Education Books

"Last in Their Class" is easily one of the most accessible titles in the category of "Military History" that has ever been published. Having read numerous books on the Civil War, it is rare to find one that kept me interested from start to finish, AND that I would recommend to a casual reader of history without hesitation. Though much of the book centers around the proverbial Goats, it also dives deeply into the culture of West Point and life in 19th century America. Robbins engages the reader in tales of cadets sneaking out to the nearest bar, then deftly segues into the details of an obscure engagement on the western frontier, while never losing the narrative thread or the reader's attention. I would recommend this book to almost any reader; simply wonderful.

Just finished this book, and it was imho enthralling, very hard to put down..its takes us on a tour of West Point graduates ranked as "immortals" (those being the bottom 10 of their class) and the Goat, the last in their class.,..some famous names were goats or immortals; Heth, Pickett, Custer, Kirby Smith the Crittenden(s) Grant ( whose worst subject was..Infantry tactics go figure) among many others..... Great reading regards the Seminoles wars, Mexican-American War the Civil war......the trials and tribulations at West Point, their pranks and punishments etc....many great complimentary bios to be found here, Whistler, Poe et al...all wound up with stories of their military performance's and stories regards their paths criss-crossing in the Civil war etc....a comparative analysis as to why so many of the Immortals and Goats had an impact all out of proportion to the top 5 and their relative ranks, which in the end, means nothing...

What an enlightening book! Fun, interesting and full of great trivia!

This book gives proof that you don't have to be first to be great! Lots of great stories about West Point and its history.

Makes a great gift for an Army officer or NCO.

I highly recommend this most inspirational literary work. The anecdotes of forgotten soldiers (officers and volunteers alike), men who shined but a moment on the pages of history, have touched me deeply. I empathize with their infamy at being named Last in their Class, yet these "rejects" rose to great heights of achievement due to other redeeming character traits. There's a lesson to be learned from these mini-biographies as one carefully reads each page, absorbing the intriguing stories line by line. This is a book to be savored, not rushed through. I am thoroughly enjoying my visit in the pages of this fine book. This seems to be the author's one and only work; here's wishing James S. Robbins future success in publishing.

This extremely well-written book tells the story of many of the men who were at the bottom of their graduating class from West Point: the Goats. Prime examples were Generals Pickett and Custer, among others. The theme of the book is to show that class rank does not necessarily translate into military success. Following the lives of several of these men was quite interesting, particularly the ones that are not so well known today. There is a breezy style of writing in this book, and it gives one pause to think about the current emphasis about class rank endemic all over the country. People should strive to be the best, but as this book reminds us, sometimes the best isn't what this country needs.

Absolutely loved this book. For anyone interested in the training of an M.D., Dr. Marion's book is phenomenal. You'll gain a huge amount of respect for the pure hell that interns and residents are forced to endure during their post-medical school years. I enjoyed this book so much that I read it twice.

This book is really a great read. Marion tells it like it is and doesn't hold back. Easy to read. It is all about the ups and downs of becoming a doctor within the social and cultural society that we have become. This is a great book to read if you are interested in the medical field. Look for more books by Marion, he is a great writer.

There are only a few books that I enjoyed as much as this book. Dr. Marion is an amazing writer. He manages to keep readers interested without being unrealistic. I recommand this book for anyone interested in becoming a doctor or even dating someone that is thinking of becoming one. The book explores the shortcoming of modern day medical training and the emotional stress that students go through in the process. A must read for pre-med students!

I'm going to keep it plain and simple. This is one of the few excellent medical books that are avialable. I have read many and I highly recommend this one. I just wish I could forget everything I have read so that I could read it again for the first time. I couldn't put the book down. In case you are interested some other great books are "When the air hits your brain", and "first do no harm, reflections on becoming a neurosurgeon". Enjoy!

I really enjoyed this book! Dr. Marion is very honest about his experiences. The stories are sometimes disturbing and sad, but sometimes happy and they are well written. This book is much better than White Coat by Dr. Rothman because it is much more honest. When I read this book, I felt like I was right there with Dr. Marion.

I have given approximately 50 of these books as gifts during the last 25 years. Everyone has expressed gratitude and reported that it had become one of their favorite books also. I am so excited that they are available again after not being able to purchase them for many years!

