Education Teaching Books

Good information, it was purchased for school but I enjoyed the concepts. It is something everyone should read.

Although the topics discussed in this book initially seemed a bit convoluted or wordy to me, upon second review it was a worthwhile read. I have found that appreciating the labor and reflection involved in critical thinking is much like acquiring a taste for some strange food or drink you didn't like as a child, but then as one matures so do their tastebuds and expectations. "Learning to Think Things Through" was a good way to break myself into the subject of critical thinking. Again it came across as a bit overstated and even technical at first, but then after re-reading some portions, I found it to be a very good starting place.

Susan Eaton, the author of The Children In Room E4, wants you to see things the right way, or at least, the way she sees them. There's no crime in that, especially when you're drafting a gimmicky non-fiction book on social injustice and want to convert readers into your realm of thought. It can be destructive, however, when you're method of persuading is so overtly one-sided that it becomes almost painful to continue reading what acts as force-fed propaganda from a quasi-socialist.

Main scope of book: the inner-city Hartford school system, which act as a microcosm for inner city schools across the country, is racially segregated. The reasons for this are both direct and indirect, but regardless of the reasons, Connecticut states that this is unconstitutional. Eaton takes the reader alongside the process of the historic Sheff vs. O'Neil case, the case that decided a method of forced integration between urban minority students and their white suburban counterparts. For the plaintiffs, as well as for Eaton, the solution cannot simply be found in compounding funds into a the inner city school systems, but rather, by an extensive effort in desegregating the systems by redrawing district lines that were once defined by socioeconomic redlining and shady real estate practices designed to keep blacks and Hispanics away from their white counterparts. This is a noble idea, and certainly one of merit, but Eaton strategically corrodes her analysis by blatantly ignoring some counterarguments, arguments that anyone with a computer and ten minutes of free time could have used to negate her entire thesis.

#1. Nowhere in her book does Eaton mention the Kansas City Project, a plan that began in 1985 which lasted until 1997 where a federal district judge ordered the state of Missouri to begin an extensive desegregation process within Kansas City. $2 billion dollars were earmarked for the project, as well as an annual multi-million dollar integration fund set aside to provide transportation for white students into the city. Elaborate schools were built; well-qualified teachers replaced the mediocre educators; brand new computers were installed in the schools; top-echelon extra curricular were added; but after roughly ten years, the test scores were almost exactly the same as they were in 1985 - among the lowest in the nation. White suburbanites didn't take the bait either. The plan initially predicted 6-10 thousand white students moving into the new schools annually, but proponents of the plan were hugely disappointed when the zenith of the integration movement was a mere 1,500 students, many of whom moved back to their old districts after one year.

#2. Eaton's lambasting of conservative educational reforms. While I'm not a Republican (or Democrat for that matter), I found it pathetic that Eaton goes out of her way to bash the conservative policies of Nixon, Rehnquist, Reagan, Bush the 1st, and Little Bush. Nowhere does she attack a liberal policy which also ended in failure (of which there have been MANY). This blatant one-sidedness does nothing but hurt Eaton's credibility as an objective writer and limits her ability to reason with the segments of her readership who actually try to think objectively.

#3. Eaton all but ignores the socioeconomic divide in her book. While she goes to great lengths to illustrate the many reasons why racial segregation exists - including "white flight", unethical real estate practices, and racial profiling in job hiring - she fails to note the socioeconomic Elephant in the Room in terms of single-parent homes in urban areas as opposed those in the academically affluent suburbs. Even her poster boy for African American success - John Brittain - is describes as a man who has BOTH parents heavily involved in his upbringing, a fact that Eaton fails to accentuate.

As a writer, Eaton is sound. As a propagandist, she is even better. As an objective framer of thought, however, Eaton leaves a great deal to be desired.

Reader be warned: you won't be getting a fair or honest view in The Children in Room E4. You will, however, be getting a rhetorical treatise into the realm of socialist one-sidedness, where the problem is defined but enormous amounts of reasons for the problem are ignored, while a plan of corrective solution is almost entirely lost in all of her rhetoric.

This book goes beyond simply explaining what the challenges in urban education are -- it shows where they came from. With a detailed history of the Supreme and Federal Court decisions since Brown v. Board of Education, Eaton illustrates how segregated and isolated schooling has been perpetuated and gotten worse in the last 50 years. Her analysis does it in two ways: first, by focusing closely on a high achieving Hartford class of students in their third and fourth grade years (the Micro view) and by showing how the Macro problems -- the legal history -- have enabled the complete ignoring and disempowerment of American cities.

