Educational Books

Not only is this a wonderful documentary film history text, it is also extremely well-written. Barnouw is a wonderful storyteller and knows his subject perhaps better than anyone.

I own a splanish version of this book that I used on some of my school's courses. I belive this is a great book for people interested in the other face of the film industry. It is a must buy for the people that want to go into the reality film industry

I know that when you see a book receive the five star rating you think that the person reviewing is either tender-hearted or an ignoramus as it is inconceivable to think of a perfect book. However, since I am neither tender-hearted nor an ignoramus I give you my word that Barnouw's book is an amazing reference guide to the world of non-fiction films. Its an incredibly quick read, it took me a matter of days despite a hectic schedule, and though a lot of names and movies come flying at you they are easy to access and remember. So if you know nothing about documentaries you can quickly become knowledgeable by reading this book and then know what films you should seek after. The book traces non-fiction films all the way from the early experiments of Muybridge and the actualities of Lumiere all the way up to the 1990s. It divides the films not by region but by their respective genre and in the order they emerged. Then in the final chapter, "Movement," it carries documentaries up into our days and explains what's going on and where it's headed. Again, though you wished Barnouw could have delved even deeper into certain aspects, or become more localized as this is mostly a globalized look, you realize that this book is only the stepping stone into a whole new world. Barnouw is merely opening the door and inviting us to enter.

If you are interested in Documentary Film, this is a great introduction to the genre. Barnouw brings you through history with ease and enjoyment. I found it extremely satisfactory; definitely not a disappointment.

Barnbouw has taken a wealth of creativity and almost a century of filmmaking and not only made it manageable but intensely relevant and interesting, His breakdown of the various movements throughout the history of the documentary film is right on and remarkable. The research included in this masterpiece is unmatchable in other writings on the documentary. Filmmakers and non-filmakers alike need to read this book. It is a history lesson on a all too often over looked art.

I saw this book at a San Antonio airport and knew I had to get it for my daughter. We're relocating to Texas, and what better way to help her adjust than a good book. I ordered it through Amazon, and when it arrived, loved the colorful artwork and story line.

I bought this book for my twin two year old nephews (along with a stuffed armadillo). I bought it for the lessons (don't cross/careful crossing the road) and the sweet story. They love it and the art work is adorable. They're a little young for the lesson but since they're so engaged with the story now I think they'll keep it around long enough for the lessons, too.

Not only is this delightful book instructional but it is also great fun for both children and adults. Kids really respond to the illustrations which animate the story. Definitely a keeper -- one you will want to read and look at over and over.

This book by the author of "Don't Call Me Pig! A Javelina Story" and "Lizards for Lunch. A Roadrunner's Tale" is a wonderful blend of whimsical rhyme and natural history lesson. Young readers (or listeners) will love following the antics of a red-capped armadillo student as his teacher armadillo lectures the a restless armadillo class all about their history, biology, habitat, and most importantly the dangers of crossing the road! Bringing the words to life are Nathaniel Jensen's delightful illustrations--the expressions on the little armadillos faces are priceless.

This is a sweet story you won't mind sharing with your child again and again. The illustrations are first rate, each page has its own color palate as the story progresses from evening to dawn (armadillos are nocturnal, after all!). My three year old has a new best friend!

The publishers also did a great job on the printing. The images are crisp, the paper is of good quality so that the colors jump out at you.

Good for kids or adults who are collectors of picture books.

I purchased this book because my friend Rob did the illustrations. I am blown away by the art and the story. Great for people of all ages!

How refreshing to find a positive message in our world today! I highly recommend this book to readers of all ages. The message of hope and vivid illustrations will inspire and delight children as well as adults. A wonderful story.

This is a fantastic book! The author, Jonathon Kathrein visited my son's preschool a few months ago. He made an impression on the entire class. We ordered the book and had it signed by the author! My son loves it and it has a powerful message that even the young ones can understand!

The illustrations by Robert Singler, Jr. are amazing! He is an absolute genius. His art is realistic yet creative. I have never seen a shark smile before... somehow he pulled it off. I am so impressed.

I love the art!

I loved this book, and found it wonderful for all ages. The author, a victim of a shark attack, manages to turn suffering into art as he plays off the old children's rhyme of "This is the hosue that Jack Built" Mother Goose rhyme. His message of reconciliation is just what we need, especially in this current climate of fear and aggression. The art accompanying each page is as beautifully rendered as the text.

