Book Description

The second edition of Inside Secrets to Finding a Teaching Job provides real-world job search tips from other teachers as well as administrators. Also contains resume-writing advice, how to create a teacher portfolio and demonstration video, and Internet resources for finding the perfect situation. ... Read more

Reviews (4)

Good and Practical Advice for Would-Be Teachers
Like some other reviewers, I am currently looking for a teaching position. I ordered this book and found it had very good information on where to find jobs, how to write a resume, and how to answer possible interview questions. I would say the resume part was the most useful so far, as few resume books have examples of teacher resumes. From the examples provided I was able to construct a more condensed resume from the three-page one I previously had.

However, the jury is out in so far as whether I will be able to obtain employment in the field even with this advice. The reason I did not give this book five stars is that there was not a whole lot of information for those people who are changing careers in mid-life. Most of the emphasis seemed directed at those traditional college age graduates with little or no employment experience.

Must Have For All Teachers
I found this book to be a must have for all teachers. As a recent graduate with a teaching degree, I was nervous about finding the right teaching job for me. I used the techniques and suggestions in the book. I was offered a job from my very first teaching interview.

A great resource for those "still looking"
I just got this book and have only flipped through it, but already I can tell it will be a great asset. I am a recent graduate with a teaching degree. Our last year we had several seminars and workshops on interviews and finding a job. I have notes scattered all over the place. This book puts all the same info in one place and a whole lot more. Really great interview tips. Lots of potential questions and what not to do or say during an interview. I can't wait to read this book in depth! A definite "must have" in the increasing competitiveness of the teaching job market!

Worked for me!
What a dream of a book! After redaing this paperback, I was better prepared for my job interview than my competition. I was ready for the most common questions, which I was asked. Better yet, I knew what not to do in an interview, they asked some trick questions too. My performance was certainly enhanced by this book and I got the job! It was my first interview and now I have my dream teaching job! I highly recommend this book for new and seasoned educators looking for a job. Best of luck to you all! ... Read more

Book Description

Every day college and university faculty ask themselves the question, 'How can we become more effective teachers of a culturally diverse student body?' This book provides the most comprehensive and useful answer that I have ever read. Drawing upon years of experience and research with students from various cultural backgrounds, Wlodkowski and Ginsberg offer faculty a remarkable integration of theory and practice--full of the kinds of insights and strategies they can use today.

--Michael Nettles, professor, Center for the Study of Higher and Postsecondary Education, University of Michigan

Raymond J. Wlodkowski and Margery B. Ginsberg combine their respective expertise in motivation and multiculturalism to go beyond the usual rhetoric on promoting diversity, offering real-world guidance and suggestions for successful teaching in today's changing classroom environment. ... Read more

Book Description

Differentiated instruction strategies that target the special needs of students with learning disabilities!

These classroom-proven strategies empower the teacher to target instructional modifications to the content, process, and products for students with learning disabilities in the general and the special education classroom. These best practices are the most up-to-date tactics available and specify numerous ways to differentiate instruction for students with learning disabilities. Invaluable for teachers in both inclusive and individual classes, this book provides numerous ideas and examples to help

• Stress the brain-compatible teaching guidelines for varied instruction
• Create practical, flexible lessons by varied instructional tactics, including webbing, cubing, scaffolded instruction, metacognitive tactics, and many other strategies
• Foster the attention of diverse learners via self-monitoring, self-management, and responsibility strategies
• Institute various peer tutoring systems that are practical and manageable in the inclusive class
• Implement performance assessment and portfolios to diversity evaluation
• Enhance social skills through group projects, role-play, and sharing tutoring responsibilities

The use of these research-proven practices will result in academic enhancement in your classroom. Whether your challenging students are identified as learning disabled or low-achieving, these strategies and tactics can lead to significant gains for you in reading comprehension, language arts, and math. This is a survival guide for differentiating instruction in today’s classrooms!

 

 

Book Description

It is clear that service-learning has the potential to yield tremendous benefits to students, communities, and institutions of higher education. Increased student learning has been well documented. As communities gain new energy to meet their needs and greater capacity to capitalize on their assets, service-learning enables higher education to fulfill its civic responsibility. When service-learning lives up to its potential to lead colleges and universities to transform themselves into fully engaged citizens of their communities and the world, its ability to bring about positive social change is limitless.

To be successful, service-learning must be grounded in a wide range of solid, reciprocal, democratic partnerships. Building Partnerships for Service-Learning assembles leading voices in the field to bring their expertise to bear on this crucial topic. Faculty, administrators, student leaders, and community and corporate leaders will find this volume filled with vital information, exemplary models, and practical tools needed to make service-learning succeed.

Comprehensive in scope, Building Partnerships for Service-Learning includes:

• Fundamentals and frameworks for developing sustainable partnerships
• Assessment as a partnership-building process
• The complex dynamics of collaboration between academic affairs and student affairs
• Partnering with students to enhance service-learning
• How to create campuswide infrastructure for service-learning
• Profiles and case studies of outstanding partnerships with neighborhoods, community agencies, and K-12 schools
• Partnerships for collaborative action research
• Exploring the challenges and benefits of corporate and international partnerships
• The dynamic relationship of service-learning and the civic renewal of higher education

Building Partnerships for Service-Learning is the essential guide to taking service-learning and partnerships to the next level. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Great academic resource
For all practitioners looking to seek a great academic resource on developing levels of partnerships for service-learning, this is definitely your book! The wealth of information ranges from broadening your campus resources to learning how to make successful connections with your local community. For those interested in learning more about the dynamic use of theory-to-practice work in service-learning, this book is a necessity! ... Read more

Book Description

Book Description

It's easy these days to find out about college campuses from CD-ROMs or the Internet, but nothing beats hitting the road and seeing a campus with your own eyes: sizing up the dorms, eating a meal in the cafeteria, sitting in on a class, and getting a true-to-life preview of your next four years.

