Reviews (4)

Showed me how to teach writing
I have taught 2nd grade for 5 years.The first three years my district did not have a "set" writing curriculum.We used 6-traits, but the structured limits of that way of thinking did not help make me a good writing teacher.Those three years I tried my best to teach writing with the limited experience of writing myself.Two years ago we addapted the Lucy Calkins series.These books have changed the way I see writing and how I teach it.
Lucy Calkins
These books are excellent guides for both old and new teachers.They guide you through each genre of writing.They include lessons in their entirety and scripts, as well.

Units of Study for Primary Writing : A Yearlong Curriculum
This will be incredibly helpful for my 1st graders in CO!I recommend this highly.The layout is user-friendly and the commentary helps you feel like you have mentor teacher in the room with you while you plan lessons!
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Subjects:  1. Curricula    2. Education    3. Education / Teaching    4. Elementary    5. Professional Development    6. Teaching Methods & Materials - Language Arts   

Reviews (5)

Practical
This book is full of practical advice as well as a ton of resources to use for professional development.Don't leave home without it!

Understanding by design: Professional development workbook
This is a very useful book for class. Has many good activities in it. I think it is worth the purchase.

The Most Focused Book on Education that I've Read!
I'm re-reading this fabulous resource as I start my fifth year of teaching since it keeps me focused on what I'm teaching and how to most appropriately assess how my students can apply their knowledge. The details and worksheets in this workbook help me put the book into practice day to day. Thanks Jay. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Education    2. Education / Teaching    3. Professional Development    4. Teaching Methods & Materials - General   

Reviews (4)

Hidden Gem!
I happened to find this book while browsing the teaching section.It has truly been a great resource that every (new) teacher should have.Unlike most of our teacher ed. programs, this book gives practical information about how to run a classroom.You won't regret buying this book, it is a wonderful resource!

A great resource for any teacher!
My school district gave every new teacher a copy of this book.The new teacher that I am mentoring shared it with me.After reading through it I was excited to find a book that focuses on instruction instead of some silver-bullet discipline plan.The instructional strategies are written clearly and consisely.Both of us bring our copies of Why Didn't I Learn This in College? and use them as we plan our units and lessons every Monday for the following week.I highly recommend this book to any teacher.

An ESSENTIAL for All Educators!
Practical, positive, and pure Paula! WHY DIDN'T I LEARN THIS IS COLLEGE? is an ESSENTIAL professional resource for educators at all levels of experience! Paula Rutherford applies her 30 years of teaching and educational leadership to create this book of research-based teaching tips and user-friendly tools that will help increase student achievement in our classrooms. She offers a logical framework for creating learning-centered environments, planning "with the 'end' in mind", and organizing learners and professional tasks for positive results for students, parents, and teachers. Read more

Subjects:  1. Classroom management    2. Education    3. Education / Teaching    4. Education / Teaching Methods & Materials / General    5. Educational Policy & Reform    6. First year teachers    7. Higher    8. Professional Development    9. Teaching    10. Teaching Methods & Materials - General   

Reviews (2)

Professional Learning Communities at Work (Best Practices for Enhancing Student Achievement)
Professional Learning Communities at Work (Best Practices for Enhancing Student Achievement) by Dr. Richard Dufour and Dr. Robert Eaker, is a well-written/user-friendly piece of literature.This book may be useful as a text for graduate and/or post-graduate level students who are studying and/or working within the area of education, administration, and/or curriculum and instruction.It is also an excellent resource to have if you are dealing with staff and/or curriculum development.The basic premise of the book goes about showing how (via PLC's (Professional Learning Communities)/Small Learning Communities) school staff and administration can work collaboratively to help change, redefine, and/or shape their school's mission and goals.Through this teaming process and through the steps/best practices the authors suggest; school improvement, cultural change, and positive curriculum development and implementation can more likely be achieved.

