engage Books

I am in the middle of reading this fascinating book and it just occurred to me that, aside from Alison Saar, I had never heard of any of the artists mentioned in the book before. The solutions that these artists have found to answer many of the problems in image-making as it pertains to the black female body are intriguing and profound. Sadly, I am a black woman and I graduated from a BFA program a few years ago without being taught any of this. It should be on the course syllabus for any comprehensive survey of art history.

I read this book in two sittings. Lisa Gail Collins does a beautiful job of opening up a world I did not yet fully understand. I am a southern, white, visual artist and photographer, with complicated ties to a black culture that has contributed very much to the way I think, and work, and live. Certainly my art history courses in college taught me none of this. This book illuminates the work of Renee Stout, Carrie Mae Weems, and more, and lays out the background of negative image making in the history of women of color, particularly, which, she argues is reason for the avoidance of the visual in black studies in the United States. She illuminates the value of the visual arts of black women and I came away, after reading this, with a stronger common bond to women's experience in general, and with a deeper desire to illuminate the truth in my own art.

I collect bibles. This one is the EASIEST to read. It is cost effective. The text is fabulous! Not only is it easy for the novice ready the bible for the first time, it makes bible study and meditation easier as it is written the way most of us speak...no where art thou? Filleth thine up with thine spirit....
Buy it as a gift and buy one for yourself. It is a great version to own.

I purchased this Bible because I wanted an idiomatic (meaning for meaning) translation with simple language to compliment the literal (word for word) translations I use (NKJV and KJV). This is a translation that is very easy to understand. It is also a faithful translation and takes much fewer liberties than some paraphrases like The Message or NLT. I have found the simple language very effective in communicating God's truth. I have also enjoyed the structured reading guides provided in the front of this publication. Today I finish the readings entitled "30 days with Jesus" and it has been a fruitful month of fresh readings from the four gospels. I would recommed this Bible to someone looking for a strong idiomatic (meaning for meaning) translation of the Scriptures in easy to understand language. This would be a great translation to use with children. In fact I am hoping it will help me to communicate the truth of God's Word to children and newer believers by giving me a simpler Scriptural vocabulary. I would recommed that the Christian have a strong literal translation she/he learns to use to compliment this translation.

The paper quality is very thin and the cover and back are not strong, but I do like how it will stay open easily. I am considering laminating mine, but so far it is holding up well with moderate use. I would say the quality is good for the price

This Bible is great for giving away. Unlike most giveaway Bibles, this one has a readable type and it actually stays open without being held. There's an intro to the Bible in the front, reading plans, and a decent dictionary and topical concordance in the back, especially suitable for beginners. The NCV translation is very accessible for all readers, especially those who prefer reading the Bible in clear, modern English.

...basically a collection of games to make learning math fundamentals more entertaining and engaging...and though creative and entertaining the games are basically all competitive...I don't like that at all...kids behind the curve find themselves to be "losers" -- a not very entertaining prospect and hardly a good way to inspire effort...I also suspect "losers" could find themselves the butt of jokes -- facilitating learning is not worth the risk of damaging self-esteem...I allowed it an extra star because in the right circumstances -- e.g. a gifted math class where competition might be enjoyable -- the is a worthy resource.

Kerry C. Williams and George E. Veomett's LAUNCHING LEARNERS IN SCIENCE, PREK-5 tells how to design standards-based projects in the classroom, and is linked to research on cognitive understanding. Chapters discuss six key elements to build into a science curriculum, tell how to blend in workshops and collaborative projects at the primary and elementary classrooms, and provides a 4-step system for planning and reviewing science projects.

This book gave me the next steps to what I needed to make winning commitments. I knew all the analytical information to promote myself and business but I was lacking a way to engage the heart and spirits of my prospect. This book has helped me move in that direction.

We enjoy well organized books that get to the point: this is one of them. In a nutshell, the work, based on interviews with leaders, offers practical wisdom and highlights 10 essential competencies of effective leaders: 1) seeing what is, in a new way; 2) vision; 3) storytelling (conveying a compelling message); 4) fostering hope (creating a sense of the possible through optimism); 5) rendering significance (connecting vision with each person's life goals); 6) mobilizing (encouraging right actions, setting high expectations, letting go, encouraging the best in others); 7) self awareness; 8) emotional engagement (empathic connection); 9) enacting beliefs; and 10) centering (developing centering consciousness and improvising). These highlights don't do justice to the book. In its content-rich pages, it delivers an abundance of insights about the meaning of leadership, as well as revealing an inspiring spirit.

To be an effective leader, one must inspire a broad and deep genuine commitment to a team's mission, vision, desired results, and members. A number of books have been written on ways to get people to sign on, to agree, to perform. Applying the principles they promote will generate performance, adherence, and a certain degree of loyalty. Full commitment is a different issue.

Richards presents an approach that is balanced between intellectual commitment, emotional commitment, and spiritual commitment. Emphasizing the art of leadership, he shows how leaders can craft deeper relationships that generate genuine commitment to produce meaningful achievement and fulfilling satisfaction.

In the area of intellectual commitment, four chapters present the elements of insight, vision, storytelling, and mobilizing. Under emotional commitment, the chapters address self-awareness, emotional engagement, and fostering hope. Rendering significance, enacting beliefs, and centering build the understanding of spiritual commitment. The wrap-up chapter is titled Towering Conclusions and Further Strategies. A brief list of resources (interviewees and websites) and an index complement the text. Each chapter concludes with a handful of questions to stimulate contemplation.

