine, Waterville, MaineIn this book Dr. Schiering provides clear directions as to how to build a positive classroom community where all students treat each other in a dignified manner and positivism abounds. She emphasizes that the key to achieving this, is the teacher as role-model. In addition, Dr Schiering provides many activities which direct the student toward introspection and self-awareness. While school violence is an issue ever present on our national conscience, its prevention is paramount to safeguarding our children. This book is very timely and teachers will find it most helpful in teaching civility to achieve harmony. -- Marie Calder, principal (Retired), East Rockaway School District, NYPreventing School Violence: Guidelines for Teaching Civility and School Harmony: With passion and insight, Schiering engages the reader immediately and makes you feel like you deserve – and are getting – a warm hug. It is evident that she practices what she preaches with her style of “lifting up” her students and the reader. She invites her audience to develop self-awareness towards the goal of community civility. Her teaching philosophy and message are clear, sustainable, and goal-oriented: classroom community building results in good feelings about self and others. Through stories and interactive activities, Schiering effectively and invitingly draws in the audience to not only recognize the imperative of preventing school violence through teaching civility, but to be an agent of change. I finished the book with a more developed critical lens and intention of reconsidering my teaching strategies feeling energized to change our cultural climate! -- Amy Meyers, PhD, LCSW, Assistant Professor, Director of Field Education, Social Work Department, Molloy CollegePreventing School Violence: Guidelines for Teaching Civility and School Harmony, focuses on the need for these both in the school and home. One thing I really liked was the emphasis on positive thinking and how to incorporate that into class discussions. Through lessons, activities, personal vignettes, conversations and reflections, the reader will have a thorough understanding of what our society is confronting every day, and how we can begin to really address, and solve the problem of anti-social behaviors.When you reach the final chapter of the book, you will have learned how we can bring about social change, while realizing the worth of each individual. As I did, the reader may well come to recognize the importance of supporting schools as the building blocks of character development and civility. Most importantly, I think, as a former teacher and administrator, the reader comes to realize the imperatives for presenting lessons and how we must utilize reflection, interaction, cooperation and collaboration in all our efforts and actions... to ensure success in our endeavors for thwarting school violence by our teaching and modeling what it is to be civil. -- Barbara Hayes, EdD, Molloy College, former dean of undergraduate education studies and present field supervisorDr. Marjorie Schiering’ s Preventing School Violence: Guidelines for Teaching Civility and School Harmony is a “must read” for all educators. She begins with a definition of violence and promises to end with instructional techniques. Dr. Schiering delivers. She provides the necessary background followed by numerous teaching strategies. Dr. Schiering details Project SAVE (Safe Schools Against Violence in Education), the New York State response to the Columbine School shootings in 1999, as well as DASA (Dignity for All Students Act). The big question, however, remains. How do students learn civility? Dr. Schiering provides an abundance of activities. She outlines, for example, a “Meet and Greet” activity, complete with conversation starters (number of family member, sports interests, pets, favorite foods, vacations, what to buy with a winning lottery ticket) and supplies sample dialogues for the reader. I especially loved “Put-downs versus Lift Ups: Hurts on the Heart.” The brief activity will impact students of all ages. Dr. Marjorie Schiering’s Preventing School Violence is a timely and practical addition to your professional library! -- Eve Dieringer, PhD, field placement director, Molloy College’s Division of EducationDr. Schiering's years as both a Project SAVE and DASA instructor have given her the opportunity to revive a lost art: civility. Now, more than ever, her dedication to addressing civility is both vital and timely, given the recent surge in school-related violence. As she did with her previous publications, Special Needs, Different Abilities, Teaching Creative and Critical Thinking, and Teaching and Learning: A Model for Academic and Social Cognition, Dr. Schiering offers an insightful blending of theory and practice. This blending provides a practical road-map for teachers to instill kindness and civility in their students. Preventing School Violence and Teaching Civility is a must read for anyone in the education field, from Pre-K through college. -- Timothy Ryley, MS, Adjunct Professor: English Department at Molloy College; Baldwin High School English teacherCivility and character education are not an automatic occurrence in today’s classrooms. Dr. Schiering has written an excellent guide for educators to help their students understand the importance of these two social cognition areas. This book is a viable resource for educators, parents and students. It provides, from start-to-finish, guides for teaching civility, and ways to prevent school violence. This book thoroughly covers aspects of the processes in helping our schools prevent violent behaviors. It is practical, useful, and written in a clear and concise conversational manner. The book presents research-based material on the topic of violence, and civility activities that are easily implemented in any classroom. The author's narratives give relevance to the emphasis of the main theme, and this book is an important resource for all educators and parents. -- Angela T. Sullivan, EdD, adjunct professor, education graduate department; Concordia College, Bronxville, NYDr. Schiering does it again! A timely book on such a relevant matter. She presents an easy read, filled with real-life anecdotes of her life and others for readers to use their own experiences to draw conclusions. She addresses the problems and finds creative, applicable solutions to them that can be applied every day to classrooms. As a mother with young children, it gives me hope that the next generation of teachers and student will learn and practice civility. I enjoy her mantras of “You are enough” and "NO Put Downs… ONLY Lift Ups! -- Rebecca Martinez, Discovery Officer Molloy College Office of AdvancementDr. Schiering’s book, Preventing School Violence: Guidelines for Teaching Civility and School Harmony, is an amazing resource that reminds the reader of the importance of establishing and maintaining meaningful relationships among the school community-at-large: teachers, administrators, students, and families. As educators, we are responsible for modeling civility in our schools, by creating significant connections with others. This book provides the reader with profound scenarios, approaches and strategies to promote civility and encourage school harmony, and to explore what dignity for all really means. -- Audra Cerruto Ph.D., school psychologist, Lexington School for the DeafDr. Marjorie Schieiring’s Preventing School Violence: Guidelines for Teaching Civility and School Harmony, is a complete, and well-documented treatise on what teachers can do in the face of the epidemic of school violence that grips our nation. The book is probably the most comprehensive manual on school violence prevention workshops that has ever been written, but it is far more than that. Schiering’s secret is that civility is more than something we teach; it is who we must become. This well constructed work will quietly strike at the heart of the reader, infusing hope on every page. The book’s message is that the secret to stemming school violence calls for a revolution in how we treat each other, not just in classrooms, but in life. -- Kevin Sheehan, EdD, Associate Professor of Education, Molloy College: Co-author and AuthorTable of ContentsForewordPrefaceAcknowledgmentsIntroductionPART ONE: The Start: The Foundation for Teaching Civility: Discussion-based Instruction Then and Now: School Violence and Civility Present-Day Realities: School Violence and Teaching Civility You Knowing You + Beliefs, Values, Thinking and Feelings Unpolluting the Mind + A Negative Versus Positive Teaching Style One Rule Some Things Don’t Change: What Everyone Needs Saving the Schools Dignity for All + A Teaching and Learning Model Talking “At” or “To” when “With” is Needed: Teaching Civility Presenter Guidelines PART TWO: The Continuance: The“How-To”of Teaching Civility with Activities Teaching Civility Activities: Getting Acquainted, Role-play and Heart Making Connections: Building Classroom Community: Matt and Maddy Schiering Teaching Civility Today: The Way It Is Persons of Good Character Causes of School Misbehavior/Violence/Aggression Stress Stands Alone You Are Enough PART THREE: The Ongoing and Closing 17. Awareness, Acceptance, and Acknowledging Character and Civility: Author’s Interview Drew Bogner, Ph.D.18. Within an Era of Bullying: Our Building a Culture of Acceptance Amy Meyers, Ph. D.19. Think, Say and Do: Three ContributionsTim Ryley, Angela Sullivan, Ed.D., Mariola Krol20. Teaching What We’ve Learned

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Book SynopsisPreventing School Violence: Guidelines for Teaching Civility and School Harmony, is an amazing resource that reminds the reader of the importance of establishing and maintaining meaningful relationships among the school community: teachers, administrators, students, families, and the community at large. As educators, we are responsible for modeling civility in our schools, by creating significant connections with others. This book provides the reader with profound scenarios, approaches and strategies to promote civility and encourage school harmony, and to explore what dignity for all really means.Trade ReviewIn Preventing School Violence, Dr. Schiering invites you to enter her classroom, where the continuity between teaching and learning, between school and home, between character and inspiring knowledge are apparent. In these pages, you will find a road-map to creating a classroom as a safe, caring, and respectful community, and as a foundation for an amiable and healthy society. -- Jonathan Borkum, PhD, adjunct associate, Professor of Psychology, University of Maine; Clinical Psychologist, Health Psych Maine, Waterville, MaineIn this book Dr. Schiering provides clear directions as to how to build a positive classroom community where all students treat each other in a dignified manner and positivism abounds. She emphasizes that the key to achieving this, is the teacher as role-model. In addition, Dr Schiering provides many activities which direct the student toward introspection and self-awareness. While school violence is an issue ever present on our national conscience, its prevention is paramount to safeguarding our children. This book is very timely and teachers will find it most helpful in teaching civility to achieve harmony. -- Marie Calder, principal (Retired), East Rockaway School District, NYPreventing School Violence: Guidelines for Teaching Civility and School Harmony: With passion and insight, Schiering engages the reader immediately and makes you feel like you deserve – and are getting – a warm hug. It is evident that she practices what she preaches with her style of “lifting up” her students and the reader. She invites her audience to develop self-awareness towards the goal of community civility. Her teaching philosophy and message are clear, sustainable, and goal-oriented: classroom community building results in good feelings about self and others. Through stories and interactive activities, Schiering effectively and invitingly draws in the audience to not only recognize the imperative of preventing school violence through teaching civility, but to be an agent of change. I finished the book with a more developed critical lens and intention of reconsidering my teaching strategies feeling energized to change our cultural climate! -- Amy Meyers, PhD, LCSW, Assistant Professor, Director of Field Education, Social Work Department, Molloy CollegePreventing School Violence: Guidelines for Teaching Civility and School Harmony, focuses on the need for these both in the school and home. One thing I really liked was the emphasis on positive thinking and how to incorporate that into class discussions. Through lessons, activities, personal vignettes, conversations and reflections, the reader will have a thorough understanding of what our society is confronting every day, and how we can begin to really address, and solve the problem of anti-social behaviors.When you reach the final chapter of the book, you will have learned how we can bring about social change, while realizing the worth of each individual. As I did, the reader may well come to recognize the importance of supporting schools as the building blocks of character development and civility. Most importantly, I think, as a former teacher and administrator, the reader comes to realize the imperatives for presenting lessons and how we must utilize reflection, interaction, cooperation and collaboration in all our efforts and actions... to ensure success in our endeavors for thwarting school violence by our teaching and modeling what it is to be civil. -- Barbara Hayes, EdD, Molloy College, former dean of undergraduate education studies and present field supervisorDr. Marjorie Schiering’ s Preventing School Violence: Guidelines for Teaching Civility and School Harmony is a “must read” for all educators. She begins with a definition of violence and promises to end with instructional techniques. Dr. Schiering delivers. She provides the necessary background followed by numerous teaching strategies. Dr. Schiering details Project SAVE (Safe Schools Against Violence in Education), the New York State response to the Columbine School shootings in 1999, as well as DASA (Dignity for All Students Act). The big question, however, remains. How do students learn civility? Dr. Schiering provides an abundance of activities. She outlines, for example, a “Meet and Greet” activity, complete with conversation starters (number of family member, sports interests, pets, favorite foods, vacations, what to buy with a winning lottery ticket) and supplies sample dialogues for the reader. I especially loved “Put-downs versus Lift Ups: Hurts on the Heart.” The brief activity will impact students of all ages. Dr. Marjorie Schiering’s Preventing School Violence is a timely and practical addition to your professional library! -- Eve Dieringer, PhD, field placement director, Molloy College’s Division of EducationDr. Schiering's years as both a Project SAVE and DASA instructor have given her the opportunity to revive a lost art: civility. Now, more than ever, her dedication to addressing civility is both vital and timely, given the recent surge in school-related violence. As she did with her previous publications, Special Needs, Different Abilities, Teaching Creative and Critical Thinking, and Teaching and Learning: A Model for Academic and Social Cognition, Dr. Schiering offers an insightful blending of theory and practice. This blending provides a practical road-map for teachers to instill kindness and civility in their students. Preventing School Violence and Teaching Civility is a must read for anyone in the education field, from Pre-K through college. -- Timothy Ryley, MS, Adjunct Professor: English Department at Molloy College; Baldwin High School English teacherCivility and character education are not an automatic occurrence in today’s classrooms. Dr. Schiering has written an excellent guide for educators to help their students understand the importance of these two social cognition areas. This book is a viable resource for educators, parents and students. It provides, from start-to-finish, guides for teaching civility, and ways to prevent school violence. This book thoroughly covers aspects of the processes in helping our schools prevent violent behaviors. It is practical, useful, and written in a clear and concise conversational manner. The book presents research-based material on the topic of violence, and civility activities that are easily implemented in any classroom. The author's narratives give relevance to the emphasis of the main theme, and this book is an important resource for all educators and parents. -- Angela T. Sullivan, EdD, adjunct professor, education graduate department; Concordia College, Bronxville, NYDr. Schiering does it again! A timely book on such a relevant matter. She presents an easy read, filled with real-life anecdotes of her life and others for readers to use their own experiences to draw conclusions. She addresses the problems and finds creative, applicable solutions to them that can be applied every day to classrooms. As a mother with young children, it gives me hope that the next generation of teachers and student will learn and practice civility. I enjoy her mantras of “You are enough” and "NO Put Downs… ONLY Lift Ups! -- Rebecca Martinez, Discovery Officer Molloy College Office of AdvancementDr. Schiering’s book, Preventing School Violence: Guidelines for Teaching Civility and School Harmony, is an amazing resource that reminds the reader of the importance of establishing and maintaining meaningful relationships among the school community-at-large: teachers, administrators, students, and families. As educators, we are responsible for modeling civility in our schools, by creating significant connections with others. This book provides the reader with profound scenarios, approaches and strategies to promote civility and encourage school harmony, and to explore what dignity for all really means. -- Audra Cerruto Ph.D., school psychologist, Lexington School for the DeafDr. Marjorie Schieiring’s Preventing School Violence: Guidelines for Teaching Civility and School Harmony, is a complete, and well-documented treatise on what teachers can do in the face of the epidemic of school violence that grips our nation. The book is probably the most comprehensive manual on school violence prevention workshops that has ever been written, but it is far more than that. Schiering’s secret is that civility is more than something we teach; it is who we must become. This well constructed work will quietly strike at the heart of the reader, infusing hope on every page. The book’s message is that the secret to stemming school violence calls for a revolution in how we treat each other, not just in classrooms, but in life. -- Kevin Sheehan, EdD, Associate Professor of Education, Molloy College: Co-author and AuthorTable of ContentsForewordPrefaceAcknowledgmentsIntroductionPART ONE: The Start: The Foundation for Teaching Civility: Discussion-based Instruction Then and Now: School Violence and Civility Present-Day Realities: School Violence and Teaching Civility You Knowing You + Beliefs, Values, Thinking and Feelings Unpolluting the Mind + A Negative Versus Positive Teaching Style One Rule Some Things Don’t Change: What Everyone Needs Saving the Schools Dignity for All + A Teaching and Learning Model Talking “At” or “To” when “With” is Needed: Teaching Civility Presenter Guidelines PART TWO: The Continuance: The“How-To”of Teaching Civility with Activities Teaching Civility Activities: Getting Acquainted, Role-play and Heart Making Connections: Building Classroom Community: Matt and Maddy Schiering Teaching Civility Today: The Way It Is Persons of Good Character Causes of School Misbehavior/Violence/Aggression Stress Stands Alone You Are Enough PART THREE: The Ongoing and Closing 17. Awareness, Acceptance, and Acknowledging Character and Civility: Author’s Interview Drew Bogner, Ph.D.18. Within an Era of Bullying: Our Building a Culture of Acceptance Amy Meyers, Ph. D.19. Think, Say and Do: Three ContributionsTim Ryley, Angela Sullivan, Ed.D., Mariola Krol20. Teaching What We’ve Learned