Practices from some of the best schools in the country
The collaborative work of Richard DuFour (Superintendent of Adlai Stevenson High School District 125, Lincolnshire, Illinois) and Robert Eaker (Dean of the College of Education, Middle Tennessee State University), Professional Learning Communities At Work: Best Practices For Enhancing Student Achievement offers the reader informed and informative information on how to transform any private or public school into a results-oriented "professional learning community" based upon practices from some of the best schools in the country. Professional Learning Communities At Work covers curriculum development, teacher preparation, school leadership, professional development programs, school-parent partnerships, and assessment practices. Of vital interest to education professionals, Professional Learning Communities At Work is completely accessible and highly recommended reading for parents and other non-specialist general readers with an interest in improving their community schools and school systems.
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Subjects:  1. Education    2. Education / Educational Reform    3. Education / Teaching    4. Educational Policy & Reform    5. Educational change    6. Group work in education    7. Leadership    8. Professional Development    9. School improvement programs    10. Team learning approach in educ    11. Team learning approach in education    12. United States    13. Educational Reform   

Subjects:  1. Education    2. Education / Teaching    3. Educational Policy & Reform    4. Experimental Methods    5. Professional Development   

Reviews (185)

The First Days of School: How to be an Effective Teacher
Amazon was great as is this book. It really gives those wishing to be teachers a great view of things they should know...
Charming man, practical advice
I'm new to education. This book is very, very well read among educators. Looking at it with my fresh eyes, and with a need to quickly grab useful info for my 1st day at school I thought that:
Put "Elementary Teacher" in the title and I'd give it 5 stars
If I were going to rate Harry Wong's book based on his title's implied audience of all teachers, I would be forced to give it 1 star.This book is specifically geared towards elementary teachers only and more specifically to ones who can't possibly have earned a teaching degree yet.Giving this book to someone with teaching credentials would be equivalent to giving a certified mechanic a three-hundred page manual on how to rotate tires.
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Subjects:  1. Education    2. Education / Teaching    3. Effective teaching    4. General    5. Professional Development    6. Teachers    7. Teaching    8. Teaching Methods & Materials - General    9. Training of    10. United States    11. Vocational guidance   

Reviews (3)

I've seen better
The tenth edition is not very well organized. Overall, a very boring book.

Okay, but other books are out there.
Like I said in a precious review, I like National University, but they could have chosen a different book.I am Caucasian, white, Christian, heterosexual, male, with blonde hair and blue eyes, and let me tell you, this book will make it seem that the whit people in this country are racist bigots.And that we are trying to indoctrinate every single child that comes to America while keeping all the other people in lower classes.That is how I felt. Okay, for a Textbook
This book wasn't too bad, considering it is a textbook.If you're forced to read it for class, take heart!It's not too boring--once you get started, it actually moves pretty quickly, and you will learn a lot.If this isn't required for a class, I would not suggest curling up in front of the fireplace with this book, or, really, reading it at all, unless you're really into learning more about the basics of American Education. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Education    2. Education (General)    3. Education / Teaching    4. Educational sociology    5. History    6. Philosophy & Social Aspects    7. Professional Development    8. Study and teaching    9. Teaching    10. Theory Of Education    11. United States    12. Education / Professional Development    13. USA   

Reviews (1)

Great Help for Frazzled Teachers!
This book has many useful,practical ideas for effectively using literacy workstations.My school year has started so smoothly because of the things I learned from this book.I highly recommend it to anyone new to workstations, and even to veteran teachers for a fresh perspective. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Classroom learning centers    2. Education    3. Education / Teaching    4. Group work in education    5. Language Experience Approach    6. Language arts (Elementary)    7. Professional Development    8. Teaching Methods & Materials - General    9. Teaching Methods & Materials - Reading   

Reviews (5)

Ahhhh.....
I am back in the classroom after a lovely three year stint as an elementary librarian.I have 27 delightful second graders and after four days of school we would all enthusiastically say that Daily 5 is our favorite part of the day, not recess!

Excellent Read
I have found this book to be full of fresh ideas that really work in the classroom.

GREAT RESOURCE!!!!
I cannot wait to begin the new school year with this model! This book will walk you step by step in implementing a model you can use to have the other children responsibily learning and engaged while you work with small groups or individual children in literacy activities. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Case studies    2. Education    3. Education / Teaching    4. Elementary    5. Individualized instruction    6. Language arts (Elementary)    7. Professional Development   

Reviews (5)

Excellent for Beginning ESL coarses!!!
I highly recommend this resource to someone who is teaching Beginning ESL students. I had never taught this level before and someone recommended it to me and this book has made my lesson planning lightyears easier than it could have been. This book has some activities in it. There is also another book that is a supplement to it called, "Out and About: photocopiable teacherless activities for English language learners." Last I checked, Amazon didn't offer this book, they were out. I recommend this book as well. With these two books alone, you could almost teach an entire coarse without any supplements.

