Educational Books

this is an excellent introductory chemistry textbook....

it is great for the last year of highschool.. or for bridging from highschool to unviersity..

it isn't that deep enough for most first year chemistry courses... but reading through this book before OR while you are in ur first year course will greatly help you understand the material... because this book doesn't assume u know a lot about the subject already...

cuz face it guys... nobody tries to remember stuff in highschool.. i personally just wanted to get it over with... therefore I forgot everything ...... but in university ur mentality changes.. u actually want to learn.. not just get 90 and get it over with.. that's why I bought this the summer before my classes started.. and went through it a little everyday...

well my First Year class used Raymond Chang's CHemistry book (more advanced than this one) ... but I found it much easier, because I reviewed during the summer... and when I hit a topic that was hard.. i would reference this book.. read it.. then go back to Chang's and read the material... this helped a lot because this book assumes no previous knowledge....

so it's good for ppl like me.. for the few out there who actually cared in highschool.. and remember nething... this book is a waste.. because it isn't deep enough for first year chem courses (it is deep enough for non science major chem courses.. but not the hardcore first year general chem course)

hope this helps

This is an excellent book. I tutor students who are going into the allied health professions, and some have never had chemistry before now. The chapters are clearly written with sample problems after each topic and end-of-chapter problems. I refer to it for exercises for my students. It is the best that I have found so far.

I recently took chemistry part II after not having chemistry for several years. This book was a life saver. I was able to pull many examples from it to guide me when I did my homework. Chemistry is tough enough by itself, but this book really helped. All the answers are there so you can test yourself on one part, and then see the answers with explinations on another part. Everything was easy to understand in this book. I highly recommend this Study Guide. This Study Guide will save you a lot of time at the tutor, and keep you from pulling your hair out while figuring out chemistry.

This was my first time studying Chemistry, and the book was excellent.

It's intended to students in the health field (ie nursing), and their applications are wonderful.

A little heavy on the exercises, but better too much than too little. It would do well to include more answers to the practice questions, but that's how they get you to buy the Study Guide. Oh well.

Given that the book begins with the admission that its co-authored by the Deputy Director of the IBO means it is going to be slanted toward IB. What I found incredibly interesting was the notion that IB found its roots in US public schools in areas with challenging demographics. One might expect the private school clientel that dominated the early years of IB in the US, but the growth in a diverse socio-economic area of Virginia, the IB curriculum struck a chord. Admitting its bias from the outset, the book presents a moving picture of the motivating power of educational reform for the sake of children and challenge rather than reform itself. Moreover, Supertest supports its claims with evidence and historical narrative that creats a warranted composition in support of the International Baccalaureate curriculum and its merits. The book illustrates the trials and tribulations of beginning an IB program and the benefits of seeing it through. Its an incredible and entertaining, in a postitive way, read that should interest anyone concered with educational reform, particularly involving the IB.

Beginning to research the IB program for my district, I purchased this book plus a few others to help me better understand the program and the benefits to beginning IB in a rural district. With the history of IB and the case studies from a few schools, this book gave me a good understanding of what IB should look like. It also gave me an excellent understanding of where IB came from and how that influences what is done today. I would recommend this book for any person wanting to learn more. It is a very positive book but not influenced by the organization. It is also an easy, quick read to give the big picture in a few hours.

Jay Mathews & Ian Hill's Supertest: How The International Baccalaureate Can Strengthen Our Schools deftly assesses the statistics about the Baccalaureate, including its impact on student chances for success in college and life. Chapters provide a history of the IB, its increasing introduction in American school systems, and how it makes a difference in the transition to college. Sounds like dry reading: but the concurrent story of one American high school that adopted the IB adds a personal flavor and human interest touch to the statistics and discussions.