This new edition of Visiting College Campuses is your one-stop source for plotting your journey, whether it's by plane, train, or automobile.Our profiles of the 250 most-toured campuses include:

*Maps and precise directions to get you there by any mode of transportation
*Nearby hotels, motels, B&Bs, and resorts for every budget
*The best and worst times to visit each campus
*Dates and times when campus tours are available
*How to arrange an overnight stay in a dormitory
*Information on meeting professors, admissions officers, and coaches

Visiting College Campuses also gives you mileage charts by state and region, so you'll know exactly how far your targeted schools are from one another and how many campuses you can hope to cover each day of your trip.Month-by-month academic calendars let you know when school is in session, so you won't show up to find an empty campus. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

For good advice, find another source
If all you require in selecting a college is what the cutoff for the SAT scores are, and which Motel-6 is nearby where you can stay while visiting the campus, then this is your book. The best that the book can do for you is supply you with the hours and telephone number of the admission office. It offers absolutely no insight to the curricula, strengths or weaknesses of the school.

How this book can Help
Andy Bevridge completely misunderstands the purpose of this book.
At the start of a book there is a disclaimer which directs readers to double check times of tours and visits with the college you are planning to visit.As a high school College counselor, what I found very useful in the book were the directions to each college which were incredibly accurate..and believe me if you ever tried to drive to these schools you know how difficult the directions can be. In addition most people don't have access to the web while they are driving and don't always plan ahead. This book allows for the opportunity to visit other schools that are in the area of the school you originally intended to visit. Not every one is so organized before a trip--I've told countless parents about this book and they've been very appreciative before and after. Don't leave home without it.

Web Sites Are More Accurate
Having just returned from a "college caravan" trip through the Northeast with my daughter and another family, including a son, I can attest to the glaring inaccuracies in this book. They often have the times of tours and info sessions wrong. They even sometimes indicate that things are closed when they are open and vice versa.

An hour or two on the Web (and then printing off the pages) will save lots of aggravation. Then give each college a call!

You are going to be traveling with Fiske anyway, just pick-up a Mobil Guide, a map, and copies of the web pages.

Andy Beveridge beveridg@bestweb.net ... Read more

Book Description

"Edward Fry has the uncanny as well as canny (choose your word) ability to take a complex concept—in this case vocabulary—and present it in a form useful to students and teachers."
Allen Berger, Heckert Professor of Reading and Writing, Miami University

"The Vocabulary Teachers Book of Lists will serve as an invaluable reference tool to any instructor involved in teaching English or designing project work. The content spans the grades from 4th up to college and is characteristic of Edward Frys contribution to be both comprehensive and creative."
Pat Costigan, learning consultant, Bordentown Regional School District, New Jersey

"Teachers who want to mix test-prep with life-success-prep will welcome The Vocabulary Teachers Book of Lists as an easy-to-use resource for lively lessons. Theyll enjoy the wry humor of Dr. Edward Frys teaching suggestions as he marries word work to wordplay."
Lee Mountain, professor, curriculum and instruction, College of Education, University of Houston

The Vocabulary Teachers Book of Lists offers content for literally hundreds of vocabulary improvement lessons for elementary and secondary teachers, self-improving adults, home schoolers, and students studying for their SATs. While there are dozens of shorter high interest lists of words, the core of the book is based on Latin and Greek roots and prefixes. But the largest list is Homophones. In fact it is one of the largest lists of homophones you will ever use. This list, like many others, is appropriate for spelling lessons or writers reference as well as vocabulary improvement. There are two dozen teaching methods in the Methods chapter and teaching suggestions to help improve reading and writing are scattered throughout the book. The lessons can be as short as a word-a-day or as long as a school year. The range of difficulty can go from upper elementary to college freshman classes, and be as diverse as adult education to English language learners.

  ... Read more

Book Description

"An excellent refresher course or a way to start thinking about how to improve student outcomes."
Jacob O. Stampen, Department of Educational Administration
University of Wisconsin-Madison

"Creighton’s descriptions of the applicability and helpfulness of statistics for educators is especially strong. His use of plain language and school-based examples is crucial."
Scott McLeod, Assistant Professor
University of Cincinnati, OH

Cut through the statistics maze to improve instructional leadership!

Principals and teachers can now learn to maneuver through the myriad of statistical data to help create goals and strategies for change and improvement based on solid findings.

Comprehensive but accessible, Schools and Data focuses on the relevance of statistics in the day-to-day lives of principals and teachers. This step-by-step, easy-to-follow, easy-to-understand guide to using existing school data can help any school leader facilitate more appropriate and effective decision making. The author provides a less-threatening approach to statistical analysis based on actual school situations.

Key areas of exploration include:

• The role of statistics in the lives of principals and teachers
• An overview of data with real-life examples
• Step-by-step procedures for collecting and organizing data
• Statistical methods for interpreting data
• Spotting and understanding relationships
• Both SPSS and GB-STAT software procedures

The information is presented with easy-to-follow instructions, illustrations, and pertinent examples that educators can readily understand.This is an essential resource for any educator who wants to break through the statistical confusion to improve skills in problem analysis, program evaluation, data-driven decision making, and report preparation.

Book Description

Make your educational dreams come true!

Worried about how to pay for college? Afraid of drowning in a sea of student debt? Sure, Ben Kaplan once felt that way too. But that was before he discovered that there are billions of scholarship dollars out there for students with all types of interests, skills, and backgrounds. After winning enough college cash to cover virtually the entire cost of his dream school, he's written an indispensable guide that shows you how to stake your own scholarship claim.