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Book SynopsisEducators of every kind such as school superintendents, principals, teachers, higher education practitioners, community organizers and even students will gain essential skills, resources and examples to encourage and support individual as well as collective empowerment from early childhood education through college in both traditional classrooms and in the broader community. Working toward the goal of empowering young people as active citizens, this collection of chapters presents voices from across the broad community of educators who share their successful individual work of methods and practices that empower young people to engage in their own agency. By using student centered practices in and out of the classroom, their stories demonstrate multiple ways to successfully achieve these ends. The book clearly and effectively presents these concepts: How to encourage self-directed learning; methods and examples of participatory practices and inquiry methods; strategies designing and supTrade ReviewEmpowering Our Students for the Future is a visionary book that gives us real world examples of just how powerful it is when children make decisions about their own learning. In doing so, this collection also shows us how to challenge the teacher and test centered education being promoted by corporate education reformers. -- Wayne Au, professor, University of Washington Bothell; editor & author, Rethinking SchoolsCreating the conditions for student voice and participation is critically essential to the social and political formation of young people. In this book, the editors bring together an excellent set of essays that provide educators with useful and empowering strategies to support the democratic formation of their students as engaged citizens for a just and democratic society. -- Antonia Darder, Leavey Endowed Chair of Ethics and Moral Leadership, Loyola Marymount UniversityEmpowering our Students for the Future is an excellent resource for educators interested in helping all students take responsibility for their own learning. The book provides exceptional examples that demonstrate the importance of creating learning experiences, which raise engagement and critical skills for success through relevant projects and increased opportunities to increase student agency. -- Lisa Snyder, EdD, executive director, EdVisionsIf we’re ever going to be able to use schools as tools to help people of all ages find their ways to lives worth living and work worth doing, we will have to question the assumptions supporting the schooling status quo. Empowering Our Students for the Future is full of the kinds of questions we need and some possible answers as well. -- Dan Grego, director, TransCenter For Youth, Inc.Table of ContentsPreface Introduction Chapter 1- Empowering Students to Take Control Through Project-Based Learning Scott Wurdinger Chapter 2- The Promise of Action Civics in Closing the Civic Engagement Gap Arielle Jennings Chapter 3- Engagement of Stakeholders in a Learning Community: Avalon School Walter Enloe and David Blake Willis Chapter 4- Finding a Direction, Creating Student Driven Learning Culture Paul Tweed Chapter 5- Have I Ever Stopped You… Fred Chapel Chapter 6- Beyond Revolution: Transforming Whole Schools to Foster Student Power Adam Fletcher Chapter 7- Empowering the Self-Perceived Powerless: Reflections of a first-year, high school science teacher Kimberly Kim Takagi Chapter 8- Empowering Students through Curriculum Development in the College Classroom Kiel Harell and Sara Lam Chapter 9- Preparing New Teachers to Radically Change Predictable and Unequal Outcomes for P-12: A Critical Race Theory Approach Timothy Berry Chapter 10- Engaging and Deschooling Students: Promoting the Grande Passion through Failure and Mastery with Self Determination Theory Pete Allison Chapter 11- (Re)Design to Empower Students In the Classroom and at Scale Jeff Galle Chapter 12- Creating a Foxfire-like project in Teacher Education Carlin Bell, Malaika Boyer, Fred Chapel, Jillian Eissler, Ryan Johnson, Muniza Khan, Diana Lesso, Jose Lovo, J. Cynthia McDermott, Zoe Morris, and Ian Stuart About the Editors About the Contributors

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Book SynopsisEducators of every kind such as school superintendents, principals, teachers, higher education practitioners, community organizers and even students will gain essential skills, resources and examples to encourage and support individual as well as collective empowerment from early childhood education through college in both traditional classrooms and in the broader community. Working toward the goal of empowering young people as active citizens, this collection of chapters presents voices from across the broad community of educators who share their successful individual work of methods and practices that empower young people to engage in their own agency. By using student centered practices in and out of the classroom, their stories demonstrate multiple ways to successfully achieve these ends. The book clearly and effectively presents these concepts: How to encourage self-directed learning; methods and examples of participatory practices and inquiry methods; strategies designing and supTrade ReviewEmpowering Our Students for the Future is a visionary book that gives us real world examples of just how powerful it is when children make decisions about their own learning. In doing so, this collection also shows us how to challenge the teacher and test centered education being promoted by corporate education reformers. -- Wayne Au, professor, University of Washington Bothell; editor & author, Rethinking SchoolsCreating the conditions for student voice and participation is critically essential to the social and political formation of young people. In this book, the editors bring together an excellent set of essays that provide educators with useful and empowering strategies to support the democratic formation of their students as engaged citizens for a just and democratic society. -- Antonia Darder, Leavey Endowed Chair of Ethics and Moral Leadership, Loyola Marymount UniversityEmpowering our Students for the Future is an excellent resource for educators interested in helping all students take responsibility for their own learning. The book provides exceptional examples that demonstrate the importance of creating learning experiences, which raise engagement and critical skills for success through relevant projects and increased opportunities to increase student agency. -- Lisa Snyder, EdD, executive director, EdVisionsIf we’re ever going to be able to use schools as tools to help people of all ages find their ways to lives worth living and work worth doing, we will have to question the assumptions supporting the schooling status quo. Empowering Our Students for the Future is full of the kinds of questions we need and some possible answers as well. -- Dan Grego, director, TransCenter For Youth, Inc.Table of ContentsPreface Introduction Chapter 1- Empowering Students to Take Control Through Project-Based Learning Scott Wurdinger Chapter 2- The Promise of Action Civics in Closing the Civic Engagement Gap Arielle Jennings Chapter 3- Engagement of Stakeholders in a Learning Community: Avalon School Walter Enloe and David Blake Willis Chapter 4- Finding a Direction, Creating Student Driven Learning Culture Paul Tweed Chapter 5- Have I Ever Stopped You… Fred Chapel Chapter 6- Beyond Revolution: Transforming Whole Schools to Foster Student Power Adam Fletcher Chapter 7- Empowering the Self-Perceived Powerless: Reflections of a first-year, high school science teacher Kimberly Kim Takagi Chapter 8- Empowering Students through Curriculum Development in the College Classroom Kiel Harell and Sara Lam Chapter 9- Preparing New Teachers to Radically Change Predictable and Unequal Outcomes for P-12: A Critical Race Theory Approach Timothy Berry Chapter 10- Engaging and Deschooling Students: Promoting the Grande Passion through Failure and Mastery with Self Determination Theory Pete Allison Chapter 11- (Re)Design to Empower Students In the Classroom and at Scale Jeff Galle Chapter 12- Creating a Foxfire-like project in Teacher Education Carlin Bell, Malaika Boyer, Fred Chapel, Jillian Eissler, Ryan Johnson, Muniza Khan, Diana Lesso, Jose Lovo, J. Cynthia McDermott, Zoe Morris, and Ian Stuart About the Editors About the Contributors

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Book SynopsisBuilding a Winning Team is about the critical need for schools and districts to promote a positive reputation for the community in which they serve. There is a growing need to recruit and retain teachers in the field of education, and this book addresses new ways to approach what we call the talent equation. We provide stories from real practitioners along with new and innovative ways to approach vision work, branding, culture, recruitment, human resources, and more. This book combines the research, theory, and practical application in both a how-to guide for implementation and the inspiration needed to grow your team to be the best that they can be. At the heart of this book is the notion that great schools consist of great teams that have a winning mentality. If you're looking for new ways to tell your school's story, develop an award-winning reputation, and recruit top talent, this book is perfect for you.Table of ContentsDedication and Acknowledgements Preface: The Growing Need for Talent Introduction: A Winning Team Chapter One: The Magnetic Force of a School’s Story Chapter Two: Success Practices Chapter Three: Taking a Deeper Dive and Employing a Technical Tip Chapter Four: Attracting Elite Talent Chapter Five: Performance, Passion, and Professional Learning Chapter Six: A Reputation that Stands Out Chapter Seven: “Bringing Sexy Back” to Human Resources Chapter Eight: Advertise Chapter Nine: Taking a Deeper Dive and Employing a Technical Tip Chapter Ten: Recruiting Elite Talent Chapter Eleven: Strategically Pursuing a Clear Path Forward Chapter Twelve: A Recruiting Effort that Stands Out Chapter Thirteen: Conclusion--Taking Action References

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Book SynopsisBuilding a Winning Team is about the critical need for schools and districts to promote a positive reputation for the community in which they serve. There is a growing need to recruit and retain teachers in the field of education, and this book addresses new ways to approach what we call the talent equation. We provide stories from real practitioners along with new and innovative ways to approach vision work, branding, culture, recruitment, human resources, and more. This book combines the research, theory, and practical application in both a how-to guide for implementation and the inspiration needed to grow your team to be the best that they can be. At the heart of this book is the notion that great schools consist of great teams that have a winning mentality. If you're looking for new ways to tell your school's story, develop an award-winning reputation, and recruit top talent, this book is perfect for you.Table of ContentsDedication and Acknowledgements Preface: The Growing Need for Talent Introduction: A Winning Team Chapter One: The Magnetic Force of a School’s Story Chapter Two: Success Practices Chapter Three: Taking a Deeper Dive and Employing a Technical Tip Chapter Four: Attracting Elite Talent Chapter Five: Performance, Passion, and Professional Learning Chapter Six: A Reputation that Stands Out Chapter Seven: “Bringing Sexy Back” to Human Resources Chapter Eight: Advertise Chapter Nine: Taking a Deeper Dive and Employing a Technical Tip Chapter Ten: Recruiting Elite Talent Chapter Eleven: Strategically Pursuing a Clear Path Forward Chapter Twelve: A Recruiting Effort that Stands Out Chapter Thirteen: Conclusion--Taking Action References

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Book SynopsisPhilosophical Inquiry shows how to use the tools of philosophy for educational purposes. It is a practical guide to the philosophical arts of questioning, conceptual exploration and reasoning, with wide application across the school curriculum. It provides educators with an effective means of teaching students to think critically and creatively, to use their knowledge to solve problems, to deal with issues, to explore possibilities and work with ideas. These are the skills and abilities that young people need in order to thrive socially and economically in the world today. Drawing on educational and psychological theory, Philosophical Inquiry emphasizes the use of collaborative learning, through class discussion, working with a partner, and small group work. This approach teaches students to think in socially responsible ways. It means that students become not only thinking individuals but also good team-players, with benefits that extend beyond the classroom and the school to communitTrade ReviewPhilip Cam is internationally known for his very thoughtful and practical approach to critical inquiry. His latest book does not disappoint – it is beautifully written. Focusing on the three main skills – questioning, explaining and reasoning – he outlines ways in which teachers can develop them, with a lucidity and power that is undeniable. In the activities at the end of each chapter he gives very clear examples which should enable even the barely interested teacher to successfully operationalize the methods. This book is highly recommended for all those interested in moving pedagogy and the curriculum into the 21st century. -- Keith Topping, Professor of Educational and Social Research, University of DundeePhilip Cam has been at the forefront of work in the theory and practice of philosophy in schools for more than three decades. His compelling account of the skills children need to think well and the inquiry-based pedagogy needed to cultivate them finds its most definitive expression to date in this elegant, accessible book. An outstanding introduction to philosophical inquiry in the classroom. -- Michael Hand, Professor of Philosophy of Education, University of BirminghamAn important contribution to the theory and practice of philosophy in schools and to education more generally. This is one of the best books in the field and will surely become a go-to resource for teachers. -- Peter Worley, The Philosophy FoundationPhilosophical inquiry: Combining the Tools of Philosophy with Inquiry-based Teaching and Learning is a gem. It is a delightfully original and incisive contribution to the literature on dialogical pedagogy that seamlessly synthesizes simplicity and sophistication. Replete with lucid explanations about the moves in thinking and practical advice on how to identify and enact them, this book is an invaluable resource for teachers committed to cultivating children’s natural curiosity. The organization, scope, and sequence of the book—which includes chapters on questions, conceptual exploration and reasoning with illustrative snippets of dialogue and a wide variety of age-appropriate exercises and activities—reflects the depth of Cam’s expertise in Philosophy for/with Children. Cam not only demonstrates philosophy’s inherent connection to the subjects already studied in school, he also attests to its combined cognitive and social value. Written in accessible language with examples drawn from Cam’s extensive experience in schools, Philosophical Inquiry invites classroom teachers to widen their repertoire by incorporating philosophy’s general-purpose tools for intellectual work into their teaching practice. Cam trusts the pedagogical appeal of philosophy as much as he trusts practitioners of inquiry-based teaching and learning. Read this book and you will discover that they are made for one another. -- Megan Jane Laverty, Associate Professor of Philosophy and Education, Teachers College, Columbia UniversityPhil Cam invites educators to see each school subject and academic discipline as a realm of inquiry to which we invite our students to bring their own questions, and where we think together with them in ways that are likely to result in deeper understanding, keener appreciation and fresh insights, not only about the subject, but also about ourselves and one another. Cam makes the compelling case historically, theoretically, and most of all practically, that the tools of philosophy are just those needed to conduct genuine inquiry across school subjects. The treasure trove of practical suggestions and organized activities he offers on questioning, concept development, and reasoning is more than a welcome resource for the classroom: it is a framework for inquiring into one’s own pedagogy. -- Maughn Gregory, PhD, director, Institute for the Advancement of Philosophy for Children, Montclair State UniversityTable of ContentsPreface Acknowledgments Introduction Chapter 1: Getting Started Arranging the Classroom and Setting the Rules Structuring a Lesson A Toolkit for Thinking Learning Outcomes Chapter 2: Questioning Question Starters Thinking about Response Demands The Question Quadrant Factual, Evaluative and Conceptual Questions Setting an Agenda Unpacking Problems and Questions The Teacher as Procedural Questioner The Characteristics of Philosophical Questions Constructing Discussion Plans Exercises and Activities Chapter 3: Conceptual Exploration Categorical Operations Comparative Operations Complex Concepts Clarification Exercises and Activities Chapter 4: Reasoning The Language of Reasoning Justification and Inference Conditional Reasoning Deductive Reasoning Inductive Reasoning Necessary and Sufficient Conditions Contradiction and Logical Impossibility Analyzing and Evaluating Reasoning Mapping Arguments in Discussion Exercises and Activities Bibliography

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Book SynopsisThis work brings together a collection of games that have been a part of childhood through the ages, games that continue to be played in various forms around the world. Many anthologies of folktales, music, and other forms of art have been collected for readers, but there are not many works on the subject of traditional childhood games and their role in the important work of childhood, which is in fact play. This book helps to meet a growing interest among educators and parents to encourage natural play and creativity in a world that is increasingly digital. Directions, descriptions, illustrations, of traditional childhood games, supported by educational theory are included. The material covered will not only help parents and educators to support children in play, but will also provide an anthology for consultation by those who see the need to preserve traditional play long associated with childhood.Table of ContentsAcknowledgmentIntroductionPart 1 Childhood: A Time to KeepChapter 1. Children and Play: The work of ChildrenChapter 2. Fun & Games: Theoretical Basis for Playing Traditional GamesChapter 3. Adult & Educator Support for the Important Work of ChildhoodChapter 4. Educators Helping Children Preserve the GamesChapter 5. To Begin to PlayPart II Games to PlayChapter 6. Games of Chase and TagChapter 7. Games of Song and Dance, Rhyme and RhythmChapter 8. String GamesChapter 9. Blindfold Games Chapter 10. Guessing GamesChapter 11. Jumping, Skipping GamesChapter 12. Cops and RobbersChapter 13. Games with Corners, Squares, or RectanglesChapter 14. Relay GamesChapter 15. Marbles and JacksChapter 16. Memory or Directional GamesChapter 17. National Ball Games and Informal Game AdaptionsChapter 18. Lawn Games: Wickets, Balls, & MalletsChapter 19. Beanbag GamesChapter 20. Pretend and Make-Believe GamesChapter 21. Board GamesConclusionAppendix A: Resources for Parents, Teachers, and Youth LeadersAppendix B: Sample Field Day Fun ScheduleAppendix C: Sample Field Day ScheduleBibliography

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Book SynopsisThis work brings together a collection of games that have been a part of childhood through the ages, games that continue to be played in various forms around the world. Many anthologies of folktales, music, and other forms of art have been collected for readers, but there are not many works on the subject of traditional childhood games and their role in the important work of childhood, which is in fact play. This book helps to meet a growing interest among educators and parents to encourage natural play and creativity in a world that is increasingly digital. Directions, descriptions, illustrations, of traditional childhood games, supported by educational theory are included. The material covered will not only help parents and educators to support children in play, but will also provide an anthology for consultation by those who see the need to preserve traditional play long associated with childhood.Table of ContentsAcknowledgmentIntroductionPart 1 Childhood: A Time to KeepChapter 1. Children and Play: The work of ChildrenChapter 2. Fun & Games: Theoretical Basis for Playing Traditional GamesChapter 3. Adult & Educator Support for the Important Work of ChildhoodChapter 4. Educators Helping Children Preserve the GamesChapter 5. To Begin to PlayPart II Games to PlayChapter 6. Games of Chase and TagChapter 7. Games of Song and Dance, Rhyme and RhythmChapter 8. String GamesChapter 9. Blindfold Games Chapter 10. Guessing GamesChapter 11. Jumping, Skipping GamesChapter 12. Cops and RobbersChapter 13. Games with Corners, Squares, or RectanglesChapter 14. Relay GamesChapter 15. Marbles and JacksChapter 16. Memory or Directional GamesChapter 17. National Ball Games and Informal Game AdaptionsChapter 18. Lawn Games: Wickets, Balls, & MalletsChapter 19. Beanbag GamesChapter 20. Pretend and Make-Believe GamesChapter 21. Board GamesConclusionAppendix A: Resources for Parents, Teachers, and Youth LeadersAppendix B: Sample Field Day Fun ScheduleAppendix C: Sample Field Day ScheduleBibliography

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Book SynopsisAs public high school teachers in a school where we often move from classroom to classroom each day, we found that it was a challenge to create a community of readers. We wanted students to love reading and discuss it regularly with each other and with other adults to develop lifelong literacy. Fleck and Heinemann created a Reader Workshop structure that ties together daily time to read independently (books of student choice), monthly book club-style conversation with guest faculty/staff facilitators, and writing/reflection on student growth as readers and how these stories impact their lives, both inside and outside of school. This book offers a clear model to help our readers establish a Reader Workshop in their classrooms as well as tools to get them started, including access to our Digital Library and One Pager prompts. Upon finishing this book, readers will have a reinvigorated excitement about independent reading and justification for its relevance in the Table of ContentsPrologue AcknowledgementsIntroductionPART 1: THE WHATChapter 1: The ReadingChapter 2: The WritingChapter 3: The DiscussionChapter 4: How to Confront Challenges Chapter 5: How to Make it WorkChapter 6: How to Get Started Next WeekPART 2: THE WHYChapter 7: Why It Works: Academic AchievementChapter 8: Why It Works: Social-Emotional LearningChapter 9: Why It Works: EquityChapter 10: Why It Works: Lifelong Reading HabitsEpilogueAppendix: Book ListsWorks CitedIndex