"Washington Post" reporter Jay Mathews extends his appreciation of challenge in our high schools by identifying the grandest and most challenging of them all: the International Baccalaureate (IB) program. Jay created "Newsweek" magazine's Challenge Index, and his writing is always approachable and easy to follow. This book maintains that special style. He writes here very specifically about a local DC-area high school and its experiences with beginning and maintaining the rigorous IB curriculum. You come to really care about the students and teachers he profiles, and to share their trials and successes and occasional failures with them. The book features an extremely effective method of integrating chapters about the creation and operation of the IB program as a whole - written by a co-author from the IB Organization - with chapters about Fairfax County, VA's Mount Vernon High School and the people involved with getting IB up and running there. And of the battles in Fairfax County and elsewhere about IB and its rival, the Advanced Placement (AP) program. In my mind there is no contest - IB is far and away the better program, especially for exposing kids to what college will be like. And there is no better predictor of success in college (i.e., graduating) than having taken at least one rigorous course in high school, especially one from IB which teaches how to think and plan and lean. But read Jay's book and decide for yourself. He does an excellent job of iterating the AP proponents concerns about IB, some legitimate - most not, and of exposing as fools or frauds a few of the opponents and their methods for keeping this excellent program out of their schools. They won, but did their kids a real disservice with their victory.

If you have any interest in bringing out what is best in our high school kids - in ALL of our high school kids - then you should read this book. The IB program is the best high school curriculum extant today. And don't just take my word for it. Read the book and you'll see that those precise words are used by the MIT Admissions' Director.

This book is a must for elementary prinicpals!
The handouts are very helpful.

The Survival Kit for the Elementary School Principal is full of practical advice, common sense solutions, and scores of forms and letters that are of instant use to the busy practitioner.

The resources included are true "time savers" and reflect the seasoned and reasoned practice of a wise, politically astute elementary principal. Tips and techniques for creating a school vision and building and sustaining morale-- all-the-while developing a positive school culture are offered.

The accompanying CD is a true bonus. I simply inserted the CD, downloaded the included Acrobat Reader, and voila, I had within my reach, ready for adaptation, many useful, relevant, and well-written forms, checklists, and letters.

This has been a required book in my graduate course in elementary school leadership for the past two years. I think that it gives a well-developed background in the major issues of the principalship and practical tips for the beginning principal. Students who have completed the course and gone on to leadership positions feel that this was a very practical guide that helped them in their work. As a bonus, students within the class felt that inclusion of this book added relevance to their academic study. It is clear that Bergman has written a very practitioner oriented text. I plan to continue using this book as long as it is available.

Jay A. Heath
Professor of Educational Administration
University of South Dakota

New school administrators, as well as veterans, will find this book useful. The book comes with a CD and is an incredible resource for elementary principals. The CD alone was worth the price. Administrators who are revising and restructuring their schools will have a format to build on in areas ranging from technology and internet use policy to long-range planning.

While Mary Pope Osborne is best known for her Magic Tree House series, this set of books chronicling the Odyssey is an appropriate and well written introduction for young readers. Included in each book in the set is a concise prologue introducing Homer's Odyssey, along with a summary of Greek Gods & Goddesses (including illustrations, brief descriptions and an invaluable pronunciation guide). While I ordered the set to read aloud to my six year old, I have found that despite the lack of illustrations (with the exception of the Gods/Goddesses) my four year old son is captivated by the stories as well. I highly recommend this series to anyone interested in introducing their children to this classic.

The Odyssey is about this man named Odysseus and his adventure to the island of the Sun God. It's based on the original book, Homer's Odyssey. He's got to go through some amazing things to get to the Sun God. He also has to keep his men safe, plus he has to deal with his men, because they want to slay and eat the cattle of the sun god.
Odysseus had to fight 3 monsters on his way to the Sun God. He had to fight the Charybidis, which is a giant whirlpool. He has to fight the three-headed monster that killed six of his men. The last thing he had to fight was the lady merchants that led you to their island and killed you or you drowned on the way before you got there.
Then Odysseus got to the land of the Sun God and he told his men that if they slayed and ate the cattle that the sun god owned their families would be cursed. Then when he goes to sleep they eat the cattle because they haven't eaten for a very long time.
The reason that I recommend this book is because it's a fun book for all ages and it is a pretty fast read. Another reason I recommend this book is because it's a fast paced historic fiction story. The last reason I recommend this book is because if you've read the other Mary Pope Osborn books, like the Magic Tree House books, you'll love it.