Now in this fully revised and updated edition, Ben distills his proven step-by-step game plan that positions you to win big money for college -- regardless of your age, GPA, financial situation, or family background. With humor and insight, he reveals insider secrets for successfully finding, applying for, and winning lucrative scholarship awards -- empowering you with the information, inspiration, and know-how to afford the college of your choice and realize your educational dreams.

Special Note: As a valued reader of this book, you also receive access to the Coach's Locker Room at Ben Kaplan's ScholarshipCoach.com website. The Coach's Locker Room provides a wealth of bonus material, updates to information contained in How to Go to College Almost for Free, question and answer postings, and other helpful resources.

Reviews (59)

Perfect for Seniors
I can't say enough good things about this book. What I like best about it is that its useful no matter how much time you have left until a scholarship application is due. As a high school senior, I have some applications due in a couple weeks, some due in a couple months, and others I'll apply for when I'm in college. The author shows you how to package you application in a short amount of time for those coming deadlines, expand upon what you've done for those medium-term deadlines, and employ "content strategies" to position yourself for those long-term applications. This book is a really, really good starting point for any student serious about winning scholarships.

Not bad...It's a pretty good book.
Well, umm...This is a pretty good book with some good advice. The best part of the book is probably the first chapter, in which Ben Kaplan does a good job explaining the differences between the types of sources of funding for college students. Some of the other tips he gives on searching for scholarships are pretty good too. And he really seems like a great guy- he's really professional and sweet and funny, plus he's good-looking. Hmm, I wonder if he's still single. (You can just sense the "however" coming, can't you?)

However, a lot of the advice he gives is just common sense. Such as: be sure to apply for a large number of scholarships instead of just a few; construct one essay and adjust it slightly for several scholarship essays; don't pay for an online scholarship service, ask your teachers for help. There are a few innovative "Guerrilla Tactics" he points out, though, such as you can go to a high school/college other than your own and look on their scholarship database. I guess I'm just giving the whole book away here, aren't I? My point is, you don't necessarily need to read this book to help you find good scholarships. You can just go to a good online schol search engine, such as FastWeb or Mach 25, which are 100 percent free. FastWeb is especially good b/c it features articles that contain much of the same advice that is found in this book. Don't forget to fill out the FAFSA every year, which is also free.

So it would be best to save the 19.99 that you would have spent on this book (or 7.95 if you're buying it used, etc.) and just do scholarship research on your own and be sure to get crackin.

From A-Z, a battle plan for getting scholarships
When I saw the title of this book, I began salivating uncontrollably. Imagine, having someone else pay to send your kids to college. That may have been an overreaction. Surely anyone else that has college-bound kids should sympathize.

The book is well organized and written on a level that will not challenge a high school student. However, there are tips for a wider audience including the very young, older returning students, graduate students, and students that fit into special groups.

Clearly, the competition for scholarships can be intense, but with a logical game plan engaged in consistently, an applicant's effectiveness can be increased. The one consistent theme in the book is that a steady approach will lead to success.

I will take issue with a combination of techniques mentioned in the book. Kaplan suggests that students get their recommendations in electronic format so that they can print them out as needed. He also suggests that you solicit "small" changes to recommendation letters to make them "great" letters. I feel this may present many an ethical challenge to some applicants. To be clear, he does not suggest manufacturing recommendation letters.

He also provides access to his companion web site to add extra punch to the process.

In the final analysis, it is hard to argue with his success, and Kaplan was very successful on his own behalf. He interviewed many of the people involved as applicant and administrators and their tips appear in the book.

Could I give it TEN stars?
This is really a great strategy book. It helps you get your thoughts in order, takes the mystery out of financial aid and puts it in your hands where you feel like you have more control. I went ahead and applied for financial aid for my community college...and I got awarded $2600! :O I can pay for the summer semester without having to work!

I currently go to school full-time and work part-time at $7hr. But now, I have money for tuition, books, and other school expenses -and - I have been awarded $900 in work-study. None of these are loans! I can't believe it!!

Every night I read through this book, I make notes in pencil, I put yellow sticky notes on the most important pages for myself. Tonight I went to an office store and bought some materials for organizing my financial aid plans for the future. I am really MOTIVATED!

This book is worth every penny. As they say: If you think going to college is expensive, try ignorance! LOL! I am planning on going all way - Ph.D or Psy.D. The book has many pages in it, but it's light-speed reading, not intimidating in the least, and is frequently illustrated with humourous cartoons. I recommend it to anyone interested in empowering themselves better in seeking financial aid, no matter what your socio-economic status. ;)

too much fat
This book has some good information but you have to wade through the fat to get at it. It may be written mainly for aspiring college students, but I feel it is not complete enough or deep enough for parents. There are many other better books out there on the subject (notably Fiancial Aid for Dummies and Discounts and Deals at the Nations best 360 colleges). ... Read more

Book Description

"This book makes a distinct contribution with its completeness of coverage, easy-to-read style, and abundance of practical examples. Its suggestions are obviously based upon a wealth of personal experience, not just ‘book knowledge.’ The author is to be commended for writing a book aimed at practitioners, not theorists; it is sorely needed."
Diane M. Holben, Coordinator of Academic Services
Saucon Valley High School
Hellertown, PA

"Llewellyn has included several clear comparisons of the inquiry method to what is currently happening in classrooms, as well as many examples from each level of teaching. The books’ well-organized material will be informative for both experienced teachers and student teachers just starting out."
Joan Commons, Academic Coordinator
Teacher Education CREATE
UCSD, San Diego, CA

"As a science teacher, I can easily identify with the effective examples and activities presented, and see the potential connections to my own classroom. It offers a comprehensive approach to planning and developing constructivist mode educational practices and addresses a need within the educational community by being written in a user-friendly format without jargon or cliché style terms."
Raymond Francis, Professor
Teacher Education and Professional Development
Central Michigan University, Mt. Pleasant, MI

Tips and tools to harness the power of students’ curiosity and improve achievement in science!

