Schools and Instruction Books

Received in excellent condition. A very good book for someone like me who knows nothing about acrylics and wants to paint. Thanks.

This book was decent - not great. The examples, in my opinion, were boring and tend to be the abstract kind. There were VERY few step-by-step instructions on how to do those paintings, and the caption underneath a picture would talk about 2 steps while the picture shows only 1 of those steps. So, as you can see, I found this book to be a bit frustrating. I gave it another 1/2 star just because it showed me how to paint an ocean scene.

I received this and several other books for Christmas from a professional artist who wanted me to share her passion for acrylic painting. This book is by far the best for a beginner such as myself. Most of the books my friend sent me were almost entirely devoted to technique, but this book also went into great detail about brushes, paints, canvas, paper, colors, etc. The author dedicates two pages to each topic, all of which are very well laid out and well organized (the pages even have color coded boxes in the top corner to help you find exactly what you are looking for). There are countless pictures that illustrate the effects of various techniques using different colors and mediums, which allows the beginning artist to skip over much of the initial experimentation usually involved when starting a new craft. There is no doubt that this is a book for beginners, but I think it is an ideal place to start. Secondly, despite its novice approach, the author covers nearly all of the techniques discussed in books that are considered to be far more advanced. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is serious about starting to paint with acrylics. Enjoy.

As a novice acrylic painter, I found this book to be the best beginners guidebook. After reviewing many, many books on acrylic painting, this is the only book that had it all. Chapter 3 provides the fundamentals on color basics. Understanding how to mix colors is a principle foundation that many other books failed to address. The rest of the book delves into various painting techniques that are simple to follow and understand. I would've given it 5 stars if the book came spiral bound, making it easier to use while painting. Wonderful book to have in my acrylics reference library.

I thought this book was very good, especially for the beginner. It went through palette, color mixing, grounds, additives, and content. For the more experienced painter, I thought it made a good reference and refresher. It also had several artists who contributed their examples. This book is well illustrated with reference photos and more.

Well-illustrated and organized. I use it as a reference ALL the time. The only downside is that, like most textbooks, it denigrates (i.e. ignores) the validity of other traditions than Western/Euro-American.

Fleming does an excellent job encompassing thousands of years of art in this consummate book. He does, however, make a less than valorous attempt at including the contributions of women in the realm. This is the 1990s, not the 1890s -- it's time for a revision, Bill!

I used this book as a Music Major and now am using it for a Humanities course that I am teaching. It's great to see that the book is still as popular as it was in the eighties!

For anyone who wants to delve into the world of art history and the fine arts, this book is a beautiful introduction. Very extensive, and even rivalling other fine arts books specializing in specific areas of the arts. I've had the good pleasure of being taught by William Fleming in college, and it was truly a life enrichening experience. This book will offer the same. I particularly enjoyed the use of psychological/sociological aspects of the arts through history to show common themes of the human psyche, however common, rare and mundane. All the art reproduced is rich with extemely good DPI, color quality, being printed on high quality paper. This book is well worth its expensive price.

Arts & Ideas was recommended reading when I studied History of Art. I never owned the book myself (having borrowed it from a friend at the time), but in the past ten years, I have constantly wished that I did. Fleming gives one a taste of the Zeitgeist of various eras, showing how the various arts (visual, music, literary) expressed the philosophy of each age. I can REALLY recommend the chapter on Romanticism. It is wonderfully amusing.

This book is full of outstanding examples of calligraphic artwork, some of them unusual. It's extremely complete regarding pens, such as how to sharpen them. And it even gives you an excellent overview of how to watercolor. I own many calligraphy books and thought I knew a great deal, but I learned much from this book. Worth buying.

Quite a good reference guide for beginners. Plenty of examples and step by step guide. Projects are excellent ways for anyone to put their skills to practice. Get your money's worth.

"Calligraphy School" is everything I was hoping it would be when I ordered it. Beautifully written, informative, gorgeous lay-out, very inspiring. I brought it to my calligraphy class to show the instructor and the other students, and they were as impressed as I. The book takes the student from Roman Serifs to the Lindesfarne Gospels and carolingian minuscules through to the Renaissance and some of the modern italic hands-- very comprehensive. Besides just the letterforms of virtually all the important alphabets throughout history, the authors also address the basics (and beyond) of applying a watercolor wash, interpreting text though color and design, even working with metallic leaf and illuminated letterforms! Pages and pages featuring the work of the most talented calligraphers. An absolutely beautiful book and very inspiring, as I said before, but it bears repeating.