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Book SynopsisAs public high school teachers in a school where we often move from classroom to classroom each day, we found that it was a challenge to create a community of readers. We wanted students to love reading and discuss it regularly with each other and with other adults to develop lifelong literacy. Fleck and Heinemann created a Reader Workshop structure that ties together daily time to read independently (books of student choice), monthly book club-style conversation with guest faculty/staff facilitators, and writing/reflection on student growth as readers and how these stories impact their lives, both inside and outside of school. This book offers a clear model to help our readers establish a Reader Workshop in their classrooms as well as tools to get them started, including access to our Digital Library and One Pager prompts. Upon finishing this book, readers will have a reinvigorated excitement about independent reading and justification for its relevance in the Table of ContentsPrologue AcknowledgementsIntroductionPART 1: THE WHATChapter 1: The ReadingChapter 2: The WritingChapter 3: The DiscussionChapter 4: How to Confront Challenges Chapter 5: How to Make it WorkChapter 6: How to Get Started Next WeekPART 2: THE WHYChapter 7: Why It Works: Academic AchievementChapter 8: Why It Works: Social-Emotional LearningChapter 9: Why It Works: EquityChapter 10: Why It Works: Lifelong Reading HabitsEpilogueAppendix: Book ListsWorks CitedIndex

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Book SynopsisEntrepreneurial Leadership is written for K-12 educational leaders who understand their critically important role as motivators, influencers, and entrepreneurs. These are leaders who have a mindset for pursuing opportunities that positively impact their organizations. They know that they need to go beyond their own institutions to see and seize opportunities that will bring resources and services to their schools to help their students achieve. This book helps them to develop and use their entrepreneurial skills to cultivate partnerships with businesses, community organizations and individuals, and colleges/universities. General and specific guidelines are provided to initiate, develop, implement, evaluate, and sustain partnerships. Such partnerships can be with individuals, groups, institutions, organizations, and corporations at the local, regional, statewide, and national levels. Policies, procedures, and practices for effective negotiations within school systems and with potential Trade ReviewThis book explores an important, real-life skill that all principals should possess in their toolkit. Partnerships with outside agencies boost programs that schools can offer their students. In turn, students are provided with a rich, more advanced educational experience. Furthermore, forming partnerships empowers all stakeholders to have a community-based mindset. This is a must read for any sitting or aspiring school leader. -- Joseph Engelhardt, Principal, Alexander Hamilton High School, Elmsford Union Free School District, New YorkDr. Wepner and Dr. Gomez provide an excellent road map for educational leaders to develop strong community, business, college and university partnerships to support the challenges facing K-12 schools. Wepner and Gomez offer specific examples and guidelines to help leaders tap into their entrepreneurial spirit to create innovative partnerships to improve schools through increased funding, resources and help, leading to more opportunities for students and the community at large. -- Kate Mathews, Principal, Anne M. Dorner Middle School, Ossining Union Free School District, New YorkTable of ContentsDedication Foreword Acknowledgments Introduction Part I: Entrepreneurism and Partnerships Chapter 1: Entrepreneurial Recognition of Partnership Opportunities Chapter 2: Partnership Types Chapter 3: Guidelines for Entrepreneurial Leaders in Building Partnerships Part II: Real-Life Benefits of Partnerships Chapter 4: Partnerships with Businesses Chapter 5: Partnerships with Communities Chapter 6: Partnerships with Colleges and Universities Chapter 7: Sustaining Partnerships References About the Authors

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Book SynopsisEntrepreneurial Leadership is written for K-12 educational leaders who understand their critically important role as motivators, influencers, and entrepreneurs. These are leaders who have a mindset for pursuing opportunities that positively impact their organizations. They know that they need to go beyond their own institutions to see and seize opportunities that will bring resources and services to their schools to help their students achieve. This book helps them to develop and use their entrepreneurial skills to cultivate partnerships with businesses, community organizations and individuals, and colleges/universities. General and specific guidelines are provided to initiate, develop, implement, evaluate, and sustain partnerships. Such partnerships can be with individuals, groups, institutions, organizations, and corporations at the local, regional, statewide, and national levels. Policies, procedures, and practices for effective negotiations within school systems and with potential Trade ReviewThis book explores an important, real-life skill that all principals should possess in their toolkit. Partnerships with outside agencies boost programs that schools can offer their students. In turn, students are provided with a rich, more advanced educational experience. Furthermore, forming partnerships empowers all stakeholders to have a community-based mindset. This is a must read for any sitting or aspiring school leader. -- Joseph Engelhardt, Principal, Alexander Hamilton High School, Elmsford Union Free School District, New YorkDr. Wepner and Dr. Gomez provide an excellent road map for educational leaders to develop strong community, business, college and university partnerships to support the challenges facing K-12 schools. Wepner and Gomez offer specific examples and guidelines to help leaders tap into their entrepreneurial spirit to create innovative partnerships to improve schools through increased funding, resources and help, leading to more opportunities for students and the community at large. -- Kate Mathews, Principal, Anne M. Dorner Middle School, Ossining Union Free School District, New YorkTable of ContentsDedication Foreword Acknowledgments Introduction Part I: Entrepreneurism and Partnerships Chapter 1: Entrepreneurial Recognition of Partnership Opportunities Chapter 2: Partnership Types Chapter 3: Guidelines for Entrepreneurial Leaders in Building Partnerships Part II: Real-Life Benefits of Partnerships Chapter 4: Partnerships with Businesses Chapter 5: Partnerships with Communities Chapter 6: Partnerships with Colleges and Universities Chapter 7: Sustaining Partnerships References About the Authors

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Book SynopsisThe book introduces educational students and practitioners to the use of statistics in education.Table of ContentsList of Statistical Symbols Preface PART I. INTRODUCTION Chapter 1: An Overview of Educational Research Chapter 2: Basic Concepts in Statistics PART II. DESCRIBING DISTRIBUTIONS Chapter 3: Organizing and Graphing Data Chapter 4: Measures of Central Tendency Chapter 5: Measures of Variability Chapter 6: The Normal Curve and Standard Scores PART III. MEASURING RELATIONSHIPS Chapter 7: Correlation Chapter 8: Prediction and Regression PART IV. COMPARING GROUP MEANS Chapter 9: t Test Chapter 10: Analysis of Variance PART V: CHI SQUARE TEST Chapter 11: Chi Square Test PART VI. STANDARDIZED TEST SCORES, RELIABILITY, AND VALIDITY Chapter 12: Interpreting Standardized Test Scores Chapter 13: Reliability Chapter 14: Validity PART VII. PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER Chapter 15: Choosing the Right Statistical Test Chapter 16: Using Statistical Tests to Analyze Survey Data Appendix-Study Guide Glossary Index About the Author

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Book SynopsisThe book introduces educational students and practitioners to the use of statistics in education.Table of ContentsList of Statistical Symbols Preface PART I. INTRODUCTION Chapter 1: An Overview of Educational Research Chapter 2: Basic Concepts in Statistics PART II. DESCRIBING DISTRIBUTIONS Chapter 3: Organizing and Graphing Data Chapter 4: Measures of Central Tendency Chapter 5: Measures of Variability Chapter 6: The Normal Curve and Standard Scores PART III. MEASURING RELATIONSHIPS Chapter 7: Correlation Chapter 8: Prediction and Regression PART IV. COMPARING GROUP MEANS Chapter 9: t Test Chapter 10: Analysis of Variance PART V: CHI SQUARE TEST Chapter 11: Chi Square Test PART VI. STANDARDIZED TEST SCORES, RELIABILITY, AND VALIDITY Chapter 12: Interpreting Standardized Test Scores Chapter 13: Reliability Chapter 14: Validity PART VII. PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER Chapter 15: Choosing the Right Statistical Test Chapter 16: Using Statistical Tests to Analyze Survey Data Appendix-Study Guide Glossary Index About the Author

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Book SynopsisThis book answers the questions on what must be done to meet the educational goals required to maintain our democratic form of government, provide the knowledge and skills required for our free enterprise system, and to give each individual, as Lincoln said, an unfettered start and fair change in the race of life. The old cliché, outside the box, represents major changes and needed re-imagination of what education in our country must do to remain viable. No one has a magic wand to make such improvements just happen. What is needed is revolutionary program interventions that result in what all thinking citizens in America seek, a public school education program that is the best of all worlds.Trade ReviewCreating an educational system that enables every young person growing up in the United States of America to become a well-adjusted, productive, safe and fulfilled citizen should—no MUST—be the focal point of every politician, business person, parent, spiritual leader and educator concerned about the future of our country, as well as we have heard may times over, “If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always got.” Consequently, Scott Norton’s challenge to re-imagine (educating our youth) ‘outside the proverbial box’ represents a challenge to all of us to prepare America’s most prized and precious natural resource, its youth, for a rapidly changing, for all practical purposes, unknown future. Education as the Best of All World, takes the reader down new and untried pathways toward identifying, developing and implementing the tools, techniques and resources needed to equip our youth for that future. Norton’s unique writing style ensures this work as one that bypasses the usual educational jargon while at the same time holds the reader’s interest in each chapter. -- Larry K. Kelly, Ed.D., author, educator, international consultantFrom the opening pages of the book, Making Education in America the Best of All Worlds, Dr. Scott Norton centers on the re-imagining of America’s educational system. From the outset, he carefully uncovers and discusses both the expressed successes and failures of education that have been set forth historically in the literature. The crucial need for major re-thinking of teacher and administrator preparation programs, school programming that effectively responds to the growing culture and social issues facing the nation, and the community’s collaborative involvement in the development of policy and practices is interestingly presented. The special features of the book include primary chapter goals, participative questions and quizzes, case studies and specific recommendations that keep the reader totally engaged in the “new thinking” of the discussions. This book is not just another reform book for it focuses on the re-imagining of new and challenging ways for making education in America truly the best of all worlds. -- Barry L. Fritch, M.Ed, educator, principal/learning leader, Broadmor Elementary School, Tempe, ArizonaTable of ContentsPreface Chapter 1: Public School Education in America: Patchwork or a Complete Makeover? Chapter 2: Re-Imagining the Failing Factors of Public School Education Chapter 3: Social Issues and the Importance of Public Education for Dealing with Them Chapter 4: Public School Education as the Best of All Worlds About the Author

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Book SynopsisThis book answers the questions on what must be done to meet the educational goals required to maintain our democratic form of government, provide the knowledge and skills required for our free enterprise system, and to give each individual, as Lincoln said, an unfettered start and fair change in the race of life. The old cliché, outside the box, represents major changes and needed re-imagination of what education in our country must do to remain viable. No one has a magic wand to make such improvements just happen. What is needed is revolutionary program interventions that result in what all thinking citizens in America seek, a public school education program that is the best of all worlds.Trade ReviewFrom the opening pages of the book, Making Education in America the Best of All Worlds, Dr. Scott Norton centers on the re-imagining of America’s educational system. From the outset, he carefully uncovers and discusses both the expressed successes and failures of education that have been set forth historically in the literature. The crucial need for major re-thinking of teacher and administrator preparation programs, school programming that effectively responds to the growing culture and social issues facing the nation, and the community’s collaborative involvement in the development of policy and practices is interestingly presented. The special features of the book include primary chapter goals, participative questions and quizzes, case studies and specific recommendations that keep the reader totally engaged in the “new thinking” of the discussions. This book is not just another reform book for it focuses on the re-imagining of new and challenging ways for making education in America truly the best of all worlds. -- Barry L. Fritch, M.Ed, educator, principal/learning leader, Broadmor Elementary School, Tempe, ArizonaTable of ContentsPreface Chapter 1: Public School Education in America: Patchwork or a Complete Makeover? Chapter 2: Re-Imagining the Failing Factors of Public School Education Chapter 3: Social Issues and the Importance of Public Education for Dealing with Them Chapter 4: Public School Education as the Best of All Worlds About the Author

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Book SynopsisIf you have ever had the opportunity to observe a master craftsperson at work, one of the first things you will notice is how easy they make their work look. This principle applies to artists, athletes, plumbers and painters. It also applies to teachers.If you were fortunate enough to have some master teachers in your K to 12 schooling or for your university student teaching, you will have seen this principle at work. You will recall how easy they made teaching look. For the most part, their classes just flowed. The teacher would ask the students to do something, and the students did it. The teacher would cue the kids to transition into a new activity, and the kids transitioned. There was little conflict, few arguments, and the vast majority of classroom time was spent engaged in learning. It is a pleasure to observe these kinds of behaviors in the classrooms of master teachers, but this leaves us with an important question: how do they do it? Just how did these teachers get thTrade ReviewDr. Ripley’s The Successful Teacher’s Survival Kit is a brilliant reminder of how master educators can make the complex job of teaching look effortless. Steeped in experience and insight, Dr. Ripley shares his gift for teaching via stories and proactive considerations for creating successful classroom environments. As a seasoned educator, I only wish that this invaluable publication was available when I entered the profession -- a must-have for all teachers! Robyn Shewchuk, M Ed. Over 30 years of experience in K-12 and post-secondary education. So much of learning how to teach is done through experience…but there is nothing wrong with peeking at the answer key first. The 83 strategies described in The Successful Teacher’s Survival Kit are “the answer key” to successful teaching! -- Ryan Nichols, B Ed. 15 year junior high teacherFor teachers with decades of classroom experience and for teachers committed to lifelong learning, The Successful Teacher’s Survival Kit offers exceptional insights in mastering the art of teaching... a book worth wearing out at any stage of your career. -- Bob Gagnon, B Ed; MRE; 25 years of teachingI loved Dr. Ripley's The Successful Teacher’s Survival Kit! This book gives me insightful knowledge about obstacles that I never considered before entering the teaching profession, and ways to overcome them. -- Nicole Dundys, University of AlbertaDr. Ripley’s The Successful Teacher’s Survival Kit provided me with valuable knowledge that could otherwise take years to develop. I know this because during my practicum I shared some of The Successful Teacher’s Survival Kit with seasoned teachers who were equally grateful to hear this insightful information. -- Rhonda Baldry, Novice TeacherThe Successful Teacher’s Survival Kit provides practical and time-proven strategies and ideas. They can be easily adapted to fit any classroom and can be drawn upon at any time or for any situation. -- Margit Warner, preservice teacher, University of AlbertaThe Successful Teacher’s Survival Kit gave me a most realistic snapshot of life as a teacher and has also helped me to understand teaching as a continuous reflective practice, so I may teach and guide my students to the best of my abilities. The Successful Teacher’s Survival KIT is extremely relevant for any teacher. -- Angelene Huffman, preservice teacher, University of AlbertaThe Successful Teacher’s Survival Kit not only provides guidance on how to teach, but it also helps prepare you for the life of being a teacher both inside and outside of the classroom. This is a wonderful and most useful resource that every teacher should have. -- Kennedy Scherbinski, University of AlbertaThe Successful Teacher’s Survival Kit will be my teaching Bible. -- Samia Sarwar, preservice teacherTable of ContentsPreface: Fish Discover Water Last Acknowledgements Introduction: Establishing Legitimacy How to Get the Most from this Book Section One: What You Need To Know and Do before School Even Starts Introduction: The Importance of the Teacher and the Power of Positive Thinking 1.The Question You MUST Answer First! 2.Do Your Christmas Shopping in the Summer! 3.The Stomach and the Brain – Have Food Available for Your Kids 4.Vomit, Coffee & Ketchup – Have a Change of Clothing Available for Yourself 5.Mints and Toothpaste – Essential Tools for Effective Teaching 6.The Best Teacher Prep Tool Ever Made – Large Capacity Flash Drives 7.Who’s the Boss? Probably the Principal 8.Without This – Nothing Else Really Matters: Lessons from a Student to a Teacher 9.Establish a Seating Plan That Allows Maximum Proximity to Your Students 10.Tick. Tick. Tick. 11.The Problem of Pens, Pencils, Paper . . . 12.How Sponge Activities Can Prevent All Kinds of Discipline Issues 13.Facebook, Twitter and Twits 14.The Only Three Ways to Teach a Child 15.No Matter Where You Go – There You Are 16.Is Teaching Really Your Gift? 17.Half Step, Full Step, Step and a Half: How Many Steps Will Your Kids Be Taking With You This Year? Section Two: What You Need To Do With Your Students on The First Day And During The First Week Of School Introduction 18.You Never Get a Second Chance to Make a First Impression 19.Pizza and Movies: The Best Investments You May Ever Make 20.Why Procedures and Routines – The Way We Do Things in Our Classroom – Are Critical to Successful Teaching 21.Start Teaching the Curriculum on Day One 22.To Know Them Is To Love Them . . . Well, Most of the Time 23.Why Should the Kids Listen to You? The Importance of Establishing Legitimacy. 24.Fired Up? Ready to Go? 25.Let Horton the Elephant Be Your Role Model 26.Even Monkeys Know When Something is Unfair 27.When You Are Vastly Outnumbered, Fighting is Unwise 28.The Importance of Face 29.Never Look Back When Asking a Student to Follow You Out of the Classroom 30.Don’t Just Stand There – DO SOMETHING! 31.Knowledge Has Value 32.Did I Do That? Helping Students Keep Track of Their Achievements 33.Always Have a Plan B. 34.What Did You Learn in School Today? Section Three: What You Need To Do During The First Month Introduction 35.Eyes Open; Ears Open; Mouth Closed 36.The Best Teachers You Will Ever Have 37.Secretaries, Custodians and Teacher Aides 38.Who Knew? Ten Minutes is a Huge Chunk of Time 39.Maybe Not 50 Shades of Gray – But 49 For Sure 40.What’s the Difference Between a Classroom and a Petri Dish? 41.Want to Avoid Classroom Chaos? Bait the Hook to Suit the Fish! 42.How to Train a Tiger – The Art of Negotiating with Your Students 43.Practice Saying, “I’m sorry” and really mean it 44.Getting the Elephant to Go Where You Want It to Go 45.You Don’t Want to Send Kids to the Principal’s Office – At Least, Not Often 46.When You Bring a Problem to Your Principal, Always Bring a Solution 47.When Your Students Tell You Stories about Their Families 48.How to Get Parents/Caregivers to Look Forward to Your Phone Calls 49.Parent’s/Caregiver’s and Emails – Managing Expectations 50.Don’t Confuse Activity with Achievement 51.What Do You Mean You Only Taught That Once? The 9 Laws of Learning 52.In Pursuit of Peppermints and PEZ™ 53.So You Reached the End of September – Time to Take a Good Look Around You Section Four: What You Need To Do During the Rest of the Year Introduction 54.Great Teachers are Great Storytellers with Great Stories to Tell 55.Remember the Starfish Story – You Cannot Save Them All 56.You Must Learn to Adjust 57.Not My Circus – Not My Monkeys 58.Remember. . . There Is Always Enough Time To Do the Most Important Things 59.Learn to Make Staff Meetings Productive 60.Learn to Say “NO” Nicely 61.Make the 80 - 20 Rule Work for You 62.Become First a Good Animal 63.Who Do You Need to Forgive the Most? 64.If Your Name is Johnny, You Must be Bad 65.I Am Not My Older Brother . . . 66.Remember This About Your Students – They’re Not Done Yet 67.You Can’t Free a Fish from Water - Your Students Live at Home 68.They Already Have Friends 69.Do You Want to Hear a Joke? 70.How to Use Music to Sooth a Savage Beast 71.When You’re Sick, Tired, Cranky, or Having a Bad Day 72.You Are Rarely the Target – Even When They’re Aiming at You 73.Every Artist Was First an Amateur 74.You Are Never Done 75.When You Stop Learning, You Are Done 76.You Don’t Bring in an Elephant to Teach the Color Gray 77.How Do You Eat an Elephant? 78.Why We Don’t Try to Teach a Pig to Fly 79.The IKEA Effect – The Pride We Feel in Work We Do Ourselves 80.If You Are Working Harder Than Your Students in Class, You’re doing It Wrong! 81.The Virtue of Frustration 82.Let This Year’s Students Help Make Your Courses Better for Next Year 83.So You Reached the End of June – Time to Look Back Section Five: What You Need To Do During the Second and Third Years of Teaching, and Going Forward From There Twenty-Eight Essential Truths About Teaching Lastly: The Secret to Success in Teaching Three Recommendations for Further Reading References About the Author