Let's face it, most people hate the idea of e-learning. If you're interested in creating *effective* e-learning (and most people are not) and don't know where to start, this is a good place.

The book can be useful both to internal HRD departments and independent trainer/designers. Even if you don't want to design e-learning, this information can help you sort out credible from mediocre contractors and give you idea of how to work with them better.

First, Horton covers design considerations and decisions you may not think of (even if you're experienced) and ways to make e-learning come alive.

Early in the book, Horton states that the primary purposes for e-learning are do, act, and decide. Departing information is a secondary cause (and, if you think about it, sort of a waste of time if you want training to have real value and application in the workplace). This is a *great* place to start from if you're serious about creating real value with your e-learning project.

You can also get a good idea of how to use different programs (Flash, Powerpoint et al) various programs to add both punch and power to your e-learning project.

You can use this book as a guide and starting point to creating good, effective e-learning experiences. This is a major undertaking and, I think, can have real payoffs.

Horton also offers ideas for evaluation.

There is no magic bullet to this and this book doesn't pretend to offer it.

I would have liked a CD to go with it (a lot of material is available of Horton's web site).

This is a great book, regardless of whether you are new to e-learning design or been around it for a while. It's pushed my content creation along in a great direction and I know with certainty that my learners are benefiting greatly. Simple, easy to follow instructions. If you only buy one book for your e-learning library this is it!

This author actually was able to present detailed and effective solutions for E-Learning problems. You could sense that he had to solve similar problems. He also seemed to have encountered a broad range of real E-Learning problems, rather than simply theorize about them. The solutions made sense. In addition, Horton presented a number of well researched issues that appear to have caused problems due to frequent instructional designer beliefs that the E-media itself is good enough to cover the lack true learning assistance...... real learning assistance, that all too often is missing in many E-Learning presentations due to interaction gimmicks that offer no relationship to assisting with the learning process.

Great book! Sits now on top of my Michael Allen E-Learning books. I also liked Horton's apparent attitude that philosophizing does not solve instructional problems, but offering solid detailed solution approaches can.

"e-Learning by Design" is a very valuable update of William Horton's "Designing Web Based Training" (2000). It provides more on recent development with standards for web based courseware. It is particularly useful when using a coursware system such as Web CT and Moodle. You need to worry less about the web design of the course as that is largely set by the package.

This is an excellent book/resource for you if you are involved in eLearning in any way: manager, writer, designer, web developer. Does your eLearning development group have published instructional design and course development standards? This book can help put a framework around reaching agreement among staff and clients. Or benchmark your current standards and definitions of quality eLearning against examples found in the book. Horton's 2000 edition has been cited in academic texts. And if he wasn't so cynical about advanced degrees, we would surely be calling him Dr. Horton. Yet, that is essentially what defines Bill Horton. He the eLearning industry's Henry David Thoreau.

In all probability, the topic of teaching and education elicits such an array of responses that we are sometimes at a loss to logically understand why the system very often contributes to apathetic and uninterested students.

Professor (Emeritus) Ira Jay Winn, author of The Education Mirage: How Teachers Succeed and Why the System Fails, deftly weaves together his thoughts, suggestions and solutions concerning the weaknesses that are prevalent within today's educational institutions.

Winn emphasizes that one of the primary objectives of teaching must be the fostering of creative thinking. In fact, he dedicates his book to his former students who, he states, "hopefully, learned the art of critical thinking and came to expect nothing less than a civilized dialogue."

The book divides itself into two parts, How Teachers Succeed and Why the System Fails.
Readers are constantly reminded that just regurgitating of facts is useless. You must emphasize problem-centered and inquiry-based teaching and learning, in order to stimulate and maintain the interest of students.

Drawing on his personal teaching experiences, Winn presents several alternative pedagogic techniques in order to present material in a way that will fuel the discovery process.
For example, what is the value of having students learn the names of Columbus' three ships? As Winn states, they are dead- ended insofar as discussion goes. Would it not be more beneficial if facts were associated with definitional problems and value questions?
Instead of focusing on the names of Columbus' three ships, why not ask the question, "what did Columbus hope to prove by sailing to the New World?"
Unfortunately, as pointed out, many teachers have not stopped to think about the important differences between questions of fact, definitional problems, and questions of value.