The American Association for the Advancement of Science, the National Research Council, and the National Science Teachers Association all assert the importance of inquiry-based instruction as a central strategy for teaching science. In this informative guide, Douglas Llewellyn, a leading expert in the field of inquiry-based learning, draws upon personal experience, current research, and best practices to provide clear-cut insights with practical suggestions on how to develop teaching competencies and strategies, implementing inquiry as called for by the national standards.

Written for conscientious educators seeking to cultivate science learners’ sense of discovery and critical thinking skills, Inquire Within offers enlightening guidelines and information. Practitioners at every level—including elementary and secondary science teachers, principals, science department heads, staff development planners, curriculum supervisors, and college professors—will benefit from this comprehensive guide to inquiry-based learning.

Key features include:

• Step-by-step plans for applying inquiry-based methods to classroom environments and activities, including specific examples and scientific experiments
• Straightforward charts, rubrics, and other assessment tools to evaluate progress
• Clear and comprehensive definitions of inquiry, constructivism, and learning cycle strategies
• Real-life scenarios highlighting successful use of inquiry-based strategies
• Extensive resource information

About the Author:

Douglas Llewellyn is Director of Science at the Rochester City School District, a professor of undergraduate and graduate level science education at St. John Fisher College in Rochester, a former middle school science teacher, and junior high school principal. He is a frequent guest speaker at local and national science conferences and has been involved with numerous National Science Foundation grants on systemic reform.

  

Reviews (1)

An outstanding resource for teachers
There are a plethora of books out about inquiry, the hot new buzzword in science education. This one has real substance. As a scientist, I think Llewellyn captures the true nature of science inquiry. As a teacher and professional developer, I especially like the self-assessments and rubrics to help make the transition from traditional practice to inquiry-based practice in the classroom. I use it so often that I keep losing it because I am always lending it to someone. This book will be useful to anyone who teaches science and wants to reach more kids more effectively. ... Read more

Reviews (7)

Leaves much to be desired
The premise of this book is good, but it fails miserably in its execution. There is little to no really useful information here. You could probably compile something close to this book simply by culling facts, quotes and descriptions from college web sites. An actual college student's perspective would have been more useful than Asher's. If you purchase this, you will absolutely be taken aback by the sheer volume of useless filler. Everything useful in this book could probably be reduced to 15 or 20 pages. Just take a look at the book's overspaced layout and you'll get the idea that even the author knows its failings. I urge you not to buy this.

Ten Years?
I find it hard to believe that it took Donald Asher ten years to research this book. He provided useful information on a handful of colleges. The rest of the book was mostly filler. I did not have any sense of his personal experiences at the institutions he visited. This book was not worth the price.

A most unique college guide. Highly recommended.
Read this college guide togther with books such as "Colleges that Change Lives", "Beer and Circus", and "The Distinctive Colleges". You will see that the opinions expressed in this book is quite on the mark. This book should be regarded as a college guide to college guides. Plus, it tells you the representative colleges from each categories such as the scholarly colleges, the "great books" colleges, etc.

U.S. News and World Report's College Guide is pretty silly. It tells you how selective a college is. I.e., how good are the incoming students to each college. Well, we don't want to know how healthy are the patients that are admitted to a hospital. We want to know how much the hospital is going to do for a patient. Likewise, a college guide should tell us how much a college is going to do, educate, mentor and enable a student. Choosing a college is like buying a product. I want to know what that product will do for me, not how well I am.

Buy this book. It is highly recommended!

Worth a look for its different perspective
I considered giving it 3 stars, because it's mostly filler, but it was... well, "cool", and it provides a fresh perspective on colleges that might be quite valuable for some kids and their parents.

The author's basic concept is to look beyond the popular reputation of colleges and the "U.S. News" type of surveys. There are lots of essentially unknown places that would be very rewarding for the right kind of student. Some people are hung up on whether their friends have ever heard of the college; this book encourages people to get over that status-oriented thinking.

The college featured in this book that struck as unbelievably cool is Deep Springs, on a huge ranch in the high desert of Eastern California. The students (all 26 of them!) not only run the ranch, they also run the college... interviewing applicants for admission AND for faculty positions. It's only a 2-year school, and the students go on to top-tier schools (Ivies, Berkley, Swarthmore). And it's totally FREE!

But back to the book.... It's very disorganized (clearly intentionally so), and could have been pared down to less than 100 pages of actual content. Buy it if you are obsessive about college research (like me!), but borrow it if you have the opportunity.

disappointed
This was read near the end of the search, and had no new info. Many pages were dedicated to list of colleges and addresses--waste of paper. Some of the exerpted articles were quirky and enjoyable to read, but really not helpful. Very disappointed--going to used book store tomorrow. ... Read more

Book Description

Here's a tantalizing glimpse into the classrooms of innovative educators who are using technology to connect with students, colleagues, the local community, and the world beyond. Edutopia offers a unique perspective on education in which technology is employed to make schools more exciting and dynamic for everyone involved -- students work on real-world projects and consult with the best outside experts; teachers learn by tapping into the best people and practices in their field; and classrooms regularly connect with the rich resources of their communities and the world beyond.

A lively resource that teachers and parents will want to refer to again and again, Edutopia is filled with more than forty full-color photos, has a useful resource section, and comes with a unique CD-ROM that contains more than seventy minutes of video footage of these classrooms in action.

