Engaging Students, The Next Level of WORKING ON THE WORK

Engaging Students, The Next Level of WORKING ON THE WORK by Phillip Schlechty is a new offering from Jossey-Bass, aimed at teachers in school buildings that comes from Schlechty's experience, education, and expertise about how we best learn, how we teach, and how to align teaching to meet the way we best learn.

I really like the message of this book. "Too often teachers confuse work with activity." (p 101) "Redefining the role of teachers also requires redefining the roles of students. (p 102). I could pull a hundred quotes from the book for you. It's a book that I find myself nodding along in agreement with as I read.

Homeschoolers, I suspect, will relate to the two sentences I pulled from one chapter (An Alternative View of Teaching). Those quotes are reasons many of us homeschool.

I see sometimes many of us as homeschooling parents and teachers everywhere become too focused on the wrong things. Schlechty refocuses readers in the right direction, away from rote memorization and toward engaged learning. His focus is on staff in school-building schools, but I benefit as well as his words shape how I think about teaching and engaging my homeschooler who has special learning needs.

His section on Design vs Planning changes the way I think about what we do at home. I come from a world of planning via IEP objectives and goals, and through homeschooling, I am trying to design opportunities for learning and growth without the planning. I had not been able to clarify that in my mind until I read this section in Chapter Three, Motives and Motivation.

The ToC is here. Excerpts are available here for you to read. Check them out. This may be the book you're looking for to help you refocus on engaged learning. I've certainly been given a lot of information to think about, to assimilate and accommodate, from it, as I continue to grow into the teacher my girl needs me to be.

Disclosure: Jossey Bass Teacher sent me a review copy of Engaging Students by Phillip Schlecthty. I was not paid for this review and am not obligated to provide a positive review.

Your Successful Preschooler: Ten Skills Children Need to Become Confident and Socially Engaged

Your Successful Preschooler: Ten Skills Children Need to Become Confident and Socially Engaged by Ann E. Densmore, Margaret L. Bauman ($16.95) is a informative book targeted to parents of preschoolers.

I propose a second audience: parents of children on the autism spectrum. As we switched away from behavioral approaches and moved into developmental approaches, I had to learn about, well, (this is obvious, but I'll say it anyway) development. What exactly, sets children with autism apart from typically developing children? I'll be blunt: it's not a behavior or a list of behaviors. Instead, the things that set apart children with autism from their typcially developing peers include self-control, self-awareness, self-regulation, flexibility, resilience, executive functioning.

The official list is
Likable
Achieving
Happy
Of strong moral character
Resilient
Flexible
Organized
Leaders
Socially engaged
Passionate about learning

And that's what "Your Successful Preschooler" sets out to explain.

The best teaching books for me have been books about typical development. Getting a picture of what typical development looks like and the importance of the parent piece in child development keeps me on track, keeps priorities in line in my mind.

If you're parenting pre-schoolers, you'll like this book. Densmore and Bauman write about what's important for parents to know in an easy-to-understand way, without a lot of technical terms (no medical or speech-language pathology translator required), and provide how-to examples along the way. They include the importance of outdoor play and all things sensory, something I did not understand until we began intervening with a child who had regressed into autism.

If you're parenting a child on the autism spectrum and have made the switch or are considering the switch to a developmental approach and want to get a picture of how development plays out, this is a good introduction, a good reminder of what experience and practice, exactly, we want to give our children in terms of remediation and core deficits of autism.

Interesting sidebar: I googled the names of the authors and discovered that author Ann Densmore knows autism. She presented at a conference just last year on the topic, Using Play to Foster Communication and Social Integration in Children with Autism. I'd love to hear her thoughts on applying concepts from Your Successful Preschooler to autism.

The first chapter of the book is available here.

ISBN: 978-0-470-49898-9
Paperback
288 pages
February 2011

Jossey-Bass sent me a copy of Your Successful Preschooler to review. I am not compensated for this review and am not obligated to provide a positive review.

Socially ADDept (review)

Socially ADDept, Teaching Social Skills to Children with ADHD, LD, and Asperger's, Revised Edition, is a brand new offering from Jossey-Bass teacher and Janet Z Giler, Ph.D., a marriage and family therapist who is experienced in working with teachers, families, and mental health professonals who work with, live with, individuals with ADHD, LDs, and Asperger's.

In a three-section layout, Dr. Giler guides readers through What Parents and Teachers Need to Know 9 (Chapter 1 is available here.); The Socially ADDept Lessons (ten of them); and Appendices. The table of contents is here.

My child does not have an Aspie label; she does have attention issues and learning disabilities. Our intervention of choice is a developmental one that grows joint-attention by starting with foundations and growing them, instead of using rote rules as compensations. While I am not comfortable using every lesson, there are some solid self-awareness lessons that we can incorporate into our developmental approach. Some of the lessons address skills by using compensations that are too explicit, to artificial, too rule-based for me, and quite frankly, we've been able to bypass some of these lessons altogether by conquering some of the challenges in the book by addressing them naturally from an experience-based developmental, relationship approach.

I'm going to pick and choose the lessons that fit our approach, and there are quite a few of them. Other lessons will guide me as we begin to host more play dates and meet people in our new location after our move. Dr Giler spotlights some concepts I have put on the back burner and may need to bring forward at our house. (I will completely ignore the lessons about eye contact; one of our goals is referencing for meaning, and I don't want to confuse my girl and make her think referencing is about eye contact, because it's not.)

If you like rule-based social skills classes, you may like this book. Priced at $29.95, the book is easy to follow; the lessons are arranged in a way that makes them visually appealing on the page (there is not too much info on a page, for example), and I think that either a professional or a laymom or dad can use them. The paperback is the size of a sheet of copy-paper; it is designed to lie flat on a copy machine for easy duplication for groups.

Dr Giler's web site is http://www.addept.org/.

Jossey-Bass Teacher sent me a copy of Socially ADDept, Teaching Social Skills to Children with ADHD, LD, and Asperger's, Revised Edition, by Dr. Janet Z. Giler, for review purposes. I am not paid for this review and am not obligated to provide a positive review.

Reaching Boys Teaching Boys, Strategies That Work--And Why

Sometimes, I get a surprise in the mail, a book I did not know was coming. Here's one of them: Reaching Boys, Teaching Boys by Michael Reichert and Richard Hawley.


One of my facebook friends is an educator in Pennsylvania who told me that a lot of our classroom education focuses on the way females tend to learn. I agree with her to a point. My experience is that a lot of classroom education focuses on the way teachers tended to have been taught, how teachers tend to learn. If you are a student who learns that way, you score high marks in school and are considered successful. If you need more project based learning, movement, learning in context, hands on, NOT sitting at a desk taking notes during a lecture, then students risk being considered a less-than learner and often are labeled lazy or a behavior problem. I really like this quote from page 230 of Reaching Boys, Teaching Boys, "Teachers who reflexively attribute all off-task behavior to attention deficits or behavioral problems may miss important signalsabout the effectiveness of any given lesson."

Reaching Boys, Teaching Boys offers readers evidence, anecdotes, strategies, activities that work with those kids, often boys, but not always, need something outside the "teacher as lecturer, deliverer of information" box.