In so doing, Eaton tells the story of Sheff v. O'Neill -- a landmark Connecticut court decision on the vastly segregated and unequal state of schooling in the Hartford area. She explains how the legal team put the case together, the data they collected, their Constitutional interpretations, and their battles to win....

If you are from Connecticut, interested in schooling or in school law, this book is perfect for you.

Susan Eaton clearly explains the current state of urban education, particularly in Hartford, Connecticut. The book is wonderfully written in two interwoven narratives. The first traces the seemingly unending legal proceedings surrounding education in Hartford. The second contains what I feel is the true spirit of the book. Eaton tells the reader a story in language so plain and clear that any teacher will feel the overwhelming, systematic, and largely ignored challenges facing `the children in room E4.' Yet, the story also tells us of an amazing educator and her students. Eaton brings to us those everyday student-teacher exchanges that give us hope; hope that our curious and intelligent children will be blessed by dedicated teachers. `The Children in Room E4' inspires me as a new teacher. Lastly, it reminds me that while the state of urban education nationwide is dire, the challenges of where one teaches can be overcome by the kindness, compassion, and relentless energy of a great teacher.

Can separate ever be equal? Over and over again, we seem to be coming back to the same question our country has struggled with for decades. Countless court cases later, Susan Eaton describe in heart breaking detail, the inequities in the school lives of the children in room E4- a room found in every urban area in this country today.

Public education continues to fail miserably. Eaton's ability to weave the details of the court ruling and efforts by civil rights attorneys with the every day life in the classroom is stunning. Anyone who cares about education in this country today must read this book. It provides a compelling roadmap of where we've been and where we are headed if something doesn't change.

Susan Eaton has produced an exceptional, deeply researched book. It's by no means without an agenda, but it's no Swiftian polemic, something to which a wealth of footnotes and references will attest.

Eaton grabs you by the wrist, pulling you through the torturous folds of the Sheff v O'Neill court case. She forces the ugly machinations of a typical large-city public school system into the fore, giving a vivid account of the harsh inequity of Connecticut schools.

Eaton makes a compelling argument against district boundaries, with their rigid, segregating forces. She tells of an entrenched system of De Facto segregation, arisen over the past fifty years, here to stay--unless, of course, the slumbering giants (our public schools) wake up to their own mistakes. They did in 1954, when Brown forced them. Perhaps they will again.

Every school district board member should keep this book on their desk.

I own all the other Words Their Way books so why not this one? Most of the time I do not get spellers this sophisticated but some of my ESOL students this year are good spellers. I think these word sorts will help those students become even better spellers than they are and comprehend vocabulary more deeply.

I especially like the keywords and reflections at the end of each chapter. I am currently using this book as a text in a course designed for students who are seriously considering teaching as a career.

The book is great but word to the wise: DO NOT I repeat DO NOT buy this book from : EDUBOOKEXPRESS They have BIG problems with Customer Service. I rate them very poor. I returned the book in the same condition it was sent, but it's been 3 weeks and I haven't recieved a response. And what's worse They are keeping my money. I'm still fighting to get my money back.

The Thee-Minute Classroom Walkthrough is a thorough introduction to the philosophy and implementation of this type of classroom supervision. The authors advocate using many visits to each classroom every year to develop a picture of education in the classroom and in the school. The book also promotes a collaborative approach to classroom supervision, one in which the teacher reflects on instructional and curricular decisions and then plans for improvement. The classroom supervisor becomes a facilitator for such reflection.

I was expecting something less technical and more user friendly. I will have to devote some time to reading this in the summer and then perhaps implement next year.

This book was an easy read and had very practical, easy to put into practice, tips on observing classrooms. Time-saving techniques that still are quality practices.

An effective guide for pinpointing effective classroom instruction. This book also outlines specific strategies for engaging teachers in reflective dialogue that could enhance classroom instruction. A must read for administrators.

This is an excellent book, and an excellent resource for secondary educators. Lots of creative ideas. I would recommend it for middle school, secondary and post high school art instructors.

As an art teacher I occasionally need a new idea to spice up my curriculum. I found this book to be a wonderful resource of innovative takes on traditional techniques.