A very detailed introduction to calligraphy aimed at people who have NO prior experience. Pens, paper, ink are all covered in an unintimidating fashion. In tutorial fashion, the authors move from basic letter forms all the way to illuminating with gold leaf. Thorougly illustrated.

I just sent out 200 elegant wedding invitations all done in Calligraphy that i learned from "Calligraphy School" in the last two months. i had never picked up a calligraphy pen and could not find any local classes so i bought this book to give it a try but was certain i would probably be hiring someone to do the calligraphy on my wedding invitations.

The book is interesting, easy to follow, has great instructions, modern colored pages, and a great font selection but not too overwhelming. i have the worst handwriting in the world and this book was able to teach me the basics in calligraphy. Worth every Penny and more.

suggestion to beginners - start with the thicker felt tip calligraphy pens till you master the letter flows and than change to the calligraphy cartridge pens (Scheaffer has been the best).

(This was a gift to our daughter from us. I am reporting on this based upon our daughter's comments.) Our daughter is a college senior and a music major, with the goal of teaching instrumental music to junior high students (!!). I have not read this book, but she has been reading it since the moment she received it. She reports that it has not only the things that the author did correctly in the classroom, but also things that she did wrong and what she did and learned as a result. Our daughter loves the book and cannot wait for the author's next book to come out.

I think it was a great idea for the author to open up the world of her first year of teaching to the public. We all know there aren't enough useful publications for us music teachers.

I was a little disappointed after reading this book. Though Bell does touch on lots of topics like maintaining a personal life, dealing with parents and fundraisers, I expected to take more away from it. It was a quick read, mostly because of its journal style--separated by months. I wanted more advice as I'm approaching my first year of teaching. I've found many other of the books in this category had more information to take away from them. This one had potential, but never really took off.

I credit Bell for sharing her thoughts and feelings, and would like to see a sequel with more information to be taken from it.

Until then, I would recommend this as a quick read, but be prepared that there aren't any fireworks or epiphanies.

Catherine Bell gives the reader an honest and complete view of what it means to be a music educator. As a former music teacher myself, I know that there are many aspects of the profession that are not taught - or even touch upon - during our formal education in college. Catherine does an excellent job of depicting the joys as well as obstacles that a new teacher can expect to encounter. I recommend this VERY HIGHLY for all future music educators and for anyone who has a child taking instrumental music in school! Well done!!

I do not have an educator's background, so I was pleasantly surprised when I found Catherine Robertson's book to be both informative and entertaining as well. I frankly never realized what a complex juggling act a teacher has to deal with each school day and throughout the school year; her students, all with different interests and abilities, their parents demands and expectations, the pressures of the school administrators, each pulling her in different directions.

Ms Robertson was able to bring these teaching challenges to life by use of her actual daily journal entries. And her retrospective follow up comments on each entry gave an added fresh perspective with the additional benefit of both time and her gained experience.

Her tenacity in the handling of the daily ups and downs of teaching, all while maintaining a positive attitude, is certainly impressive. She always seemed to be able to see the brighter side and humor in otherwise stressful situations. She obviously enjoys teaching music and looks forward to the challenges it bring each day.

Her book is both easy and fun to read. I would encourage any new teacher or person interested in going into teaching, to read, enjoy, and learn from Ms Robertson's experiences.

This book is an excellent resource, especially for those educators who are new to the "real world" or are just about there. Kate Robertson does a superb job of integrating her reflective journal from her first year teaching (which has very minimal editing -- what you see is the original journal) with reflections. One feels as if the tasks that are involved with being a music teacher are made easier just by knowing that music educators everywhere face the same challenges.

This book also sets a good example to be a reflective practicioner. Keeping a journal is probably the best, and easiest, way to reflect on daily teaching activities and improve as a teacher.