Winn displays a sharp eye in his analysis of what makes a good teacher, as he deals with the topics of lesson-strategy planning, discussion leading, when not to lecture, the use of case studies, testing and grading.

His solutions to fixing the problem are quite novel, particularly when he challenges the belief that high school must be an exclusively teen-age institution. According to Winn, "high school must be changed into adult common schools, common in the sense that they are open to all people regardless of age, so long as they have completed middle schooling."
Other topics explored in the second half of the book deal with public policy, teacher training, the environment of reform, the school crisis as a crisis of culture, and a brief critique of Allan Bloom's book, The Closing Of The American Mind.

By the end of the book, readers will well understand Winn's preface to the opening chapters when he quotes a Chinese proverb, "I listen and I forget...I see and I remember... I do and I understand!" It is too bad many of my teachers did not heed this advice when I was a student, and why today teachers still do not get the message.

No doubt, Winn has written a splendid in-depth book in which every educator, and even non-educators will discover something novel.
For those who wish to further explore the book's topics, a short bibliography is provided at the end of the book.

This review first appeared on the reviewers' own site:

Review: THE EDUCATION MIRAGE by Prof. Emeritus,Ira Winn
ISBN 0-595-29142-2

More than a primer, Prof. Winn's analysis of educational do's and don'ts, his shattering myths about some long-gone, golden age of public educational achievement, and the dissection of "senders and receivers" in the knowledge industry will make readers question previously held educational beliefs as well as current practices. Above all, the writer connects the nation's lack of success solving our most critical social and political problems with failed educational assumptions and methodology-"stuffing turkeys" rather than "lighting lamps." Also indicted are gross materialism, mindless TV offerings, video and computer games, as well as our near-total reliance upon science-technology education, solely to prepare students for money-making jobs, the end goal. Squeezing art and humanities out of curricula has deprived students of adequate preparation to function as informed citizens in a democracy. Rarely do problem-solving and creativity enhance the learning experience because of reliance upon rote learning, worship of objective testing norms, or celebrating adolescent rites of passage. Nor does the swollen educational bureaucracy of overpaid administrators and underpaid teachers escape Winn's scrutiny, claiming our society does not value excellence in public education, now morphed into another "bottom line" commodity. Prof. Winn envisions educated adults working together to attack poverty, reduce excesses of global capitalism and dependence upon finite resources. For him, these issues are inextricably linked to values of mind and heart deriving from inspirational education.

Marian Blanton, retired community college instructor

Prof. Winn's "Education Mirage . . ." is a revelation in the compendium of educational literature. This is a writing free from cant and pedantry. It is an idealistic and inspirational vision of how to be a teacher who is motivated by the important social, ethical, and historical perspectives of the time. His use of examples and techniques is always pithy and relevant and the general reader shall grasp what excellence in teaching means. I would suggest that this is a "must" read for every aspiring student teacher who wants to teach secondary, college, and university level. This is a work which is uniquely refreshing and original.

Ideale Gambera, Emeritus
Department of English and American Studies
City College of San Francisco

I regret that Ira Winn's new book, "The Education Mirage," was not available several years ago when I first started teaching. The book is a great help to all who wish to make their teaching more effective and their workload easier. The first part of the book is a detailed manual on what the author calls "creative problem centered teaching." It includes the art of questioning and the avoidance of unconsciously motivating student apathy, and an analysis of teacher types, Winn shows us how to get more students interested in the subject matter and involved in class discussions. Above all, he shows how to encourage and develop critical thinking in our students. The book even offers planning exercises and a self-test to measure the reader's comprehension of the modern teaching concepts presented. Winn finds the current mania for state-mandated testing counterproductive, a fig leaf for politicians and a force driving creative teachers to distraction and exodus from the profession.

The second part of the book is a collection of essays, analyzing the faults and weaknesses of the American educational system and offering a variety of suggestions for improving the system. The suggestions are not the standard recommendations for change that appear periodically in political debate, however. Winn proposes a host of reforms in the system, in educational institutions including the universities, in teacher and professor training and in the curriculum that are all highly innovative, even radical. For example, he finds that the highly educated are more often a greater danger to society and democracy than the less educated, because the former sit at the seats of power and too often prove arrogant and swayed by a money ethic. The result is that the planet's environment and the world economy bear an intolerable burden. He also finds that TV and computers have made the traditional teacher role outmoded, and thus he calls for intensive retraining in problem-centered methodologies.