This book was purchased as a gift. It is a nice alternative to
what is available in this category.

The author has written some of the best art education books I've ever read- this will not disappoint.

This book is full of wonderful lesson plans as well as ideas to create compelling lessons yourself. My students have found much sucess with Ken Vieth's projects. His motivation is wonderful and really simplfies the process for delivering the lessons. He has a keen insight into the secondary student's mind and how to create an interest in extraordinary artwork.

As a teacher I found the stories in this book inappropriate to have students read and then answer questions about. Some topics dealt with death of animals, dating, serving jail time, and stabbing- just to name a few. I think there are much better reading inventories that include age apporpriate topics than what is included within this book. I was definitely disappointed by this book.

This is a great product. the activities are appropiate for kindegarten and some skills that are appropiate for advaned learners. A great tool for my work stations. These shoe box activities are also great for extra activities for early finishers.

This book is great for instant independent centers during workshop time! The boxes are easy to use, and can take as much time as you need them to.

This book contains 40 great different activities that you can put together into shoe boxes and set as learning centers for elementary kids. Although it is aimed at kids between 1st and 3rd grades, some of the games can be played by kindergarteners and with some adaptations you can also use them with 4th graders. For every game, it contains reproducible labels and student directions. It gives you a detailed list of the materials that you should put inside the shoe box and it also gives tips of variations to adapt the games to different objectives.

For most of the games, you only need everyday materials, like toothpicks, beans, play dough, number cubes, domino pieces, buttons, crayons, coins, yarn, magazine cutouts, etc.

When I assembled the learning centers, I found out that most of them can be placed in smaller containers than shoe boxes. As a matter of fact, I used photo storage boxes for the most part (you just make sure to reproduce the copies in the proper size). Instead of putting the crayons or pencils inside the boxes, I placed some cans with crayons and pencils in the center of the station, and kids can use them with any activity. The rest of the materials required (except for the play dough and the marshmallows required for a couple of games) can fit into these smaller containers.

Some of the skills reviewed are skip counting, addition, subtraction, place value, making number stories, patterns, time, money, measurement.

If you like having your kids play games while learning, you will love this book!

As a teacher, I find that challenging kids to work on their own or in a small group is a great learning experience. Shoe Box Math is the answer to the teacher's dilemma of how to set up a math center. This book provides reproducibles, easy to follow instructions and meets the standards being taught. My students love the projects!

These learning centers are easy to put together and maintain. I purchased several plastic shoe boxes from one of the dollar stores in the area to use. As a 4th grade teacher, some of the games were excellent for building up basic skills. I'll be teaching 2nd grade next year, and have already gotten some of the other games ready for use.

I have used this book with my students as a middle school speech pathologist. The pictures are a great resource for the students to visualize the right and wrong way to behave. They enjoy correcting the wrong pictures as part of therapy. An added bonus it that another book of Jed Baker's has worksheets and lessons that directly teach the social skills in the pictures. Truly a great resource for anyone who teaches social skills.

Jed Baker has produced another great resource to help teachers support social growth and development. There are too few resources for those teaching in middle and high school so I was thrilled to see secondary version hit the market(there is an elementary book as well). If you regularly work with students with autism, you need this book.

Although I haven't purchased this book, I have read a copy that I have borrowed from a library, and I think that it is very helpful.

As someone with Asperger's Syndrome myself, I know that if there had been books like this 30 years ago, I would have learned much earlier in life what things are appropriate to do and say in what situation. It's too bad that there were no books like this until very recent years!

The book is in excellent condition, was packaged properly and shipped promptly.

Some of the pictures don't accurately show the body language like I would expect them too. Also, pictures are duplicated in the book for various body languages. Would be nice to have different pictures so as not to confuse the student. But I do think it will be helpful for my daughter to use along with her counselor.

While I think some of the students who could benefit from this book might find it a bit patronizing and beneath their level of maturity and intelligence (since it depends on pictures so much), there are some really valuable insights to be found for just about everyone with any degree of Asperger's Syndrome. The only improvement I would suggest is that more details on body language reading and face reading be included. For example, when Dr. Baker says to check first whether a potential friend looks receptive, exactly what should one look for in the facial expression and body posture? Dr. Baker gives some details on these things, but I think some Asperger's students might need more specific pointers.

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.