I suspect that a lot of my blog readers who are parents and teachers to students (boys and girls) with unique learning needs will identify with a lot of the stories in this book and will gain insight and ideas from it. There are so many important points in the book that I can use with my girl - a lot of information, I already use and incorporate (Chapter 4, Motor Activity, for example; or Chapter 3, Lessons as Games). Some, know about and need to incoroporate more deliberately (Chapter 5, Role Play and Performance). Some of the lessons, we're on the path toward (Chapter 7, Teamwork and Competetion; Chapter 8, Personal Realization; Chapter 9, Novelty, Drama, and Surprise).

I like the emphasis on the importance of relationships in teaching students.

Rather than copy the TOC, I'll point you to it, HERE. Chapter 1 is available HERE. Reaching Boys, Teaching boys is a 264 page paperback list priced at $29.95.

Jossey-Bass, an Imprint of Wiley, sent me a copy of Reaching Boys, Teaching Boys by Michael Reichert and Richard Hawley so that I could have a copy to review. I am not paid for this review and am not obligated to provide a positive review.

Celebrating Every Learner

Celebrating Every Learner, Activities and Strategies for Creating a Multiple Intelligences Classroom by Thomas R Hoerr, Sally Boggeman, Christine Wallach, and the Faculty of the New City School ($32.95) is another wonderful book published by Jossey-Bass that helps teachers and parents be better teachers, this time, by defining MI (multiple intelligences) and giving us activities and strategies for growing them as we teach.

I know that there is quite a bit of research in the area of Multiple Intelligences and I believe that figuring out where my homeschooler (a child on the autism spectrum) has strengths and weaknesses in areas is important. Understanding each intelligence, what, exactly, each is, and understanding how to capitalize on strengths, grow both strengths and weaknesses, is brand new to me. I want to know more. The authors of Celebrating Every Learner give me more.

As I flipped through the book on a first look-see, one activity caught my eye: Unfairness on Purpose: A Problem Solving Mind-Set. It's part of the Interpersonal Intelligence, an area of weakness for individuals on the autism spectrum, and a topic (unfairness on PURPOSE) that is difficult for most of us. How might we teach our students to think about that? It's in the book, chapter one, which is here. My favorite part of each chapter is the section of resources, lists, and checklists at the end. Oddly enough, I would rather begin with the checklist for the intelligence to give me a snapshot, a preview of the intelligence, and then begin the chapter from the beginning. (That's a Pennyism.)

This book is written for groups of students; if you're homeschooling one child, as I am, there will be some activities you can adapt at home and some you'll want to use in a group, a co-op setting, perhaps. Some of the activities are appropriate for church and youth group settings.

From my perspective, the parent of a child on the autism spectrum, there are activities in the book that could be used with a dyad or triad to incorporate practice navigating relationships while focusing on an activity that includes (but is not limited to) academics, previewing, predicting, planning, assessing after the fact, movement, music, and perspective taking. The authors give the teacher ideas to generalize concepts outside the activities, too. It's another book that reminds me that sometimes I need to think outside the box a little more.

Curious? A sample lesson is HERE. Instead of my listing the multiple intelligences here, check them out: The TOC is here. If you're like me and like to start with the index, it's here.

I especially like the fact that the book includes disabilities simulation activity.

Celebrating Every Learner comes from the experience of a team of professionals who know that the activities are do-able and that they accomplish what they intend to accomplish. The activities, for the most part, use everyday items that you would find in a typical classroom or homeschool. Sometimes, a book aimed at teachers uses professional terms and lingo that have me reaching for the dictionary; the authors of Celebrating Every Learner have written a book that even a laymom can understand and they've provided activities and strategies that I can implement. They've given me some new information to help my daughter with some do-able activities. If you're looking for new perspective and insight, whether you are a school-building school teacher or a homeschool teacher/parent, this book may be helpful for you, too.

Jossey-Bass sent me a review copy of Celebrating Every Learner in order that I may review it on my blog. I am not paid for reviews and am not obligated to provide a positive review.

The Science Teacher's ACTIVITY-A-DAY

I want to own every book in this "ACTIVITY-A-DAY" series. Yes, I do.

Jossey-Bass, an Imprint of Wiley, offers these "activity-a-day" books in a variety of topics. The most recent edition is The Science Teacher's ACTIVITY-A-DAY by Pam Walker and Elaine Wood. The title and book cover say it all -there are "over 180 reproducible pages of quick, fun projects that illustrate basic concepts" inside that fit into what Jossey-Bass describes as "5-minute fundamentals".

I see quite a few uses for this book, from public school settings, and especially homeschool and co-op settings, with "gen-ed" students and students with special needs alike.

My homeschooler has a shorter attention span than a lot of 11-year-olds, and she learns more when she is active and doing. We don't sit around and do a lot of seat-work and worksheets at my house; my student does not learn that way. This book gives me short, simple hands-on activities and experiments to do with my kid that illustrate a concept in a fun way, that lead to more questions, more learning, more interaction, which for a kidlet on the autism spectrum, is exactly what we want! I can pick and choose activities based on interest at my house, based on what fits into our current studies, and based on difficulty. We'll get new vocab and can photograph and write about what we did and what we learned together, too, and get a language arts piece in the back door.

We need simple. These activities can be simple for us. Some situations don't require simple. A teacher can add as much information and complexity as appropriate for the student, or use the activities to enhance and illustrate existing curriculum.

A lot of the activities use items we have around the house or items that are easy to obtain.

The book is geared for students in grades 5-10, although there are activities you can use with younger children, in my opinion.

*FYI: There are sections about evolution in this book.* Some families teach it; some don't. There are plenty of non-evolution-related activities in the book to keep us busy.

Jossey-Bass Teacher sent me The Science Teacher's ACTIVITY-A-DAY to use at home and review for you. I am not paid for reviews and am not obligated to provide a positive review.

A Must Read: Education Nation

Most of the time, I know what review items are coming to my mailbox. Occasionally, though, Wiley, and its Imprint, Jossey-Bass, will send me a surprise. Education Nation is one of the surprises.

With education reform in the news this week, Education Nation, is certainly topical in light of current events.

A couple of things grabbed me from the get-go. First, George Lucas wrote the forward of the book. American Graffiti,-Star Wars-Indiana Jones-George Lucas? Yes, that George Lucas. The next thing that caught my attention is Milton Chen's background. "Big Bird Goes To China" - does that ring any bells for you? I must have watched that movie a hundred times with my kids. Chen was a production assistant in that movie. I had to wonder, how did George Lucas and staff from Sesame Street come together and what does this book have to do with it?

Wiley and its Imprint, Jossey-Bass, continue to publish books about education that come from a perspective that differs from the "gotta teach to the test" mentality. Again and again, they send me books that describe and richly illustrate the value, the why-bother, the how-to teach our children in ways that allow the students to be engaged, active participants. This is another of those books - and while other books I've been given had more specific audiences, Education Nation, in my opinion, is a must read for everyone.

Author Milton Chen gives us a big picture view and a zoomed in look at what creates learning. He takes the reader through what works and he provides many anecdotes that illustrate little pockets of success across the nation. As a homeschooler of a child on the autism spectrum, I know that homeschoolers are already using many of the strategies and approaches that Chen suggests, because we chose to homeschool in order to approach learning differently from the public school setting. Chen gives me ideas to use at home with my girl, ideas that are proven to work, ideas that I had not thought of. (Note to self: get the girl an iPod w/ a microphone.)

Some key words and phrases that get me excited: project based learning. social/emotional learning, active participation.

