Educators Books

This whole series is a hoot. Everyone who has ever been a teacher, everyone who has ever been in a classroom will delight in these books. They are not only fun but they raise some interesting contrasts between British and American schooling. After retirement I did substitute teaching for nine years and only once did I ever have the privilege of a supervisor observing me. Now I know why the Brits have it all over us in the educational field.

I am giving this 5 stars because it is an outstanding source of information about Violet Richardson Ward both her personal life history and a basic background as to her role in founding Soroptimist. It is a difficult book to obtain and I bought it used through Amazon.com's private zshop sellers. Violet was an amazing woman for many more reasons than just that of founding Soroptimist. In fact, Soroptimist is not one of the most interesting, innovating, or courageous things she achieved in her life!! For example, her true love was physical education. She was a strong willed young woman who ended up teaching physical education in public schools at a time when most teachers were male, especially P.E. teachers!

BUT, I found the book to be poorly edited when it comes to flow, natural progressions and generally, *readability* (and, perhaps, there was no editor per se). It is a difficult book to read not because of complex prose or language, but because the author jumps from one antedote to another in repeating what seems like just about every story she collected about Violet's life which were relayed to author by either Violet before her death and/or by other people such as her family and friends. The most entertaining and easiest chapter to read is one taken from the journal of one of Violet's friends. The journal recorded the events of a crazy road trip a single, unmarried Violet and several of her single and/or married girlfriends (one of which who kept the journal). The woman traveled to Oregon from California and back in Violet's Ford traveling through mountains and on backroads, and as one might imagine, breaking down quite often while having fun and getting into mischief all along the way!

My fellow Soroptimist from around the world will find this to be an excellent book from an historical perspective. Avid readers of historical biographies or biographies about women will be sadly disappointed. It would be an interesting project for SIA or a local SI club to take on the revision and republication of this book.

There are several black and white pictures of Violet as an older woman in the last 15 years of her life and she is a beautiful, strong looking woman. However, there are no pictures of her as a child, young woman, or as an adult until she is basically an elderly woman. I imagine she was a strikingly beautiful young woman too and the absence of pictures from her life before 70 is definitely disappointing because Violet had such a full and colorful life!

VISIONARIES: THE 20TH CENTURY'S 100 MOST IMPORTANT INSPIRATIONAL LEADERS provides high school and college-level students with a series of essays which considers the lasting influence of 20th century visionaries who helped change the world. Many struggled for years in obscurity, operating behind the scenes of common leadership: others have been largely recognized. From writers, scientists and educators to world leaders and spiritual figures, essays analyze the lives, teachings and works of these ecological, spiritual visionaries. Both school and general-interest collections will find it an inspiring volume as appropriate for classroom assignment as for leisure reading.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

A great book, providing a very human view of the development of higher education. Andrew Rice is the perfect vehicle to explore Oxford, Tulane, and several experimental curricular attempts at collegiate education. Reynolds is a gifted writer. Her research is deep, her charactors compelling.

This curricula is easy to use, designed for students to work independently with little teacher intervention, and it gives students a chance to not only learn vocabulary which they may need to know for college entrance tests, but also it's fun to see where all the words we say emanated (e.g. Latin, Greek, etc.). For students or "wordsmiths" this curricula requires about 15 minutes a day and is a painless way to teach vocabulary roots necessary to decipher unknown words in the future as well as improve your vocabulary.

When most think about Dubois, one of the first theoretical formulations that come to mind is the oft-quoted "double-consciousness." In this work, Reed's central task is to situate African American political thought squarely within the material context in which it occurs using W.E.B. Dubois as the focus for this project. Along the way Reed slices and dices Henry Louis Gates and the new black intellectuals, as well as the troublesome concept of "double consciousness" that Reed shows to be overstudied at best. Clearly among the best works of its kind to come to light in some years.

Kevin has written an evocactive narrative of his childhood through the early teen years. His style is warm and friendly; like an old friend telling you a story. His voice is natural and easy going.

The vehicle of narrating his story serves well as a platform to describe the turbulence of the times and many of the events of the fifties and sixties. The book is full of family warmth and values, and the love that is passed down through multiple generations of family.

Many readers may relate to the story because of parallel experiences. Some of us who grew up in the same time may identify empathetically with Kevin's experience.

The nature of America then and now, is such that there are some from our generation that will not identify with Kevin's perspective on the times. That said, I think that anyone from our generation will enjoy this warm, entertaining and friendly walk down memory lane.

This book is not just for our generation. It is written for anyone who has had a favorite band, a crush on an attarctive neighbor, and the need to sort out the emotions that blend together to form our personna. It touches on the human relations of family, school, friends, teenage initiations, romantic desire, social awareness, political awareness, and the artistic muse.

"Waking Up in the Studebaker" is an absolute must read for anyone who grew up in the west-end neighborhoods of Richmond, VA during the sixties. For those of us that grew up here in that time, this book will awaken many memories. This is a bonus for a Richmond native, but not a pre-requisite to enjoy a well told story of family, friends, initiations and growing up.

The initiations come fast and hard and crash into the emotions of long ago. Like the times, this story has some bumpy moments. Hang on, turn up the music, and enjoy the ride.

Here is a highly engaging book that ranks among the best I've read this year. Palmer is a storyteller; sometimes he writes about true incidents, sometimes he writes fiction based on truth. One thing in guaranteed, though -- his tales, true or imagined, teach and entertain in a way that few books are capable of achieving. Palmer, who might be called a more intellectual Hemingway, has traveled the world, smoking hash, taking mistresses, and killing monstruous hippos. He writes about these things with wit, irony, and an eye for the deeper truth of any situation. Politics, language, sex. cocaine -- everything is fair game for Palmer's pen, and they are all treated with equal parts respect and awe. Honestly, his writing is the next best thing to being there. Few writers are able to achieve the near-perfect narrative; Palmer is one of them. His book should be on every must-read list. - (...)

The internet is a powerful tool in today's world, and for education especially - but some teachers, despite decades of wisdom and experience, are clueless still about this invention of the past twenty years. "Web Literacy for Educators" is a comprehensive guide for those types of educators who are a product of the last generation and have not taken to the internet like fish to water. Authored by Internet Technology Expert Alan November, Web Literacy for Educators addresses everything an educator needs to know in this modern era to make use of the internet for a better curriculum and how to address the problems it brings such as plagiarism. Enhanced with a glossary and index, "Web Literacy for Educators" is a must for any slow adopter of the web who values their status as an educator, and for community library education collections.

Well Said, Well Spoken is a collection of 736 quotable quotes directly relating to the teaching profession. Timeless quotes such as "Normal adolescence is sometimes very abnormal." and "Short-term goals are refueling stations along the journey." fill the pages of Well Said, Well Spoken from cover to cover. An excellent gift book for anyone who works in the area of education, and highly enjoyable to simply browse through again and again.