I use this book for an ESL English class. It's much more comprehensible than reading the poetic version. The kids seem to enjoy it, where I think they would be lost with the poetic translation in our textbook. All of the students in this class are low level English speakers, so this gives them something interesting to read without a huge comprehension challenge.

We read all these books in the series together as a family. This one was our favorite. My boys couldn't wait for bedtime so they could hear what would happen next in the story. These books offer enough action to keep one's interest, young and old. I recommend all the books in the series. We can't wait for #6!

Beginning in 1891, William James gave frequent lectures to teachers in which he explained the psychology he had developed in his "Principles of Psychology" and offered suggestions on applying the science of psychology to the art of education. Similarly, beginning in 1895, James delivered a series of lectures to college students -- generally at schools for women -- on education and its purposes. In 1899, James gathered both sets of lectures together and published them as "Talks to Teachers on Psychology and to Students on Some of Life's Ideals." The book was read widely and became financially successful for James.

In his illuminating recent biography of James, "William James in the Maelstrom of American Modernism", Robert Richardson describes the "Talks" as a whole as "written in what we may call William James's third style." He explains: "The third style is his plainest, clearest, most public style. It is at once vivid, personal, comprehensible, and without a shred of condescension. It is best exemplified in 'Talks to Teachers'. The longer James worked over a subject, the simpler and shorter and more direct he made it". (p. 360)

The two sets of lectures are complementary with the first set explaining to teachers how psychology could be of use in the educational process while the second set explains to the students the value of the educational opportunities presented to them. The "Talks to Teachers" begins with what many people at the time saw as a mechanistic psychology rooted in physiology and developed in light of Darwin's theory of evolution. In many places, James encourages teachers to see a pupil in part as "a subtle little piece of of machinery." An effective means of education endeavors to work with rather than against the nervous system. In successive short chapters, James discusses his fundamental theory of the "stream of consciousness" and applies it to learned behavior through exploration of reactions, habits, association, attention and memory. The lectures are lucid and clear and show both flexibility and wisdom in considering the process of education.

James's focus throughout is on education as an activity fitting the student for the conduct of life in a wide variety of situations rather than as means of learning intellectual abstractions. James stresses the importance of the body and of physical activity in the learning process. His psychology begins with science and mechanism but it does not end there. I would like to point out two of what I found to be among the insightful observations of the "Talks to Teachers." First, in the chapter on "Memory", James points out that the psychological abilities of the mind must be taken together in an individual and that a person need not be "cast down" by deficiencies in any single element. James stresses passion and desire as critical in overcoming any mechanical difficulties. He writes: "You can be an artist without visual images, a reader without eyes, a mass of erudition with a bad elementary memory. In almost any subject your passion for the subject will save you. If you only care enough for a result you will almost certainly attain it."

The other passage in the "Talks to Teachers" I wish to single out is in the concluding chapter on "The Will". Here James allows Spinoza to have the last word. James points out that there are two ways in which people can make choices: by saying "no" to something or by saying "yes" to its contrary. James opts for the latter approach. James writes: "Spinoza long ago wrote in his Ethics that anything that a man can avoid under the notion that it is bad he may also avoid under the notion that something else is good. He who habitually acts sub specie mali, under the negative notion, the notion of the bad, is called a slave by Spinoza. To him who acts habitually under the notion of good he gives the name of freeman. See to it now, I beg you, that you make freement of your pupils by habituating them to act, whenever possible, under the notion of a good". This is wise advice, from both Spinoza and William James.