Chen describes guided participation in an education setting and does an incredible job explaining why it's important, how to implement, that it works. He explains new ways to meaningfully asses students once we move way from a "teachers deliver content" and "teach to the test" approach, and toward a "teacher as facilitator of student discoveries" perspective.

Technology and media play a huge role in our society, and Chen thoughtfully describes the benefits of getting more technology and media into the hands of students, sooner, integrating technology and media into learning.

My opinion is that every parent, every teacher, every taxpayer should read this book. Whether you're a homeschooler, a public schooler, a private schooler, you need to read this book. Chen argues that the United States has fallen behind other countries in terms of educating our children, and the current state of education has school staff teaching to the test, which does not translate into the kind of learning and education that keeps the U.S. up to speed with other nations.

Even homeschoolers and taxpayers who aren't parents have a stake in how students in our public schools are taught. These students will be our future leaders. We need to make our voices known to our state and especially our federal lawmakers as federal education policy is being shaped. National standards, teaching to the test of standards, may not be the way to educational success for the United States.

I think that many homeschoolers will read this and think, "WE are already doing a lot of that! That's one of the reasons we chose to homeschool."

You can read the first chapter online, here. The table of contents is here.

The book will likely lead you to the internet to http://www.edutopia.org/. There are almost endless resources there for teachers. Yes, intended for school-building school teachers, but useful for homeschoolers and homeschool co-ops as well. Edutopia has a page about Education Nation, too: http://www.edutopia.org/educationnation.

There are freebies available to anyone. For example, Chen describes using movies in the learning process. He takes us to http://www.edutopia.org/story-movies, which takes us to The Film Foundation and study guides like this one, available (free) to any teacher.

Jossey-Bass sent me a media copy of "Education Nation" at no charge. I am not financially compensated for reviews and am not obligated to provide a positive review.

Teaching How to Learn in a What-to-Learn Culture by Kathleen R. Hopkins

When Professor Reuven Feuerstein writes the forward for a new book, I want to read that book. I am certified in one level of Feuerstein Instrumental Enrichment (FIE) and I learned a lot about learning from Dr. Feuerstein's methods.


Guess who wrote the forward for "Teaching How to Learn in a What-to-Learn Culture"? Yes, Dr. Feuerstein.

First of all, Teaching How to Learn in a What-to-Learn Culture" is written primarily to teachers, and I include homeschool teachers in my mind as I read the text, and I also include any parent who is involved in the education of a child. In "THtLiaWtLC", Kathleen Ricard Hopkins does a really nice job explaining the many pieces (functions and skills) that work together to create what we label "learning" and "intelligence". "Learning" is not rote memorization. Intelligence is not a score on a test. Hopkins teaches us about cognitive modifiability.

Hopkins discusses, in terms and with anecdotes that are easily understood, concepts like competence, confidence, memory and memory types, curiosity, inner speech (self-talk).

About students who qualify for special education, Hopkins writes on page 58, "With all that we in western cultures have learned about the brain's modifiability, it is scandalous that we should not do our very best to change the intellectual abilities of struggling learners. Yet in most developed nations antiquated beliefs are still held about these children. Whether those beliefs are expressed openly or just held privately in the hearts of educators, erroneous thoughts are pervasive. 'It is no use to try to teach these children, they will never be good thinkers,' say the skeptics. Perhaps what we really need to do is stop adjusting the curriculum downward and instead adjust or modify the teachers. The solutions are not as difficult as they may seem...." .

If you've not been introduced to the concept of cognitive modifiability or Dr Feuerstein, this book is a nice introduction, for any teacher or parent/teacher.

It is a book that describes interaction with typically developing students. If you are the parent of a child with developmental delays, know that in this particular book, Hopkins focuses on, heavily spotlights the use of oral language for teachers as they interact with students. While the information is helpful as I continue to think about learning in new ways (nice idea generator for me), I will have to modify many of Hopkins' suggestions for a child with delays in areas of language that include spoken language.

Table of Contents

About the Author
About the National Institute for Learning Development
Introduction
1 The Intelligence Dilemma
2 A Way Out of the Pressure Cooker
3 What Every Teacher Needs
4 The Big Picture
5 Setting Students Free
6 The Power of Oral Language
7 Moving Beyond Memorization
8 Those Inner Voices
9 Potential or Propensity?
10 Rediscovering the Joy
References
Index

The NILD web site is HERE.

Teaching How to Learn in a What-to-Learn Culture
Kathleen R. Hopkins
ISBN: 978-0-470-34352-4
Paperback
176 pages
April 2010, Jossey-Bass
US $24.95

Jossey-Bass Teacher, an Imprint of Wiley, sent me a review copy of "Teaching How to Learn in a What-to-Learn Culture". I am not financially compensated for this review and am not obligated to provide a positive review.

Response to Intervention

This is a neat little book: Solution-Focused RTI. When I see "RTI" I expect it to be gi-normous. At 194 pages, sized and bound so that pages are easy to photocopy, author Linda Metcalf has given readers a positive, interesting, easy-to-follow, practical guide to Response-to-Intervention that is based upon real experiences. I feel upbeat and hopeful when I read the examples and how-to.

RTI tends to be a buzz word thrown around in special ed programs, special ed workshops and conferences, at IEP meetings. If you've not had a child in special education, you may not be familiar with RTI. I don't think I would have heard of it had I not had a child in special education. Parents of students in the public school system often complain about schools not using RTI appropriately. It's a hot topic on internet boards where parents of children with special needs gather.

RTI is not limited to discussions that revolve around school-building schools and access to special education, although that is where you'll most likely see the topic, and that is where Linda Metcalf focuses in "Solution-Focused RTI, A Positive and Personalized Approach to RTI". Metcalf uses anecdotes to explain what RTI is (including the tiers), why it is important, tell stories of challenges, successes, and the RTI that happened between here and there.

My absolute favorite part of the book: Linda Metcalf reminds readers again and again to look for, say aloud, write down the strengths and positives of a student. (Too often, students with learning or behavioral challenges are described in all negative terms and weaknesses, which is not only discouraging to the parent at the team meeting, but also colors the student with a negative perception that can be difficult to shake.)

Another favorite of mine: Metcalf reminds the adults to consider the perspective of the student, to ask the student's opinion, to include the student in the solution. She shares one anecdote where a sibling accompanied a child to classes, and the sibling provided important feedback that allowed the school staff to make positive changes for the student. (One of my personal gripes is that sometimes, adults label a behavior "non-compliant" or "maladaptive" or a "behavior problem" without using any perspective taking to understand WHY the child behaves a particular way.)

The table of contents, chapter 1, and the index are available here.

Metcalf includes a number of forms for team meetings and data-gathering with samples that are simplified when I compare them to the forms I left behind when I made the decision to homeschool. They're the kind of forms parents are going to want to take to IEP team meetings to share with the team.

Solution-Focused RTI is short and easy to read (compared to other books I've seen on the subject). Metcalf avoids overusing acronym soup, too, making her book more appealing to the layperson. I would say that Solution-Focused RTI will appeal more to the school-building school audience that includes ALL teachers (gen ed and special ed) and parents of children with IEPs, 504 plans, or behavioral challenges, although a homeschool, a house of worship, a community-education program, or a homeschool co-op would benefit from the information when dealing with and improving a situation for and with a student with learning or behavioral challenges.