"This book provides educators and parents alike with an unprecedented opportunity to see the future. We must support the efforts of these national heroes--teachers and students from primary and secondary education, foundation and community leaders--as they use technology to make our students and our nation more competitive." - Bob Kerrey, president, New School University and former United States Senator and chair of the Congressional Web-Based Education Commission

"This book provides a glimpse of the future by showing us the best work of innovators today. Anyone involved in creating the schools of the future shoud read it." - Linda Darling-Hammond, professor, School of Education, Stanford University

"Edutopia is an exciting guide to help teaching and learning move into the twenty-first century." - Richard Riley, former Secretary of Education ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Edutopia... A celebration of effective school reforms
During a time of state budget crises that are calling for drastic changes to the educational system as we know it, Edutopia provides a breath of fresh air and a sense of hope for teachers and parents. With the budget cuts looming , and demand for accountability as measured by performance on simplified tests, and the need to do more with less, the more is, unfortunately, focused on increasing test performance. Conspicuously absent from the center of concerns is the children's learning process.

In creating Edutopia, the book, the newsletter and the web resources, The George Lucas Educational Foundation's work finds our children and their learning processes at the heart of the educational system. While many of us have grown weary of reforming education, and have resigned ourselves to the concept of "tinkering" with the system (Tyack and Cuban, 1995, Tinkering Toward Utopia), Edutopia has held on to the belief in the power of the people to make significant, lasting, and positive changes to the way our children learn, develop, and grow through the educational process. While there is great value to tinkering, Edutopia shows us that the only limitations we have are those that we place on ourselves. The contributors to this book shows us how much power is unleashed when we allow ourselves to let go of our fears of change and our reluctance to embrace the possibilities that lie in the amazing digital age.

Edutopia is not a traditional educational book. If you are looking for a book on learning theories, research studies, or foundations of a discipline, Amazon will be able to help you locate them. There are also books that will tell you how poorly we are doing at educating all children. Edutopia is a unique book filled with creative approaches to learning, assessment, community involvement, expanding the classroom, creatively shaping the learning environment. This book is about the passion that we have for the development of our children. The authors urge us to break out of the lament which plagues our practice, to free our imagination to use emerging technology to energize learning. The book is filled with real life examples with ordinary teachers who take extraordinary steps to inculcate innovative and substantial changes to the children's learning process. These are examples of people who believe that they can make a difference, that real learning can occur despite budget cuts and "uncontrollable" outside forces. The stories are about people who refuse to settle.

When I read the newspapers or listen to the evening news and get discouraged with talks of the demise of our children's education, and I am tempted to settle for the mere tinkering of our children's educational process, I pick up Edutopia and am reminded that there are people out there who are making incredible differences in the lives of children.

Eutopia--examining the present to discover the future
This is exactly what it promises to be --a very informative description of the best learning contexts that are being built with new technologies. Rather than celebrating the technology it focuses on the relationship between and among people and the way in which new forms of information and communication are reshaping these relationships.

If you want to think beyond the two covers of a book and 4 walls of a classroom, if you want to redesign schools and their communities as places of serious, playful learning in social contexts, this book will push your thinking. Yes, this book (and the 11 short movies) celebrates learning. No, this book is a not a critical examination of research that validates the learning outcomes although, for some of these projects, such studies exist.

A "success story" has value because it shows us how people have come to work together to create projects that push the boundaries past the routine. The purpose of these stories is to not simply to inform. We need stories like the ones in this book to inspire us, to energize us to move beyond what is now, and to realize that each of us can and should be thinking about what can be.

I use this book in my graduate courses to expose students to the range of project-based learning applications of technology, the evolving role in technology in assessment, the ways in which communities have become more involved in education and how communication technology is reshaping professional development into a continual everyday process. While a consistent philosophical and theoretical position underlies the examples, students need to abstract the principles.

The range and choice of stories is excellent but the stories are brief. Personally, I would have preferred a single spaced book with twice the information on each of the projects and examples. But in a multimedia connected world, stories can link to web sites, videos, and more extensive information on the Edutopia site and on the web. Celebrating success may not fit the critical stance that some take toward the work of education, but with all of the challenges, it is inspiring when people connect.

Worst Teacher Education Text I Have Read
This book is nothing but George Lucas' personal tribute to the technology that made him a superstar. This book is filled with rhetoric, unsubstantiated claims and lots of full-color pictures. It does not have any use for someone in a teacher education program, as it reads more like a coffee table book. The included CD-ROM is the icing on the huge cake of b.s., and goes to show, once again, that if you are rich and famous, you can publish anything. ... Read more

Book Description

Sponsored by American College Personnel Association and National Association of Student Personnel Administrators

Good Practice in Student Affairs expands on key practice standards outlined in a joint document sponsored by the American College Personnel Association and the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators: The Principles of Good Practice for Student Affairs. Based on the findings of the joint study group, this volume identifies the best practices in student affairs, presents research used to define the practices, and gives examples of how to these principles in the field. This essential guide to effective practice is for student affairs professionals on all types of campuses.

Authors include leading scholars and experienced practitioners in the fields of higher education and student affairs.They draw from the most current thinking and research to show how readers can translate principles for good practice into programs and services that support curricular objectives, advance student learning and development, and enrich campus communities.In a field where there have been diverging views of the role, scope, and mission of student affairs work, this resource provides a comprehensive action plan for fostering the education of students through student affairs.

... Read more

Reviews (6)

Ends the Montessori Mystique
If you are debating whether to put your child in a Montessori school or keep them there this a great book to purchase. Our daughter is now entering 2nd grade at a Montessori school, and I wish I had read this book sooner! It takes away the veil of educator mystque from around the method. Answer questions I hear from people who criticize the method, and gives a basis and a history for the Montessori method. It also talks about the whys and the where-fors that I never really got answered by the teachers. Well worth the investment.