Having just met Ms Robertson, I know that she is very sincere in her teaching and the publication of this book. I urge all music educators to read this book -- even mature teachers will be able to gain knowledge from it.

Included in the back is a resource guide that has some forms, etc., that can be modeled after for use in your own classroom.

My one complaint, and it doesn't deserve any less stars because it deals not with the content, is that GIA typically tends to release books without catching every typo. Mistakes do happen, but all of the books I've gotten from GIA have had some sort of glaring grammatical error. Like I said, though, this does not detract from what Kate wrote in this book.

Designing Effective Mathematics Instruction offers brilliant solutions to most of the problems that your students might be having. It includes all the most important mathematics topics from kindergarten through fractions and "pre-algebra." The chapters discuss various mathematics topics in some depth, providing a broad-based conceptual understanding as well as specific, practical suggestions for teaching procedures. Specific skills are referenced to "formats," which are wonderfully clear scripts for teaching the specific procedure, concept, or principle. Scripts range in degree of structure from totally structured, with each step taught and guided, to less structured. The less structured scripts (and accompanying worksheets) would be given to students *after* they had mastered the structured formats.

I have given chapters from this book to my teachers, who universally report success in teaching the most difficult topics. I daresay that this book will solve at least 95% of your students' mathematics problems. Even if you are already highly successful teaching math, the book will help broaden your understanding of some of the relations between different tasks and how to explain them in clear, student-friendly language. For example, the discussion of story problems has a fascinating analysis of the different kinds of problems and how to approach them in a way that students can understand.

Our students surge ahead with the help of this book. Buy it!

This book has been a Godsend for me and many other teachers who are more interested in "teaching" than in following the latest fad. Let us hope that more teachers read it.

In an age of fads--fuzzy math, constructivism, whole language--that waste our children's time to learn (and make the faddist authors rich)--this book is both fresh air and hope. It will teach NEW teachers what their ed professors refused to teach (or don't know how to teach). And it will show parents what real math instruction is.

Whatever (ill-informed) reviewer wrote, "...today we are on the cusp of an age where thinking, and not the rote memorization of isolated rules and procedures," obviously has not read this book--which is ALL about higher-order thinking! The same reviewer writes,"...this book could set us back 75 years." Right! Back when math was taught by people like Einstein.

Stein, Silbert & Carnine deserve medals for bravery--fighting against the nonsense that "math educators" dish up.

My children were attending a charter school that was using Direct Instruction Math so I bought this book to see if was similar. It was the exact same math. This type of math is very unconventional and very repetitive. The children in the charter school after three years of using this math did worse than the public schools in the same town. I taught at the school for one year and found the Direct Instruction Math designed by S. Engleman and I had to pull my kids from the school because I could see that this type of mathematics was going to cause them to be way behind other children when it came to standardized testing, it sure enough the kids at the school did not do well this past year.

As an elementary Special Day Class teacher and Resource Specialist I used thetext "Designing Effective Mathematics Instruction" countless times. I was constantly facedwith gaps in student math skills, confused algorithms, and lack of functionalskills such as telling time and using money.Using and adapting the materials in this book allowed me to focus myinstruction and maximize student progress. In special education, "individualized" is the main principle. Using this book,one can be equipped to assess and design math instruction which is finelydetailed and suited to individual needs. Yes, I can think of a chapter or two that ought to be written and enhance itsutility, but they only support and further its basic intent.66 dollars? Yes, a hefty price on a teacher's salary. But few books on your desk willbecome so dog-eared.

This book is very teacher-friendly. If you are looking to implement differentiated instruction into your classroom routine, this book provides many excellent strategies for your use. I plan to utilize several of them in the upcoming school year.

I needed this book for a master's class I am taking. It came and was everything I expected. It came quickly and in good condition. I was a little perterbed by the cost of this book in relation to it's size. A little book at a big price.

this book had a lot of information, but nothing that required an entire book to cover. there were a lot of "methods" and ideas to incorporate in the classroom, but the organization of the book made it cumbersome to follow the examples. If you are the type of learner who appreciates a ton of examples this would be a great reference.