Sal Salyers

Touches your heatbeat,freshens your outlook on Life. This book is a friend by your side 24/7

I love the stories behind the inspirational poems in this book! For example, learning the story of William Ernest Henley author of the poem "Invictus" makes the poem so much more poignant. The author includes poems addressing courage, happiness, faith, confidence, fear, self-discipline, family, peace of mind and the future. This is a keeper and a wonderful gift.

This book has helped me during dark days and helped my mother face the challenges of Parkinson's.

I give this as a gift to anyone I think will be helped by spiritual positive messages found here.

on the bedside tables of every person. When I first read it, I was feeling pretty down but found my spirits lifting with every turn of a page. Especially helpful are the chapters about Harold Russell who lost the use of his hands, but gained in strength and fortitude and Mary Pickford who writes so well about the possibilities of beginning again after failure and setback. I could go on giving example after example of the wonderful inspiration that awaits anyone who reads this book. It's the type of book you can read just a few pages from and get just what you need. You can't go wrong buying this book.

Certainly not great literature (and not great editing), but this hilarious and fast-moving urban fantasy had me laughing out loud and wanting more. The excellent character and plot development makes the wonderfully absurd storyline almost credible and totally engaging. The chapters are short, making it light on the attention span, but it is so suspenseful that I was reading large chunks at a time and came to the end too soon. Fortunately, while most the loose ends are tied up, enough is left unresolved for a sequel. All in all, a lot of fun!

The unconventional characters and incredible plotlines that Millar embraces are an ingenious strategy that can serve to disarm any preconceived notions or defenses that a reader might bring to the arrangement. The resulting depth, realism, and very rare warmth exuded by these characters, are qualities carefully wrapped in narrative about fairies, hippies, ancient Greece and now werewolves. What adult in their right minds would pick up a copy of a book titled, "the Lonely Werewolf Girl" and read it in public? I will tell you, that these books are incredibly smart, and the characters experiences and attitudes are refreshingly honest, sad, funny, and always very touching. I used to get very frustrated that Millar was not getting the notoriety enjoyed by his contemporaries and followers (e.g., Giaman, Pratchett). On several occasions, these authors have even shared similar vexation! However, I have now become certain that he is exactly where he wants to be. Just like the lessons carefully woven-in for many of his fantastical characters, Martin continues to coerce us into taking a chance by embracing the ridiculous. The rewards to come are such a treasure and well worth red cheeks or an occasional sideways glance by a server at a restaurant.

Very good book. I told 2 other people about the book and they enjoy the book as well.

The first thing that hit me about this book was the richness of backstory and the sheer size of the cast of characters.

Although the plot centers around the titular lonely teen werewolf, Kalix MacRinnalch, she lives in a rich world populated with numerous other characters whose actions interfere with or drive important developments in the story. Fifteen-year-old Kalix is the youngest daughter of the Thane of the MacRinnalch Clan of werewolves. She's strong and she knows it, and she doesn't get along well with others--she escapes from the clan stronghold in Scotland and makes her way to London after almost killing her father in a fight. Addicted to laudanum and in poor shape, she is set upon by members of her own Clan who think she should pay for what she did to her father. Her older sister and London-based fashion designer, Thrix, helps her as best she can, but when Kalix sells the protective amulet Thrix gave her, she's easily discovered by other werewolves trying to hunt her down.

Kalix's attempts to escape the members of her clan who are trying to kill her lands her squarely in the path of Daniel, a normal university student in London who's never thought about anything like werewolves before. He and his roommate, Moonglow, do their best to protect Kalix and convince her that there are things worth living for, but outside forces intervene and place Kalix directly in the middle of MacRinnalch Clan politics.

This sprawling narrative can be unwieldy at times, and the large numbers of characters and situations initially may seem disjointed, but when the plots begin to intertwine and work together, the many different storylines coalesce into a whole that is better than the sum of its parts.

The beginning of the novel works to set up all of the information necessary for the reader to understand the world that Kalix and her friends and enemies move in, preparing the reader for the meatier middle scenes. The occasional rapid-fire scene shifts and point of view shifts were initially difficult, but these problems ironed themselves out as the ook progressed.