A MUST HAVE if you want to understand the Montessori world
I want to thank the author for writing such a clear and eye opening book about the Montessori schools and methods, it really helped answer all of my questions about the Montessori world. As a parent my soon is now getting closer to his 2nd birthday. And unfortunately I see that the traditional Day Cares are not the best answer for his personal and academic growth. (trust me, he used to go to one of the best in the country) and we had checked with several others just to make sure.

I always heard about the Montessori schools and " how different " their teaching is and how more secure, self-confident, smart, aware their kids usually come out. But I also always heard the bad rumors about it. So I decided to investigate before changing my son current school to a Montessori one.

This book is written very clear to answer all those questions and the analysis that the author does regarding the "myths" that other people create about the Montessori methods, makes it very clear to anyone who is just starting from ground zero to understand more about the Montessori world.

After reading the book, I finally found a great Montessori school here in GA after looking at more then 8. The author also gives you some "hints" in what to look for when visiting a school. (that really helped alot).

My 2 CENTS for anyone who is starting to think about moving your kid to a Montessori school are the following:

1) Even though you will be paying a little bit more (according to the state that you are in it could have some exceptions regarding price, there are few states that have Montessori method teaching in a public school ) then a good day care, it will be worth it in the long run.

From 0 to 6 years old are the crucial ages to plant a good foundation in your kid. This maybe the most important investment that you will ever do in your life.

From 2 months to 3 years old:

Is what Montessori called: A second embryonic period occurs after birth during the first three years of life when the child's intelligence is formed, when the child acquires the culture and language into which he or she is born. It is a period when the core of personality, social being and the essence of spiritual life are developed.

From 3 to 6 years old:

Children of this age possess what Dr. Montessori called the Absorbent Mind. This type of mind has the unique and transitory ability to absorb all aspects physical, mental, spiritual of the environment, without effort or fatigue. As an aid to the child's self-construction, individual work is encouraged. The following areas of activity cultivate the children's ability to express themselves and think with clarity.

Note: There are Montessori schools that will go up to High School.

2) Also check if the school is AMI (Association Montessori International) certified. AMI was founded by M. Montessori and they go to every school that is affiliated every few years to ensure that the Montessori standards are being held or check if the school is AMS (American Montessori Society) certified.

Unfortunately now a days you will find a lot of schools that will say they are Montessori and some can really have a good Montessori teaching curriculum (even though they are not affiliated) but if the school have the AMI or AMS is away to ensure that you should have in that school good quality in the Montessori methods.

3) Also look in several Montessori schools (not just one) and ask the teacher to show you the classroom and some of their teaching methodology. ( You need to get a good gut feeling that this is the right school for your kid, no matter if they are AMI or AMS certified). Make sure that you visit a school during a school session and see if the kids are happy and busy with their work and the environment is a peaceful and harmonic one .

4) Lastly check out this book and do a search in your favorite search engines for the names below under AMI or AMS web sites they have list of all the schools that are certified in your state.

Association Montessori Internationale

American Montessori Society

Good luck and I'm sure you will be seeing the results in your kid very soon.

A MUST HAVE if you want to understand about Montessori Meth
I want to thank the author for writing such a clear and eye opening
book about the Montessori schools and methods it really helped answer
all of my questions about the Montessori world. As a parent my soon is
now getting closer to his 2nd birthday and I see that unfortunately
the traditional Day Cares are not the best answer for his personal and
academic growth. (trust me, he used to go to one of the best in the
country) and we checked several others just to make sure.

I always
heard about the Montessori schools and " how different "
their teaching is and how more secure, self-confident, smart, aware
their kids usually come out. But I also always heard the bad rumors
about it. So I decided to investigate before changing my son current
school to a Montessori one.

This book is written very clear to
answer all those questions and the analysis that the author does
regarding the "myths" that other people create about the
Montessori methods, makes it very clear to anyone who is starting from
ground zero to understand more about the Montessori world.

After
reading the book, I finally found a great Montessori school here in GA
after looking at more then 8, the author also gives you some
"hints" in what to look for when visiting a school. (that
really helped alot).

My 2 CENTS for anyone who is starting to think
about moving your kid to a Montessori school are the following:

1)
Even though you will be paying a little bit more (according to the
state that you are in it could have some exceptions regarding price,
there are few states that have Montessori method teaching in a public
school ) then a good day care, it will be worth it in the long
run.

From 0 to 6 years old are the crucial ages to plant a good
foundation in your kid. This maybe the most important investment that
you will ever do in your life.

From 2 months to 3 years old:

Is
what Montessori called: A second embryonic period occurs after birth
during the first three years of life when the child's intelligence is
formed, when the child acquires the culture and language into which he
or she is born. It is a period when the core of personality, social
being and the essence of spiritual life are developed.

From 3 to 6
years old:

Children of this age possess what Dr. Montessori called
the Absorbent Mind. This type of mind has the unique and transitory
ability to absorb all aspects physical, mental, spiritual of the
environment, without effort or fatigue. As an aid to the child's
self-construction, individual work is encouraged. The following areas
of activity cultivate the children's ability to express themselves and
think with clarity.

Note: There are Montessori schools that will go
up to High School.

2) Also check if the school is AMI (Association
Montessori International) founded my M. Montessori and they go to
every school that is affiliated every few years to ensure that the
Montessori standards are being held or AMS (American Montessori
Society). Unfortunately now a days you will find a lot of schools
that will say they are Montessori and some can really have a good
Montessori teaching curriculum (even though they are not affiliated)
but if the school have the AMI or AMS is away to ensure that you
should have on that school good quality in the Montessori
methods.