Solution-Focused RTI: A Positive and Personalized Approach to Response-to-Intervention
Linda Metcalf
ISBN: 978-0-470-47042-8
Paperback
224 pages
June 2010
US $32.95

Jossey-Bass, an Imprint of Wiley, sent me a free review copy of Solution Focused RTI, A Positive and Personalized Approach to Response to Intervention by Linda Metcalf. I am not otherwise compensated for reviews and am not obligated to provide a positive review.

Internet Safety

I have two children begging me for an e-mail and facebook account. They research schoolwork on the internet. One looks at sports online. All of my children like internet based game sites.

We have guided our kids to "good" web sites. We've set limits and boundaries. And still, despite our efforts and monitoring, we've seen a child go to an area thought "safe" which was not, and we spent time and money cleaning up a virus. We installed even more protection software. We still talk to them about safety.

When Jossey-Bass Teacher offered me two books on internet safety to review, I did not have to think about my answer. YES, please!

Jossey-Bass Teacher has published two brand new books for parents and teachers about internet safety - one book targets the K-8 crowd; the other targets grades 9-12.

iSAFE Internet Safety Activities and iSAFE Internet Life Skills Activities

Both books contain reproducible projects for use at home for homeschoolers or for school-building schoolers who supplement at home; at school; homeschool co-op; even church (would make a neat short-term youth study, I think, although it certainly isn't Biblical or religious in any way. When we were teens, one weeknight each week, our youth group from church met at the home of one of the group with our leaders to talk about topics relevant to teens.). Each book is priced at $29.95. Both books are designed to lie flat on a photocopy machine for easy copying.

I had no idea what to expect, exactly. I'm impressed. Based on my experience as a mom, I think that the authors know how to introduce sensitive material to different age groups in developmentally appropriate ways.

The standards in the book for younger children come from the National Educational Technology Standards for Students (NET-S): TheNext Generation Standards 1, 2, 4, 5, and 6.

The book for younger students, which includes a teacher's guide introduces students to the internet with a chapter on safety and covers internet searching ("safari"), cyber-bullying, managing personal information online, approaching strangers online, and "Cyber Citizenship and Netiquette Sense" in a progression that has younger children learning the earlier topics and older children learning the latter topics. There are activity pages for the students to complete and activities to do on the computer.

The book for high schoolers also includes a teacher's guide and covers internet shopping, banking, research, and computer security; interacting with others in social and gaming settings online; search skills, job hunting, money management, income taxes; online forms, communication basics, safety considerations when working wireless, and public wireles access considerations; and issues that center around college and continuing education. It raises a lot of issues I haven't discussed with my kids yet, and I would consider using this one with students as young as 5th or 6th grade. (One of my kids sometimes asks for permission to buy something online. I keep hoping that enough no's will extinguish the issue, but so far, it has not. Now is the time to go over some of this material.)

If you're looking for a ready-made internet safety product, consider one of these books. The book for younger students is designed to be used over several years. The lessons in the front of the book are written toward a younger audience. In my opinion, the book for high schoolers can be used from start to finish with any one age group in that grade range, although parts of it are appropriate for children a bit younger. Some of the book for older students will more appeal to high schoolers preparing for life after graduation and may not seem relevant to freshmen and sophomores. They thought of topics I hadn't yet. Maybe you'll experience that, too, when you see the books.

Jossey-Bass Teacher sent me two books at no charge to me, iSAFE Internet Safety Activities and iSAFE Internet Life Skills Activities to review. I receive no other compensation for reviews and am not obligated to produce a positive review.

Reading Comprehension Boosters

Reading comprehension is a big focus at my house, but maybe not in the way you'd define reading comprehension. Individuals on the autism spectrum often struggle with comprehension. I am learning that children need lots of experiences in their "experience banks", where they are comprehending meaning between themselves and others, in order to grow comprehension skills, and we have concentrated more on the "between people" experiences as a foundation to reading.

As my daughter and I focus on shared reading and more guided reading, I am trying to build comprehension a little at a time. (It shoots her anxiety to the sky.) One of my challenges is knowing when to STOP. I always have the desire to push for a little more (which contributes to the anxiety and I try very hard to stop before the anxiety rises).

Thomas G. Gunning and Jossey-Bass Teacher have given me a book of 100 Lessons for Building Higher-Level Literacy: Reading Comprehsion Boosters. The lessons are short, well-planned with a clear stopping point (which I really, really need), and target students working in grades 3-5. This one arrived at my house at a great time. ;)

Click on the link or the photo of the book cover to see the table of contents and sample chapter.

The back cover of the book explains what's inside: "Lessons include easily reproduced worksheets grouped within six thematic units. Each unit builds background knowledge and focuses on an important aspect of comprension: 1) comprehending main ideas and details and visualizing; 2) summarizing; 3) inferring, predicting, and concluding; 4) understanding facts versus opinions; 5) comparing and contrasting; and 6) review and application. These units gradually build in level of challenge so that students gain proficiency and confidence as they move along." Here's one of my favorite parts, "Each unit includes a teacher section that offers extensive guidance on how to introduce the lessons to the students and support them in their develop;ment of essential reading and responding skills."

Priced at $29.95, Reading Comprehsion Boosters is one lesson/activity after another, based upon themes that are interesting and fun to children. Gunning provides charts and other visuals and graphics to scaffold and organize the answers to questions in a way that provides useful and concrete strategies for students (and for homeschool teachers like me as I continue to better learn how to teach my own child who happens to have unique learning needs and challenges).

The book is constructed so that it lies flat to make photocopying easy for multiple students. Sometimes, I make two copies so that I have one and my daughter has a copy and we work through a lesson together, and I plan to use that strategy with lessons from this book as well. Thumbs up from me.

Jossey-Bass Teacher sent me a complimentary copy of Reading Comprehension Boosters, 100 Lessons for Building Higher-Level Literacy by Thomas G Gunning to review. I receive no other compensation and am not obligated to provide a positive review.

Teacher's Activity-A-Day 5-Minute Fundamentals

I am often looking for an activity that I can use to reinforce and practice a particular concept for my homeschooler. I use the internet to look up activities. The internet can be time consuming (I get off track easily, which complicates my search and wastes time) and because I don't have access to a laptop during the school day, I am not able to search when I am in a waiting room while my daughter is in an autism therapy.

Jossey-Bass Teacher has given me a solution to my problems in the form of a series of books for teachers. Books that offer activities and ideas are super waiting room companions.

I received two new books in the series to review for you.

Priced at $19.95 each, The Algebra Teacher's Activity-A-Day by Frances McBroom Thompson and The Grammar Teacher's Activity-A-Day by Jack Umstatter offer teachers 180 lessons to offer students practice in those subject areas. Click on the photos of the book to take you to pages where you may look inside each book.

The algebra book targets grades 6-12; the grammar book, grades 5-12, and, my non-expert opinion says these grade ranges are right on target. My homeschooler is not ready for the algebra book (my son may be - he will begin pre-algebra in September).

The activities are short and specific, targeting one concept or skill. I like that. I don't have to create a bunch of sentences to revise or make up an algebra problem - Frances McBroom Thompson did that for me in the algebra book and Jack Umstatter did that for me in the grammar book (and they provide an answer code in the backs of the books). I will be able to use some of the grammar activities right away with my homeschooler (who is in the age range for that grade, but is working a few grade levels behind), but not all of them - this particular book will last me several years.