Professor Winn is an EDUCATOR. I recommend this book to all who have a strong interest in education in America.

In all probability, the topic of teaching and education elicits such an array of responses that we are sometimes at a loss to logically understand why the system very often contributes to apathetic and uninterested students.

Professor (Emeritus) Ira Jay Winn, author of The Education Mirage: How Teachers Succeed and Why the System Fails, deftly weaves together his thoughts, suggestions and solutions concerning the weaknesses that are prevalent within today's educational institutions.

Winn emphasizes that one of the primary objectives of teaching must be the fostering of creative thinking. In fact, he dedicates his book to his former students who, he states, "hopefully, learned the art of critical thinking and came to expect nothing less than a civilized dialogue."

The book divides itself into two parts, How Teachers Succeed and Why the System Fails.
Readers are constantly reminded that just regurgitating of facts is useless. You must emphasize problem-centered and inquiry-based teaching and learning, in order to stimulate and maintain the interest of students.

Drawing on his personal teaching experiences, Winn presents several alternative pedagogic techniques in order to present material in a way that will fuel the discovery process.
For example, what is the value of having students learn the names of Columbus' three ships? As Winn states, they are dead- ended insofar as discussion goes. Would it not be more beneficial if facts were associated with definitional problems and value questions?
Instead of focusing on the names of Columbus' three ships, why not ask the question, "what did Columbus hope to prove by sailing to the New World?"
Unfortunately, as pointed out, many teachers have not stopped to think about the important differences between questions of fact, definitional problems, and questions of value.

Winn displays a sharp eye in his analysis of what makes a good teacher, as he deals with the topics of lesson-strategy planning, discussion leading, when not to lecture, the use of case studies, testing and grading.

His solutions to fixing the problem are quite novel, particularly when he challenges the belief that high school must be an exclusively teen-age institution. According to Winn, "high school must be changed into adult common schools, common in the sense that they are open to all people regardless of age, so long as they have completed middle schooling."
Other topics explored in the second half of the book deal with public policy, teacher training, the environment of reform, the school crisis as a crisis of culture, and a brief critique of Allan Bloom's book, The Closing Of The American Mind.

By the end of the book, readers will well understand Winn's preface to the opening chapters when he quotes a Chinese proverb, "I listen and I forget...I see and I remember... I do and I understand!" It is too bad many of my teachers did not heed this advice when I was a student, and why today teachers still do not get the message.

No doubt, Winn has written a splendid in-depth book in which every educator, and even non-educators will discover something novel.
For those who wish to further explore the book's topics, a short bibliography is provided at the end of the book.

This review first appeared on reviewer's own site

This a beautiful version of one of my favorite stories. It is just perfect for read-aloud. Must have!

I have always loved the story of "The Elves and the Shoemaker" and have searched and searched for an adaptation that evoked the memories that I carried from my childhood. (As children, my sister and I fell in love with the Scholastic version which, sadly, is off the market.) But this version is as good, if not better! The pictures are simply beautiful ~ so full of color and expression and detail! And the story is told in a simple yet profound way so that children as young as three but as old as eight or nine will be able to find meaning and enjoyment. I can not recommend this book enough! In my mind, it deserves a space on every child's bookshelf!

The illustrations in this book are wonderful. A true artist. Very cleverly hides the elves in each page and its much fun for a 3 year old to find them and the mice and birds too.

Everyone knows the story of the elves and the shoemaker - the poor cobbler who is visited by a pair of elves who (for reasons that are purposefully never revealed) help him out by crafting exquisite pairs of shoes. After the shoemaker is made wealthy, he and his wife stake out the workshop and discover their secret benefactors. Seeing how poorly they are dressed, they make for them tiny clothes and shoes, and delighted with their gifts, the elves leave forever as mysteriously as they came.

It is an unforgettable story of anonymous charity and giving, and children all across the world love it for its simplicity and mystery. Jim LaMarche is utterly faithful to the old Grimm's version of the tale and using vibrant colour throughout his illustrations.

Jim LaMarche's illustrations are lovely when depicting the old shoemaker and his wife, as an old and loving couple in the warmth and cleanliness of their little shop. However, the elves themselves were not quite to my taste, though I have no doubt they'll appeal to most parents reading to their children. Rather than show them as miniscule adults, they are portrayed as small children with pixie-features. However, to my eyes they looked very modern, especially the girl who actually reminded me of a Jan McLean doll.