The second part of the book consists of three wonderful addresses to students: "The Gospel of Relaxation", the seminal essay "On a Certain Blindness in Human Beings" and its companion essay "What Makes a Life Significant." The first essay is a still timely corrective to the tendency of many Americans to stress and to wrongly-directed effort. But second and third of these essays are critical to James's work in its entirety. The "blindness" to which James refers is the difficulty every person has in knowing the mind of another and in properly and sympathetically valuing what the other person finds important and significant in life. As James states in his Preface to "Talks to Teachers": "The facts and worths of life need many cognizers to take them in. There is no point of view absolutely public and universal." James develops this theme through the use of literary examples drawn from Robert Louis Stevenson, Whitman, Tolstoy, and many other writers.

In the Preface to the "Talks to Teachers and Students" James also underscores the importance of the essay "On a Certain Blindness". This essay is James's most direct statement of the value of pluralism, individualism, and democracy. He writes: "The practical consequence of such a philosophy is the well-known democratic respect for the sacredness of individuality -- is, at any rate, the outward tolerance of whatever is not itself intolerant. ... Religiously and philosophically, our ancient national doctrine of live and let live may prove to have a far deeper meaning than our people now seem to imagine it it to possess."

This short and beautifully written collection of essays is an excellent non-technical introduction to the thought of William James.

Robin Friedman

This work is divided into two parts. The first is Talks to Teachers and the second Talks to Students. The talks to teachers are more technical, but they too are in clear, understandable prose. The Talks to Teachers open with a chapter on 'Psychology and the Art of Teaching'. There are also chapters on 'The Stream of Consciousness' ' The Child as a Behaving Organism' ' Education and Behavior' 'The Necessity of Reactions' ' Native Reactions and Acquired Reactions' 'What the Native Reactions are' 'The Laws of Habit' ' The Association of Ideas' ' Interest' 'Attention' 'Memory' ' The Acquistion of Ideas' 'Aperception' 'The Will'. The Talks to Students consists in three essays, 'The Gospel of Relaxation' 'On a Certain Blindness in Human Beings' 'What Makes a Life Significant'.
In the first and most scientifically important section I especially took pleasure in the essay on 'Habit' James shows how our habits lead us to action in ways we do not know. And he shows how by putting on auto- pilot of habits many activities we free our minds for new creative efforts in everyday life.
Perhaps the most well - known essay is 'On a Certain Blindness in Human Beings' where James teaches the inherent difficulty we have in understanding others perspectives and needs. Always the pluralist, the fox who sees many things, James strongly advocates our greater openness to others, our tolerance for their perspectives and actions as long as they do not damage ours. " Now the blindness of human beings is the blindness which we all are afflicted in regard to the feelings of creatures and people different from ourselves."
He asks of us a generosity in understanding.
He illustrates his thesis by many quotations from literary works, including Tolstoy , whose 'War and Peace' he calls the greatest of all novels, and 'Crossing Brooklyn Ferry' of Whitman.
The final essay is "What Makes a Life Significant" He opens this essay by telling of an incident from his own personal experience in which he spent an enjoyable week at Chattaqua a kind of paradise of reasonable successful rational secure American life. He later reflects however on what he felt missing in it. And this leads him to thoughts about the heroic struggle of life and why our lives seem to need some element of danger and adventure ." But what our human emotions seem to require is the sight of the struggle going on.The moment the fruits are being merely eaten, things become ignorble. Sweat and effort, human nature strained to the uttermost and on the rack, yet getting through alive, and then turning its back on success to pursue another more rare and arduous still- this is the sort of thing the presence of which inspires us, and the reality of which seems to be the function of all the higher forms of literature and fine art to bring home to us and suggest."
For James the meaning of life is bound up with our action in the heroism of the everyday life struggle. "It is the 'exercise of courage patience and kindness' which James sees as most important in giving life meaning.
He also speaks in this regard of our acting in 'obedience to a higher ideal' As he understands it Education is a means of mulitplying and enhancing our ideals and thus enriching our lives. " And let the orientalists and pessimists say what they will ,thing of deepest- significance in life does seem to be its charactr of progress, or that strange union of reality with ideal novelty which it continues from one moment to another in present".
James thus provides in his teaching- a philosophy of action for better enabling us to realize our life- goals.

