Schools and Instruction Books

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.

This book is great for new Teachers because it provides a wealth of strategies on Internet Technology and how it enhances instruction, research, and learning.

There is a complete listing of websites mentioned in this book that are categorized alphabetically by subject. The subjects are Animal Rights, Arts, Ask An Expert, Educational Organizations, English-Language Arts, Censorship, Citing Internet Resources, Heroes, English As A Second Language, Foreign Languages, Culture, Japan, Mexico, General, Health, Science, Listservs, Solar System, Search Engines, Social Studies, Genealogy and more.

After reading this book you should have new ideas for creativity and teaching strategies.

Being a big fan of the Hudson River style of painting , I was initially taken aback that this book contained no works by Frederick Church, Thomas Cole, or more of the other leaders of this form of landscape painting. Still, I would up pleasantly surprised to experience the works of many practitioners of this wonderful art that are not household names to a typical museumgoer (like me).

I've always enjoyed this style of art simply because the paintings were so easy to admire. The Hudson River School practitioners were so good at conveying a mood of tranquility (note the title) that arose from the portrayal of the beauty and grandeur of natural surroundings. Almost all the images in this book are little gems: excellent examples of how the American landscape was made significant as a genre of painting in the 1800's. There are almost fifty paintings in this book, published by the Frye Art Museum (a must-see if you're ever in Seattle), which exhibited the works in early 2000. Many of the images are quite small (slight drawback) but nevertheless vivid and detailed enough to hold your eye for a time, especially the ones depicting sunsets. Approximately forty different painters are represented.

Art historian William Kloss wrote the text, which takes up about seven full pages and does an excellent job of tying in the history of the Hudson River School to various historical events and the writings of noteworthy people (e.g., Thoreau). Also, there's an introduction by the book's editor and Director of the Frye, Richard V. West, and a Collector's Statement, by Michel and Victoria J. Herson. For art students, there's a listing of all (I think) the Hudson River art collected by the Hersons, who actually preferred acquiring works from the lesser known artists. Thus, it didn't bother me as much that Cole and Church were not represented here; the collection is what it is. The book is well-constructed, with high quality paper stock, and even though it's not of coffee table size, I think you'll still enjoy admiring the artwork.

The Thoughtful Researcher is a great tool for any educator. It gives strategies that are easy to use. The format is setup so that information can be found quickly. Some of the information was common sense, however, it could be used as a review for both new and veteran educators.