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Book SynopsisIf you have ever had the opportunity to observe a master craftsperson at work, one of the first things you will notice is how easy they make their work look. This principle applies to artists, athletes, plumbers and painters. It also applies to teachers.If you were fortunate enough to have some master teachers in your K to 12 schooling or for your university student teaching, you will have seen this principle at work. You will recall how easy they made teaching look. For the most part, their classes just flowed. The teacher would ask the students to do something, and the students did it. The teacher would cue the kids to transition into a new activity, and the kids transitioned. There was little conflict, few arguments, and the vast majority of classroom time was spent engaged in learning. It is a pleasure to observe these kinds of behaviors in the classrooms of master teachers, but this leaves us with an important question: how do they do it? Just how did these teachers get thTrade ReviewDr. Ripley’s The Successful Teacher’s Survival Kit is a brilliant reminder of how master educators can make the complex job of teaching look effortless. Steeped in experience and insight, Dr. Ripley shares his gift for teaching via stories and proactive considerations for creating successful classroom environments. As a seasoned educator, I only wish that this invaluable publication was available when I entered the profession -- a must-have for all teachers! Robyn Shewchuk, M Ed. Over 30 years of experience in K-12 and post-secondary education. So much of learning how to teach is done through experience…but there is nothing wrong with peeking at the answer key first. The 83 strategies described in The Successful Teacher’s Survival Kit are “the answer key” to successful teaching! -- Ryan Nichols, B Ed. 15 year junior high teacherFor teachers with decades of classroom experience and for teachers committed to lifelong learning, The Successful Teacher’s Survival Kit offers exceptional insights in mastering the art of teaching... a book worth wearing out at any stage of your career. -- Bob Gagnon, B Ed; MRE; 25 years of teachingI loved Dr. Ripley's The Successful Teacher’s Survival Kit! This book gives me insightful knowledge about obstacles that I never considered before entering the teaching profession, and ways to overcome them. -- Nicole Dundys, University of AlbertaDr. Ripley’s The Successful Teacher’s Survival Kit provided me with valuable knowledge that could otherwise take years to develop. I know this because during my practicum I shared some of The Successful Teacher’s Survival Kit with seasoned teachers who were equally grateful to hear this insightful information. -- Rhonda Baldry, Novice TeacherThe Successful Teacher’s Survival Kit provides practical and time-proven strategies and ideas. They can be easily adapted to fit any classroom and can be drawn upon at any time or for any situation. -- Margit Warner, preservice teacher, University of AlbertaThe Successful Teacher’s Survival Kit gave me a most realistic snapshot of life as a teacher and has also helped me to understand teaching as a continuous reflective practice, so I may teach and guide my students to the best of my abilities. The Successful Teacher’s Survival KIT is extremely relevant for any teacher. -- Angelene Huffman, preservice teacher, University of AlbertaThe Successful Teacher’s Survival Kit not only provides guidance on how to teach, but it also helps prepare you for the life of being a teacher both inside and outside of the classroom. This is a wonderful and most useful resource that every teacher should have. -- Kennedy Scherbinski, University of AlbertaThe Successful Teacher’s Survival Kit will be my teaching Bible. -- Samia Sarwar, preservice teacherTable of ContentsPreface: Fish Discover Water Last Acknowledgements Introduction: Establishing Legitimacy How to Get the Most from this Book Section One: What You Need To Know and Do before School Even Starts Introduction: The Importance of the Teacher and the Power of Positive Thinking 1.The Question You MUST Answer First! 2.Do Your Christmas Shopping in the Summer! 3.The Stomach and the Brain – Have Food Available for Your Kids 4.Vomit, Coffee & Ketchup – Have a Change of Clothing Available for Yourself 5.Mints and Toothpaste – Essential Tools for Effective Teaching 6.The Best Teacher Prep Tool Ever Made – Large Capacity Flash Drives 7.Who’s the Boss? Probably the Principal 8.Without This – Nothing Else Really Matters: Lessons from a Student to a Teacher 9.Establish a Seating Plan That Allows Maximum Proximity to Your Students 10.Tick. Tick. Tick. 11.The Problem of Pens, Pencils, Paper . . . 12.How Sponge Activities Can Prevent All Kinds of Discipline Issues 13.Facebook, Twitter and Twits 14.The Only Three Ways to Teach a Child 15.No Matter Where You Go – There You Are 16.Is Teaching Really Your Gift? 17.Half Step, Full Step, Step and a Half: How Many Steps Will Your Kids Be Taking With You This Year? Section Two: What You Need To Do With Your Students on The First Day And During The First Week Of School Introduction 18.You Never Get a Second Chance to Make a First Impression 19.Pizza and Movies: The Best Investments You May Ever Make 20.Why Procedures and Routines – The Way We Do Things in Our Classroom – Are Critical to Successful Teaching 21.Start Teaching the Curriculum on Day One 22.To Know Them Is To Love Them . . . Well, Most of the Time 23.Why Should the Kids Listen to You? The Importance of Establishing Legitimacy. 24.Fired Up? Ready to Go? 25.Let Horton the Elephant Be Your Role Model 26.Even Monkeys Know When Something is Unfair 27.When You Are Vastly Outnumbered, Fighting is Unwise 28.The Importance of Face 29.Never Look Back When Asking a Student to Follow You Out of the Classroom 30.Don’t Just Stand There – DO SOMETHING! 31.Knowledge Has Value 32.Did I Do That? Helping Students Keep Track of Their Achievements 33.Always Have a Plan B. 34.What Did You Learn in School Today? Section Three: What You Need To Do During The First Month Introduction 35.Eyes Open; Ears Open; Mouth Closed 36.The Best Teachers You Will Ever Have 37.Secretaries, Custodians and Teacher Aides 38.Who Knew? Ten Minutes is a Huge Chunk of Time 39.Maybe Not 50 Shades of Gray – But 49 For Sure 40.What’s the Difference Between a Classroom and a Petri Dish? 41.Want to Avoid Classroom Chaos? Bait the Hook to Suit the Fish! 42.How to Train a Tiger – The Art of Negotiating with Your Students 43.Practice Saying, “I’m sorry” and really mean it 44.Getting the Elephant to Go Where You Want It to Go 45.You Don’t Want to Send Kids to the Principal’s Office – At Least, Not Often 46.When You Bring a Problem to Your Principal, Always Bring a Solution 47.When Your Students Tell You Stories about Their Families 48.How to Get Parents/Caregivers to Look Forward to Your Phone Calls 49.Parent’s/Caregiver’s and Emails – Managing Expectations 50.Don’t Confuse Activity with Achievement 51.What Do You Mean You Only Taught That Once? The 9 Laws of Learning 52.In Pursuit of Peppermints and PEZ™ 53.So You Reached the End of September – Time to Take a Good Look Around You Section Four: What You Need To Do During the Rest of the Year Introduction 54.Great Teachers are Great Storytellers with Great Stories to Tell 55.Remember the Starfish Story – You Cannot Save Them All 56.You Must Learn to Adjust 57.Not My Circus – Not My Monkeys 58.Remember. . . There Is Always Enough Time To Do the Most Important Things 59.Learn to Make Staff Meetings Productive 60.Learn to Say “NO” Nicely 61.Make the 80 - 20 Rule Work for You 62.Become First a Good Animal 63.Who Do You Need to Forgive the Most? 64.If Your Name is Johnny, You Must be Bad 65.I Am Not My Older Brother . . . 66.Remember This About Your Students – They’re Not Done Yet 67.You Can’t Free a Fish from Water - Your Students Live at Home 68.They Already Have Friends 69.Do You Want to Hear a Joke? 70.How to Use Music to Sooth a Savage Beast 71.When You’re Sick, Tired, Cranky, or Having a Bad Day 72.You Are Rarely the Target – Even When They’re Aiming at You 73.Every Artist Was First an Amateur 74.You Are Never Done 75.When You Stop Learning, You Are Done 76.You Don’t Bring in an Elephant to Teach the Color Gray 77.How Do You Eat an Elephant? 78.Why We Don’t Try to Teach a Pig to Fly 79.The IKEA Effect – The Pride We Feel in Work We Do Ourselves 80.If You Are Working Harder Than Your Students in Class, You’re doing It Wrong! 81.The Virtue of Frustration 82.Let This Year’s Students Help Make Your Courses Better for Next Year 83.So You Reached the End of June – Time to Look Back Section Five: What You Need To Do During the Second and Third Years of Teaching, and Going Forward From There Twenty-Eight Essential Truths About Teaching Lastly: The Secret to Success in Teaching Three Recommendations for Further Reading References About the Author

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Book SynopsisGrowing up with Philosophy Camp joins the substantial body of literature that contravenes centuries of thinkers in the history of philosophy who stated emphatically that children either could not or should not engage in philosophical discourse. This book differs from the rest of the literature in that it reveals the extraordinary impact of philosophy camps for pre-college age students (as young as 6 years old through high school). Often only a week in duration, philosophy camp combines the intensity of both summer camp and philosophical dialogue, creating a powerful experience for young people who, contrary to cynical views of youth today, desire intellectual engagement. Through the chapters by the staff who facilitate discussions, a university dean who supported the program, and reflections from campers and parents, a recurring theme emerges: philosophy camps build authentic friendship, intellectual community, and an increased awareness of self-identity. Yet the chapters display rTrade ReviewIn this splendid collection of essays written by philosophy camps facilitators and campers – professors and high school students together- Claire Katz shows the tremendously positive impact that philosophy can have on youth. Engaging with philosophy enhances self-confidence and critical thinking, as well as responsibility, respect and solidarity. This book is compelling evidence that philosophy is relevant to everyday life and helps people young and old think, feel and connect. -- Annabel Herzog, Professor of Political Theory, University of HaifaSummer camp is, as a concept, under-theorized and under-appreciated. For many coming-of-age minors, summer camp serves as one of their first civic-associational experiences, a formative exercise in learning how to get along with strangers, away from local friends and family. But why should that experience be limited to hiking, tennis, or Python boot camp? Why not introduce tweens and teens to the pleasures of thinking, and awakening them to the joys of thoughtful discussion with each other? Claire Katz and the contributors to Growing Up With Philosophy Camp: How Thinking Develops Friendship, Community, and a Sense of Self explain the rationale and the on-the-ground success of the innovative philosophy summer camps they have organized. If only my own children would have had such an opportunity! -- John Seery, George Irving Thompson Memorial Professor of Government and Professor of PoliticsIf you have ever wondered about a philosophy camp, questioned its value, or considered hosting one at your institution, then these books are for you. With a robust introductory essay, and nine carefully focused chapters written by experienced practitioners from across the world and scintillating selections from campers and parents, Growing Up with Philosophy Camp offers a wealth of insights about why philosophy camps are a singularly transformative experience. In short, philosophy camps provide occasion pre-college students to engage in serious, open-ended discussions with their peers, exercise and improve their thinking, and participate in communal and creative problem-solving—as well as lots of good old-fashioned fun. Together, these readable essays provide a compelling argument for why pre-college students should have the opportunity to do philosophy. Moreover, they demonstrate the value of reawakening wonder in our young people and nourishing their natural inclination to make sense of the world. Philosophy Camps for Youth provides practical guidance on every aspect of hosting a philosophy camp, from management, training and marketing to curriculum and pedagogical practice. Just as philosophy camps inspire the allegiance of returning campers, these expertly edited books will inspire the loyalty of returning readers. -- Megan Jane Laverty, Associate Professor of Philosophy and Education, Teachers College, Columbia UniversityThis important book of essays demonstrates beyond any doubt that philosophy camps offer every bit as much as sports and art camps as the go-to place to send our children for enrichment. Indeed, the opportunities these camps provide to develop young hearts and minds through confronting life’s big questions and some of philosophy’s most well-known thinkers are unique. In this rich collection, facilitators, parents, and students testify to transformative experiences that enhance cognitive, emotional, and social capacities to live a better life. -- Cynthia Willett, Samuel Candler Dobbs professor of philosophy, Emory University; coauthor, "Uproarious: How Feminists and Other Comic Subversives Speak Truth"Democracy is currently at risk - do we have the skills to make it work? What are those skills? It is not unusual to find authors suggesting that humanities education is important for a successful democracy. But the model of humanities education that would accomplish this is, at best, obscure, and at worst, elitist. Growing Up with Philosophy Camp offers a model of doing philosophy in community and establishing friendships in a process of collective open-ended inquiry. This is a model that can form a basis for democratic citizenship where our different backgrounds and values do not stand between us, but enrich us. -- Sally Haslanger, Ford Professor of Philosophy and Women's and Gender Studies, Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyAristotle once suggested that there was a paradox at the core of learning philosophy: old folks could learn philosophy but didn't have enough of their lives left to practice it; kids had lots of time but little interest in learning. Katz has compiled significant evidence to the contrary. Not only can young adults learn philosophical lessons that transform and enrich their lives, but they will spend their precious summers doing it. Get the kids ready, give them the chance, and they will become philosophy campers. -- John Kaag, author, “Hiking with Nietzsche: On Becoming Who You Are”Philosophy, as described by the contributors to this book, is an increasingly rare variety of the rigorous, erotic, collective human search for meaning, as necessary for the very young as for the no-longer young. A hybrid variety, resulting from centuries of cross-cultural fertilization, it is today threatened by fundamentalist and capitalist ideologies and by the pitifully narrow vision of education that appears in their overlap. In this dreary cultural landscape, the camps described here are greenhouses where genuine philosophy—carefully nurtured by adults, teens, and children together—flourishes, and from where it is transplanted where it is most needed: the school, the home, and the street. -- Maughn Gregory, Professor of Educational Foundations, Philosophy for Children Program, Montclair UniversityThis book should change the way we think about the teaching and importance of philosophy in the 21st century. The evidence of the innovative summer philosophy camps run in the US and beyond demonstrates how philosophy, well taught, can promote the ability of young people in Middle and High School to ask and own their questions and to debate in productive and effective ways. It also shows that this process creates reflective and long-lasting friendships. As the campers, their parents, and the camp facilitators reveal in these essays, philosophy needs to play a greater role in American education and in our civic life. -- Emily Grosholz, Edwin Erle Sparks Professor of Philosophy, African American Studies and English; Member, Center for Fundamental Theory / Institute of Gravitation and the Cosmos. The Pennsylvania State UniversityThis breathtaking tour de force synthesizes the voices of ancient and contemporary Philosophers, academics, students and their families following immersive experiences of Philosophy Camps underpinned with the Philosophy with Children pedagogy developed by Ann-Margaret Sharp and Matthew Lipman. These reflections offer a profound meditation on the lived experience of authentic human connection through philosophical dialogue. Inspirational and informative, Growing Up With Philosophy Camp will prove invaluable to anyone interested in exploring this transformational approach to teaching philosophy. -- Marelle Rice, director, The Thinker's Midwife; director, Philosophy IrelandGrowing Up with Philosophy Camp describes the unique benefits of youth philosophy camps, from the perspectives of camp organizers and leaders, campers, and parents. Thought-provoking and inspiring, the book provides a window into the ways in which philosophy camp can support young people’s intellectual, emotional, creative, ethical, and social growth, and the potential transformative effects on everyone, adults and youth, who participates in this experience. -- Jana Mohr Lone, director of the Northwest Center for Philosophy for ChildrenPhilosophy camps are an impactful, and, as this book reveals, transformative approach to introducing children to philosophy. With chapters from experienced philosophy camp directors and facilitators as well as camper and parent reflections, this text is essential reading for anyone interested in philosophy for children and the growing philosophy camp movement. -- Michael D. Burroughs, President, PLATO, Founding Editor, Precollege Philosophy and Public Practice; Director, Kegley Institute of Ethics; Assistant Professor of Philosophy, CSU BakersfieldChildhood is a time for naive questions, and so is the study of philosophy. Growing Up with Philosophy Camp wonderfully shows how the two naturally go together. -- Alex Byrne, Department Head and Professor, Linguistics and Philosophy, MITAfter I, along with my nine-year old, attended a Philosophy for Children workshop at the Western Political Science Association, I was convinced of the program’s significance. In fact, I now apply many of these strategies in my own efforts to create a “community of inquiry” in my undergraduate courses. Growing Up With Philosophy Camp not only explores the philosophical and pedagogical foundations of pre-college philosophy programs, it also shows these programs work, preparing children to be successful students and, more importantly, engaged democratic citizens. This remarkable book is essential reading for educators, parents, and anyone interested in providing our children with the critical tools necessary for “friendship, community, and a sense of self” in a complex and uncertain world. -- George V. Davis, Associate Professor, Political Science, Marshall UniversityA thoughtful and interesting portrayal of what is distinctive and special about philosophy camps, this book shows how they engage with young people in more profound and creative ways than most schools are able to do. The authors’ experiences and reflections shed a warm and refreshing light on our understanding of philosophy that emphasizes the value of community and friendship. Many examples from campers, facilitators and parents are moving in revealing the positive impact that philosophy camps have had on the whole family and relationships at home. -- Lizzy Lewis, Partnerships Manager, SAPERE, the national charity supporting Philosophy for Children (P4C)Table of ContentsForeword: Thomas Wartenberg Preface: Claire Katz AcknowledgementsIntroduction : Claire KatzI: Dispatches from Philosophy Summer CampsChapter 1: Philosophy for the Young, Curious, and HungryPamela R. Matthews“Chapter 2: “Without friends no one would choose to live”: Friendship, Phronesis, and Philosophy Summer Camp Desirae Embree and Claire Katz Chapter 3: Between and Among FriendsDaniel ConwayChapter 4: Waking to Wonder: The Wittgensteinian Ethos of Philosophizing with ChildrenDavid AndersonChapter 5: Underestimated No MoreNatalie FletcherChapter 6: Make Your Life a Work of Art: Growing-up with MOSHI philo-artistic camp in Paris and New-York CityCaroline MurgueChapter 7: Philosophy Meets Place: Creating and Environmental Philosophy Summer CampRika Tsuji and Benn JohnsonChapter 8: The Utah Lyceum: Cultivating “Reasonableness” in Southwest UtahKristopher G. Phillips and Gracia AllenChapter 9: Philosophy Camp and Self-ConfidenceAmelia KahnPart II: Campfire TalesChapter 10: Aggie School of AthensKenji BlumOlivia ConwayEvie ConwayJadyn DriverTonya DriverAmy EllisonAngus HeartsillLaura Hoeting and Griffin FordChapter 11: Utah LyceumAddi AchordSam CookErin Waldman Author Bios

