Education Teaching Books

Had to read this book for my graduate Adult Learner class. Good information, especially if your focus is understanding how to teach adults.

This is one of the most poorly written texts covering adult learning theory. The author has picked a selection of different theories but only gives a short introduction to each - leaving many questions and concerns after reading each chapter.

The information given on educational theorists is horribly fragmented. In many chapters there is no context, history or biography of the theorists given. If you'd like fragmented information on learning theories - this is the book.

If you'd like comprehensive information on learning theories-this is not the right book. The information has to be supplemented with a lot of hard work researching details from the internet or other educational texts.

This was a required text for a graduate level course in adult education and it was a waste of money.

I bought this book for a masters study class because it was half the price they were going to charge me at the book store. This book is well written and easy to read. I have read other books by Merriam and they were not this well put together, but I would recommend this book.

Learning in Adulthood is one of those "classic" text/reference books i.e., the kind that you actually read and return to time and again. I am particularly taken by the way the authors summarize the major thinking in the various content areas. They extract the key thoughts of hundreds of research works, compare and contrast, synthesize. They are careful to present dissenting views. Most of their references are recent. I also like the fact that their own voices are heard and they are strong, experienced voices. This is an ideal source book for graduate students that are writing or will be writing a thesis or dissertation.

Before I give my review, let me state my bias. I am an American through-and-through. I love my country. America feeds the world. America gives billions in aid to countries that openly declare their hostility to our culture. Also, I am almost 70 and am grateful for the opportunities that America has given me. Therefore I become annoyed at books that state as fact that America is somehow responsible for all the world's woes. Although there is much that is scholarly and well-researched in this book, and although it was required reading for a course I am taking, I was annoyed by its constant inferences that Western Society is at fault for all the world's problems. The terms "oppress, oppressive, and oppression" are used more than 40 times when describing the teacher-student relationship. American success is blamed for world terrorism. This is unnecessary in an otherwise scholarly explanation of educational trends for adulthood. In an effort to sound super-scholarly the vocabulary and sentence structure is full of inflated and pretentious statements. Concepts that could be described in five simple words are given in long sentences of 5 syllable words strung together in clauses that practically require the reader to get out the Unabridged.

I recommend this book to ALL my PhD. students. I recommend it to you! Your university's specific format may differ, but a dissertation proposal guided by this book will be thorough and conceptually useful as a road map for the dissertation itself.

The authors should have considered a non-native reader in preparing this book. I feel that this book would be good, but because of long and complex sentences, the readers, especially, non-native readers, must be challenged.In order to share a lot of ideas the authors suggested with readers as much as possible, the authors ought to revise this book with simple structures, short sentences, and plain English.

This did not include pictures as I was hoping for but the information was excellent.

I really enjoy this book. It is very organized but unfortunately it isn't very colorful. There is a lot of helpful information in this book.

I have a 3 year old with autism. She hit a rough patch and I was hoping for ideas on visual cues to help with transitions. This book was not at all helpful to me as the cues are much better geared to school age kids, even older school age kids in my opinion.

This is an excellent resource for those teachers working with students with autism. Visual supports are the best way to help an autistic child. The techniques described really work!!! The colored pictures of the supports were helpful, too!

Experts Marlene J. Cohen and Donna L. Sloan combine their expertise in Visual Supports for People with Autism: A Guide for Parents & Professionals, an educational guide for parents and professionals responsible for instructing children with autism spectrum disorder. Packed with examples and black-and-white photographic illustrations of over 140 visual supports, Visual Supports for People with Autism is an excellent supplementary resource for working on problem learning areas such as language, attention, memory, motivation, sequential skills, or social skills. An excellent, reader-friendly guide featuring reproducible diagrams to facilitate its ideas and concepts for enhancing learning.

Great strategy for teaching vocabulary and word association. My students love it. They say things like, "This is Fun"! I agree.