My father always had this book at arm's reach.It was a pocket version.I can still see the tip of its well worn appearance comfortably peeking out of his tweed coat side pocket.Even as a kid it really peaked my curiosity,as at that point I had never read a book,'a real book',just the hardy brothers,and all that kid stuff we all recall as children.It appeared to be one of his best friends,and that in itself fascinated me.I considered my father even when I was very young to be a friend,in my mind,'father'was just a moniker.I never mentioned it to him for years.I finally mustered up the courage to ask what this book was.He said "guides to living".Yes "this little book" is my best advisor and tutor."It has comforted me on many an occasion"Years later when I adopted an avid love for books,I read these wonderful essays.I go back time and time again,seeking advise from it's pages for a variety of reasons.These essays by William James originally published in 1917 remain as fresh and applicable to modern life as if they were written last year.James,the father of Psychology pours his heart out to you in these essays.My favourites are THE GOSPEL OF RELAXATION- THE ENERGIES OF MAN-ON A CERTAIN BLINDNES IN HUMAN BEINGS-HABIT an THE WILL.This book always travels with me.I hope you have a chance to read it sometime.Here is a little taste.This is an excerpt from THE WILL

"Our strength and our intellegence,our wealth,and even our good luck,are things which warm our heart,and make us feel ourselves a match for life.
But deeper than all such things,and able to suffice onto without them is the sense of the amount of effort we can put forth..."

Although the century old language is a bit difficult to read initially, once you get rolling, it isn't difficult. The neatest thing is how amazingly applicable James' observations are in today's society. The book is fun and interesting to read. I learned a great deal.

I first got the "Bang, bang!" book and my son loved it. He would spend 10-20 minutes at a time pushing all the animals in and out. After about six months of constant pulling, chewing, and throwing the seam gave in (not bad for a $4 book). I just recently bought the whole series because the first one was so fun and durable.

My 6 month old was recently given this as a gift. I had never seen the series before, but now I'm going to buy all of them. The book is small so babies can easily hold on to it (or it conveniently fits in your baby bag), but more importantly, it's just so cute and charming. It's nice because it teaches babies animal names, but what makes it stand out from other similar books is that it comes full circle coming back to the baby chick's mom. It's one of those books that's fun for parents to read to babies and one babies and toddlers enjoy as well.

This whole series is cute, inexpensive and a big hit with our daughters. I prefer "Knock, Knock" but for the price, all the books in the series are worthwhile.

My kid loves this book, as well as the others, like Bang Bang and Knock Knock. Every mom who has ever come over to visit at my home has noticed their kids go straight for these books and they have all fallen in love with it, so much that they have immediately gone and bought it for their little toddlers.
My 20 month old, loves the sliding board books and since we began reading these he has learnt to say the names of the animals, and now he reads the book with me. He'll slide the picture out and say the name of the animal hiding, which makes it good fun and very interesting.
It's also a very sturdy and interactive book for the little ones compared to picture and pop-up books, which my little one tends to tear and destroy with a few days.
I highly recommend this book as well as the other's in this series.

This is a good starter book for tarantula hobbyists with lots of great pictures to help identify various spider breeds. A good addition to any spider library.

This book has been extremly helpful. Recommend to all who have or plan on having Tarantulas.

If you are interested in owning a tarantula or are new to the hobby I highly reccomend this book. It is well writen to the point and covers a lot of BASIC care information without getting to scientific or to historical. Great pictures and it has a pretty good section on different tarantulas in the hobby (talks about the temprement, housing, etc,) which will help you to choose what tarantula is right for you. This is a must for any tarantula hobbyist. Well worth your money.

Whether new to having a pet tarantula, or a little further along in the hobby, this is a great book to have on hand. All the basic questions/concerns about keeping a tarantula are well-covered in this book. There are also many beautiful color photos of tarantulas that will make you want to keep expanding your collection! There is far less information on keeping other spiders and scorpions, but it is still very helpful if you are starting out.