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Book SynopsisGrowing up with Philosophy Camp joins the substantial body of literature that contravenes centuries of thinkers in the history of philosophy who stated emphatically that children either could not or should not engage in philosophical discourse. This book differs from the rest of the literature in that it reveals the extraordinary impact of philosophy camps for pre-college age students (as young as 6 years old through high school). Often only a week in duration, philosophy camp combines the intensity of both summer camp and philosophical dialogue, creating a powerful experience for young people who, contrary to cynical views of youth today, desire intellectual engagement. Through the chapters by the staff who facilitate discussions, a university dean who supported the program, and reflections from campers and parents, a recurring theme emerges: philosophy camps build authentic friendship, intellectual community, and an increased awareness of self-identity. Yet the chapters display rTrade ReviewIn this splendid collection of essays written by philosophy camps facilitators and campers – professors and high school students together- Claire Katz shows the tremendously positive impact that philosophy can have on youth. Engaging with philosophy enhances self-confidence and critical thinking, as well as responsibility, respect and solidarity. This book is compelling evidence that philosophy is relevant to everyday life and helps people young and old think, feel and connect. -- Annabel Herzog, Professor of Political Theory, University of HaifaSummer camp is, as a concept, under-theorized and under-appreciated. For many coming-of-age minors, summer camp serves as one of their first civic-associational experiences, a formative exercise in learning how to get along with strangers, away from local friends and family. But why should that experience be limited to hiking, tennis, or Python boot camp? Why not introduce tweens and teens to the pleasures of thinking, and awakening them to the joys of thoughtful discussion with each other? Claire Katz and the contributors to Growing Up With Philosophy Camp: How Thinking Develops Friendship, Community, and a Sense of Self explain the rationale and the on-the-ground success of the innovative philosophy summer camps they have organized. If only my own children would have had such an opportunity! -- John Seery, George Irving Thompson Memorial Professor of Government and Professor of PoliticsIf you have ever wondered about a philosophy camp, questioned its value, or considered hosting one at your institution, then these books are for you. With a robust introductory essay, and nine carefully focused chapters written by experienced practitioners from across the world and scintillating selections from campers and parents, Growing Up with Philosophy Camp offers a wealth of insights about why philosophy camps are a singularly transformative experience. In short, philosophy camps provide occasion pre-college students to engage in serious, open-ended discussions with their peers, exercise and improve their thinking, and participate in communal and creative problem-solving—as well as lots of good old-fashioned fun. Together, these readable essays provide a compelling argument for why pre-college students should have the opportunity to do philosophy. Moreover, they demonstrate the value of reawakening wonder in our young people and nourishing their natural inclination to make sense of the world. Philosophy Camps for Youth provides practical guidance on every aspect of hosting a philosophy camp, from management, training and marketing to curriculum and pedagogical practice. Just as philosophy camps inspire the allegiance of returning campers, these expertly edited books will inspire the loyalty of returning readers. -- Megan Jane Laverty, Associate Professor of Philosophy and Education, Teachers College, Columbia UniversityThis important book of essays demonstrates beyond any doubt that philosophy camps offer every bit as much as sports and art camps as the go-to place to send our children for enrichment. Indeed, the opportunities these camps provide to develop young hearts and minds through confronting life’s big questions and some of philosophy’s most well-known thinkers are unique. In this rich collection, facilitators, parents, and students testify to transformative experiences that enhance cognitive, emotional, and social capacities to live a better life. -- Cynthia Willett, Samuel Candler Dobbs professor of philosophy, Emory University; coauthor, "Uproarious: How Feminists and Other Comic Subversives Speak Truth"Democracy is currently at risk - do we have the skills to make it work? What are those skills? It is not unusual to find authors suggesting that humanities education is important for a successful democracy. But the model of humanities education that would accomplish this is, at best, obscure, and at worst, elitist. Growing Up with Philosophy Camp offers a model of doing philosophy in community and establishing friendships in a process of collective open-ended inquiry. This is a model that can form a basis for democratic citizenship where our different backgrounds and values do not stand between us, but enrich us. -- Sally Haslanger, Ford Professor of Philosophy and Women's and Gender Studies, Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyAristotle once suggested that there was a paradox at the core of learning philosophy: old folks could learn philosophy but didn't have enough of their lives left to practice it; kids had lots of time but little interest in learning. Katz has compiled significant evidence to the contrary. Not only can young adults learn philosophical lessons that transform and enrich their lives, but they will spend their precious summers doing it. Get the kids ready, give them the chance, and they will become philosophy campers. -- John Kaag, author, “Hiking with Nietzsche: On Becoming Who You Are”Philosophy, as described by the contributors to this book, is an increasingly rare variety of the rigorous, erotic, collective human search for meaning, as necessary for the very young as for the no-longer young. A hybrid variety, resulting from centuries of cross-cultural fertilization, it is today threatened by fundamentalist and capitalist ideologies and by the pitifully narrow vision of education that appears in their overlap. In this dreary cultural landscape, the camps described here are greenhouses where genuine philosophy—carefully nurtured by adults, teens, and children together—flourishes, and from where it is transplanted where it is most needed: the school, the home, and the street. -- Maughn Gregory, Professor of Educational Foundations, Philosophy for Children Program, Montclair UniversityThis book should change the way we think about the teaching and importance of philosophy in the 21st century. The evidence of the innovative summer philosophy camps run in the US and beyond demonstrates how philosophy, well taught, can promote the ability of young people in Middle and High School to ask and own their questions and to debate in productive and effective ways. It also shows that this process creates reflective and long-lasting friendships. As the campers, their parents, and the camp facilitators reveal in these essays, philosophy needs to play a greater role in American education and in our civic life. -- Emily Grosholz, Edwin Erle Sparks Professor of Philosophy, African American Studies and English; Member, Center for Fundamental Theory / Institute of Gravitation and the Cosmos. The Pennsylvania State UniversityThis breathtaking tour de force synthesizes the voices of ancient and contemporary Philosophers, academics, students and their families following immersive experiences of Philosophy Camps underpinned with the Philosophy with Children pedagogy developed by Ann-Margaret Sharp and Matthew Lipman. These reflections offer a profound meditation on the lived experience of authentic human connection through philosophical dialogue. Inspirational and informative, Growing Up With Philosophy Camp will prove invaluable to anyone interested in exploring this transformational approach to teaching philosophy. -- Marelle Rice, director, The Thinker's Midwife; director, Philosophy IrelandGrowing Up with Philosophy Camp describes the unique benefits of youth philosophy camps, from the perspectives of camp organizers and leaders, campers, and parents. Thought-provoking and inspiring, the book provides a window into the ways in which philosophy camp can support young people’s intellectual, emotional, creative, ethical, and social growth, and the potential transformative effects on everyone, adults and youth, who participates in this experience. -- Jana Mohr Lone, director of the Northwest Center for Philosophy for ChildrenPhilosophy camps are an impactful, and, as this book reveals, transformative approach to introducing children to philosophy. With chapters from experienced philosophy camp directors and facilitators as well as camper and parent reflections, this text is essential reading for anyone interested in philosophy for children and the growing philosophy camp movement. -- Michael D. Burroughs, President, PLATO, Founding Editor, Precollege Philosophy and Public Practice; Director, Kegley Institute of Ethics; Assistant Professor of Philosophy, CSU BakersfieldChildhood is a time for naive questions, and so is the study of philosophy. Growing Up with Philosophy Camp wonderfully shows how the two naturally go together. -- Alex Byrne, Department Head and Professor, Linguistics and Philosophy, MITAfter I, along with my nine-year old, attended a Philosophy for Children workshop at the Western Political Science Association, I was convinced of the program’s significance. In fact, I now apply many of these strategies in my own efforts to create a “community of inquiry” in my undergraduate courses. Growing Up With Philosophy Camp not only explores the philosophical and pedagogical foundations of pre-college philosophy programs, it also shows these programs work, preparing children to be successful students and, more importantly, engaged democratic citizens. This remarkable book is essential reading for educators, parents, and anyone interested in providing our children with the critical tools necessary for “friendship, community, and a sense of self” in a complex and uncertain world. -- George V. Davis, Associate Professor, Political Science, Marshall UniversityA thoughtful and interesting portrayal of what is distinctive and special about philosophy camps, this book shows how they engage with young people in more profound and creative ways than most schools are able to do. The authors’ experiences and reflections shed a warm and refreshing light on our understanding of philosophy that emphasizes the value of community and friendship. Many examples from campers, facilitators and parents are moving in revealing the positive impact that philosophy camps have had on the whole family and relationships at home. -- Lizzy Lewis, Partnerships Manager, SAPERE, the national charity supporting Philosophy for Children (P4C)Table of ContentsForeword: Thomas Wartenberg Preface: Claire Katz AcknowledgementsIntroduction : Claire KatzI: Dispatches from Philosophy Summer CampsChapter 1: Philosophy for the Young, Curious, and HungryPamela R. Matthews“Chapter 2: “Without friends no one would choose to live”: Friendship, Phronesis, and Philosophy Summer Camp Desirae Embree and Claire Katz Chapter 3: Between and Among FriendsDaniel ConwayChapter 4: Waking to Wonder: The Wittgensteinian Ethos of Philosophizing with ChildrenDavid AndersonChapter 5: Underestimated No MoreNatalie FletcherChapter 6: Make Your Life a Work of Art: Growing-up with MOSHI philo-artistic camp in Paris and New-York CityCaroline MurgueChapter 7: Philosophy Meets Place: Creating and Environmental Philosophy Summer CampRika Tsuji and Benn JohnsonChapter 8: The Utah Lyceum: Cultivating “Reasonableness” in Southwest UtahKristopher G. Phillips and Gracia AllenChapter 9: Philosophy Camp and Self-ConfidenceAmelia KahnPart II: Campfire TalesChapter 10: Aggie School of AthensKenji BlumOlivia ConwayEvie ConwayJadyn DriverTonya DriverAmy EllisonAngus HeartsillLaura Hoeting and Griffin FordChapter 11: Utah LyceumAddi AchordSam CookErin Waldman Author Bios

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Book SynopsisArtificial Intelligence, Mixed Reality, and the Redefinition of the Classroom highlights new interpretations, understandings, and emerging technologies that radically remake traditional educational models, structures, and systems, and upend how faculty teach, and students learn. It explore new educational economic models that no longer depend on buildings to educate, and describes the growing applications of artificial intelligence, machine-learning algorithms in teaching and learning. This book also defines new approaches to personalize learning, including the use of artificial cognitive learning maps that mimic a learners' biological learning map, that can also be applied to create a learner's secure silhouette useful for truly personalized academic intervention recommendations. The emerging and maturing technological advances that allow these transformational opportunities may also upend the traditional educational institution: the familiar spaces, walls, and buildings, but also theTrade ReviewThis book is indeed radical and comes at an inflection point when educators, administrators, and learning designers are struggling to make sense of the empowering potential of technology in transforming our teaching and learning practices to meet the needs of the changing student demographic and skillset. Scott Martin intelligently and boldly provides a peak into the future of higher education using a principled and actionable AI framework inspiring us to seriously consider changing our outdated teaching models. -- Nada Dabbagh, Professor and Director of Learning Technologies, George Mason UniversityThis fascinating book by one of the leaders in game-based learning envisions the classroom of the future as an intersection of learners, learning, artificial intelligence, and virtual reality. It challenges the reader to think about the technology-enabled disruption at the doorstep of education and invites us to proactively transform the disruption into opportunities for enhancing learning. This book deserves serious attention. -- Ashok K. Goel, Professor, School of Interactive Computing, Georgia Institute of Technology; Editor, AAAI AI Magazine; Co-Chair, CogSci 2019Table of ContentsList of Figures Introduction Chapter 1: Education Chapter 2: Innovation (Online Learning) Christopher Jennings Chapter 3: Big Data Chapter 4: Invention Chapter 5: Invention II Conclusion Bibliography About the Author About the Contributor

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Book SynopsisArtificial Intelligence, Mixed Reality, and the Redefinition of the Classroom highlights new interpretations, understandings, and emerging technologies that radically remake traditional educational models, structures, and systems, and upend how faculty teach, and students learn. It explore new educational economic models that no longer depend on buildings to educate, and describes the growing applications of artificial intelligence, machine-learning algorithms in teaching and learning. This book also defines new approaches to personalize learning, including the use of artificial cognitive learning maps that mimic a learners' biological learning map, that can also be applied to create a learner's secure silhouette useful for truly personalized academic intervention recommendations. The emerging and maturing technological advances that allow these transformational opportunities may also upend the traditional educational institution: the familiar spaces, walls, and buildings, but also theTrade ReviewThis book is indeed radical and comes at an inflection point when educators, administrators, and learning designers are struggling to make sense of the empowering potential of technology in transforming our teaching and learning practices to meet the needs of the changing student demographic and skillset. Scott Martin intelligently and boldly provides a peak into the future of higher education using a principled and actionable AI framework inspiring us to seriously consider changing our outdated teaching models. -- Nada Dabbagh, Professor and Director of Learning Technologies, George Mason UniversityThis fascinating book by one of the leaders in game-based learning envisions the classroom of the future as an intersection of learners, learning, artificial intelligence, and virtual reality. It challenges the reader to think about the technology-enabled disruption at the doorstep of education and invites us to proactively transform the disruption into opportunities for enhancing learning. This book deserves serious attention. -- Ashok K. Goel, Professor, School of Interactive Computing, Georgia Institute of Technology; Editor, AAAI AI Magazine; Co-Chair, CogSci 2019Table of ContentsList of Figures Introduction Chapter 1: Education Chapter 2: Innovation (Online Learning) Christopher Jennings Chapter 3: Big Data Chapter 4: Invention Chapter 5: Invention II Conclusion Bibliography About the Author About the Contributor