Excellent for beginning instructors...profs should read it too!
I especially appreciated the sections on setting up the learning environment, McKeachie and Svinicki are the only authors whom I've read that acknowledge our need to take our own teaching styles nto consideration when designing class management strategies.Easy to read and very beneficial.Well worth the money.

Meets its Goals
The goal of McKeachie's teaching tips is to provide higher education teachers useful tips to improve teaching in the classroom. In its own words "'Teaching Tips' was originally written to answer the questions posed by new college teachers, to place them at ease in their jobs, and to get them started effectively in the classroom." McKeachie goes on to note that it is also a useful resource for experienced teachers.
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Subjects:  1. College teaching    2. Education    3. Education / Teaching    4. First year teachers    5. Higher    6. Professional Development    7. Teaching    8. Teaching Methods & Materials - Arts & Humanities    9. Higher & further education    10. Teaching skills & techniques   

Reviews (5)

No Silver Bullet, but . . .
If you want to read a book that combines brief overviews of the work of many well-regarded leaders in the field of education, this book is a good beginning. Those who work in public education and understand the need for re-structuring and re-culturing our schools will appreciate the authors' laser-like focus on student learning through the development of professional learning communities.
Mixed Message
Rarely do I find a collection of essays by multiple authors to be a great book.Too often the prose is uneven and the authors, despite the assertions of the editors, come off as talking at cross purposes.This book is no exception.
On Common Ground
As the processes of school improvement shifts from regulatory compliance to authentic work in schools, it is essential to build a broad understanding of decades of thinking on school reform.This book offers a strong summary of the concepts most likely to bring real change in the only place that matters, the classroom.We have spent decades talking about change and the learning community concept has the potential to be the catalyst of change.
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Subjects:  1. Education    2. Education / Teaching    3. Leadership    4. Professional Development   

Subjects:  1. Education    2. Education / Teaching    3. Educational tests and measurements    4. Grading and marking (Students)    5. Professional Development    6. Rating of    7. Students    8. Testing & Measurement    9. United States   

Reviews (10)

Well worth buying and reading
This book is aimed at explaining proficiency oriented language teaching, and has very valuable material on proficiency and its importance. This is something many teachers seem to overlook as too obvious to be of concern, but Hadley shows it to be a central issue in teaching. The criticism made by one reviewer that it's tilted too much toward communicative teaching is mistaken. There's a difference between communicative teaching and proficiency oriented teaching, although they are obviously related. This book, like any other, is not sufficient by itself, but needs to be read an compared to others in order to get a range of viewpoints. It is not of instantaneous practical use to classroom teachers, but rather deals with the ideas behind teaching methods. It is a very valuable addition to a teacher's bookshelf and I have no regrets about buying it.

Why did I buy this book?
I remember using it in a course I took a few years ago, and I was thrilled to find so many different aspects of language teaching covered in one volume.When I was thinking of buying the present edition, I asked a friend, someone with a Master's degree in TESL/TEFL, her recommendation, and she said: "Well, Doug Brown recommended it to me."So I bought Teaching Language in Context, and am very glad I did.

If I were to choose one book
No book can cover every aspect of language instruction, but by all means Hadley's work would be right up there with Ellis, Richards and Rodgers among others.This is a solid book, jam packed with historical facts and insights, and I feel has caught the full heart of the profession representing the current state of the profession.I could not disagree with the first reviewer more.I am reading this book through and I love this book. This is not a technique-y book at all but a serious treatise and contribution to educators who want to have a broader scope on theory and instruction. In my mind, the author answers the who, what, where, when, how, and why not just of one method but does it with several of the major methods. And this she does in Chapter three!This is a 512 page text and to my mind, the reading is coherent, smart, and digestable. This text is certainly one of the better foundational texts for comprehensive grasp of the field.This book is be a springboard to assist the reader to think through the past and present assumptionan about teaching language; it is an excellent choice! If I were to only have one text to me to read in this area, this would be a top contender. Thank you Alice Omaggio Haddley for the hard work and care you put into this wonderful book. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Foreign Language Study    2. General    3. Language    4. Language Arts / Linguistics / Literacy    5. Languages, Modern    6. Linguistics    7. Professional Development    8. Study & Teaching    9. Study and teaching    10. Education / Professional Development    11. Language teaching theory & methods    12. Teaching of a specific subject   