I was really impressed by the different characters portrayed throughout. Kalix is by no means the only one with depth; some of the other werewolves, paranormal creatures, and humans that she runs into are equally well-drawn, with their little quirks and amusing habits. Thrix, Kalix's older sister, is the werewolf enchantress, and yet she enjoys designing clothing, some of which appeals to buyers from alternate dimensions. Malveria, one of these customers, begins as what appears to be a comic character but ends up having a real impact on the plot later on. The politics of the MacRinnalch Clan are carried out by a large array of characters, each with their own distinct motivations and machinations.

LONELY WEREWOLF GIRL is not a simple read, but the complexity is part of the pleasure of reading this book.

Reviewed by: Candace Cunard

Like others, I bought this book on a whim at the airport and read it straight through. What a fun read! Maybe not for everyone, but if you are or ever were a fan of Gaiman, Vertigo Comics, Douglas Adams, etc., I think you'll love it. I haven't read this sort of thing in years, but LWG is great.

Book is outstanding for working with elementary students.
It arrived in perfect condition and in a timely manner.

This is a cool book that all teachers should read to their classe. You can learn about the Chatter-Box, The Playground Bully, The Homework gnome, and my favorite Ti-2 the Pencil-Grinder. He finds; he grinds and sells the pencil shaving to the great chefs of Pennsylvania. Funny!

These are good stories about the classroom at the end of the hall. I enjoyed the characters like the Homework Gnome and Dilly-Dally, the Doodles. It's easy to read and not preachy at all.

Hurrah for another Douglas Evans book about the Classroom at the End of the Hall! These stories are even better than the first. this was the best book I've read this year. My favorite story was The Homework Gnome because I hate homework like Hari. I also thought the Chatterbox was very funny.

Our teacher read us Classroom at the End of the Hall by Douglas Evans which is the prequel to this book. I thought it was very funny, but Math Rashes is even funnier. The students in this book sound like students in my fifth-grade class. I like the Chatterbox, The Pencil Grinder and the Homework Gnome. All teachers should definately read this book their class!

As a fan of general semantics, I enjoyed this. What is 2 apples plus 3 oranges? The author uses simple questions like this to illustrate use and misuse of numbers. Most maths teaching ignores the meaning of numbers, but this short book shows lucidly how an understanding of the process of abstraction can help us avoid using numbers irrationally. Recommended, though I suggest reading in conjunction with Hayakawa's Language in Thought and Reality (the most readable book on general semantics).

Edward MacNeal (1994) an airline business consultant, introduces Mathsemantics (Science of Mathematical semantics) as an extensional (factual evaluating) language for proper evaluating. Showing via job application tests taht maths incompetence often results from semantic mis-understandings; like any language, requiring familiarity.
What Jean Piaget (1926) found in children. Alfred Korzybski (1933) showed persisted via an education in Aristotle's (c. 350 B.C.) 'intensional' ('subject-predicate', false-to-facts 'universalizing') linguistic structure ('logic'), reversing the empirical evaluating order (event-perceiving-insight-formulating), consequently allowing 'identifying' 'meanings' (words) with perceivings, etc.
Whilst our mathematical education mostly fails to solve these semantic problems, involved in applying numbers to events. For example, we may expect that calculations have only one answer, despite measuring involves approximating (rounding-up, etc) involving estimates (probabilities). Further Greeks like Parmenides (c. 480 B.C.) did not accept zero as a number, 'reasoning': "non-being could not be, because it was a logical impossibility". Thus unsurprisingly, many tend to round-up to 1 rather than 0!
Infact Kurt Godel (1940) found no mathematical system can be complete-nor-consistent. As Korzybski (1933, 1936) asserted: "map is not the territory...is not all the territory...is self-reflexive (speak of map of map, etc)".
Korzybski (1933) asserted that by extensionalizing to events, we find context. However MacNeal continues that units (unity) entail convenient 'categories' representing events despite that a name tells us nothing-about-nor-is-the-thing. MacNeal argues that we cannot do without 'addition', suggesting that we can 'add' different changing things under combined units: "2 apples + 5 oranges = 7 fruit".
Yet MacNeal the General Semanticist (Korzybski (1933), Science of values, hence evaluating), avoids the fact that events, abstracting processes, etc., are not 'additive', involving Korzybski's (1933) non-elementalistic, functional (non-linear-asymmetry-non-additive), more-or-less emergent wholes. As Korzybski (1933) argued water, having new emergent characteristics, is not the 'sum' of an oxygen atom 'plus' two hydrogen atoms.
Therefore,

C = A + B

becomes,

C = f (A, B)

Let alone that 'classifying' entails 'identifying'.