Differentiated Instructional Strategies: One Size Doesn't Fit All by Gayle Gregory, and Carolyn Chapman is great tool to compliment any teacher's personal resource library. As a novice to teaching and classroom instruction, I found this book to be very enlightening. The discussion of standards based classrooms, student expectations, multicultural & student diversity, cognitive variation, as well as societal and technological change is threaded though this book. This book defines a simple educational philosophy that success for any teacher is through assessment, effective planning, and effective strategical implementation to measure student performance. Today's classroom demands ongoing cirriculum development and adaptation to classroom instuction through best practices. The techniques in this book outlines a learner's needs, creating a receptive climate for learning, assessment, as well as various innovative strategies for cirriculum success.

Differentiated Instructional Strategies: One Size Doesn't Fit All by Gayle Gregory, and Carolyn Chapman is great tool to compliment any teacher's personal resource library. As a novice to teaching and classroom instruction, I found this book to be very enlightening. The discussion of standards based classrooms, student expectations, multicultural & student diversity, cognitive variation, as well as societal and technological change is threaded though this book. This book defines a simple educational philosophy that success for any teacher is through assessment, effective planning, and effective strategical implementation to measure student performance. Today's classroom demands ongoing cirriculum development and adaptation to classroom instuction through best practices. The techniques in this book outlines a learner's needs, creating a receptive climate for learning, assessment, as well as various innovative strategies for cirriculum success.

Best book of its kind on the genre- highly recommended for novices and experts.

This book added a great deal to me becoming the sissymaid that i was meant to be. This training book taught me the feminine mannerisms needed to please a Mistress. Mistress Lorelei gets to the finer points on makeup, manners, serving (such as at a tea party). Her tips on Feminizing the sissy,the sissy keeping a log, practicing daily,and rewarding the sissy for good hard work during his training all show Her true dedication to this wonderful world of sissymaids through Female Guidance & Domination.

Thank You Mistress Lorelei,
sue sissy

If you don't know what a sissy maid is, do a search on the web and you'll find hundreds if not thousands of pages. Most of these are porn but the quantity reflects a relatively common interest for some men (and some women too). This book attempts to create a sissy maid in 30 days and frankly this is the greatest disappointment of the book because I don't think it can succeed in such a task in such a short among of time -- it would be better to adapt the daily assignment into weekly ones, in my opinion, to get better and more positive results. Likewise it really needs references to stores and other printed materials that the common reader can access. But it is a good general introduction to the philosophy and feelings of many men and women who do sissy maid training and service. It helped me understand that a world a little better.

Best book on the subject. Highly recommeded. Big help for me getting started in California.

This is a wonderful book for anybody that wants to become a sissy maid. It would be useful for sissies that are just getting started as a maid, or to help experienced maids serve their Mistress better. Mistress Lorelei covers so many aspects of being a sissy maid, including buying your panties, how to curtsey, and more! This sissy wishes she found Her book earlier! Thank You so much Mistress Lorelei! This sissy hopes she can make You and my Mistress proud!

This book came in great condition (just like the seller said) and came very quickly. I would buy from this seller again. There were no hassles and everything went smoothly.

Susan Haugland is a true scholar, yet writes Crowd Control from the perspective of a master teacher. Ms. Haugland's no-nonsense advice is a perfect introduction for pre-service teachers to the many decisions that go into managing a music classroom. More than a discipline guide, Crowd Control offers proactive guidance to everything from classroom layout to assessment. Haugland's twenty-plus years in the trenches are evident as is her scholarly knowledge of pedagogy.

I highly recommend Crowd Control if you are a beginning teacher or an experienced teacher looking for empathetic ideas. Particularly, if you are responsible for teaching the next generation of music teachers, crowd control is an excellent book to stimulate discussion with your students on the how, when, what, and why of managing a music classroom and program.

Bill Fordice
G.W. Carver Elementary
K-5 General Music Teacher
Clarke College
Instructor in Music Education

I actually expected this book to outline strategies to help with classroom management in any music class or performing ensemble. What I got was a book full of things I already knew (how to make assessments, seating charts, and rubrics) and contradictions. In the beginning of the book, she outlines her classroom management plan. I'm sure it works for her and probably some other teachers, but it wasn't useful to me. She stated that she takes 25 points from students grades if they receive 3 checks during the week and later states that you shouldn't grade based on behavior!? Our school forbids grading based on behavior, so clearly, that's not going to work for me.

