Schools and Instruction Books

As an artist and therapist who facilitates creativity groups, I found many wonderful musical exercises in this book and have used them in my retreats with great results. The author is very creative and his exercises encourage the development of spontaneity, listening to musical subtleties, and moving beyond inhibition in expression. Sometimes his take is remeniscent of John Cage. He did his work in the 1950's with children, so the context is odd, but don't be put off by that.

This book was interesting - and has some good ideas. But, most of the book is for younger grades (3-4).

It's almost impossible to pick an art book based on others opinions but I personally fell in love with this book. I'm new to figure drawing and this book is just what I need. Not only does it give step-by-step instructions for several classic poses in a variety of mediums but it also provides you with the reference photo (which few figure drawing how-to's seem to do). There aren't a lot of exercises but for the price I'm still happy. A far more comprehensive book you should definitely check out is "The Big Book Of Drawing And Painting The Figure" - it's awesome and a great bargain at amazon!

Beach and Reinhartz provide realistic and applicable information that shows how the administrative leader in a school setting can facilitate growth of teachers, lead effectively, and develop personally. Using well-proven theory and respected experts in all fields, they develop a book that is a must in an administrator's library of personal resources. The book is effective in showing scientific approaches to evaluation, working with different personalities and creating effective change. This is the "Administrator's Bible" and a must for those who have just begun, or are looking to revitalize their approach in educational leadership.

I bought this book for "nostalgia:" I just picked up a keyboard and wanted to play the songs I grew up on in my Suzuki piano lessons. It's funny how the memories come flooding back - how I got terribly sick of that monstrous 8 page Sonata in the middle, but loved the last song "Gigue," etc. And now that I don't have to practice for a teacher, I have great fun just relearning the ones that I truly enjoyed.
Most people aren't going to buy this book out of the blue without a history of Suzuki piano, but if you do, be forwarned that it's reasonably advanced, not beginner level: I don't think I reached it until about 6 years into my piano career.
But the music is printed in good, legible text, and there are lots of fingering hints which are a rare find in "grown up" piano music.

This is a simple, straight-forward explanation of the Suzuki method for those unfamiliar with it. The purpose seems not to persuade the reader but simply to explain how and why it works, as well as sharing the history of Dr. Suzuki and how his "method" came to be. It is interesting and quick reading; it can be read in one sitting.

I have borrowed this book from the library numerous times and now it has to be on my homeschool resource list. It is a great supplement to your curriculum. It helps with introductory exposure to the basic elements of music and uses literature.

it's a good support to achieve knowledge about the matter, leads through many topics carefully, both theory and practice. Maybe not a must-have book, but surely very helpful.

This is a great book for computer teachers to have. I teach 7th graders and this book presents material in a fresh way. The 8th grade computer teacher showed me this book and how helpful it was to her in preparing for her classes. I liked the book so much, I'm going to incoporate some of the materials in to my class. This book is definately a resourceful tool and I suggest highly for other computer teachers.

For schools and teachers that are committed to implementing teaching according to the different learning styles, this is an important resource book. Detailed illustrations of various designs and techniques that will match the learning styles are given. It is important for teachers and administrators to first do the "Productivity Envrionmental Preference Survey (PEPS)" and for the students to do the "Learning Style Inventory (LSI)" which are available separately. Please note that "The inventory does not measure underlying psychological factors, value systems, or the quality of attitudes"(p.35). Table 2-1 gives a graphic overview of interpreting LSI profile. You get a good sense of the diversity among students. It is quite a daunting challenge to implement such a lerning-style based programme. The chart on p. 449 gives an overview of 4 stages. Some schools, with classrooms of 40+ students (e.g. in Hong Kong), may not have the physical space to incorporate the environmental changes required. Also where can we find in a regular school so many flexible and resourceful teachers who can creatively go beyond their usual learning and teaching styles? The awareness of the Dunns' comprehensive framework of learning styles is certainly most valuable and it helps us to be less judgemental and more respectful of individual gifts. I wonder if it would be an acceptable application to methodically stretch the whole class' learning styles, e.g., to be more visual or both global and analytic? Maybe more research can be done using these small steps of expanding one's learning and teaching styles.