And I will be looking to purchase other books in this series that target activities for students in lower grades. This series will be very useful as we continue to homeschool a child on the autism spectrum.

Jossey-Bass Teacher sent me complimentary copies of The Algebra Teacher's Activity-A-Day by Frances McBroom Thompson and The Grammar Teacher's Activity-A-Day by Jack Umstatter to review. I receive no other compensation and am not obligated to provide a positive review.

The Teacher's BIG BOOK of Graphic Organizers

The Teacher's Big Book of Graphic Organizers: 100 Reproducible Organizers that Help Kids with Reading, Writing, and the Content Areas by Katherine S. McKnight is exactly what the title describes, 100 visual scaffolds to reading, writing, and the content areas, (English, math, social studies, science, health).

Katherine S. McKnight has compiled an incredible collection of graphic organizers for students. The grade range listed on the book cover is 5-12; I know that my children have used some of these in lower grades.

As a homeschooling parent of a child on the autism spectrum, I am excited as I flip through the pages of this book and see the possibilities. McKnight has turned so many "invisible" concepts in to CONCRETE VISUALS for *any* learner, and in my opinion, students of a broader age/grade range that the author recommends.

Some of the pages are familiar to us. The Venn Diagram, for example. Many are new to me, and are quite creative. Check out the table of contents.

I really like the way a concept is broken down into parts and visually arranged on a page, adding a rich element, something tangible, that is missed with a verbal description, alone.

Each of the 100 graphic organizers is presented over two pages, with one page offering a grade range (which is 4-12; 5-12; or 6-12 in the book, but I can see many uses for my child who is working at lower grade levels); a meter that lets the user know whether each organizer is easy, medium, or hard; a list of subject areas to use with each organizer; a list of what skills and functions the students will practice and develop with each organizer; and finally, a copy of a completed page with examples of "tips for classrooom implementation". Peek at a sample chapter.

For all students, but especially for a student in the autism spectrum, there are quite a few pages that visually scaffold steps to inferencing, to perspective taking, to visualization, to predicting, to using prior knowledge.

For a visually-impaired student or a student with fine-motor challenges (which make staying within the lines difficult), I would consider raising the lines on the pages by adding a "bead" of liquid white glue and allowing it to dry prior to using a page with that student.

The book is designed to lie flat for easy photocopying. Purchasers of the book receive a web site and password to access the graphic organizers in pdf form online.

This is a book that every homeschool parent, every school-building school teacher, every special ed teacher would be able to use. I imagine even church staff would appreciate this book for Bible studies with students of all ages.

The Teacher's BIG BOOK of Graphic Organizers by Katherine S. McKnight
ISBN: 978-0-470-50242-6
Paperback
224 pages
June 2010, Jossey-Bass
US $22.95

Jossey-Bass Teacher, an Imprint of Wiley, sent me The Teacher's BIG BOOK of Graphic Organizers, at no charge, to review. I receive no other compensation for review and am not obligated to provide a positive review.

"FIRES IN THE MIND, what kids can tell us about motivation and mastery"

Via Jossey-Bass, author Kathleen Cushman and the students of What Kids Can Do, bring us the book, FIRES IN THE MIND, what kids can tell us about motivation and mastery.

"Fires in the Mind" is a beautiful summary, both "big picture" and "zoomed-in-&-up-close" of what happens to create a master, an expert, in something. "Fires in the Mind" discusses the relationships among resiliency, habit formation, engagement and attention, practice, mentors, and social factors along the way to becoming good at something. It's not "light" reading, yet it is easy to read, uses terms a laymom like me doesn't have to look up in the dictionary or psychology textbook, and is full of insight. I am impressed by how of all of the factors as a combination work together to add up to mastery.

Parents and teachers are given insight about their role in a child's success toward becoming good at something. Students will, I suspect, relate to the rich descriptions and anecdotes from the students from What Kids Can Do, and gain encouragement from them. For a child who wants to be really good at something but doesn't want to develop a habit of deliberate practice, (sometimes my kids expect to be masters right away and can become discouraged - do yours do that, too?) this book may be eye opening and it gives words to students who want to articulate how they can be better supported by parents and teachers in their lives.

I have to admit, although this book is about school-building-schooled students, it has me pondering the possibilities of homeschooling all of my children and not just one of them. So many of the suggestions in the book are already common among homeschoolers (particularly in co-op settings, where the social factor is higher) and are more challenging to accomplish in a public school where teaching to the standardized test has become more common, leaving less time to build and grow those fires in the mind. Chapter Eight, "Is Homework Deliberate Practice?" raises a lot of the same questions my own children ask about homework (sometimes it's a waste of time, they wonder, what's the point of it). I'd wager to take a guess that a lot of public school teachers would like to spend more time focusing on growing mastery via the concepts in Fires In the Mind and less time on other stuff.

Homeschoolers, I think I hear Charlotte Mason here. Do you hear her, too?

Chapter One, "What Does It Take To Get Good" is HERE.

Kathleen Cushman's web site is HERE.

The Fires in the Mind web site is HERE.

Fires in the Mind: What Kids Can Tell Us About Motivation and Mastery by Kathleen Cushman, The students of What Kids Can Do
ISBN: 978-0-470-64603-8
Hardcover
208 pages
June 2010, Jossey-Bass
US $24.95

Wiley Publishing sent me a (complimentary) review copy of Fires in the Mind. I am not paid for this review and am not obligated to provide a positive review.

Teach Like A Champion by Doug Lemov, a Jossey-Bass Teacher review

TEACH LIKE A CHAMPION, 49 Techniques That Put Students On the Path to College, by Doug Lemov ($27.95) from Jossey-Bass Teacher, for grades K-12 is a thoughtful, well-written list of (as the title describes) 49 teaching techniques
"gleaned from years of observations of outstanding teachers in some of the highest-performing urban classrooms in the country."

For over ten years, teacher, trainer and administrator Doug Lemov has observed hundreds of classrooms, analyzing outstanding teachers who have transformed at risk students into achievers. What he found was that there is a tool box for success, and they are techniques that can be learned and employed by any teacher. As a result of Lemov’s Techniques, West Denver Prep students (93% who are qualified as low income) demonstrated the highest academic growth at any middle school in Denver for the third consecutive year in 2009, with median growth percentiles of 90% in Math, 85% in Writing, and 66% in Reading.

Doug Lemov is a Managing Director of Uncommon Schools and runs it's True North Public Schools network in upstate New York.

I immediately look for a yellow highlighter as I begin to read this book - I believe I have done that with every book that arrived from Wiley.

This one requires more equipment than a highlighter, because it comes with a DVD of video examples to illustrate points in the book. How many times have I wanted a video demonstration of a concept or objective?! The video is a nice addition. The reader gets the visual examples without having to pay for or travel to a conference.

This statement sums up what I am trying to accomplish in a remediation program as I homeschool one child: "Too often teachers have not taken the time to teach their students, step by step, what successful learning behavior looks like." page 146, from Chapter Five, Creating a Strong Classroom Culture.

Teaching what successful learning behavior looks like involves self-regulation, self-control, and self-discipline, and Teach Like a Champion recognizes that fact.

One of my favorite chapters is "Building Character and Trust," Chapter 7. Technique #49, "Normalize Error" is one I need to remember as I help a sib with homework. I think this book offers important information for parents who homeschool; parents who help school-building schooled children with homework; for teachers and tutors.