I got to listen to the author, Timothy Rasinki, do a presentation for our district and he had wonderful suggestions and ideas. I bought this book for my students to use as filler activities and they are fun. Of course you have to work on a few together until they get the hang of what it is they must do. Some of the words may be difficult to get for some, it may not be something that many will be able to finish on their own, so I had mine work in pairs.
He also suggested using the book "Instant Vocabulary" which I also bought and loved it. It helped me increase their vocabulary (and mine) by listing root words and their meanings. Great for 5 minute fillers to introduce a root word or two.

Kids enjoy the challenge of doing the word ladders, and it is a good opportunity to introduce new vocabulary to them. They are fun and quick - perfect for the 'downtime' the brain needs after intensive instruction.

The book has been updated with the most current and emerging technologies and their use in the classroom. The emphasis continues to be in the integration of technology in the instructional process and the utilization of the ASSURE model to guarantee success. The classroom examples in the included DVD will appeal to the needs of the visual learners. Of particular interest for the veteran teacher or media specialist are the integration ideas and the teaching strategies for each media presented. The inclusion of sample rubrics and checklists will provide plenty of ideas for assessment. A must buy for National Board candidates.

Many technology books are outdated by the time they are published. I am pleased to say that this book methodically moves through effective instruction and then how to use technology to aid it. I will be using this book as a reference for some time to come.

I wasn't impressed with this book for two separate reasons. Firstly, the production standard struck me as almost 1960s' in style - black and white photos (nice 'grainy' look), big bulky monitors and a general aged format. It is peculiar I agree, but the book looks like it was written at least 30 if not 40 years ago. The second set of quibbles I have with the text is that it presume the reader is almost completely ignorant of any kind of presentation technology. This assumption may have been acceptable several decades ago but the universality of TV seriously undermines its value. Television is constantly exposting the public to new technologies. For instance, in the text there is a piece with graphic devoted to how to load a slide projector. How relevant is that to today's classroom? Moreover, any decent bit of kit comes with instructions. I accept that the authors wish to do a thorough hand holding with the reader, but the book assume too little exposure to technology which renders it advice mediocre in places. Possibly it should be retitled Instructional Media Technology for Complete Dummies. The bits on the web are small (literally bits) which is not a good sign. Overall, the book was lightweight - possibly I am being unfair as I am not looking for the technology it covers, but for review of current and future developments. In any event I regret buying the book as it doesn't fit my needs and I didn't like its presentation style. It is a tired book, more like jaded, that does not mesh well with the style culture of modern multimedia technology.

As a co-author, I can report that Instructional Media upholds the tradition established by this textbook in 1982. It is aimed primarily at those who are at the entry level in terms of using media for education or training. It helps instructors decide what media to use for different teaching/learning situations, and gives practical tips on HOW to achieve the best effect when using technology. The book began with a focus on audiovisual media; the sixth edition retains the most relevant audiovisual content, but shifts focus toward computer-based delivery. What remains constant is the conviction that effectiveness of mediated instruction depends very much on what the instructor does...how the technology is integrated into the overall learning program.

Pay no attention to one gentleman's "Apple Pie" comment about the step-by-step instructions included in this book. After all, not everyone is as technologically adept as he may be. If you have already mastered such technology, then this material is possibly too basic for you. But for the rest of us, one of the major benefits of this book is indeed the fact that the instructions have been so clearly presented!

If you are an educator, as I am, and you are looking to learn more about real-world technology as it applies to your classroom or learning center, then I HIGHLY recommend this book (8th Ed.).

Grammar for Middle School has worked quite well for my high school students. I work in an urban school district where students' skills are generally several years below grade-level, so this book is definitely appropriate for them. It has nice scaffolding, and corresponds better with their high school sentence composing book (the small, purple one).

I received the book in good shape. The cover looked next to new and there were very little marks or highlights in the text.