I teach British literature and love Scott, Austen, Wodehouse, and Hardy. I thouroughly enjoy the murders mysteries of Rex Stout and Dorothy Sayers. So why am I reviewing a book about math? Because it is one of the finest books I have ever read.

This book bridges the gap between the right and left brains. While its subject matter includes some advanced concepts, they are expressed so articulately that they are accessible to virtually everyone.

This is not a book for educators or students alone. Everyone should read it.

The author is "an expert" - someone who knows something and can explain it to and/or use it for those who can't - or just don't - on their own.

I am a high school math teacher and community college and high school computer teacher. MacNeal THRILLED me with his insight into something that may be part of the problem with education the way we do it. Look for his connection of Piaget's work on the development of children's and adults' abilities through necessary stages with the Chinese language and with the teaching of math.

I have had more successes with some of my students because of MacNeal and his book.

This is one of my favorite books of its kind. It deserves a place on the shelf next to Paulos's _Innumeracy_. _Mathsemantics_ is a highly readable, insightful, conversational, anecdotal, fascinating discussion of the ways people apply (or fail to apply, or misapply) mathematical thinking to real world situations, and why they have trouble mixing math and language.

Our book study just completed Miracles Do Happen. It was incredible to see God open hearts and minds to Jesus' healing power. It's written in a simple style but it packs a punch in terms of presenting the Gospel. The son of a friend of our group was diagnosed with a recurrence of a brain tumor, and just like in the book, Sister Briege showed up in our town and was able to pray with him and his family. His prognosis is now quite favorable, praise God. If you want to hear the story of how Jesus still cares about His people, how Jesus is still in the healing business and you need a reason to have hope in Christ, this book is the best choice I've ever seen.

This is a great inspiration to me, though I am not catholic.
Her words are uplifting and healing.

"Miracles Do Happen" is an excellent testimony to the power of faith. Briege Mckenna developed sever arthritis as a young adult, which confined her to a wheel chair. When attending a Catholic Charismatic prayer services, she was miraculously healed. Allegedly, she received a private revelation, in which God asked her to be a healer to others. She debated whether the message was really from God, as she was a member of a contemplative community, but after a period of discernment and a series of signs, she lost all doubt.

"Miracles do Happen" is an autobiography of Sr. Briege's healing ministry. She prays for people and many have been healed of spiritual and physical pains and diseases. The book is full of stories and photos of people, whom she has encountered during her journey and many of whom were healed by prayers. It is easy to be skeptical of spiritual healers today, but unlike many charlatans in the field, Sr. Briege does not accept money or promote products or methodology for financial gains. The book is great for renewing faith in prayer, and offers much guidance and learning to discern God's voice in your life through prayer. Sr.Briege herself spends an estimated two-three hours in prayer each day, and write about the types of Christian spiritual practices which have been spiritually edifying for her.

This is a simple book about the role that prayer and faith has played in her life, and in the lives of others whom she has had the fortune to know, during her religious life and is not bogged down in theological explanations or issues related to debatable doctrines. It is written simply as an intimate conversation, as often is the case of works from saints, and when one reads it one has to wonder if they are living in a very special life time of a woman who might be recognized as a saint in the future.

This is a wonderful book. We often need to remind ourselves about the present of our Lord Jesus Christ in our daily lives, and Sr. McKenna has done a wonderful job of doing so. Buy, read and believe...

This is the story of how Sister Breige McKenna became a healer of human bodies and human souls. She herself had a instantaneous healing from Rhematoid Arthritis. Because of this book I sought out her phone number and upon hearing a healing prayer over the phone, I was healed spiritually. I have never been the same and I thank God for it! Buy this, you won't regret it!!!