Some of the techniques will make you think to yourself, "I know that!" But do you do it? Or could you do that one better? And others will have you thinking, "I should have known to do that!" The techniques -- for all learners -- are practical to implement, appeal to my common sense and to what I know about learning and the brain, about relationships, as I've researched all those things the past nine years because of a child with autism. They're really positive, too. I like that!

Technique #5: Without Apology. If teachers aren’t on guard, they can unwittingly apologize for teaching worthy content. Kids respond to challenges, so instead of apologizing, say: “lots of people don’t understand this until they get to college, but you’ll know it now. Cool.”

Technique #22: Cold Call. In order to make engaged participation the expectation, call on students regardless of whether they have raised their hands. Cold calling is an engagement strategy, not a discipline strategy.

Technique #45: Warm/Strict. Teachers must be both: caring, funny, warm, concerned, and nurturing – and strict, by the book, relentless, and sometimes inflexible. Teachers send the message to students that having high expectations is part of caring for and respecting someone.

One of the statements I've heard at homeschool conventions by college professors who present at conventions is that there is a big difference between public schooled students and homeschooled students in college. Homeschooled students have far superior critical thinking skills. Chapter 9 of Lemov's book is, "Challenging Students To Think Critically, Additional Techniques for Questioning and Responding to Students".

The Teach Like a Champion web site is here. A sample video clip is available there. I always look at the table of contents of a book I'm considering online. Peek at this one here. Chapter 1 is available here; the Index, here; and the DVD contents, here.

TEACH LIKE A CHAMPION
Published by Jossey-Bass, an imprint of Wiley
Publication date: April 22, 2010
$27.95; Cloth; 352 pages; ISBN: 978-0-470-55047-2

Jossey-Bass, an Imprint of Wiley, sent me this book at no charge so that I may review it on my blog. I am not compensated for reviews and am not obligated to provide a positive review.

Schools for All Kinds of Minds by Barringer, Pohlman, and Robinson

Schools for All Kinds of Minds, Boosting Student Success by Embracing Learning Variation by Mary-Dean Barringer, Craig Pohlman and Michele Robinson is the latest gem from Jossey-Bass.

When I opened the package and saw the names of the authors, my confidence that this book is going to be packed with information applicable to my homeschooled (asd) child soared - Craig Pohlman is one of the authors, and he has impressed me in the past with his way of describing learning challenges and learning styles and what to do about them. (Disclosure: Jossey Bass gave me a copy of this book to review. I am not paid for reviews and I am not obligated to provide a positive review.)

I have had many years of experience with professionals who work with pre-schoolers and students through middle school. I have seen behavior misinterpreted, usually negatively, in educational settings, even in my own home in the behavioral intervention we used (and eventually abandoned) in our early years of autism intervention.

Because of my history, Chapter 4 of "Schools for All Kinds of Minds," is one of my favorites, because it teaches readers the pieces about learning that I wish I'd known from my early autism intervention days.

"Being an effective kid watcher requires suspending judgment and interpretation of the events and instead focusing on describing the phenomenon that you see." from chapter 4, "Digging Deeper, Knowing Students as Learners".

I wonder how many times have children with disabilities been labeled "avoidant" and "non-compliant" and "manipulative" when, in fact, those doing the observing and labeling were missing the real reason for a behavior. I've seen swishing saliva and spitting viewed as a bid for attention when children had strep throat, unable to recognize the pain and/or relate it to a parent or teacher. I've seen teachers mistake rote memorization for reading comprehension, assuming a student is comprehending far more than he actually is capable of comprehending. I could go on and on.

I am impressed with the way the authors walk readers through determining a neurodevelopmental profile for a student. Look at the factors they consider:

From Exhibit 4.1 Sample Neurodevelopmental Profile, page 72:

Attention: Mental Energy
Attention: Processing
Attention: Production
Memory: Short-term
Memory: Active working
Memory: Long-term
Language: Receptive
Language: Expressive
Temporal-sequential ordering
Spatial ordering
Neuromotor functions: Fine motor
Neuromotor functions: Graphomotor
Higher-order cognition
Social cognition: Verbal pragmatics
Social cognition: Social behaviors

Later chapters tease apart these neurodevelopmental pieces even more, helping guide the parent or teacher in determining the strengths and weaknesses of a student and how to use strengths and grow areas that are weak within a positive environment.

The definitions, descriptions, charts and worksheets are clear and allow parents and teachers to thoughtfully assess the behavior of a student through a neurodevelopmental lens and address challenges in a neurodevelopmentally appropriate sequence and approach.

Schools for All Kinds of Minds is another book that I'd recommend to teachers of homeschoolers and school-building schoolers alike. don't let the name fool you into thinking this one is only for school-building schoolers. I suspect this is one parents will like to highlight in yellow and take to IEPs or team meetings about a student's FBA and BIP.

The table of contents is located here. Chapter 1 is available here. The Schools for All Kinds of Minds newsletter archives is here.

"Schools for All Kinds of Minds," ($27.95) is published by Jossey-Bass, an Imprint of Wiley.

The Dyslexia Checklist - a Jossey-Bass Teacher Review

Click on the photo of the book to take you to a page where you may peek inside it. There are three excerpts and the table of contents available for you, there.

The Dyslexia Checklist: A Practical Reference for Parents and Teachers
Sandra F. Rief, M.A., Judith Stern
ISBN: 978-0-470-42981-5
Paperback
336 pages
January 2010

US $15.95

Other Available Formats: E-Book

I learned something about myself. I like "checklist" books like this one. "The Dyslexia Checklist" is the fourth title in the Jossey-Bass Checklist Series, the second that I have read/reviewed. The two that I've seen are absolutely packed with information and tips, and are really efficient for me as I research and learn more about how my daughter learns, about how to improve the way I teach her.

My child has not been diagnosed with dyslexia. As I scan Section 1.3, "Signs and Symptoms of Dyslexia", beginning on page 11 of this book, I recognize many items on these lists. And I know that this book is not only for parents and teachers of students who have a diagnosis of dyslexia.

(I notice that Section 1.8 "Research Based Intervention Programs for Struggling Readers" has a section of programs based on the Orton-Gillingham Method which has me thinking about the spelling program we reviewed that is based on the Orton-Gillingham Method.)

Chapter 2, "Strategies for Helping With Reading, Language and Writing", offers readers a develomental framework of sorts -- which assists parents and teachers in working with a student at a developmentally appropriate starting point.

Chapter 3, "Checklists for Parents" includes important advocacy information (which, in my mind, connects with several sections in Chapter 5 that have to do with RTI, special ed, and 504 plans), in addition to strategies to use at home. The authors discuss the sensitive issue of how to talk to your child about dyslexia, here, as well.

Chapter 4, "Checklists for Teachers," is for homeschool teachers aka parents as well as school-building teachers, and contains lists of information about accommodations, supports, tools, and compensations.

Chapter 5, "Other Important Checklists for Parents and Teachers" addresses high school, college, RTI, special ed and IEPs, 504 plans, and conculdes with lists of organizations and resources.

I've researched and studied autism-related learning strategies for nearly nine years. This book offers many strategies that I've read about or been taught to use, some that I've forgotten along the way as my daughter has seemed to not need a particular support or strategy. As I study the checklists, I realize that we may need to revisit some of the ideas, or try some of the suggestions that are new to me, and having lists of ideas in one place is really efficient for me.