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Book SynopsisPursuing a teaching career is noble, rewarding, and challenging. Yet, few books focus on the process of becoming an educator, with the majority of available education resources geared towards in-service teachers, especially first-year teachers. This book, Pathway to Teaching, uses a holistic approach to demystify the journey of becoming an educator. This resourceful guide provides valuable and straightforward strategies to the aspiring teachers at each crucial stage: teacher training, student teaching, and finding a job. Themes of differentiation, networking, and organization are interwoven throughout the book and aim to better prepare the soon-to-be teacher at each step. The strategies address a range of pressing topics for teacher candidates that include preparing for the edTPA a nationwide teacher assessment to providing classroom management techniques during student teaching to ideas on self-care. Pathway to Teaching also supports the aspiring teachers in finding their dream teacTable of ContentsTable of Contents Foreword Preface Acknowledgements Introduction Section 1: Leverage Your Teacher Education Training Chapter 1. Understanding the Teaching Process Building a Foundation for Knowledge Applying Your Knowledge Reflection on Continual Improvement Chapter 2. Save and Organize Information with Purpose Create Your Organization Structure Add Helpful Notes Chapter 3. Organize Your Reading Chapter 4. Journal to Reflect and Organize Your Thoughts Sample Guiding Questions Sample Journal Entry Chapter 5. Organize for the edTPA Prepare with the End in Mind Chapter 6. Prioritize Self-Care Ditch Perfectionism Set Boundaries Form Healthy Habits Continue You Suggested Reading Chapter 7. A Novice Teacher’s Perspective Chapter 8. Differentiate Yourself Through Education Chapter 9. Become An Expert on a Particular Concept Chapter 10. Address your Growth Areas Examples in How to Become More Competent in your Subject Matter Examples to Develop a Stronger Pedagogy Chapter 11. Benefit from Networking in Schools Chapter 12. Get Facetime with Administrators Chapter 13. Network Within Your Teacher Education Program Chapter 14. Consider Everyone Part of Your Network Chapter 15. Organize Your Contacts Section 2: Excel at Student Teaching Chapter 16. Develop Your Philosophy and Core Values What is an Education Philosophy Statement? Writing an Education Philosophy Statement Example 1 of an Education Philosophy Statement Example 2 of an Education Philosophy Statement Chapter 17. Proclaim Your Student Teaching Goals How to Set Effective Goals Proclaim Your Goals Evaluate Your Effectiveness Celebrate Your Growth Chapter 18. Research the Community, School, and Students Learn about the Students and School Develop Community Awareness Chapter 19. Keep Abreast of Your Field Resources and Organizations Chapter 20. Communicate Early with Your Cooperating Teacher Chapter 21. Working with Your Cooperating Teacher Chapter 22. A Cooperating Teacher’s Perspective Chapter 23. Tackling the edTPA Know Your Students Preparing for Videotaping Chapter 24. University Field Supervisor Perspective Chapter 25. Get Your Feet Wet Early On Chapter 26. Learn Names Quickly Master Pronunciations Embrace the Seating Chart Practice Saying Names Early and Often Chapter 27. Be Outstanding Inside and Outside of the Classroom Chapter 28. Use Classroom Management to Your Advantage Use Bell Work Try a Question and Concern Box Managing the Paperwork Maximize Class Time Be Consistent Develop Withitness Master the Day-to-Day Tasks Chapter 29. Know Yourself When It Comes to Discipline Reflect on Your Discipline Philosophy Know the School Rules, Policies, and Procedures Suggested Reading Chapter 30. Think Customer Service Competence Responsiveness Friendliness Listening Proactiveness Chapter 31. Build Your Touchstone Identify Areas of Improvement Establish a Baseline Illustrative Example Build your Touchstone Communicating your Touchstone Chapter 32. How to Approach the edTPA Writing Chapter 33. Thank Your Network Section 3: Find Your Ideal Teacher Job Chapter 34. Continue to Shine After Student Teaching Seek Professional Development Substitute Teach or Coach Volunteer Chapter 35. Craft an Effective Resume Personal Contact Information Objective Education and Certification Experience Additional Resume Advice Chapter 36. A Career Counselor’s Perspective Chapter 37. Ask (The Right Person) For Help on Your Resume Chapter 38. Learn from Your Work Experience Chapter 39. Be Aware of the Hiring Timeframe March and April May and June July August and early September Chapter 40. Jumpstart your Job Search Chapter 41. Attend Education Career Fairs and District Open Houses Chapter 42. Draw From Your Network Chapter 43. Track Your Job Search Chapter 44. Leverage Your Research Chapter 45. Framing your Response to Interview Questions Understand the Question (Step 1) State your Philosophy/Values (Step 2) Describe Pedagogical Approaches (Step 3) Explain the Benefits (Step 4) Provide a Real-life Example (Step 5) Chapter 46. Practice Interview Questions Suggested website Chapter 47. Control the Interview Process Slow Down Prepare for Phone Interviews Make the Ask Ask a Thoughtful Question Follow-up Immediately Handling the Phone Call Chapter 48. Go for a Trial Run Chapter 49. Dress to Impress Accessories, Piercings, and Tattoos Chapter 50. Hit a Homerun Chapter 51. A Principal’s Perspective Appendix About the Author

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Book SynopsisPursuing a teaching career is noble, rewarding, and challenging. Yet, few books focus on the process of becoming an educator, with the majority of available education resources geared towards in-service teachers, especially first-year teachers. This book, Pathway to Teaching, uses a holistic approach to demystify the journey of becoming an educator. This resourceful guide provides valuable and straightforward strategies to the aspiring teachers at each crucial stage: teacher training, student teaching, and finding a job. Themes of differentiation, networking, and organization are interwoven throughout the book and aim to better prepare the soon-to-be teacher at each step. The strategies address a range of pressing topics for teacher candidates that include preparing for the edTPA a nationwide teacher assessment to providing classroom management techniques during student teaching to ideas on self-care. Pathway to Teaching also supports the aspiring teachers in finding their dream teacTable of ContentsTable of Contents Foreword Preface Acknowledgements Introduction Section 1: Leverage Your Teacher Education Training Chapter 1. Understanding the Teaching Process Building a Foundation for Knowledge Applying Your Knowledge Reflection on Continual Improvement Chapter 2. Save and Organize Information with Purpose Create Your Organization Structure Add Helpful Notes Chapter 3. Organize Your Reading Chapter 4. Journal to Reflect and Organize Your Thoughts Sample Guiding Questions Sample Journal Entry Chapter 5. Organize for the edTPA Prepare with the End in Mind Chapter 6. Prioritize Self-Care Ditch Perfectionism Set Boundaries Form Healthy Habits Continue You Suggested Reading Chapter 7. A Novice Teacher’s Perspective Chapter 8. Differentiate Yourself Through Education Chapter 9. Become An Expert on a Particular Concept Chapter 10. Address your Growth Areas Examples in How to Become More Competent in your Subject Matter Examples to Develop a Stronger Pedagogy Chapter 11. Benefit from Networking in Schools Chapter 12. Get Facetime with Administrators Chapter 13. Network Within Your Teacher Education Program Chapter 14. Consider Everyone Part of Your Network Chapter 15. Organize Your Contacts Section 2: Excel at Student Teaching Chapter 16. Develop Your Philosophy and Core Values What is an Education Philosophy Statement? Writing an Education Philosophy Statement Example 1 of an Education Philosophy Statement Example 2 of an Education Philosophy Statement Chapter 17. Proclaim Your Student Teaching Goals How to Set Effective Goals Proclaim Your Goals Evaluate Your Effectiveness Celebrate Your Growth Chapter 18. Research the Community, School, and Students Learn about the Students and School Develop Community Awareness Chapter 19. Keep Abreast of Your Field Resources and Organizations Chapter 20. Communicate Early with Your Cooperating Teacher Chapter 21. Working with Your Cooperating Teacher Chapter 22. A Cooperating Teacher’s Perspective Chapter 23. Tackling the edTPA Know Your Students Preparing for Videotaping Chapter 24. University Field Supervisor Perspective Chapter 25. Get Your Feet Wet Early On Chapter 26. Learn Names Quickly Master Pronunciations Embrace the Seating Chart Practice Saying Names Early and Often Chapter 27. Be Outstanding Inside and Outside of the Classroom Chapter 28. Use Classroom Management to Your Advantage Use Bell Work Try a Question and Concern Box Managing the Paperwork Maximize Class Time Be Consistent Develop Withitness Master the Day-to-Day Tasks Chapter 29. Know Yourself When It Comes to Discipline Reflect on Your Discipline Philosophy Know the School Rules, Policies, and Procedures Suggested Reading Chapter 30. Think Customer Service Competence Responsiveness Friendliness Listening Proactiveness Chapter 31. Build Your Touchstone Identify Areas of Improvement Establish a Baseline Illustrative Example Build your Touchstone Communicating your Touchstone Chapter 32. How to Approach the edTPA Writing Chapter 33. Thank Your Network Section 3: Find Your Ideal Teacher Job Chapter 34. Continue to Shine After Student Teaching Seek Professional Development Substitute Teach or Coach Volunteer Chapter 35. Craft an Effective Resume Personal Contact Information Objective Education and Certification Experience Additional Resume Advice Chapter 36. A Career Counselor’s Perspective Chapter 37. Ask (The Right Person) For Help on Your Resume Chapter 38. Learn from Your Work Experience Chapter 39. Be Aware of the Hiring Timeframe March and April May and June July August and early September Chapter 40. Jumpstart your Job Search Chapter 41. Attend Education Career Fairs and District Open Houses Chapter 42. Draw From Your Network Chapter 43. Track Your Job Search Chapter 44. Leverage Your Research Chapter 45. Framing your Response to Interview Questions Understand the Question (Step 1) State your Philosophy/Values (Step 2) Describe Pedagogical Approaches (Step 3) Explain the Benefits (Step 4) Provide a Real-life Example (Step 5) Chapter 46. Practice Interview Questions Suggested website Chapter 47. Control the Interview Process Slow Down Prepare for Phone Interviews Make the Ask Ask a Thoughtful Question Follow-up Immediately Handling the Phone Call Chapter 48. Go for a Trial Run Chapter 49. Dress to Impress Accessories, Piercings, and Tattoos Chapter 50. Hit a Homerun Chapter 51. A Principal’s Perspective Appendix About the Author

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Book SynopsisThis book is a follow up to Board Game Education. However, unlike many of the board games discussed in Board Game Education, this book identifies and discusses five board games that each develop critical educational skills in reasoning, problem-solving, language arts, mathematics, social sciences and communication. They are the super foods of the board game world. More Board Game Education answers the questions unlikely to ever be ask: If I were stranded on a desert island with only five board games and I wanted to educate my kids, what board games would I choose. Each board game discussed in this book is a complete educational tool that will develop all of the critical educational skills that research has shown to not only be crucial to educational success, but also success in the workplace. As a bonus, these game are great to play, easy to learn and, most importantly, affordable to own for any family or teacher. (This is a very important point to remember; this is not a list ofTable of ContentsPreface Chapter 1- The Hidden Secret to Academic Success: Board Games! “Your Ticket to Ride all the Way to Harvard” Problem Solving, Strategic Thinking and Reasoning Skills Math Skills Language Arts Skills Economics, Geography and Sociology Skills Social and Communication Skills Conclusion Chapter 2- CONNECT 4: “Pretty Sneaky Sis!” A Brief History and Description of CONNECT 4 Skills Developed Variations Observations on CONNECT 4 Chapter 3- Ticket To Ride: All Aboard – For Learning A Brief History and Description of Ticket to Ride Skills Developed Variations Observations on Ticket to Ride Chapter 4- Othello: T’is neither here nor there A Brief History and Description of Othello Skills Developed Variations Observations on Othello Chapter 5- Settlers of Catan: Monopoly for Millennials A Brief History and Description of Settlers of Catan Skills Developed Variations Observations on Settlers of Catan Chapter 6- Backgammon: An Ancient Game with A Modern Twist A Brief History and Description of Backgammon Skills Developed Variations Observation on Backgammon Chapter 7- Conclusion: Time to Play References and Resources About the Author 

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Book SynopsisThe Bound-for-Career Guidebook views career identification, selection, entry, and progression as part of a larger developmental processthe career development process. In this guidebook for adolescents and young adults, the author outlines the experiences and tasks that will facilitate the career development process and lead to satisfaction and success. The reader will be exposed to the various educational and career transitions they must consider on the path to the workplace and specific guidance is offered on how to maximize entry and advancement. Along the career exploration, decision-making, and preparation path, the author answers frequently asked questions and offers an array of facts and myths that need to be considered. Empowered individuals are better able to guide themselves through their personal career journey. The reader's command of the information in the Bound-for-Career Guidebook wilTable of ContentsList of Student ExercisesCareer Facts and MythsIntroduction1.Career Success: Actions that Lead to Achievement and Satisfaction2.Understanding the Career Development Process3.The Importance of Career Exploration, Decision Making, and Goal Setting4.Learning About Yourself: Implications for Your Future Career5.The Dynamics of the American Workplace: Past, Present, and Future6.Strategies for Learning About the World of Work7.Mounting a Career Search: Asking the Right Questions8.Sources of Information About Careers9.Relating Education to Career Development10.Educational Paths to Careers11.Identifying Job Opportunities12.Making Initial Contact13.First Steps in the Job Seeking Process14.Strategies for Successful Career and Job Interviews15.Career Growth, Mobility and Maintenance16.Factors Influencing Career Success17.Counselors as Career Development Allies18.Parents, People, and the Career Development Process19.Some Closing Thoughts About ExpectationsAppendix: Career and Educational Information SourcesAbout the Author

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Book SynopsisOn these pages is a call to action for teachers who have been shackled by the self-serving motives of agenda driven politicians. Here we present a new innovative process designed to prepare children to be productive members of their community. Students are empowered to take charge of their educational lives where thinking is valued above obedience, and their parents are respected as full partners in the process. The greatest challenge to educators in this decade is to prepare children to rise above the confirmation bias and embrace critical thinking. In this day of continuous propaganda from many directions, everything requires in depth thinking, research and processing. Change won't come from the top! The time has come to go underground to subvert the system from the bottom up. We infuse creative ideas while providing a pattern for systemic change that empowers teachers allowing them to take back their profession. Teachers are the saviors who are in the position to expand children'Trade ReviewCap Lee does more than challenge teachers to “get some guts.” He devises a “secret curriculum” and a “clandestine system” for beating back “Agenda Driven Politicians” and empowering the “Agenda of Children”. -- John Thompson, historian, retired teacherWho has the guts to stand up? Who has the map to navigate bureaucracy and politics of the day? Who had the fortitude to withstand the misconceptions in and about public-school education? Who had the insight to construct- to reconfigure a failed system one school at a time? A cadre of educators led by Eldon "Cap" Lee. This book, based on the Milwaukee Village School, is at it’s core of understanding that students learn best by doing. Students demonstrate learning in a portfolio that is developed over time and with them. -- LaShawn Roscoe Scott, teacher, Park Forest IL, Former teacher Milwaukee Village SchoolEldon "Cap" Lee has addressed educational reform as a process that requires all of us to understand that parents, students, teachers, communities are the change makers. Teaching critical thinking produces learners who will creatively solve problems. Allowing students to challenge themselves and question everything is the most natural learning experience when not stagnated by old methodologies. -- Catherine Spivey, MEd, former teacher, Milwaukee Village SchoolAfter reading this work, I have been applying it in my pedagogical labor here, in Barranquilla, Colombia. I have observed that the results are excellent. The children don't have to be qualified with quantitative methods of the traditionalist education, because some children are slow, others fast and others are rebels. I believe that this book is based on the understanding of the human being and constitutes a didactic means that renovates pedagogical thinking. -- Seno Luz Estela Narvaez, CEO PROSEFAM Foundation and School, Barranquilla ColombiaMusic is a way to experience and express life in all its many facets. As a songwriter and musician, I feel privileged and gratified to be able to bring joy into people’s lives with my work. I can make them laugh, I can make them cry and sometimes, I can make them think. This book integrates the Arts, essential to learning. -- Cal Adams Singer, songwriter, Pampano Beach FLThis book evokes a feeling of HOPE, the kind that exhausted teachers need when they feel their efforts are sending them downstream. -- Ranjit Singh, teacher, Wisconsin Technical High SchoolTable of ContentsForeword Preface Acknowledgements 1: What Have We Done to Our Children 2: Don’t Believe Anything You Hear and Half of What You See 3: Sneaking and Conniving 4: Infiltrating the Curriculum 5: Developing Character in a Dangerous World 6: A Force to be Reckoned With 7: Subverting the System 8: Replacing Fake Accountability Bibliography Index About the Author

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Book SynopsisReimagining the Educated Mind presents Student Choice Curriculum, a descriptive argument for a major change in high school education. This is a system where students select topics/subjects of interest and then, in negotiation with teachers, design the curriculum and assessment strategies they will follow. Four hypothetical students serve as models; thus, the reader sees both the overall structure of Student Choice Curriculum and the day-to-day educational practices within schools that might use it. Student Choice Curriculum will help students learn how to learn and how to situate that learning in the real world, something current educational paradigms do not accomplish.Trade ReviewAt a time when education is being debated in economic and political terms, Graffam’s substantive proposal for a student choice curriculum is refreshing and challenging. His well-written, grounded, and thoughtful work deserves the serious attention of educators and education policymakers. By challenging the philosophy and structure of the “top-loaded” curricula, he reminds us that “…schools ought to be places where students learn … (how) to investigate and imagine different methods and outcomes for their world.” -- James Paul, Professor Emeritus, author of Introduction to Philosophies of Research and Criticism in Education and the Social SciencesIn this lively, provocative volume, Ben Graffam asks, “What would happen to education if we allowed students to choose, not only the subjects they studied, but also the way they were taught and evaluated?” Guiding us step by step through several choice-based learning scenarios, Graffam envisions a learner-centered, community-connected curriculum where students pursue their interests, design their studies, and share their progress with teachers, peers, and authentic audiences beyond school. Once student choice is freely at play, everything else changes, including the schedule, teacher and student roles, the relationship to the community, the configuration of learning spaces, and processes of assessment. Students emerge as self-directed learners, and teachers function as guides who regard their own disciplines, not as bodies of content to transmit, but as powerful lenses for understanding the world. The book offers a valuable resource for educators who wish to take concrete steps to put student voice and choice at the center of their practice. -- Rob Riordan, President Emeritus, High Tech High Graduate School of EducationGraffam's book reminds us that powerful and authentic learning is always contextually-based. As an arts educator, I am particularly interested in how the Student Choice Curriculum fosters the problem-solving skills that the art-making process promotes. His notion of "choosing to learn" will resonate with many educators who've grown frustrated with a top-down/standardized-sanitized approach to public education. -- Daryl Ward, Principal, Harrison School for the Arts, Lakeland, FLIn this important book, Ben Graffam reanimates the legacy of John Dewey’s Lab School by crafting pedagogy as the purposeful extension and elaboration of student interest. Beginning with the kernel of a child’s interest, often not fully formed or refined, Graffam’s teaching provides the child the necessary guidance, support, and activities to grow outward into the community in order to contribute to a democratic society. In an era of stale educational accountability that too frequently forgets the child and standardizes the complex social art of teaching, Graffam’s book brings us wonderfully and wisely back to why we became educators in the first place. -- Scot Danforth, Professor of Education, Chapman UniversityBen Graffam’s Reimagining the Educated Mind reads less like a jargon filled prescription on education and more like a chat with a friend over coffee. Through his conversational tone, hypothetical student-teacher conversations, and exploration into what the modern education system could be, Graffam invites readers to explore how their own teaching would be impacted by giving students the ability to choose their own learning pathways. Instead of presenting readers with a cure all for the ills of the modern education system, Graffam begins with the simple question: What if we let students choose how they learn? This book is a must read for any teacher struggling to make learning interesting for their students. -- Nicholas Johnston, M.A., English Teacher -Haines City High School, FLTable of ContentsForeword Chris Unger Preface Acknowledgements Introduction Chapter One – Learning with a Purpose Chapter Two -- Linking Academics with Interest Chapter Three – Student Choice within the Curriculum Chapter Four – Putting the Program into Practice Chapter Five – The Learning Environments Chapter Six – Education is Democratic Selected Bibliography About the Author