3) Also look in several Montessori schools (not just one)
and ask the teacher to show you the classroom and some of their
teaching methodology. ( You need to get a good gut feeling that this
is the right school for your kid, no matter if they are AMI or AMS
certified). Make sure that you visit a school during a school session
and see if the kids are happy and busy with their work and the
environment is a peaceful and harmonic one .

4) lastly check out
this book....

It was wonderful. Packed full of information.
I ordered this book for a research paper and it helped me tremendously. I believe it is the most up-to-date book I have read yet. The book is a very descriptive account of both the pros and the cons of Montessori.

a much needed resource
This book explains things in a way that students, teachers, professionals, parents and opponents can benefit equally. It explains many controversial issues in an easy to understand fashion. ... Read more

Book Description

This handy, pocket-sized Q & A study guide helps you develop a deeper understanding of this sensitive area on the PMP Exam. The book contains 150 questions on the subject of situational and professional responsiblity of project management. ... Read more

Reviews (4)

Good Book
Can get off B&N.com for $30 (free S&H) instead of $40.

Great Professional Responsibility and Situational Questions
I hesitated when purchasing this pocket book because of the price; however, it is worth the $$. The questions are complex. Complex in that you are often asked to pick the BEST answer, so they are designed to really make you evaluate your pick. The book is divided out into the nine knowledge areas. The answers are in the back of the book with the explanations. Each answer also has a supporting reference and a page number via the coordinating PMP Exam Prep, version 3. I think this is a great little study guide. A PMP studier in Georgia.

Real insight to situational questions
This is a handy pocket guide, contains situational questions covering all PMI process areas, with answers explained for clear understanding. This really helped in properly approcahing the PMP exam questions.

One of a kind book on important PMP exam areas
This single-topic, 208 page book focuses on preparing you for two aspects of the PMP exam:

(1) the situational questions, of which there can be as many as 150
(2) professional responsibility questions

Both aspects are barriers to passing the exam and this book is probably the most complete and definitive guide you can study to prepare for these exam areas. ... Read more

Book Description

Revised by a team of college students under the direction of Bernard McGrane, this edition of an underground classic marks out new territory in college participatory education. Its purpose remains the same: to encourage students to educate themselves by calling their attention to the college experience as a whole: the personal, social, intellectual, and spiritual demands and opportunities presented by college life. In a personable and refreshingly straightforward style, Bell and McGrane's critical discussion of academic life distinguishes between learning the institutional rules of higher education and internalizing those rules, demystifies professors and teaching assistants by discussing their institutional roles and incentives, and invites students to take responsibility for - and make the most of - their educational experiences.

Reviews (8)

I wish it would have been required in 1986!!!!
Being a non-traditional student, I needed this years ago. This would have uncovered the mystery of College for me as a teenager and explained so much that College courses just do not offer to Freshmen. I will hand this down to my children and encourage any parent to purchase it for all High School Seniors.

Survival Manual is an understatement
This is a great book. It makes a great high school graduation gift for any kid about to go off to college. I wish I'd been able to read it before I began my undergraduate education. It points out a lot of pitfalls and potential problems that most recent high school grads are totally oblivious to in addition to reminding people there's more to living than trying to make the dean's list every semester. You need friends, you need a real life, you need to be comfortable with who you are.

Lifesaving and Lifechanging
Reading this book for the first time (I have read it many times since) I was most impacted by the chapter on grades. Bell hits the nail on the head: the entire system of grading, whether necessary for ranking students or not, does influence the way students perceive themselves. True learning happens when one is free from the quest for an A...when one is learning for the learning's sake.

This book is an excellent emotional and psychological lifesaver for any high school, college, or grad student. I love this book!

Pushing her buddist/socialist idealogies onto students
I am a returning college student and had to purchase and read this book as a requiremnet for a class. What I found is that Inge Bell is just pushing her personal buddist/socialist ideas onto young students who are just starting to experience the feelings of freedom that comes with becoming an adult. It's amazing to me that someone who made their career in academia has only everything negative to say about it. Grades are an important benchmark to help you gauge your progress of learning and if you don't get good grades it is usually from to much partying and not enough self discipline (not what most college students want to hear). But that's OK with her, she just blames all of societies problems on these institutions of higher learning and their professors.
I think this book does a disservice to students and if you must read it to try and balance this onesided view, which you'll have to do on your own because most instructors who require this book for their class won't dare provide any others views that will contradict the one presented in this book!

It Should Be Required
I am a college instructor, and I use this book in my introductory level classes. It is especially useful for incoming freshman just out of high school. The book discusses grades, teachers, term papers, graduation, and life in general, subjects often confusing to new college students. I highly recommend this book to people entering the college environment. ... Read more

Book Description

Far beyond simple data archives and streamlined access, enterprise knowledge portals represent the future of corporate informationmanagement. Seamlessly interweaving three essential principles -- people, content, and technology -- an effective portal is the ultimate roadmap to everyconceivable permutation of the components in a business's landscape.

This prescient, authoritative book is a vital reference for anyone concerned with harvesting, creating, distributing, or analyzing company information. HRexecutives and IT professionals will learn not only how to create the atlas to their company's universe but also how to define and assign the roles andresponsibilities that will ensure long-term efficacy and relevance. Companies will have the ability to:

* Build technology around knowledge requirements, not the other way around * Customize desktop access around individual requirements and workstyles * Make better decisions as a result of quick access to crucial information * Maximize speed, efficiency, accuracy, and flexibility of knowledge transfer. ... Read more

Reviews (11)

Enterprise Portal Boosting Productivity and Profitability
Enterprise Knowledge Portals is a good reference book that is relevant to both a business and IT audience. Heidi Collins rightly reminds her audience that the enterprise portal should be designed around and be implementing the organization's knowledge management strategy. The enterprise portal is key to manage and communicate knowledge within an organization and to eventually share part of it with strategic external constituencies. Collins briefly describes the existing four portal categories: enterprise information portals, e-business and e-commerce portals, mobile commerce portals and Internet portals. Over time, a portal could metamorphose itself into a hybrid creature that offers the functionality of different portal categories to meet the needs of multiple constituencies.