"More Than A Dream" captures the incredible story of a small group of people who take a seemingly impossible idea about how to change urban education in Chicago and, by sheer will, determination and faith, make it a reality. Kearney does a great job of bringing to light the unlikely path to the school's opening, while also interweaving the stories of 4 students and the impact the school has had on their lives. It's a fast-paced read that I had a hard time putting down.

What started as an idea in the early 1990s has grown to become a growing national network of high schools in many of America's toughest urban environments. GR Kearney tells the story of the Cristo Rey Network which started as the small Cristo Rey Jesuit High School in Chicago in 1994 and has grown to include nearly 2 dozen schools nationwide. Kearney tells the story from several perspectives, interviewing founding members of the faculty, staff and board of the school as well as weaving tales of students throughout the pages. Kearney himself volunteered at the original Cristo Rey school and lends a perspective that is critical to understanding the Cristo Rey story.

More Than a Dream is a must read for those looking to make a difference, or at least want to read about some people who have, in the lives of thousands of innercity youth in America's urban battlefields.

Building a school, building a future - it's what Chicago Jesuits sought to do when they built a new college prep school for the children of Hispanic working poor. "More Than a Dream: The Cristo Rey Story" is an inspiring tale of an improbable success story of keeping ones faith to keep going despite the innumerable barriers one faces in such an a situation. Author G. R. Kearney should know, as he works as a teacher and a coach at the Cristo Rey Jesuit High School as part of their Jesuit Alumni Volunteer program which Kearney himself helped found. "It's a story that needed to be told," says Kearney. "More Than a Dream: The Cristo Rey Story" would be a grand addition to both Christian and Educational community library collections and for any reader who would seek to learn how exactly this school rose up almost nothing, and how it seeks to help others do the same.

I was given a copy of this book by a colleague whose company employs Cristo Rey students. Frankly didn't think I'd ever open the book until I was stuck waiting for a delayed plane. However, once I did open it, I found I couldn't put it down. The book is about a group of priests who want to start a school for poor kids in Chicago, but it's much more than that. It's the story of an entrepreneurial triumph that will inspire anyone in business or struggling with adversity. It's also a great story of young people working for a better future. I highly recommend this book.

This is an excellent book that outlines the foundation of the first Cristo Rey school in Chicago. The Jesuits created Cristo Rey Chicago in the late 1990's, and now the Cristo Rey Network includes over 20 schools. The Jesuits started the program to provide a college prep high school experience for economically challenged students in the inner city. I teach at the Cristo Rey school in Kansas City, and found this book an invaluable resource to my own teaching / administrative roles. It was great to read about the Jesuit's initial desire that drove them to found the school, and also to read about the logistic struggles they faced in those tough first years. Since it is such an inspiring story, I'd recommend to anyone outside of education as well.

This is a helpful informative book, especially helpful for new teachers.
However, I would also recommend it for experienced teachers for some new ideas.

This book is simple and clear in focus and structure. It has great strategies and suggestions for implementation in classrooms of various grade levels. This is a great resource if you are looking to improve your classroom community and overall communication skills of your students.

Wonderful, applicable strategies to build community in every classroom! In every school building! Great resource full of ideas.

I am a 6th grade teacher moving to 2nd grade this year. This book was a HUGE help in preparing me to organize my morning meeting. It is an easy read and has lots of helpful tips. I can't wait to start school this year and start my morning meetings!
If you are an elementary teacher, buy this book! You won't regret it!The Morning Meeting Book (Strategies for Teachers, 1)

This resource is an excellent buy. After cutting morning meeting out of my classroom routines, I realized that it's not what I should have done. I wish that I had this book in the beginning of the year to help me with the morning meeting. There are so many wonderful ideas and activities in this book. If you get this book, I would also highly recommend Morning Meeting, Afternoon Wrap-up by Donna Whyte. That is also an excellent resource. The two together will give you what you need for your morning meeting.

I read this book a decade ago, and reread it last week. Having done a lot of research on education and literacy during the interim, I can more confidently vouch for the scholarship and accuracy of this important book.

I'll warn you frankly that dealing with some of this information for the first time is disorienting for most people. It certainly was for me. Here's why. We have to come to grips with the bizarre, totally unexpected possibility that our education establishment promoted and lied about a reading pedagogy (called Look-Say or Whole Word) which doesn't work and, in fact, caused widespread illiteracy; and further, that the country's largest, most powerful education lobbying group (the National Education Association or NEA) persistently and consciously opposed those education policies which would be best for children and the country.