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Book SynopsisReimagining the Educated Mind presents Student Choice Curriculum, a descriptive argument for a major change in high school education. This is a system where students select topics/subjects of interest and then, in negotiation with teachers, design the curriculum and assessment strategies they will follow. Four hypothetical students serve as models; thus, the reader sees both the overall structure of Student Choice Curriculum and the day-to-day educational practices within schools that might use it. Student Choice Curriculum will help students learn how to learn and how to situate that learning in the real world, something current educational paradigms do not accomplish.Trade ReviewAt a time when education is being debated in economic and political terms, Graffam’s substantive proposal for a student choice curriculum is refreshing and challenging. His well-written, grounded, and thoughtful work deserves the serious attention of educators and education policymakers. By challenging the philosophy and structure of the “top-loaded” curricula, he reminds us that “…schools ought to be places where students learn … (how) to investigate and imagine different methods and outcomes for their world.” -- James Paul, Professor Emeritus, author of Introduction to Philosophies of Research and Criticism in Education and the Social SciencesIn this lively, provocative volume, Ben Graffam asks, “What would happen to education if we allowed students to choose, not only the subjects they studied, but also the way they were taught and evaluated?” Guiding us step by step through several choice-based learning scenarios, Graffam envisions a learner-centered, community-connected curriculum where students pursue their interests, design their studies, and share their progress with teachers, peers, and authentic audiences beyond school. Once student choice is freely at play, everything else changes, including the schedule, teacher and student roles, the relationship to the community, the configuration of learning spaces, and processes of assessment. Students emerge as self-directed learners, and teachers function as guides who regard their own disciplines, not as bodies of content to transmit, but as powerful lenses for understanding the world. The book offers a valuable resource for educators who wish to take concrete steps to put student voice and choice at the center of their practice. -- Rob Riordan, President Emeritus, High Tech High Graduate School of EducationGraffam's book reminds us that powerful and authentic learning is always contextually-based. As an arts educator, I am particularly interested in how the Student Choice Curriculum fosters the problem-solving skills that the art-making process promotes. His notion of "choosing to learn" will resonate with many educators who've grown frustrated with a top-down/standardized-sanitized approach to public education. -- Daryl Ward, Principal, Harrison School for the Arts, Lakeland, FLIn this important book, Ben Graffam reanimates the legacy of John Dewey’s Lab School by crafting pedagogy as the purposeful extension and elaboration of student interest. Beginning with the kernel of a child’s interest, often not fully formed or refined, Graffam’s teaching provides the child the necessary guidance, support, and activities to grow outward into the community in order to contribute to a democratic society. In an era of stale educational accountability that too frequently forgets the child and standardizes the complex social art of teaching, Graffam’s book brings us wonderfully and wisely back to why we became educators in the first place. -- Scot Danforth, Professor of Education, Chapman UniversityBen Graffam’s Reimagining the Educated Mind reads less like a jargon filled prescription on education and more like a chat with a friend over coffee. Through his conversational tone, hypothetical student-teacher conversations, and exploration into what the modern education system could be, Graffam invites readers to explore how their own teaching would be impacted by giving students the ability to choose their own learning pathways. Instead of presenting readers with a cure all for the ills of the modern education system, Graffam begins with the simple question: What if we let students choose how they learn? This book is a must read for any teacher struggling to make learning interesting for their students. -- Nicholas Johnston, M.A., English Teacher -Haines City High School, FLTable of ContentsForeword Chris Unger Preface Acknowledgements Introduction Chapter One – Learning with a Purpose Chapter Two -- Linking Academics with Interest Chapter Three – Student Choice within the Curriculum Chapter Four – Putting the Program into Practice Chapter Five – The Learning Environments Chapter Six – Education is Democratic Selected Bibliography About the Author

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Book SynopsisThis book is intended to introduce concepts about music composition to band and orchestra students of all ages and engage them in actual creative composing projects. The National Core Arts Standards (2014) emphasize that students should be engaged in the creative practices of imagination, investigation, construction, and reflection in multiple contexts. These lesson plans attempt to accomplish that challenge in the context of large group band and orchestra ensemble classes using composition activities and projects.Table of ContentsForeword Introduction: How to use this book Chapter 1: Soundscapes Teacher Guide: Lesson 1. Soundscapes Student Worksheet: Lesson 1. Soundscapes Teacher Guide: Lesson 1. Soundscapes: Supplemental Materials Chapter 2: Timbre Teacher Guide: Lesson 2. Timbre Student Worksheet: Lesson 2. Timbre Teacher Guide: Lesson 2. Timbre: Supplementary Materials Chapter 3: Rhythm Teacher Guide: Lesson 3. Rhythm Student Worksheet: Lesson 3. Rhythm Student Worksheet: Lesson 3. Rhythm Teacher Guide: Lesson 3. Rhythm: Supplementary Materials Student Test 1. Lessons 1-3: Soundscapes, Timbre, Rhythm Teacher Answer Key: Student Test 1. Lessons 1-3 Chapter 4: Melody Teacher Guide: Lesson 4. Melody Student Worksheet: Lesson 4. Melody (Orchestra Version) Student Worksheet: Lesson 4. Melody (Band Version) Teacher Guide: Lesson 4. Melody: Supplementary Materials Chapter 5: Ostinato Teacher Guide: Lesson 5. Ostinato Student Work Sheet: Lesson 5. Ostinato Teacher Guide: Lesson 5: Ostinato: Supplemental Materials Chapter 6: Textures Teacher Guide: Lesson 6. Texture Student Worksheet: Lesson 6. Texture Teacher Guide: Lesson 6. Texture: Supplemental Materials Test 2. Lesson 4-6: Melody, Ostinato, Texture TEACHER ANSWER KEY Test 2. Lesson 4-6: Ostinato, Texture, and Melody Chapter 7: Words into Music Teacher Guide: Lesson 7. Text based composing Student Worksheet: Lesson 7. Text based composing Teacher Guide: Lesson 7: Text based composing: Supplemental Materials Chapter 8: Harmony Teacher Guide: Lesson 8. Harmony Student Guide: Lesson 8. Harmony – Orchestra Version Student Guide: Lesson 8. Harmony – Band Version Teacher Guide: Lesson 8. Harmony: Supplemental Materials Chapter 9: Form Teacher Guide: Lesson 9. Form Student Guide: Lesson 9. Form Teacher Guide: Lesson 9. Form: Supplemental Materials Chapter 10: Final Composition Teacher Guide: Lesson 10. Final Composition Student Work Sheet: Lesson 10. Final Composition Project Teacher Guide: Lesson 10 Final Composition Supplemental Materials Test 3. Lessons 7-10 Melody, Harmony, Form Teacher Answer Key Test 3. Lessons 7-10 Appendix 1 Dynamics and Articulation Charts Appendix 2 Glossary Appendix 3 Sample Evaluation Form for Student Compositions Appendix 4: Creative Warmups for band Appendix 5: Recommended Resources

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Book SynopsisThis book is intended to introduce concepts about music composition to band and orchestra students of all ages.Table of ContentsForeword Introduction: How to use this book Chapter 1: Soundscapes Teacher Guide: Lesson 1. Soundscapes Student Worksheet: Lesson 1. Soundscapes Teacher Guide: Lesson 1. Soundscapes: Supplemental Materials Chapter 2: Timbre Teacher Guide: Lesson 2. Timbre Student Worksheet: Lesson 2. Timbre Teacher Guide: Lesson 2. Timbre: Supplementary Materials Chapter 3: Rhythm Teacher Guide: Lesson 3. Rhythm Student Worksheet: Lesson 3. Rhythm Student Worksheet: Lesson 3. Rhythm Teacher Guide: Lesson 3. Rhythm: Supplementary Materials Student Test 1. Lessons 1-3: Soundscapes, Timbre, Rhythm Teacher Answer Key: Student Test 1. Lessons 1-3 Chapter 4: Melody Teacher Guide: Lesson 4. Melody Student Worksheet: Lesson 4. Melody (Orchestra Version) Student Worksheet: Lesson 4. Melody (Band Version) Teacher Guide: Lesson 4. Melody: Supplementary Materials Chapter 5: Ostinato Teacher Guide: Lesson 5. Ostinato Student Work Sheet: Lesson 5. Ostinato Teacher Guide: Lesson 5: Ostinato: Supplemental Materials Chapter 6: Textures Teacher Guide: Lesson 6. Texture Student Worksheet: Lesson 6. Texture Teacher Guide: Lesson 6. Texture: Supplemental Materials Test 2. Lesson 4-6: Melody, Ostinato, Texture TEACHER ANSWER KEY Test 2. Lesson 4-6: Ostinato, Texture, and Melody Chapter 7: Words into Music Teacher Guide: Lesson 7. Text based composing Student Worksheet: Lesson 7. Text based composing Teacher Guide: Lesson 7: Text based composing: Supplemental Materials Chapter 8: Harmony Teacher Guide: Lesson 8. Harmony Student Guide: Lesson 8. Harmony – Orchestra Version Student Guide: Lesson 8. Harmony – Band Version Teacher Guide: Lesson 8. Harmony: Supplemental Materials Chapter 9: Form Teacher Guide: Lesson 9. Form Student Guide: Lesson 9. Form Teacher Guide: Lesson 9. Form: Supplemental Materials Chapter 10: Final Composition Teacher Guide: Lesson 10. Final Composition Student Work Sheet: Lesson 10. Final Composition Project Teacher Guide: Lesson 10 Final Composition Supplemental Materials Test 3. Lessons 7-10 Melody, Harmony, Form Teacher Answer Key Test 3. Lessons 7-10 Appendix 1 Dynamics and Articulation Charts Appendix 2 Glossary Appendix 3 Sample Evaluation Form for Student Compositions Appendix 4: Creative Warmups for band Appendix 5: Recommended Resources

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Book SynopsisCharles Sullivan, one of the winningest coaches in the history of the sport of volleyball, is a physical education teacher and sports psychology professor at Springfield College by trade. His story provides the reader with a unique approach to winning in sports and success in life, employing a knowledge of psychology to define his program and craft an unparalleled record of success that reveals the power of culture. Rather than lecture his players about research and theory, Coach Sullivan most often teaches through metaphor and stories. These stories share his experience on the court while providing a unique lens that enables the reader to capture the core values that unite all iconic coaches. Kevin Sheehan shares the research on cultural grit, not only, bringing Sullivan's success to life, but also providing a formula for successful leadership in any field or endeavor. There are lessons in this book that can change your life and cultivate a culture of grit in your organization that Trade ReviewThis book is a must read for, not only young coaches, but for veteran coaches as well. Having coached for thirty-seven years, this book is just as valuable for me today as it would have been when I started out. The book will be a tool to reinforce to my current team the extreme importance of the culture of our program. In addressing this area, the book is without parallel. Kevin and Charley have truly shared the secrets to “A Winning Culture”! -- Keith Bugbee, Springfield College Lacrosse Coach, Two Time USILA NCAA Division II Coach of the YearI have known Kevin for years as a coaching peer and friend. He has coached at every level from youth to college, and clearly understands that there are consistencies that apply to successful coaching no matter what the sport or the age one is working with. His passion for coaching, his attention to detail, and his in-depth research into the field helps make him a perfect resource for those seeking success in any area of life. This is a must read for those who want to succeed in this business or in any business for that matter. -- Bill Tierney, University of Denver Lacrosse Coach, US Lacrosse National Hall of FameBuilding belief is what we do as coaches do, and this book clearly articulates a plan for all of us, in any field, on how to create cultural grit in our organization. The lessons that can be drawn from the stories on these pages have impacted my coaching and my team in ways that are truly beyond belief and that I could not hope to share in such a limited space. I am confident that this book will have the same impact on your leadership, and the grit that you cultivate in your organization. -- Gordon Purdie, Adelphi University Lacrosse Coach, Two Time Division I All American Lacrosse PlayerTable of ContentsForeword Brian Magoffin Introduction: The Magic of Stories Research without Going to the Dentist’s Office Brain Research: The Fragile Nature of Memory Brain Function and the Magic of Stories Who is Charlie Sullivan? Five Take Aways from The Power of Stories The Big Idea from The Power of Stories Part I: Beyond Winning Chapter 1- The Culture of Winning Springfield Volleyball: A Culture of Winning Winning Coaches under the Microscope Why It Is Some Coaches Win All the Time? Winning the Game of Belief Five Take Aways from The Culture of Winning The Big Idea from The Culture of Winning Chapter 2- Welcome to the Game of Belief Meet Charlie Sullivan: Welcome to the Game of Belief The Power of Culture: You Were Made for This! More than Pep Talks: Beyond Winning Five Take Aways from Welcome to the Game of Belief The Big Idea from Welcome to the Game of Belief Chapter 3- Turning Obstacles into Opportunities What Stands in the Way, Becomes the Way Eighteen Pencils and a Lost Coin Toss Lessons from a Lost Coin Toss Less than Successful Playing Career: Obstacle or Gift? Five Take Aways from Turning Obstacles into Opportunities The Big Idea from Turning Obstacles into Opportunities Chapter 4- The Power of Personality NFL Draft Day: You Are on the Clock Selection Results: Did You Make the Same Decision as the NFL? The Birth of Grit: Angela Duckworth Finds Her Passion What Makes Gritty Individuals Gritty? Driven From Within: The Power of Effort and Will The Tom Brady and the Power of Belief and Effort Resume versus Eulogy Virtues Five Take Aways from The Power of Personality The Big Idea from The Power of Personality Part II: Building Cultural Grit Chapter 5- Core Values: Failing Well Trial by Fire: Core Values Born of Struggle, Frustration and Failure Winning Coaches and Core Values Five Take Aways from Core Values: Failing Well The Big Idea from Core Values: Failing Well Chapter 6- Cultural Grit The Unexpected Phone Call: Science Meets Sport Making the Case for Cultural Grit The Cultural Grit Pyramid Level One: Shared Effort and Belief Level Two: Striving for Perfection in Process Level Three: Identity and Meaning Five Take Aways from Cultural Grit The Big Idea from Cultural Grit Chapter 7- Belief More than Pep Talks: Belief Borne of Consistent Effort Belief and Effort: A Two Way Street Data Driven Cultures Built on Feedback Transformational Leadership Five Take Aways from Belief The Big Idea from Belief Chapter 8- Process Maintaining Focus on Process Over Product The Power of Being in the Moment Winning by Not Focusing on Winning Focus on Product Begins Early: A Baseball Story Five Take Aways from Process The Big Idea from Process Chapter 9- Identity Which Ring? The Power of Identity Debunking the Great Player Myth Team Identity Built on Great Communication Collective Efficacy: The Research behind Team Cohesion Fostering Collective Efficacy at Springfield Five Take Aways from Identity The Big Idea from Identity Part III Maintaining Belief in the Face of Challenge Chapter 10- Cultures Under Fire The Haircut: Holding Fast to Core Values Team First: Even When It Hurts Maintaining Belief: Getting on the Bus with Elmo The Initial Challenge: Maintaining Belief in Building Your Culture Five Take Aways from Cultures Under Fire The Big Idea from Cultures Under Fire Postscript from Coach Sullivan- Raise Your Hand: Applications to Business Unbelievable Five Take Aways from Raise Your Hand: Applications to Business The Big Idea from Raise Your Hand: Applications to Business A Baker’s Dozen of Big Ideas to Move Your Organization Beyond Inspiration Appendix A: The NFL Draft: How Did You Do? Appendix B: April Emails Appendix C: Springfield Core Values References About the Authors