I have bought many tarot books, but this one was excellent. Very informative, great study guide.

This is the best beginning tarot book I've come across. Not only does it give simple, clear meanings for each of the cards based on the symbolism of the Marseille deck (and, occasionally the Thoth deck), but it also adapts meanings based on the layout context and addresses the issue of combinations. This is the first book I've seen for beginners that is substantive, yet has an appropriate scope and sequence for beginning readers. Even advanced readers will learn from the wealth of information in this book. An excellent resource book.

I have brought books about the tarot, but they seem quite complicated. Never really laying any ground for on which
the reader could build on unless you have some experience.
This is what buying books are all about . Informing the
reader about the subject and laying the groundwork to
reference other books. I am grateful to finally find a book
like this on tarot. Now I have a concept of how to read
them.

If you are beginning to study the Tarot you'll find this book very interesting, once it's very well written and useful, without being boring or too academic.
For the beginner tarologist (or the unbending one) McCormack gives an idea of the variety of Tarot decks, without loosing purpose among them.
The explanations, based on the Marseilles deck, and the cards disposition in one of the most famous reading methods, the Celtic Cross, makes the learning process easier, dynamic and very pleasant.
For the skilled tarologist, the history research is very interesting, as well as the didactic method she uses to explain the cards. For those who intend to start teaching the Tarot, for example, this is a good beginning.
Besides, the analysis of several parts of each card gives the reader a notion of a point that's usually dis-regarded by authors on this issue: the details and nuances of the Tarot. Like this, the author offers material to anyone who wants to venturing in this knowledge without discouraging the beginner.

This is one of the best designed teacher planners I have ever used, which I have for the last five years since I found it on Amazon! It has all of the info sections in logical places and contains both weekly planning pages and record for assessment along with two pockets for important papers that you many need immediate access to.

After using this book, I'm hooked. It is the right size for taking everywhere. The pockets keep important papers handy. Sensible streamed-lined layout. Attractive, mature cover with covered spiral. Too bad it is so hard to find!

This book is fabulous. Everything you need for lesson plans, grades, etc, all in one spot. I am a home schooler and was dismayed to hear that this is no longer in print. My mother in law, who taught for 30 years, says teachers would be snapping this up if they knew it existed.

I hope someone is sharp enough to pick up the idea and start publishing this book again - and maybe do a better job of marketing them! Thanks, Amazon, for continuing to have them available!

I have been using this particular planner for the past 7 years. I like the fact that it keeps every thing in one neat package. Students' grades, parents'phone numbers, discipline information and my lesson plans are all together in one. This is excellent for a teacher who is super organize and wants to remain that way or for a teacher who is not and would like to be.

I am a middle-high school teacher and have used a variety of planners and gradebooks. In all of my 28 years of teaching, this is the absolute best because it is an all-in-one. No more lugging a gradebook and a plan book separately. It is a sturdy sprial-bound book with a side pocket inside each cover. It has calendars inside, handy reference guides, and ample room for behavioral notes, birthdays,addresses, and lots of other areas. The price can't be beat either. I will use this again this school year. It is no-frills but does the job. I give it an A+!!

Students have said:

"I bought the book. It makes the stuff easy."

"I got an A in biology after reading about the cell in the book."

As a mentor and teacher, I think that this book is an excellent reference for all new teachers. This is definitely on my reading list!

I would suggest this book to all math ed students - there are many things that are very useful for beginner teachers - things we learn with time and call it exparience, but then think - wish I known that earlier...

Daina Taimina, Adjunct Associate Professor, Cornell University

The author, an outstanding teacher and physicist, has a deep understanding that goes beyond the "tricky dog" Power Point mindset dominating educational thinking today. His book serves as an excellent tonic for removing many of the cobwebs of bad thinking predominant in American public education. I highly recommend this book to all educators who want to clear out some of their own conceptual cobwebs, post haste.

Maurice D. Fisher, Ph.D.

Publisher

Gifted Education Press