Subjects:  1. Education    2. Education / Teaching    3. Education And Training Of Teachers    4. Professional Development    5. Teachers    6. Teaching    7. Teaching Methods & Materials - General    8. Training of    9. United States    10. Education / Teaching Methods & Materials / General    11. Teacher training   

Reviews (2)

Timeless Insights about Teaching and Learning
Ron Gallimore and Swen Nater combine their incredible knowledge about teaching and basketball to deliver a new and insightful look at the teaching practice of John Wooden. The book is a wonderful balance of personal stories from Nater and insights about teaching and learning from Gallimore that demonstrate just how incredibly wise, intentional, and gifted The Coach was and is. This book demonstrates the hard work, preparation, courage, and commitment to continuous learning that defines quality teaching. A must read for every teacher and coach.

Swen Nater's book: You WILL learn!
Swen Nater knows John Wooden - that much is clear. Clear too, is what a great teacher John Wooden was and, continues to be. This is a book any teacher can learn from. Sure it is great for coaches, but when a teacher is looking for guidance on how to handle varying student potential within their class, is it better to treat everyone the same - or to treat each individual differently, according to their personality, talent, ability, commitment etc. as Wooden did? Swen does a great job of interjecting his own life's experience into the priniciples Wooden taught. And he uses those of "Alcindor", Wicks, Walton, Allen and others to make the stories fit the lesson. This is textbook material, or should be required reading for aspiring or experienced teachers - 5 Stars plus! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Education    2. Education / Teaching    3. Philosophy & Social Aspects    4. Professional Development    5. Teaching Methods & Materials - General    6. Basketball    7. Sports coaching   

Subjects:  1. Education    2. Education / Teaching    3. In-service training    4. Mathematics teachers    5. Professional Development    6. Science teachers    7. Study & Teaching    8. Teaching Methods & Materials - Mathematics    9. United States    10. Education / General    11. Mathematics and Science    12. Teacher training   

Reviews (1)

A paradigm shift in thinking about educational change- A way forward
Fullan, Hill and Crevola have done an excellent job in redirecting thought on educational change by refocussing on what actually happens in classrooms (where the rubber meets the road, as Jimmy Thompson in LeRoy often says).
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Subjects:  1. Education    2. Education / Teaching    3. Educational change    4. Leadership    5. Learning Styles    6. Professional Development    7. School improvement programs    8. Teaching Methods & Materials - Classroom Planning    9. United States    10. Education / Leadership    11. Organization & management of education   

Reviews (1)

Very Inspirational!
I happened across this book completely by chance in a bookstore. I was looking for new ideas for my elementary classroom. I remember thinking that the title seemed funny. Once I picked it up though, I was literally hooked (pardon the pun)! I couldn't put it down, and it has inspired a great many new ideas for me to use in the classroom. The advice and examples are so practical and inspiratioal. As a philosophy, it is a perfect fit for the classroom setting. It intends to make school what it should be... a place we all enjoy going and spending time. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Classroom Management    2. Classroom environment    3. Education    4. Education / Teaching    5. Education And Training Of Teachers    6. Motivation in education    7. Professional Development    8. Teaching Methods & Materials - General    9. Business & Economics / General   

Reviews (1)

Human Resources Management for Effective Schools
I have yet to receive my book and I plan to ask my credit card to credit my account.It has been well over 14 days, actually it has been close to 5 weeks, since the order was placed.I am disappointed in the service.
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Subjects:  1. Administration - General    2. Business & Economics    3. Business/Economics    4. Education / Teaching    5. Human Resources & Personnel Management    6. Personnel And Human Resources Management    7. Professional Development    8. School Personnel    9. School management and organiza    10. School management and organization    11. School personnel management    12. United States    13. Education / Administration    14. Educational administration    15. Personnel & human resources management   

Reviews (4)

Back to Basics!
A must have for salespeople just starting
Just another sales book.
The book is well written and easy to follow, but it is relatively generic.I believe it to be a little over priced for its content.

Not Great!
This book is extremely basic and can be read in about an hour. Hardly worth the price for a 139 page paper back. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Business    2. Business & Economics    3. Business & Economics / Real Estate    4. Business & Economics / Sales & Selling    5. Education / Professional Development    6. House buying    7. Real Estate - Buying/Selling Homes    8. Residential real estate    9. Sales & Selling    10. United States    11. Education    12. Professional Development