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Book SynopsisCharles Sullivan, one of the winningest coaches in the history of the sport of volleyball, is a physical education teacher and sports psychology professor at Springfield College by trade. His story provides the reader with a unique approach to winning in sports and success in life, employing a knowledge of psychology to define his program and craft an unparalleled record of success that reveals the power of culture. Rather than lecture his players about research and theory, Coach Sullivan most often teaches through metaphor and stories. These stories share his experience on the court while providing a unique lens that enables the reader to capture the core values that unite all iconic coaches. Kevin Sheehan shares the research on cultural grit, not only, bringing Sullivan's success to life, but also providing a formula for successful leadership in any field or endeavor. There are lessons in this book that can change your life and cultivate a culture of grit in your organization that Trade ReviewThis book is a must read for, not only young coaches, but for veteran coaches as well. Having coached for thirty-seven years, this book is just as valuable for me today as it would have been when I started out. The book will be a tool to reinforce to my current team the extreme importance of the culture of our program. In addressing this area, the book is without parallel. Kevin and Charley have truly shared the secrets to “A Winning Culture”! -- Keith Bugbee, Springfield College Lacrosse Coach, Two Time USILA NCAA Division II Coach of the YearI have known Kevin for years as a coaching peer and friend. He has coached at every level from youth to college, and clearly understands that there are consistencies that apply to successful coaching no matter what the sport or the age one is working with. His passion for coaching, his attention to detail, and his in-depth research into the field helps make him a perfect resource for those seeking success in any area of life. This is a must read for those who want to succeed in this business or in any business for that matter. -- Bill Tierney, University of Denver Lacrosse Coach, US Lacrosse National Hall of FameBuilding belief is what we do as coaches do, and this book clearly articulates a plan for all of us, in any field, on how to create cultural grit in our organization. The lessons that can be drawn from the stories on these pages have impacted my coaching and my team in ways that are truly beyond belief and that I could not hope to share in such a limited space. I am confident that this book will have the same impact on your leadership, and the grit that you cultivate in your organization. -- Gordon Purdie, Adelphi University Lacrosse Coach, Two Time Division I All American Lacrosse PlayerTable of ContentsForeword Brian Magoffin Introduction: The Magic of Stories Research without Going to the Dentist’s Office Brain Research: The Fragile Nature of Memory Brain Function and the Magic of Stories Who is Charlie Sullivan? Five Take Aways from The Power of Stories The Big Idea from The Power of Stories Part I: Beyond Winning Chapter 1- The Culture of Winning Springfield Volleyball: A Culture of Winning Winning Coaches under the Microscope Why It Is Some Coaches Win All the Time? Winning the Game of Belief Five Take Aways from The Culture of Winning The Big Idea from The Culture of Winning Chapter 2- Welcome to the Game of Belief Meet Charlie Sullivan: Welcome to the Game of Belief The Power of Culture: You Were Made for This! More than Pep Talks: Beyond Winning Five Take Aways from Welcome to the Game of Belief The Big Idea from Welcome to the Game of Belief Chapter 3- Turning Obstacles into Opportunities What Stands in the Way, Becomes the Way Eighteen Pencils and a Lost Coin Toss Lessons from a Lost Coin Toss Less than Successful Playing Career: Obstacle or Gift? Five Take Aways from Turning Obstacles into Opportunities The Big Idea from Turning Obstacles into Opportunities Chapter 4- The Power of Personality NFL Draft Day: You Are on the Clock Selection Results: Did You Make the Same Decision as the NFL? The Birth of Grit: Angela Duckworth Finds Her Passion What Makes Gritty Individuals Gritty? Driven From Within: The Power of Effort and Will The Tom Brady and the Power of Belief and Effort Resume versus Eulogy Virtues Five Take Aways from The Power of Personality The Big Idea from The Power of Personality Part II: Building Cultural Grit Chapter 5- Core Values: Failing Well Trial by Fire: Core Values Born of Struggle, Frustration and Failure Winning Coaches and Core Values Five Take Aways from Core Values: Failing Well The Big Idea from Core Values: Failing Well Chapter 6- Cultural Grit The Unexpected Phone Call: Science Meets Sport Making the Case for Cultural Grit The Cultural Grit Pyramid Level One: Shared Effort and Belief Level Two: Striving for Perfection in Process Level Three: Identity and Meaning Five Take Aways from Cultural Grit The Big Idea from Cultural Grit Chapter 7- Belief More than Pep Talks: Belief Borne of Consistent Effort Belief and Effort: A Two Way Street Data Driven Cultures Built on Feedback Transformational Leadership Five Take Aways from Belief The Big Idea from Belief Chapter 8- Process Maintaining Focus on Process Over Product The Power of Being in the Moment Winning by Not Focusing on Winning Focus on Product Begins Early: A Baseball Story Five Take Aways from Process The Big Idea from Process Chapter 9- Identity Which Ring? The Power of Identity Debunking the Great Player Myth Team Identity Built on Great Communication Collective Efficacy: The Research behind Team Cohesion Fostering Collective Efficacy at Springfield Five Take Aways from Identity The Big Idea from Identity Part III Maintaining Belief in the Face of Challenge Chapter 10- Cultures Under Fire The Haircut: Holding Fast to Core Values Team First: Even When It Hurts Maintaining Belief: Getting on the Bus with Elmo The Initial Challenge: Maintaining Belief in Building Your Culture Five Take Aways from Cultures Under Fire The Big Idea from Cultures Under Fire Postscript from Coach Sullivan- Raise Your Hand: Applications to Business Unbelievable Five Take Aways from Raise Your Hand: Applications to Business The Big Idea from Raise Your Hand: Applications to Business A Baker’s Dozen of Big Ideas to Move Your Organization Beyond Inspiration Appendix A: The NFL Draft: How Did You Do? Appendix B: April Emails Appendix C: Springfield Core Values References About the Authors

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Book SynopsisWhy does racism, conscious and unconscious, remain a persistent issue in American society? From blackface worn by public officials to a school district's forcing of the removal of a Black History Month display, beliefs and opinions related to racism are pervasive and widespread in the collective American mind. America's racist legacy cannot and will not be changed until historically entrenched beliefs are confronted, challenged, and changed.While focusing on the specific issues that educators face in addressing and eliminating racial disparity in disciplinary perceptions and referrals, the reflective exercises provided in this book are valuable to any reader who wishes to examine programmed unconscious beliefs that can lead to racist behaviors. This is a book that helps the reader to understand the source, purpose, and ways in which stereotypical beliefs and images have been and continue to be reinforced in our present society.Reflective Discipline is a timely and especially significaTrade ReviewUpon entry into the arena of formal schooling – molds have been designed and designated by some educators as to the success of many students of color, especially the boys. Depending on the names, gender, and even the address – students who do not look like the educators will have few memorable moments in school. The students (boys) are subject to close scrutiny all day. They will find themselves reacting to situations created by school personnel in ways that guarantee molds cast earlier preconstructed will be filled. Each year discipline forms, sarcasm, bullying, aggressive language suspensions, and expulsion will consume their aspirations and finally their will to become successful. We are beyond “diversity training” for educators, much more is needed. Dr. Martha Bireda’s book should become a must read if we are to help minority students. -- Eunice Moton Wiley, Elementary School Teacher, Curriculum Specialist, Assistant Principal, Elementary School Principal- 35 yearsMany educators are not aware of the damages they cause in young black boys’ lives. These young students entering school for the first time with bright eyes and smiles hoping to learn have contagious energy. They soak in everything, unfortunately, the negative message will outnumber the positives throughout their school years. They soon realize that any small infraction, harsh words, or rule change is usually directed towards them. Zero tolerance is the defining target for them. Total dismissal of these students as “capable of learning” immediately becomes the norm. This book reflects the place where education have fallen short in helping recognize the needs of minority students placed in their care. -- Cynthia M. Anderson, Retired Educator from Broward County- 35 years; Elementary Teacher, Assistant Principal, PrincipalTable of ContentsDedication Foreword Acknowledgements Workshops Introduction Part I Chapter 1: Racial Disparity in Discipline: A Worsening Problem Chapter 2: Persistent Factors Escalating Racial Disparity in Discipline Chapter 3: New Threats: Adultification and Policing in the Schools Chapter 4: Reflective Discipline Part II Chapter 5: Culturally Conditioned Beliefs Chapter 6: Cultural Conditioning and Disciplinary Practices Chapter 7: African American Cultural Patterns Chapter 8: Cross-cultural Communication Conflicts Part III Chapter 9: Adolescent Development Chapter 10: School Climate and School Discipline Chapter 11: The Discipline Event Analysis Part IV Chapter 12: Reflective Leadership Chapter 13: The “Village” Approach: School Community Partnerships Chapter 14: Evaluating the Process Chapter 15: Seeing with New Eyes Part V: Reflective Exercises Appendix Bibliography About the Author

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Book SynopsisWhy does racism, conscious and unconscious, remain a persistent issue in American society? From blackface worn by public officials to a school district's forcing of the removal of a Black History Month display, beliefs and opinions related to racism are pervasive and widespread in the collective American mind. America's racist legacy cannot and will not be changed until historically entrenched beliefs are confronted, challenged, and changed.While focusing on the specific issues that educators face in addressing and eliminating racial disparity in disciplinary perceptions and referrals, the reflective exercises provided in this book are valuable to any reader who wishes to examine programmed unconscious beliefs that can lead to racist behaviors. This is a book that helps the reader to understand the source, purpose, and ways in which stereotypical beliefs and images have been and continue to be reinforced in our present society.Reflective Discipline is a timely and especially significaTrade ReviewUpon entry into the arena of formal schooling – molds have been designed and designated by some educators as to the success of many students of color, especially the boys. Depending on the names, gender, and even the address – students who do not look like the educators will have few memorable moments in school. The students (boys) are subject to close scrutiny all day. They will find themselves reacting to situations created by school personnel in ways that guarantee molds cast earlier preconstructed will be filled. Each year discipline forms, sarcasm, bullying, aggressive language suspensions, and expulsion will consume their aspirations and finally their will to become successful. We are beyond “diversity training” for educators, much more is needed. Dr. Martha Bireda’s book should become a must read if we are to help minority students. -- Eunice Moton Wiley, Elementary School Teacher, Curriculum Specialist, Assistant Principal, Elementary School Principal- 35 yearsMany educators are not aware of the damages they cause in young black boys’ lives. These young students entering school for the first time with bright eyes and smiles hoping to learn have contagious energy. They soak in everything, unfortunately, the negative message will outnumber the positives throughout their school years. They soon realize that any small infraction, harsh words, or rule change is usually directed towards them. Zero tolerance is the defining target for them. Total dismissal of these students as “capable of learning” immediately becomes the norm. This book reflects the place where education have fallen short in helping recognize the needs of minority students placed in their care. -- Cynthia M. Anderson, Retired Educator from Broward County- 35 years; Elementary Teacher, Assistant Principal, PrincipalTable of ContentsDedication Foreword Acknowledgements Workshops Introduction Part I Chapter 1: Racial Disparity in Discipline: A Worsening Problem Chapter 2: Persistent Factors Escalating Racial Disparity in Discipline Chapter 3: New Threats: Adultification and Policing in the Schools Chapter 4: Reflective Discipline Part II Chapter 5: Culturally Conditioned Beliefs Chapter 6: Cultural Conditioning and Disciplinary Practices Chapter 7: African American Cultural Patterns Chapter 8: Cross-cultural Communication Conflicts Part III Chapter 9: Adolescent Development Chapter 10: School Climate and School Discipline Chapter 11: The Discipline Event Analysis Part IV Chapter 12: Reflective Leadership Chapter 13: The “Village” Approach: School Community Partnerships Chapter 14: Evaluating the Process Chapter 15: Seeing with New Eyes Part V: Reflective Exercises Appendix Bibliography About the Author

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Book SynopsisCoplin uses his 50+ years of undergraduate teaching experience to present a series of roles, strategies and tactics to help professors prepare undergraduates for life after college. Through his courses and a highly successful undergraduate program, which he designed in the 1970s and still leads, Policy Studies, he has developed ways to increase student engagement and prepare them for careers and citizenship. He has students and alumni that number in the thousands over two generations who attribute their success to Coplin's approach to teaching. You can check out his website, where more than 96 unsolicited testimonials from successful alumni who are now doing well and doing good are listed. This book is a self-help manual so that undergraduate professors in all fields can test out his suggestions ideas for themselves. College professors will be much happier because their actions will meet the needs of their students and society.Trade ReviewThe Happy Professor is a clear, straightforward toolkit for those who want to meaningfully impact all their undergraduate students, and who want to have a happy, meaningful vocation as a college teacher. -- Kent D. Syverud, Chancellor and President, Syracuse UniversityThe instructional strategies and tactics presented in Coplin’s work have been game-changers in my classes as I try to move students toward confidence, competence, and self-efficacy. -- Cherry McCabe, J.D, Associate Professor of Political Science, Simpson UniversityMy path from a small town in Upstate New York to a career as a six-time president and CEO was solely influenced by my undergraduate experience under Dr. Coplin. His guiding principles and coaching makes all the difference. -- Robert E. Watson, President and CEO, Juvare, LLCTable of ContentsForeword Chancellor Kent Syverud, Syracuse University Acknowledgements Introduction Part I: Roles Chapter 1: You Chapter 2: Artist Chapter 3: Skills Coach Chapter 4: Advisor Chapter 5: Boss Part II: Strategies Chapter 6: Andragogy, Not Pedagogy Chapter 7: The Five Laws of the Minimalist Chapter 8: Everything is Experiential Chapter 9: Evaluate Yourself Part III: Engagement Tactics Chapter 10: Use Undergraduate Teaching Assistants (UTAs) Chapter 11: Use Dale Carnegie Speeches Chapter 12: Create Groups for Small In-Class Assignments Chapter 13: Set the Stage in the First Class Chapter 14: Use Simulations and Role Plays Chapter 15: Lie to the Class Chapter 16: Keep Your Mouth Shut Chapter 17: Make Laptops and Cell Phones Helpful Part IV: Organizational Tactics Chapter 18: Start with the Concrete and Familiar Chapter 19: Use Modules Chapter 20: Use Class Time for Coaching Chapter 21: Debriefing Competitions Chapter 22: Create Lateness and Absence Policies Chapter 23: Differentiate Between Points Earned and Points Lost Chapter 24: Use Extra Credit Points to Stimulate Extra Practice Chapter 25: Use Group Presentations as Teamwork Practice Part V: Remedial Tactics Chapter 26: Writing to Communicate Chapter 27: Improve Typing Chapter 28: Simple Computer Applications Chapter 29: Excel is Life Chapter 30: Information Searching Basics Chapter 31: Survey Basics Required Chapter 32: Quantitative Tools Are Not About Mathematics Part VI: Citizenship Tactics Chapter 33: The Easy Way to Community Engagement Chapter 34: Use Continuums to Avoid the Role of Propagandist Chapter 35: Use Problem Solving Exercises Chapter 36: The Order, Freedom, Equality Triangle Chapter 37: The Grading Exercise Chapter 38: The Prince System Conclusion: Where Do You Go from Here? Appendix A: Debriefing the Grading Exercise Appendix B: Forecasting with the Prince System About the Author

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Book SynopsisCoplin uses his 50+ years of undergraduate teaching experience to present a series of roles, strategies and tactics to help professors prepare undergraduates for life after college. Through his courses and a highly successful undergraduate program, which he designed in the 1970s and still leads, Policy Studies, he has developed ways to increase student engagement and prepare them for careers and citizenship. He has students and alumni that number in the thousands over two generations who attribute their success to Coplin's approach to teaching. You can check out his website, where more than 96 unsolicited testimonials from successful alumni who are now doing well and doing good are listed. This book is a self-help manual so that undergraduate professors in all fields can test out his suggestions ideas for themselves. College professors will be much happier because their actions will meet the needs of their students and society.Trade ReviewThe Happy Professor is a clear, straightforward toolkit for those who want to meaningfully impact all their undergraduate students, and who want to have a happy, meaningful vocation as a college teacher. -- Kent D. Syverud, Chancellor and President, Syracuse UniversityThe instructional strategies and tactics presented in Coplin’s work have been game-changers in my classes as I try to move students toward confidence, competence, and self-efficacy. -- Cherry McCabe, J.D, Associate Professor of Political Science, Simpson UniversityMy path from a small town in Upstate New York to a career as a six-time president and CEO was solely influenced by my undergraduate experience under Dr. Coplin. His guiding principles and coaching makes all the difference. -- Robert E. Watson, President and CEO, Juvare, LLCTable of ContentsForeword Chancellor Kent Syverud, Syracuse University Acknowledgements Introduction Part I: Roles Chapter 1: You Chapter 2: Artist Chapter 3: Skills Coach Chapter 4: Advisor Chapter 5: Boss Part II: Strategies Chapter 6: Andragogy, Not Pedagogy Chapter 7: The Five Laws of the Minimalist Chapter 8: Everything is Experiential Chapter 9: Evaluate Yourself Part III: Engagement Tactics Chapter 10: Use Undergraduate Teaching Assistants (UTAs) Chapter 11: Use Dale Carnegie Speeches Chapter 12: Create Groups for Small In-Class Assignments Chapter 13: Set the Stage in the First Class Chapter 14: Use Simulations and Role Plays Chapter 15: Lie to the Class Chapter 16: Keep Your Mouth Shut Chapter 17: Make Laptops and Cell Phones Helpful Part IV: Organizational Tactics Chapter 18: Start with the Concrete and Familiar Chapter 19: Use Modules Chapter 20: Use Class Time for Coaching Chapter 21: Debriefing Competitions Chapter 22: Create Lateness and Absence Policies Chapter 23: Differentiate Between Points Earned and Points Lost Chapter 24: Use Extra Credit Points to Stimulate Extra Practice Chapter 25: Use Group Presentations as Teamwork Practice Part V: Remedial Tactics Chapter 26: Writing to Communicate Chapter 27: Improve Typing Chapter 28: Simple Computer Applications Chapter 29: Excel is Life Chapter 30: Information Searching Basics Chapter 31: Survey Basics Required Chapter 32: Quantitative Tools Are Not About Mathematics Part VI: Citizenship Tactics Chapter 33: The Easy Way to Community Engagement Chapter 34: Use Continuums to Avoid the Role of Propagandist Chapter 35: Use Problem Solving Exercises Chapter 36: The Order, Freedom, Equality Triangle Chapter 37: The Grading Exercise Chapter 38: The Prince System Conclusion: Where Do You Go from Here? Appendix A: Debriefing the Grading Exercise Appendix B: Forecasting with the Prince System About the Author

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