She did have some good ideas, like making sure you are organized and clear with your expectations. She also mentioned that you have to be really vigilant for catching and issuing consequences to all students that misbehave. Honestly, that stuff is not worth buying a book about.

Finally, an excellent resource for grammar school music teachers. Written as if in friendly converstation with someone who knows how it is for real in the classroom!

I stumbled to the end of my first year of teaching in June, and like the author (and every first year teacher I've ever heard of), I needed to address my classroom management before coming back to the classroom. I was dissappointed the book didn't come out until later in the summer, but it's short enough that it's taken me only a few days to go through it: a pleasant change from the old college textbooks I've been mining.

The book is written very informally, which was off-putting at first. I've come to expect the tone of "Here's what to do". This book is more like having an experienced colleague handing you her beginning of the year material and prepping you for your classes. Rather than saying "It's important that your discipline system is fair," Haugland says, "Here's my discipline system and why I think it works." Most books of this type are hesitant to give you a method, and would rather give you theories and refer you to your mentor teacher or college professors. Refreshingly, this book gives you a method, as well as valuable appendices, such as the check system that she uses in class, and a copy of her chorus handbook (which I'm using right now as a reminder of what I've left out of mine).

Haugland is very clear that hers is not the only or necessarily best way for every situation, but having just finished my first year, I know that just having a management plan that has been road tested is a key to getting past the management and into the teaching.

Memorize this book before you interview for a single teaching job.

This book is very helpful for the K-6 PLT exam. Sample questions and study tips included.

This was useful in my preparation for the test. I passed the first time.

Great fast service, I didn't have to wait long to recieve my order, which is good since I must prove I am a highly qualified teacher due to No Child Left Behind.
Thanks

I used this as a guide to prepare for the Praxis Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment test. It has a chapter called "Study Topics" which outlines what will be on the test. I went through the chapter and researched and studied each item thoroughly. I also read the other chapters which give advise on test taking. It has a practice test which was also helpful. Studying and preparing for the test took a long time and lots of work but it was worth it. I felt very prepared for the test and passed it on the first try.

I believe this book is necessary for anyone preparing for the Praxis, but it isn't overly helpful. Minimal explanations for the answers are given, but it does give an idea of the format of the test and the type of questions included.

This book gives you valuable information on how to create a low cost curriculum. It has been a wonderful tool through the past 3 years. I keep going back to this book for information! A must have for any beginning home schooling mom!

This book gives a detailed description of what you should be teaching your children at the different ages, stages, and grades. The state requirements are not very well explained by the state, but this book tells you what your child should be learning enabling you to fulfill the state requirements and giving your child a very well rounded sound education.

This was a good intro book or if you are required to submit something, but a lot of it seems to be common sense. For exmaple, she talks about figuring our your educational goals and subjects you want to teach your child. If you are required to submit something formally, the questionaires can help to make sure you don't forget something that may be required. I was looking for a book that would explain a specific lesson plan for teaching a specific topic. Some people gave it 5 stars, because they liked the breakdown of education topics, but this can be found on-line at World Book Encylopedia's web site or in the books series "What your XX grader needs to know". It is alot more detailed and includes actual lessons. I would give it 5 stars for what it contains, but it was not what I was looking for.

This is the book I've been looking for! It's incredably detailed, takes you through all the steps of creating a curriculum that reflects you and your values (not necessarily religious), and gives you a list of what subjects your students should know by when. If you ever find yourself in legal trouble, if you followed the easy advice of the author, you should have No trouble standing up in court and proving that you are an able teacher with a child who is learning and is probably above standard.

The book may seem basic, but have you really ever put serious thought into what you want your child to get out of education? Do you want them to be ready for life, ready for college, ready for love? This book makes you think everything through, write it down, make it concrete, not just a vague thought in your mind only. So far this has been the most helpful book I've come across in my research of homeschooling. I will definately write my own curriculum when the time comes, and I won't be overwhelmed by it, thanks to this book.

This was the very first book we read when we first decided to home school. This book helped give us the confidence to go on and do the research we needed to do for how we wanted to school our child. I strongly recommend it for anyone starting out.