Here's the grimly funny irony. Whenever the NEA encounters criticism, the NEA will invariably charge the critic with being against "public education." I am very sorry to report my own impression that the Number One obstacle to "public education" in this country is the NEA itself. NEA appears to stand for No Education Association.

Many teachers are forced to be members of this quasi-union; and their dues are extracted by force. I suspect that the majority of these teachers would like to escape. The NEA has grown big, rich, powerful, and imperious, but even its own members seem to have little respect or affection for it.

Blumenfeld records the NEA's history up to 1984, when the book was published. At that time the Cold War was still quite hot. Much of the NEA's aggression is more easily understood if you suppose that the bosses were actually fighting for the other side. The Russians, with their Brezhnev Doctrine, were quite feisty at that time; and the NEA was feisty along with them. I'm guessing there was quite an identity crisis when the USSR collapsed! In any event, I urge the NEA, bosses and teachers alike: come on home, guys. This country is still humanity's best hope; and you should be devoting your considerable resources to promoting what is truly best for our citizens and our children.

As scary as the facts are in this book, I guess I'm really not too surprised by anything except how long this has been going on. This provides the answers to a lot of questions I've had about so many of the bizarre happenings in this country. If you never read another book READ THIS ONE! Our freedoms are being taken away inch by inch, so slowly that we haven't really noticed. Check the backgrounds of our judges, our legislators, lawyers etc. These people have all come from the colleges and universities spouting this propaganda!
The information in this book needs to be brought before the American people as quickly as possible. Write your legislators, contact those who have the power to reach the people of this Nation in large numbers. Hold your children's teacher's and the school district responsible for their actions and what they teach. Confront the Trojan Horse!
If you have the means to enroll your children in a private school, do so and make sure the school they're leaving knows why you're doing it.
Confront those around you who spout the socialist propaganda. They need to be brought into the light so all America can see them for what they are. Pray for this country. We're under seige!

"Your ignorance of the Word of God is the only effective weapon an enemy can use against you." (Mike Murdock)
Generations upon generations are at risk if change doesn't come to to the public schools. This book will show you at this present time that public schools are not meeting the grade. So what are we as parents to do? We need to take back our children's education!
We need to get back to basics...homeschooling preferred if not atleast a Christian school education. Please do buy and read this book you won't be disappointed.
"An angry man is a AWAKENED man."
"Only an angry man can change the mind of the unconcerned."
"The Persuaded become the persuasive."
(Mike Murdock)

I'm a teacher and I read this book years ago, shortly after it first came out. At that time I was working in a school system that required either joining the NEA or paying almost the exact same amount of money to it and not having a say in it. For two years, I mindlessly paid my dues and was a member. Then, I decided to read the material I had been given by the NEA. It was a 75-page, very fine print 8 1/2 x 11" book(let). I read every word of it and was amazed at some of the thing the NEA was supporting. Then I heard about this book on a radio program and when I read it, I saw that this man was pointing out the very things I had already seen.

The NEA is not a harmless group that merely wants the best for the education of our children. The changes that are happening in education are part of an overall agenda and that agenda is NOT to produce the most intelligent and well-educated children we can.

If you are an educator today, please read this book! Don't give your money mindlessly to this organization. You expect your students to research their facts and you need to do the same yourself. You owe it to yourself and the children you teach. Joining the NEA is NOT the best way to educate our youth!

This author has excellent documentation for what he says. It is well worth your time to read. Even though it was originally published in the 80's, the NEA has only gotten worse. (Did you know the NEA was sued a couple of years ago for misappropriation of funds?)

Once you read this, you'll wonder how intelligent people like teachers have been duped into thinking this is only a pro-education group. (Did you know teachers are now referred to as "agents of change"? After reading this book, you'll know why.)

This book answered many questions that I had about American public education. It discusses how the original purpose of the public school was to promote socialism; the history and philosophy of the "look-say" method of reading, which actually induces artificial dyslexia; and how the agenda of the NEA threatens our freedom. It's shocking, bold, and well-researched. Everyone in America needs to read this.