Enterprise portal is gaining increasing acceptance because there is great value in having a single repository for all the information knowledge workers need to do their job. Knowledge workers should not waste their precious time locating information or answering questions again and again that could be addressed on the enterprise portal. In the process, innovation could get a definitive boost by facilitating both internal and external collaboration. Enterprise portal strategy should not be separated from alliance strategy for that reason.

A portal reporting team made up of cross-functional members from diverse business functions should be identified to get widespread buy-in. The portal reporting team could meet resistance or deal with skepticism from entrenched interests that are happy with the status quo. An executive sponsor is key to deal with these eventual obstacles effectively. A budget roadmap should also be defined to keep track of costs associated with the project and facilitate ROI calculation.

Portal components should be defined and organized around work processes and then prioritized. Data and/or applications needed to support portal components should be determined and documented. Data should be scrubbed, mapped and validated to guarantee credibility. Security and confidentiality should not be overlooked in the process.

When the portal is ready to be launched, one individual or a dedicated team should be identified as the single contact responsible for managing the portal and keeping its content fresh and relevant to the target audience. Before making the portal widely accessible, a portal pilot is advisable. Usage should be tracked. Furthermore, the pilot audience should be surveyed on a regular basis to foster acceptance, document key learnings and tweak the portal wherever necessary.

The portal management should keep in mind that the portal is a collective effort that requires buy-in from multiple constituencies to avoid stall content. Roles and responsibilities should be clearly delineated to insure accountability on that point. Ultimately, a portal is dynamic because its objectives are associated with corporate strategy and vision.

As portal project manager and administrator in addition to my marketing roles and responsibilities in a large company, I have only one regret about Enterprise Knowledge Portals. Some portal pages reproduced are generic screen snapshots that have little bearing on what a portal reporting and/or managing team is expected to tackle in the life of such a project.

Great book for serious Knowldge Portal Architects
Finally there is a book on what it takes to rollout an Enterprise Knowledge Portal (EKP). A lot has been written and said by Analysts, Vendors and other experts on the EKP subject but when it comes to actually how to implement EKPs, there isn't much out there other than vendor's marketing hype and analyst's 'reports regurgitation'. Now Heidi, through her practical EKP implementation experience, has written this masterpiece to demystifies the EKP implementation roadmap with easy to understand templates that guide you through entire rollout process. What I find interesting is that Heidi provides numerous benchmarks to set realistic expectation at each phase of EKP implementation. I strongly recommend this book to IT planners, architects, managers as well as the project team who are serious to implement successful EKP in their organizations.

Naeem Hashmi,
CTO, Information Frameworks
Author: Business Information Warehouse for SAP
Co-author: Getting the Most from Business Intelligence & SAP Business Warehouse
Technical Editor: SAP BW Certification: A Business Information Warehouse Study Guide

Must-Read for Businesspeople and IT alike
I am an IT Manager responsible for knowledge management initiatives. I have found "Enterprise Knowledge Portals" to be an invaluable and one-of-a-kind reference. The book is a comprehensive reference for developing a portal initiative and the prerequisite elements of a knowledge management program. Two infrastructure layers of particular interest to me are content-based retrieval and related taxonomy-categorization systems, and this book makes these subjects understandable to technician and business user alike. I was also pleased to find Collins' emphasis of a subject that is often ignored in KM initiatives: Usability. Her chapter on support and competency centers provides guidance about usability, the magic ingredient helping assure success in KM projects and one that is often overlooked on technical requirements short lists. I found Collins' description of all these subjects succinct, readable and comprehensive. The book is a must-read for both IT staff and businesspeople assigned to portal and KM projects.

The Knowledge Transformation point of view
In this book Heidi presents the challenges of developing and implementing knowledge portals in organizations in a very articulate yet simple way. The book walks you through the phases and the challenges associated with implementing both knowledge management practices and systems. You will get insights to what others have experienced and what you could expect. "If you just build it, they might not come" you have to get the culture and the people involved in the process.

Excellent - Packed with Knowledge
Enterprise Knowledge Portals is filled with important, "real-world" information and tools for any organization planning or deploying a knowledge management portal. Heidi Collins documents case studies and a methodology with valuable questionnaires and planning models that will enhance any deployment. If you already have a portal initiative, the book can help your organization move from a departmental portal to an enterprise portal solution.... ... Read more

Book Description

Evaluation for Continuing Education provides the useful and practical tools necessary to ensure a successful program evaluation. The book presents systematic guidelines aimed at enhancing understanding of evaluation concepts and procedures, and offers manageable ways to selectively include evaluation activities as an integral part of program planning, implementation, and justification. Author Alan Knox reveals that the key to successful evaluations that improve education programs for adults is a basic rationale for why and how. He helps readers select and develop their own rationale throughout the course of the book while suggesting fundamental evaluation concepts and procedures. He shows how to distinguish some program aspect upon which a specific evaluation project will focus-including needs assessment, goals and policies, staffing assessment, materials development, and more-and summarizes examples of evaluation reports that reflect the various types of providers and scales on which evaluations are conducted. Knox offers a particularly wide variety of these examples, enabling readers to reflect on implications for their own evaluations and fashion unique guidelines and procedures that fit their own situations. ... Read more

Book Description