However, this is a personal gripe due to memories of my childhood version of the tale in which the elves looked adult, mischievous and vaguely wicked, making it all the more interesting that they were helping an elderly couple in need. Anyone else who picks up this book will be certain that they've found the definitive version of the famous Grimm's fairytale.

This book is a wonderful companion to any collection of classic fairy tales. The illustrations are lively and charming; the tale is retold simply and well. This book also does an excellent job of conveying what a cobbler does, if you are looking for some books to bring history alive. Not many children now think twice about where their shoes come from. Above all else, the illustrations really bring the tale alive. The quality of the expressions on each character's face is truly incredible and any small child can easily "read" along by seeing the delight on the faces of the customers, the patience and careful work done by the elves (you can practically hear them whistle as they work), the astonishment and gratitude felt by the shoemaker and his wife. This heartwarming story is a must for any preschool or first grade classroom.

How do you teach adolescents to save their own lives? How do you reach through the ideas they have about STDs and their own omnipotence? "EveryBody" is THE curriculum for students in grades 5-9, about HIV, AIDS and STD prevention. This is a powerful guide for teachers, counselors and parents to utilize in making a difference in, and more than likely saving, the lives of today's youth.

Communication, in the fight against HIV and other communicable diseases, is essential between child and adult, teacher and student, and all individuals dealing in possibly unsafe behaviors. How is communication learned? "EveryBody" opens the doors to communication. The activities, meticulously described, spark discussions and discussions encourage empowerment in the individual.

Many lessons are shared in "EveryBody": the specifics of STDs and prevention methods, the generalities of stereotypes, risk taking, reduction and elimination, and so much more. Students will come away with a better understanding of these topics and just as important, a better understanding of themselves.

Some adults may think that "EveryBody" goes beyond what is expected for a 5th-9th grade curriculum. However, "EveryBody" is developmentally appropriate and extensive research shows that is does indeed meet the needs of today's adolescents. Every year in the U.S., half of all new HIV infections occur among people under the age of 25. One in four of new infections occur among those between the ages of 13 and 20. Isn't it best to empower our youth before they become a statistic? The fact is that the majority of American adolescents are sexually active by 12th grade. This is life threatening behavior. Addressing the factors head on is the only way to prevent fatal mistakes.

The curriculum that "EveryBody" is, is not lecture and testing, but rather it is innovative and connected to scientific theory. Students act out the lessons and in essence, become the subject matter. For example, when marker ink, representing infectious bodily fluids, makes its way from student to student, they see point blank, how easily they can become infected, and learn how to prevent that from happening. A fairly simple exercise that will hit home and, in context, will get the message across that HIV prevention is a very serious matter.

The lessons are well written, comprehensive and easily comprehended. The curriculum is one that should be mandatory in all middle schools. Our youth need to learn responsibility for their health and as a parent, I would rather these lessons not be learned the hard way.

We know that communication is critically important and that pre-teens and teens will make better decisions with good information. But discussing subjects that most of us know little about, or find difficult to discuss, with our children is critical. This book is a must for parents, because frankly, is your child's school doing everything they should be doing? Will the teachers be around when your child needs your help? Read the book!! Get informed! And get the tools to be the best parent you can be.

EveryBody is just the sort of honest, compassionate work to open the dialogues we must be having with our middle and high school students. Deborah Schoeberlein did thorough research, not only in HIV risk factors and trasmission, but in educational models so that teens will listen. School districts, youth groups, health classes need EveryBody.

One of the unique aspects of the Everybody model is that is very interactive and help youth to be fully engage in the learning process. I am using Everybody Curriculum in my skills building training with youth. I found students really learn a lot about this disease,their own attitudes toward prevention and how to be respectful of their lives.

Absolutely first rate. The best literature on the subject.

I'm planning on going to France through a foreign exchange program next year. This book completely caught me off guard. It made me aware of the culture shock an exchange student experiences when adjusting to a new family and lifestyle. The book helps you prepare for your year abroad and for returning home to the U.S. It explains the (about) 8 steps of the exchange process and how each one affects the student. My favorite part of the book, though, were the examples from former exchange students. Their stories helped make the book more insightful, and they helped me to understand what I should do in different situations. I highly recommend the book for future travelers.

