Educators Books

This book is an excellent tool for parents trying to understand the developmental process that occurs during toddlerhood and how to cope.

The information provided has been most helpful in understanding the relationship between me and my 2 year old as well as my 5 year old. AND-it's an easy read.

It has been a God-send!

Diversity and Tolerance are terms thrown around by people who seek hate and discrimination. For years minorities have rightfully cried out against racial, sexual, and religious hate crimes. I do not mean to say that these atrocities no longer exist, but they surely have withered exponentially. What has arisen in their place is a new type of discrimination. Those who were hated against have turned their anger toward groups that have been respected throughout time for their genorosity, love, and compasion. Christianity has always been a respected religion, and has dominated culture for two thousand years. The fact is that lately Christianity has been shunned, covered and dismantled by institutions flying under the banner of acceptance and diversity.

Shively's book outlines one of many cases where a person was discriminated against for being Christian. Culture today has found it difficult to grasp the concept of intolerance as it relates to old ideas and establishments. The fact that this teacher was repremanded for presenting a negative view of homosexuality in a uninteded and altogether un-threatening way is unbelievable.

This is an important testimony to a new type of intolerance and hate crime. A discrimination that is the essence of retaliation and this is a story that must be told. Whether you agree with the professor or not, you must realize that the university clearly stepped over its bounds.

In regards to the writing itself, the book was well crafted and intelligent. The author is creative, and his journalistic tequiniques are top notch. I look forward to Jeffrey Shiveley's next project (if there is one).

Top Texas Teachers uses the short biographical sketch format to briefly examine the careers of teachers who do their jobs well. In this time when everyone has a "magic formula" or "secret test" to suddenly solve all the challenges in our school, it's a pleasure to read this book, which takes on the question 'what makes a good teacher?' one teacher at a time. The striking thing about the teachers here is what a diverse set of circumstances and personalities are found among the educators profiled. The author skilfully shows us that the common threads are not identical personalities or approaches, but rather the more straightforward values of diligence and compassion. The book is an extremely easy and entertaining read. If you've wanted to understand teaching from the perspective of "who makes it work?" rather than the more familiar "everything's wrong", this is an excellent place to start.

From book's back cover:

"Life was hard in rural Northern Wisconsin in the years entering upon World War I. For young Louise Wegner, Rusk County's first supervising teacher, it meant traveling the county to visit the more than one hundred one-room schools, offering assistance to teachers as needed. Walking from school to school was one option for Louise. A better one was horse and buggy - or, during winter, horse and cutter. Occasionally there was a train. But life was best with Sophie, Louise's beloved albeit often untrustworthy Model T Ford, around which much of this story revolves.

Louise Wegner kept a journal beginning in 1917 and continuing for more than a year. Brought to light only after her death in 1968, this personal record opens a window not only to the life of a remarkable woman, but unto everyday life in Wisconsin during a critical period when the state was rapidly evolving from frontier status to the "modern era" of telephones, moving pictures, motor cars, paved roads, and standardized schools.

Writing with uncommon spirit and wit, Louise Wegner recounts her daily experiences, both professional and personal. Enhancing the journal are the many photographs that she and her six siblings took on nearly any occasion, 55 of which are reproduced here.

Reading this journal, and seeing these photographs, reveals a different time and place with a freshness and immediacy unavailable in any other form. There are few who remember this era, and many today who would have trouble imagining life on these terms - and yet it was such a short time ago. This is a book for all to read, to help us understand who we are and from where we have come."

This book presents an inspiring look at the success of seven holocaust survivors, against overwhelming odds. Although many holocaust books have been written, this book presents a different, timely and necessary slant. Well researched, annotated and written. A book definitely worth reading!

Full disclosure: I know the author personally through taking a course with him. That said, I purchased this book on a whim and ended up spending several days of a vacation reading it with the same excitement as I would a good novel. The writing is fantastic and the arguments provocative.

Many education researchers live with a sense that our work is not taken quite seriously as other fields in the academy (such as physics or medicine). Comparing schools of education to other professional schools in law and medicine, Labaree presents a convincing essay on the origins and reasons for the low status of the education school. The chapter on the romance with progressivism was especially interesting to me. As previously stated, the quality of writing is as good as it gets, with arguments likely to make you think and a nice balance between progressive and conservative thinkers.

This book is as engaging as it is useful and eye opening. As a student of Asian Studies, Women's Studies, and Education, I thought I would never find a book that would incorporate the three interests in my life--this book did it, and did it well. A student or enthusiast in any of these areas must read this book. The writing is reminiscent of Pang Mei Natasha Chang's Bound Feet and Western Dress, and the story is twice as compelling.

This rich yet practical guide is based on Califonia Tomorrow's 15 years of research and work to help schools better serve language minority and immigrant students, as well as other young people who continue to be marginalized in our public schools. Every chapter presents strategies, tools and activities, illustrated by real-life examples of how to place access and equity center stage.

* Understanding and responding to the complexity of immigrant studetns' lives and experiences
* Identifying and supporting the "sparks" or advocates who can change your school
* Using student voices as catalysts for change
* Shaping collaborative professional development
* Using data in efective new ways
--- from book's back cover

This is a fascinating story of a kind that used to be fairly common in Black America. In the late 1800s, a rural Black Alabaman named William J. Edwards was inspired and mentored by Booker T. Washington at Tuskegee Institute (now University). Edwards, one of Washington's students, decided to go to his hometown and start a similar school for ex-slaves and their children. This is the story of how he did it, and what he learned form his experiences.

Pretty inspiring stuff. What is especially interesting are his views on what "Negroes" needed to overcome the adversities they faced at the time. This book is of added interest with the fact that Edwards was the great grandfather of filmmaker Spike Lee. In either case, an inspiring and historical read.

The author does a fine job of describing the background and motivations of this important educator. The trials, triumphs and frustrations are all here. The book is a quick read in spite of its length. The Hutchins wit and grace are fully evoked.