Add this one to the list of books that you'll want to read with a highlighter or pen in one hand, and it's probably one you'll want to buy in bulk, so that you can share it with those who interact with your child.

Jossey-Bass, an Imprint of Wiley, sent me this book (at no charge) to review on my blog. I received no compensation for the review.

ELL; Teacher Collaboration; Classroom Management: Three New Titles from Jossey-Bass Teacher

Here are three new books from Jossey-Bass Teacher.

Transformative Classroom Management: Positive Strategies to Engage All Students and Promote a Psychology of Success John Shindler ISBN: 978-0-470-44843-4 Paperback 384 pages December 2009 US $29.95

Click on the photo of the book to take you to a page where you may peek inside it.

The authors offer free articles here and as I begin to write about the book, I want to spotlight a concept (#9) from the book/author web site:

Promotes a “psychology of success” rather than a “psychology of failure.” Most classroom practices actually promote a failure orientation in students. TCM outlines those practices that promote a healthy learner and those that undermine this effort.

That's what *I* want for my children. I want all of us to have that at home. I want my children to experience that at school. I want the teachers of my children (myself included - I am a homeschooler to one, after all) to understand "Transformative Classroom Management".

Transformative Classroom Management isn't a book that teaches us how to "get" something from our children, our students. It's a book about how to use ourselves differently to bring success to the classroom and to our students. Dr Shindler teaches us about motivation, intrinsic and extrinsic, which is more effective and the "how to" behind the effectiveness.

Some individuals understand how to promote a "psychology of success" quite naturally. My daughter's skating coach is one of them. I have learned so much from watching her work with my child. She's an incredible teacher for me.

At home, I recognize some patterns of interaction that are negative, some circles that I'd like to set spinning into a different, more postive motion, and Dr. Shindler gives me fuel for thought and action as a parent.

I know I have room for improvement (a gross understatement), and as I read the pages from this book, I grow in self-awareness as a parent and am able to identify some places at home that need changes, and I am given some tools that help me begin to shift how I use myself in situations. (Doesn't hurt that it fits with our RDI(r) philosphy.)

The table of contents of "Transformative Classroom Management" is exciting to me. Please take a peek.

This one's a book that appears to be written for school-building staff members, and my opinion is that it has a much broader audience. Anyone who interacts with students in any setting, home, Sunday School, day care, homeschool, homeschool co-op, you name it, will benefit from the information, the research, the illustrative anecdotes, case studies and questions for reflection that Dr. John Schindler provides.

A sample chapter is available HERE.

This book, for the most part, is written with typically developing children in mind. My experience using a developmental remediation approach to autism tells me that many of the strategies described in this book will work with *any* student if applied in a developmentally appropriate frameworok. Chapter 14, "Changing the Negative Identity Pattern and Succeeding with More Challenging Student Behavior" addresses ADHD, particularly, page 291-293, section 14.16, "Level III Conditions and Supporting Students with ADHD".

I recognize some of the stories inside. I recognize them because I hear from parents of children who are considered "problems" at school, where the parents believe the classroom management is the problem. Transformative Classroom Management is another one that parents who wrestle with school staff are likely to want to buy in bulk so that they can gift copies to teachers.

How to Teach English Language Learners: Effective Strategies from Outstanding Educators, Grades K-6 Diane Haager, Janette K. Klingner, Terese C. Aceves ISBN: 978-0-470-39005-4 Paperback 208 pages December 2009 US $29.95

Click on the photo of the book to take you to a page where you may peek inside it.

This title interests me because I have often said that I suspected my child w/ an autism spectrum disorder diagnosis was learning English almost as a second language. Her babbling and jargon was different from other children, as if she were hearing different spoken sounds. As I watch her and other children like her struggle with language development, I often wonder if there are strategies we can borrow from professionals who teach ELL whose first language is not English.

I sometimes (okay, often) read (sometimes skim) a non-fiction book from the back to the front first. The last chapter, "Conclusion: Putting It All Together" happens to be an incredible wealth of information for not only teachers of ELL but all teachers, even parents in homeschool settings.
This book uses "vivid portraits of effective teachers at each tier of the Response to Intervention model." (p 161) The authors do a nice job using anecdotes to illustrate the concepts, with "Stop and Think" bubbles along the way to spotlight for readers/teachers the "why bother" and "how might you apply this concept?". The authors know the obstacles to teaching ELL in a big classroom and offer strategies about how to give the needed attention and individualization to the students who need it. I like the emphasis on the importance of including the parents of the students in learning.

The table of contents is HERE and a sample from a chapter is HERE.

How To Teach English Language Learners is aimed at exactly what the title describes, and yet, it contains information that is supportive and encouraging to any teacher.




Teacher Collaboration for Professional Learning: Facilitating Study, Research, and Inquiry Communities
Cynthia A. Lassonde, Susan E. Israel, Janice F. Almasi (Foreword by)
ISBN: 978-0-470-46131-0
Paperback
208 pages
December 2009
US $30.00

Click on the photo of the book to take you to a page where you may peek inside it.

One of the schools my daughter attended prior to becoming homeschooled practiced a staff collaboration. That school was the best of all the schools she attended prior to my withdrawing her. The principal was an advocate of collaboration and found a successful model to use at her school. And it worked.

I suspect that teachers like the many positive outcomes of collaboration. They grow peer relationships, they develop professionally, they become better teachers, and their students benefit.

I also suspect that there are enough negatives to the practice of collaboration that discourage schools from using it. How does a group organize and begin? How does a group focus? How does the group maximize time? Teachers have lives outside the classroom, and wasting time on the planning, scheduling, group bonding/dynamics, personalities, obstacles and roadblocks can make a group ineffective or stop it before it begins.

Potential collaborative groups need a model. A guide. Words of wisdom from folks who've walked this road ahead of them. Two authors, 31 contributors - "Teacher Collaboration for Professional Learning" is packed with experience from educators.

"Teacher Collaboration for Professional Learning" is a book that has a more limited audience, one that teachers and school-building staff will appreciate, and it's a book that describes the team-approach that so many parents wish their school staff members would implement at their schools in an effort to make improvements in the classroom.

Cynthia A. Lassonde and Susan E. Israel provide the "why bother" and "how to" of collaborative research for teachers and school staff members. The authors and contributors provide an amazing amount of guidance to help school staff begin and complete collaborative research, including the sometimes tricky element of group dynamics and helping a group troubleshoot potential obstacles from the get-go. The appendices are a wealth of practical information: The authors provide all of the forms a group might need in Appendix A; questions for reflection in Appendix B; group exercises, resources and a survey in other appendices.

The table of contents is HERE. A sample chapter is HERE for readers who would like to look inside.



Stay tuned - I have a new book about dyslexia from Jossey Bass Teacher. Information coming shortly.

Jossey-Bass, an Imprint of Wiley, sent me these three books (at no charge) to review on my blog. I received no compensation.

Three New Titles from Jossey-Bass Teacher

I am an "accidental homeschooler". I didn't start out to homeschool my child. And when I finally made the move to bring a child home from public school, I was absolutely and completely wowed by the resources available to homeschoolers, resources I'd never sought prior to withdrawing a child from school.