Teachers and the Law (6th Edition) was the primary text used for my National-Louis University (Wheeling, IL) School Law course. Although the text implies that only information regarding teachers will be discussed, Fischer actually covers legal issues that deal with many levels of educational law including student cases, administrator cases, and even cases that don't involve teachers at all, but loosely relate to educational law in general.

This was my first exposure to any formally-presented school law information and I must confess that I was quite overwhelmed at first. Fischer tends to present a major case very clearly and then fully explains its implications and outcomes. However, he then presents several other related cases that often have conflicting or opposing outcomes to the original point.

What I learned from this text is that there is very little "black and white" when it comes to interpreting school law. I was interested to learn that even the landmark decision cases are still constantly debated in the courts and sometimes ignored when decisions are made by judges or juries. It took our experienced professor to help us understand the subtext of some of the cases and discern the probable reasons why some cases were decided in seemingly arbitrary ways.

In general, Teachers and the Law greatly increased my understanding of school law, but without an experienced professor, I would not have gleaned as much practical information.

Case law, unless done perhaps by the likes of John Grissam, is not page turning material. However, the authors have done an incredible job of putting very pressing and often complex areas into an accessible and engaging book. Written in an easy to use question and answer format, the updated book touches on education legal issues ranging from free speech, to students with disabilities, to internet issues. While of great use for educator (or educators to be), the book could also easily be adapted for classroom use, either as a debate or research starter. Worth every penny of its price.

I sent this book back. While it has some good information in it, it is two tied to the author's religious beliefs.

Whether you have led small groups for years or you are just starting out, you will find practical advice in this great resource. The text is easy to follow and can easily be used by small group leaders as they "group" together to learn to lead.

Most of the Church is now focussed on relational evangelism. What better way to cultivate a personal relationship than in the small group. The group offers the opportunity to really know each other. Once strong relationships are in place, people begin to grow, multiplication takes place, and lives are changed.

If this is what you want to accomplish you will find easy to understand technique in Leading a Life Changing Small Group.

The thrust of the book is to help you organize a small group ministry in your church, as in almost reorganizing how your church works to include everyone in a small group and pastor them in a small group setting. There is a substantial section on how to conduct different types of small groups, which is what I bought it for, and that part is very good. I've been leading small groups for a few years - some of the insights are things you would learn over time, others I hadn't quite gotten to yet. I would highly recommend this to anyone leading a small group. I disagree with his belief in women leading small groups of mixed gender, but that's a minor disagreement, the content is still great.

Our 350 member church has studied 'small groups' intentionally for 18 months. We just launched 18 groups with 150 participants. Things appear to be going very well. This manual has grown continually in our esteem and confidence. It is thorough, Biblically rich, helpful in the extreme, organized, & educationally sound. A small group leader can take this resource, and with study and effort, learn how to start immediately as an effective leader and then how to continually enrich the group's life together. A church program can choose it as a foundation and better the odds for success greatly and instantly. Highest recommendation. Thank you, Willow.

Our congregation has used Bill Donahue's Leading Life-Changing Small Groups as our primary reference manual for training small group leaders for over 5 years. It gets right to the heart of the organization and leadership issues needed for successful ministry. It is also an excellent reference for avoiding and resolving problems that may occur as people get to know one another.

This book is impressive. The problems are both fun and logical, well seated in 1st grade skill levels yet challenging too as it offeres new information, and new ways to use old skills. My son likes the clean drawings very much. The book exposes some standard test format as well, gets kids familiar with their future assessment exams.

The book is well built, also, I think it will hold up well under daily 6 years old boy wear. The only thing I'd suggest is to add more word problems so kids associate math more with everyday life. To that end, we use Beestar math (a nice web site at http://www.beestar.org) to complement.

Overall this is a great book for home schoolers, or parents whose children need a little boost in their math skills from home.

This book would be great in a classroom setting but not so much for one on one at home. We had to skip or modify a few of the activities that required "class room participation" (such as counting the number of girls/boys in class) because I bought this book to practice with my son at home over the summer.