Teacher Training Books

This book has a lot of useful information. I would reccomend it for future teachers. Quick delivery too.

As a former educator who now finds it necessary to organize privately a science class for students in the K-6 range, I find it useful to have a painstakingly crafted position piece like this that advocates for such newer kinds of educational thinking.

As a scientist, I would think that younger teachers could get lost in all the meta-content, especially if they have little experience of having DONE science (as opposed to learning about it.) That said, for an experienced scientist, this book provides a promising change from the fact-cramming drudgery prevalent in weaker primary, secondary, tertiary, and even professional schools (notably law and medicine.)

Much of the information was thoughtful and well organized - such as the appendix on systems theory (aka complexity.)

Given rapid development in some sciences, perhaps the author was reasonable in not trying to provide more detail on what technical content to master. However, without a firm commitment to scientific substance, readers risk creating a holistic utopia light on content. Such a risk, though, is small compared to the much greater risk the book aims to prevent: teaching of dead facts rather than of the collaborative and often unpredictable experience of discovery.

This product was not really that useful. Its study terms were very broad and didn't help me narrow down my search. The practice test was partly helpful but I had already taken a practice test and was looking for something a little more substantial. Over all I can't really recommend this product to anyone.

Was recieved in a timely fashion. It covers basic info on the tests. One would have to know more than what is in the book to pass the test with a respectable score.

I read other reviews before I bought this book and found that they were helpful. This book only is helpful in a few areas for Art: Content Knowledge test (0133) - test-taking advice and taking a practice test. All the content of the test is based on art history, aesthetics and experience in art media. The book is not worth full price, get a used one or study art history throughly and become an expert in all fields of art!

This study guide gives a good outline of what topics to study as well as tips on understanding question types. If you are only taking the 0133 portion of the test you will only need a portion of the book. There is a good practice test, I wish there were more, or even a longer one. Explanations of the correct answers are provided which really help in understanding whether the answer you provided is right or wrong.

Try to get a used copy otherwise this is a waste of money. The only good part is that it has a practice test with the answers. No real tips or other good info. I Suggest just studying from Garner's Art Through the Ages.

William Cohen studied with management guru Peter Drucker while working toward his Ph.D. in executive management at Claremont Graduate School (now the Peter F. Drucker and Masatoshi Ito Graduate School of Management). The lessons he learned from Drucker, he says, were life-changing, and in this book he aims to transmit to his readers the great man's wisdom. In fact, Drucker took a somewhat different approach with his students from the one in his books and articles. Thus, Cohen builds upon and reinterprets many of Drucker's insights and concepts. getAbstract particularly recommends this book to managers who are already Drucker fans and want to learn more - the book is really more like a CD of unreleased recordings by a great artist of the past than like an album of covers by a lesser artist.

William Cohen is the first graduate of Claremont University's PhD in Management program; Peter Drucker was his lead instructor. The value of the book is that it contains a few good insights from the best known management consultant; the downside is that the book is mostly filler, and the topic's inherent difficulty.

The inherent difficulty in studying the field of management is that it is impossible to create an all-inclusive management control panel for monitoring - a conclusion propounded by Drucker himself. Key variables differ in each situation - eg. an executive's personality, the importance of future products vs. improved current offerings, etc. Drucker's unique contribution was an ability to cut through the morass of each firm's uniqueness at a high level, and offer valued recommendations to various firms, from G.M. to G.E.

Nonetheless, some Drucker generalizations are uniquely applicable. These include:

"The first task of any business management is to decide what business it is in." (Allows focus.)

"What everyone know is frequently wrong." (Drucker illustrated this maxim by relating how Kaiser, lacking knowledge of how the English quickly built transport ships during WWII, developed a much quicker system. On the other hand, history is also replete with examples where ignorance was a serious flaw.)

"Continuing what led to past success will invariable lead to future failure - the environment will eventually change." (Examples include the explosion of energy costs, A.F. drones becoming available, the Internet and computers, new environmental laws, etc.)

"If you weren't already in the business, would you enter it today? If not, what are you going to do about it?"

"Great advances in any field rarely come from a single discipline. Rather, they come from advances in one discipline being transplanted to another sphere." (A likely example will be improving health care costs and quality through application of the Toyota production system.)

"Outstanding performance is inconsistent with the fear of failure."

Watch out for global competitors.

"CEO's are overpaid - should be in the range of 20X the average worker. Unions have become unaccountable for costs and performance."

Recommends written objectives for managers. (MBO)

"Self-development is up to the individual."

"Lead, don't manage. Don't use Theory X, nor a permissive form of Theory Y (creates chaos)."