As a homeschooler, I am finding the opposite is true, too. Families who have been homeschooling forever don't know about a lot of the resources marketed to school-building teachers, especially the resources written for and by the special people who teach children with unique learning styles and needs.

Jossey-Bass Teacher, an Imprint of Wiley, sent me three brand new books at no charge so that I may tell you about them her on my blog. All three new books are aimed at school-building school staff, and yet, the titles are deceiving, because there is an incredible amount of information for homeschooling parents *and* for parents of those children in school buildings who have the unique learning styles and needs.

When my child was in public school, I liked to know what the staff members were learning. As a parent, I often went to workshops for teachers. The workshops usually set me up to be angry and upset, because I rarely saw the school staff pushing to accomplish the wonderful strategies I learned about in the workshops. Change was too slow to happen, and ultimately, became one of the reasons I withdrew my child from school. But if parents are going to hold school staff accountable, parents need to know what options are out there, what successes other schools are having and why. And those who choose to homeschool need proven strategies and techniques, to, to use at home. Jossey-Bass gives administrators, teachers, and parents three new books covering different topics that do just that.

# # #

Available this month, Sylvia L. DeRuvo brings us "Strategies for Teaching Adolescents with ADHD, Effective Classroom Techniques Across the Content Areas" ($29.95, paperback). Written for professional who works with students in the 6th-12th grades, this one is packed with information. DeRuvo gives the reader insight into the perspective of the student w/ADHD.

As a parent, I want professionals who work with my child to understand her, to be able to see through her eyes. Autism, ADD and ADHD share many "symptoms" and characteristics. What is ADHD? And what is it not? "Behaviors" are often neurodevelopmental. What does that mean? I know that, but a lot of gen ed teachers do not (even some speech therapists, OT's, Sunday School teachers do not). And what does a parent and/or teacher do about it? DeRuvo provides chapter after chapter of understanding and practical ideas and how-to strategies regarding not only behavior, but academics, specifically ELA, math, science, and social studies.

The pull quotes are fabulous. Here's one from page 40 in a chapter about using research based teaching strategies: "The classroom teacher moves from being a teacher of content to being a teacher of students." (YES!!!)

DeRuvo guides teachers (and parents) in scaffolding within the student's "zone of proximal development" (a Vygotsky term -- where have I heard that before?!) of new information for the student, using what she describes as "we do" (p. 96), where students work with the teacher and the teacher gently hands more and more responsibility to the student in notetaking. In other words, she takes a relationship approach, and not just teacher-student relationship, but student-student.

I am not a school-building-teacher. And my child is not an adolescent. I am a homeschool teacher of an elementary school aged child, and I find the book useful. The strategies are helpful whether you're the parent of a school-building student, a homeschooling parent, or staff at a school. If you are a pro-active parent who looks for helpful books to give to the teachers of your children, put this one on your shopping list and prepare to buy it in bulk.

# # #

The next two books light a fire inside me, make me want to return to college to get another degree, this time in education, so that I can be part of the change our kids need. They are inspiring and I was nodding along in agreement as I read.

# # #

Also available this month, "SMALL SCHOOLS BIG IDEAS, The Essential Guide to Successful School Transformation" by Mara Benietz, Jill Davidson and Laura Flaxman ($30.00, paperback)

I. love. the. ideas. in. this. book!

Who (in my opinion) is this book for? It's for any parent who is questioning the education their child is getting at a school-building school. It is for a homeschool co-ops. It's for any teacher or school administrator, school board or board of education member.

The authors take the time to explain the "why bother" of transforming a school. One question the authors examine is what are the "twenty-first-century skills" that are considered necessary for today's workplace? (An aside: Our autism intervention of choice, RDI®, considers these lists of characteristics important to employers, too, as part of a remediation approach.)

Once you know what "survival skills" are considered valuable, you have to ask the question, how do we grow those characteristics in young people?

The answer is not in teaching to tests or in rote memorization and regurgitation of material.

The answer is in teaching students how to THINK instead of teaching for memorization to standardized tests. Small Schools Big Ideas explains why and how to accomplish teaching children, teens and young adults how to think, collaborate, and, as John Dewey describes, to "use their minds well". (p. 6)

We haven't been involved in a homeschool co-op, with the exception of a couple of art classes, but from listening to parents and reading their posts on internet groups for homeschoolers involved in co-ops, I suspect that homeschool co-ops are super examples of the kind of teaching and learning that is going on in co-ops for homeschoolers. In fact, I think homeschool co-op organizers and participants might find the information in this book quite useful.

Divided into four sections, Small Schools Big Ideas is thorough for the reader who is serious about how to make transformation work. Part One describes the change that needs to happen, including obstacles and options. Part Two focuses on active participation of both staff and students. Part Three "delves into the inner workings of Essential schools.". (p xxix). Part Four is called "Embedding Successful Change".

This book excites me and depresses me all at the same time. I used to dream of schools like the proactive schools in this book. If we'd had this kind of school, I'd have never begun to homeschool. If we had the option to move my public-schooled children to a transformed school, I'd do it without hesitation. Problem is, (here's the part that depresses me) I don't see the hearts and attitudes in statewide training program administrators, district administrators, special ed administrators, building administrators and teaching staff that we need in order for this kind of transformation to happen.

This is a book that every parent, educator and school administrator should consider reading as we decide what is best for our students and take steps to make that happen.

# # #

Wayne Sailor brings us an October, 2009, release "Making RTI Work, How Smart Schools are Reforming Education through Schoolwide Response-to-Intervention" ($29.95, paperback, 336 pages).
Response to Intervention is more than a buzz word today. RTI is a federal mandate in our government schools. I have learned more about Response to Intervention than I ever thought possible from this book. Sailor is inspirational and I must have a pen or pencil in my hand as I read this book so that I can underline concepts that stand out to me and write notes in the margins. (I think this book has more acronyms than any other book that I have ever read.)

Parents who hang out on internet chat groups for parent of children w/ special learning needs will tell you that the issue of PBS (positive behavior supports) is HUGE. It's an often neglected and ignored concept, sometimes poorly attempted for the very students who need it the most.

I tend to think about RTI in terms of special education, but RTI is mandated for all students. I associate it with special ed because it's a term tossed around at IEP's and on internet lists for parents of children in special ed. In fact, "Making RTI Work" gives credit to special ed for introducing RTI to schools (page 5). Schools, it seems as I interact with other parents (and sometimes some professionals), don't understand RTI or even evidence based practices in a way that translates into meaningful programming and progress for students in special education settings.

If you've ever had a question (as a parent or a teacher) about your school's understanding of all things RTI, from FBA's to PBS's to evidence based practices, here's the book to explain it all. Check out the table of contents, here.

Sailor acknowledges the problems that schools face and offers solutions. He shows readers what RTI looks like close up in the classroom level, and he zooms out and shows readers what it looks like at a district level. Sailor admits "RTI is not a magic bullet that will fix broken schools," but "it does," he tells us, "create a framework for introducing scientific educational practices into the school." (p 265). That's what this book does -- introduces the reader to the framework, the implementation, the troubleshooting, the long-term plan of RTI.

Who is this book for? Anyone, teacher, administrator, therapist, parent -- with an investment in students who would like to know more about RTI. It opened my eyes, lifted my hopes for those still in school-building settings, broadened my understanding of Response to Intervention. I suspect it will do the same for you.

# # #