The Exchange Student Survival Kit is a solid primer for foreign exchange students and host families alike. Now in a completely revised and updated second edition that includes references to the latest communications technology (e-mail, instant messaging, cell phones, online games, etc.), crucial advice with regard to personal safety, and notes concerning ongoing changes in society and family life that affect travelers, The Exchange Student Survival Kit covers everything from practical packing to learning to identify "red flag" emotions that are likely triggered by culture shock to preparing for reverse culture shock on the trip home. Peppered throughout with anecdotes of young people from various different nations adjusting to a new way of life, The Exchange Student Survival Kit is an absolute "must-read" for any prospective exchange student or host family.

This is an excellent book for anyone who's going to be an exchange student, as it gives the reader a realistic view of what going on the exchange will really entail. It covers settling in, homesickness, culture shock, making friends, learning the language, getting ready to leave, and "reverse culture shock" -- coming home again. Although not every exchange student may experience the stages in the exact order or extent the author describes, most exchange students will be able to identify with what she's saying. I found it very informative and comforting to read this book before going to Ecuador for a year, and it was also helpful to read during the exchange, simply to know that what seemed like bizarre feelings were really fairly normal for exchange students. Do yourself a favor and read this book before you go, you'll be glad you did. It'll leave you feeling a whole lot less in the dark about what's going to happen during your exchange.

It really helped me get through it, and I would recommend it to anyone going overseas.

This book provides extremely helpful information about adjusting to life as an exchange student. It has checklists for packing, tips about avoiding cultural mishaps, personal stories, and the stages of getting used to your temporary home. Everything is easy to find and written clearly. A must have for exchange students!

The book is comprehensive, well-researched, and well-presented. I did learn a lot from the book, and I would recommend this book to other people beginning recovery from SA. The book talks about the ten types/stages of courtship and how sexual addiction can affect an addict, so you can diagnose yourself and where you're having difficulties from the charts. It also talks about how slips are like boulders falling off a hill, and there's a great illustration to explain that and how bottomlines can help you.

What was missing for me, and hence the 4 stars, was the lack of content regarding "Relationship Recovery" part. There isn't much indication on how to go about dating the right way for S&L addicts - for example, if you saw the chart and realized you have problems with "seduction" phase of the courtship, you know you have this, but the book doesn't help you to revert this, or suggest what you're supposed to do with the diagnosis, other than "abstinence".

I would say this is a great resource for Sex Addicts in Recovery, but if you are a Sex AND Love Addict in recovery - this book won't fulfill all your needs. I don't know; perhaps Carnes has written a separate book for Love Addiction that I haven't checked out yet.

I would say I'm about 85% satisfied with the information provided by the book, and roughly 70% satisfied with the purchasing of this book.

This author (Patrick Carnes) is the most knowledgable person on the topic of Sexual Addiction. This book is good for people who like to have a workbook. There are a lot of quizzes and journaling places, so you can really get to the bottom of your problems. If you are not going to want to journal or take quizzes in the book, I would reccommend some of his other books. I hear great things about his original "facing the shadow" book. I kind of wish I had bought that one actually.

Dr. Carnes is a noted authority and perhaps the premier researcher in the area of sexual addiction. His work goes back easily some twenty years. I have studied with Dr. Carnes and I can say with some authority that this may be his finest work. It is the fruit of much thought and labor. It is reality. Carl Rogers said: "Until we can accept ourselves as we really are we can't change." This book, really a work book, helps the addicted person do just that. But it doesn't stop there. The addict is able to see through the work he does that he is able, through healthy activities, to regain control of his life. This is the second edition. Dr. Carnes demonstrates not only his high standards of authorship, but his humility and ability to accept constructive criticism both from within himself and I think perhaps others, in the changes he has put into this second edition. They are well worth the effort. Dr. Carnes comes at the sexual addiction issue with clarity, research, and above all empathy. His other work "The Recovery Zone," will I think prove to be as well received as this work.