Author William A. Cohen was a struggling young Air Force officer with no academic experience when he entered Drucker's PhD program in management, becoming the first graduate of Drucker's doctoral program. He used his newfound insights to further career and to gain a deeper insight into Drucker's approach and personality: A CLASS WITH DRUCKER reflects his experiences, expanding upon Drucker's lessons, revealing the teacher's personality through personal anecdotes, and providing fine tips on how Drucker's management tools continue to be applied in everyday business circles. Any business library needs A CLASS WITH DRUCKER.

I became an entrepreneur and business owner after I graduated school, so I never took business courses - especially at the graduate level. My customers have taught me some, I had some mentors and family advice, but mostly I have learned from by either making mistakes or having successes in my stores. And I am a firm believer in learning from books.
Business books seem to be about 80-20. 80% stinkers, 20% valuable. And then every so often that 20% turns out to have real gem. This book from Dr Cohen is a gem, with a lot of good, practical advice I can apply immediately to improve my bottom line. If you believe in continuing your business education with books, get this one. The advice is Peter Drucker's, and Dr Cohen fully credits the ideas to him, but I credit Dr Cohen for making these lessons readable, understandable, and easy to apply. Bravo!

Peter Drucker is revered as a management guru and his books and articles have been a mainstay in business reading for decades. Even if you have read some of his books, don't you think you should read more? But maybe you have read everything and wish there was something more. We see similar market hunger from the devotees of artists and musicians who have died. These folks look for anything not released or some draft versions of works.

William Cohen was working on his executive Ph.D. at Claremont when he studied with Drucker. While most of us know Drucker from his writings, and a much smaller number from presentations, a minuscule number of people were able to sit in his classrooms. Cohen has combed his notes and recollections to put together 19 chapters of what it was like to study with Drucker as a student and the lessons he learned from him.

It is an interesting enough book and Cohen does make contributions of his own. Just don't mistake this for a book BY Drucker and you will be just fine. While I would recommend starting with Drucker's classic works, this is a good supplement to the great man's direct offerings for those who want even more.

Reviewed by Craig Matteson, Ann Arbor, MI

I spent 14 years in education. I witnessed whole language (a strange program which was terribly implemented). The current educational fad is pure phonics (yes, a fad). Research shows that 80% of children will learn to read in spite of the method they are taught. Reading Recovery was designed as a one-on-one program for the remaining 20%. Reading Recovery depends on very strict implementation and very strict adherence to the methods presented in this book. "Reader" from NY states this is "whole language by another name". Far from it. Reading Recovery uses many proven methodologies (some phonics included); but its main emphasis is on teaching students to derive meaning from text and to build a reading system that is "self-extending"--they learn to check for meaning, word structure, etc. My wife is a Reading Recovery Teacher Leader--I watch the growth of her students and see the amazement on their teachers' faces. The book alone is a fantastic resource; however, to be truly effective a teacher should receive Reading Recovery training. As I said earlier, effective implementation of the program depends on strict adherence to Reading Recovery methodologies. Proper teacher training is critical to the success of this program.

The work of Marie Clay, as described in this book, and then the implementation of the concepts and methodology with those young students who are confused and befuddled as they begin the literacy process, has changed the lives of many of today's students and their families. One only has to look into the eyes of a Reading Recovery student who is on her way to becoming an independent reader to understand the power behind the program. Wonders of wonders as a young child holds a book in her hands and confidently reads! All of education needs more researchers like Marie Clay who look at what children can do and then design programs to help those children become highly proficient readers and writers.

I also must compliment those educators, both internationally and nationally who have taken Marie Clay's work forward in the Reading Recovery Institutes around the world and then right into our classrooms.

If you have doubts about this program contact a school district near you where Reading Recovery has been implemented. Ask to speak to students, teachers and parents.

Bravo!

I bought this book to familiarize myself with the Reading Recovery program. It opened my eyes to several things I have been doing when helping my child read which actually hinder a child's ability to decode words by themselves. Too much focus on the mechanics of reading and the letters in a word can contribute to problems when the child moves beyond the most basic reading skills.

Marie's book offers many excellent suggestions for working with a child. Her suggestions help a child grow in their reading without getting in their way. The lists of activities and skills to be acquired are helpful. We have seen tremendous progress in our child's ability to read independently since implementing the reading recovery program.

I think every parent who has a child struggling with reading could learn something from this book. I also think it would make excellent reading for any educator interested in helping their students read better.

A frightening look into the way children who can't teach themselves to read by being exposed to print, in the whole-language classroom, are remediated.With this method it is claimed you don't even have to know letters or their associated sounds to be able to read.Whole-Language was a horrible failure in California and its continuing implementation is likely to condem thousands of our children to marginal reading skills, if not total illiteracy.

Anyone one who has any doubts about the effectiveness of this method need only look at its' birthplace, New Zealand, to see how truly effective it is. Reading Recovery is a god-send for those children who need another "shot" at beginning literacy skills.