The entire text stimulates contemplation. Using a wide range of people and their experiences and philosophies, Richards engages the reader in an introspective and educational journey. In chapter after chapter, I found myself inspired and enlightened, motivated to apply what I was learning in my work.

You will find this book to be a sort of combination of a walk in the woods, a comfortable soak in a hot tub, and time in a classroom with an energetic professor scribbling concepts rapidly across a white board while his writing hand struggles to keep up with his mind. Plan on reading this book twice; you won't get it all the first time. Margaret Thatcher's quote will help you understand that opportunity.

I had always viewed myself as a pretty successful leader, but the insights I gained from reading this book have caused me to step back and review aspects of my leadership style that have evolved over a 25 year period. This excellent book calls on leaders to honestly assess the way they lead and communicate with their people in areas that for some are in uncharted waters - i.e., the emotional and spiritual dimensions. The book is not only insightful but is written so clearly and simply that its messages are very easy to grasp. I recommend this book for any leader who wants to raise her or his performance to the next level.

So much business literature is mind-numbingly and illogically recursive, suggesting that breakthroughs for your business will stem from imitating the techniques of other business people.

In a departure from this tired and arguably broken premise, consultant and coach Dick Richards provides lessons from leaders operating outside of corporations: in not-for-profits, the arts, sports, religion, education, government...

In drawing insights from his interviews with these leaders, Richards argues that leaders succeed by securing follower commitment. He posits that this happens when leaders work on, if not master, ten competencies in four interrelated domains: political, intellectual, emotional, and spiritual (defined as, "the sense of a calling from some source larger than one's self").

When a leader's capabilities coalesce in these four main areas of competence, she becomes, in essence, a fuller, richer human being. As a result, others positively respond to the improved leader by choosing to invest more of themselves in pursuing the leader's mission.

~~~ Familiar but..., Soft but... ~~~
In this framework, Richards proffers a cogent, integrated way of *thinking* about your own leadership. Drawing on historical and personal anecdotes, quoting philosophers, researchers and leaders, Richards both echoes and transcends conventional business literature (including the recent spate championing "emotional intelligence").

It would be fair to argue that there is little new here. But that would be off the mark. As Dick Richards himself candidly points out, there is more than plenty of literature and seminars traversing the broad, overly worn leadership field. Fortunately, the intriguing whole that Richards has woven is more than the amalgam of its recognizable threads.

Likewise, it would be patently unfair (to both reader and author) to dismiss this thoughtful, occasionally lyrical work as too soft, too philosophical, or too New Age-y. By moving past the sterile Insert Tab-A into Slot-B mentality that underpins so much prescriptive management literature, Richards elevates his readers, helping them to transcend the heartless transactional world so many work in. (Still, while there's more than a modicum of practicum in the book, readers probably will want more guidance on how to translate the principles into action. Perhaps Richards is at work on a "field guide.")

Dick Richards proudly writes, as his title suggests, of the *Art* of leading. One senses that Richards thinks as an artist, a world-savvy poet reflecting on leadership. One could mistake the book for a wizened corporate shaman's love letter to meaning-starved managers.

~~~ Bottom Line ~~~
Dick Richards' THE ART OF WINNING COMMITMENT is more gestalt than how-to, more fresh synthesis of the known than breakthrough. It should ignite your little gray cells, kindle your interest in self-development, inflame your own commitment to fostering commitment in your colleagues. And help you become a better person in the process.

Don Blohowiak, Lead Well® Institute; editor, The Leader's Letter

GOBO rocks. It's that simple. Baines' approach to learning hasn't waivered since I sat in a classroom listening to his varied theories all those years ago at Berry. The lessons and activities found within GOBO will keep students excited about learning and will push them further than ever before. Baines is the best. Pure and simple.

Gobo won the Best Book in Education Award this year from Independent Publisher.

I am not a neutral reviewer. I am Lawrence Baines' brother. I am also not a teacher, though education has long been an intense passion of mine. For ten years now I have been a member and officer of SEAL (Society for Effective and Affective Learning). I have always admired Lawrence's many creative pursuits in music and art, and have long wondered just why he had decided to lend his great passion and enthusiasm to traditional education. The answer is that the field of education in which he works is a long way from traditional education. He is a revolutionary who continually seeks to bring that, perhaps, childish delight and joy of learning back into the classroom. Going Bohemian is a delightful collaboration of a group of very competent and passionate people who are all committed to empowering education and to making it more efficient, effective and fun for all concerned. There is no dry education theory in this book. It is a collection of very compelling ideas to fire and hold the attention of student and teacher alike. As I read it, I got excited as I turned page after page which I could vividly see transforming the boring thing which I have long considered traditional education to be. You can't go wrong. Buy, read, and use this book. Robert Baines

Going Bohemian is an excellent resource for the classroom teacher. Its innovative suggestions for enhancing the writing assignments in English class are state-of-the-art and will excite both students and teachers. I have tried several of the writing projects with my students, and I enjoy the enthusiasm with which they have been met. The variety, freshness, and appeal to adolescent interests of Bohemian's writing assignments should make it a staple in language arts classrooms.