Roger L. Johnson
M.A, Th.M. LPC
Director, Day Program
Meier Clinics

Key strategy- work to FINISH THINGS! Addicts do not finish things- prefer to "keep options open." Thrives in unfinished business. Starting more than you can finish leads to CRISIS. ENDING THINGS adds substantially to recovery. Addicts avoid completing their conversations. Important feelings and facts are not communicated. Conflict not resolved. PAIN ACCUMULATES. Increase PAIN AND COST TO STOP. Childhood needed something you didn't receive- trust, security, safety, non-sexual affection, both parents together. Normalcy. RESPONSIBILITY TO THOSE YOU HAVE HURT. NEGATIVE EMOTIONS ARE TRANSFERRED TO CHILDREN. Addictive sex feels shameful, illicit, stolen, exploitive, and joyless. Healthy sex- adds to self-esteem, is mutual, intimate, fun, and playful. Fighting= act of trust- focus on issues. - Give outcome to God. Horniness = loneliness. When in doubt, don't. Secrets will separate you from others in recovery. Get a pet. Avoid the feeling that you are a victim. Be gentle w/ yourself about old tortuous conflicts. They are not about you! They never were! Recovery= burst of creativity. NURTURING- Learning how to care for themselves and to allow others to care for them IS essential RECOVERY TASK. Intimacy= shared experiences! FIDELITY TO YOURSELF is the ultimate act of faithfulness to the other. Trust yourself. It's as hared for your partner as it is for you! Admit mistakes. Share Spirituality. Have fun together- common experiences. Recovery- brings awareness of abuse. Sustain from sex w/o intimacy. Talk before, during, and after. Compliment your partner. Respect boundaries. Pay attention to feelings. See Sex as a legitimate joy! Take care of your body. Express attraction. Work on friendship and companionship. Fast-forward the relationship. This is even closer to a cure. Other excellent points in II Corinthians; The Message.

Working through this with group therapy has been wonderful and life changing. Cannot recommend it highly enough. Get Carnes' other books as well.

Changes in assessment and grading practices is a paradigm shift for most educators. Rick Wormeli does an excellent job in hosting that conversation in way that allows readers to reflect on what's best for students, what is essential that assessment data ought to provide, and how to collect and report in ways that is helpful to the teacher, parents, and student. Non-confrontational, incorporates diverse views, he ultimately guides readers to important decisions we must make regarding practice. If teaching is about what's best for students, how must I finetune, change, or adapt my practices to best support learners.

What to expect:
Address quality elements of good assessment and grading practices based on getting an accurate understanding of student learning. Provides strategies and different views for thinking and methods for effective assessment and grading. Great for teachers and administrators.

Makes for an excellent book study for schools and districts looking to build clarity in assessing student learning. Wormeli includes quotes from many educators that are great for discussion as the views expressed are not always in agreement. This enhances the conversation as the author addresses the quotes within his own conversation with the reader.

I found it highly effective in helping schools and districts reflect and make the paradigm shift that they want and need to do. Read and be changed. :)

Just out in 2006, Rick Wormeli's FAIR ISN'T ALWAYS EQUAL has the latest research on teaching (especially middle and high school) pulled together nicely in one 200-page package. For me, a lot of it was necessary review and reaffirmation of differentiated instruction, standards-based instruction, and various strategies I've read about but haven't gotten around to using. For beginning teachers or veteran teachers whose schools are converting to the standards-based and/or differentiated instruction mode of instructing, it is a terrific primer and source of discussion.

That's all well and good (and a terrific learning tool for teachers), but what really appeals is how Wormeli wades into some hot-button topics like grading (he calls it the "elephant in the room" we don't want to discuss). In addition to issues of assessment, fairness, and mastery teaching, Wormeli brings up whether or not we should grade participation, effort, behavior, and attendance. My school has been debating this very topic of late, and Wormeli not only provides both points of view, he dives into the debate fearlessly by taking a stand and giving a well-reasoned defense of his view.

In addition, there's loads of practical stuff on how to teach students of various abilities, how to keep a grade book, how to structure report cards, and how to create fair tests.

This would be a great professional reading "book group" choice for teachers to read, annotate, then discuss. As it uses the "See Inside" feature here at amazon, I recommend you check out the Table of Contents for a look at what's inside. It won't disappoint.

This is a good read for all teachers. It will make you think as well as give strategies for differentiating.

Excellent book. This book covers alot of different perspectives on how to "grade" or evaluate student progress. I recommend it.

Wormeli provides guidlelines which should be adopted by all educators and schools as the gold standards for assessment. He is practical with his suggestions and shares wisdom from many educators on a wide variety of assessment topics. This book should be on every educator's desk.