Davis, as Mentor and Teacher
929477
This movie demostrates the versatility of Bette Davis' considerable acting skills. The storyline is well developed and attracts the viewer's interest. This is a departure from Davis' love stories and she does it justice.
2644654
I chose to read this book because I am an avid sports fan and have a special interest in college basketball.  I heard about John Wooden a few years ago and everyone who talked about him had nothing but great things to say and that is why I chose this book.  Overall this book was great and taught me a lot about mentorship and being a leader.

The first half of this book was about seven mentors John Wooden has had in his life.  Each chapter was about a different person written by Wooden.  The second half of this book was seven people who were inspired by John Wooden, ranging from his former players to one of his children.  Two themes I found in this book were mentorship and discipline.  He stated "Mentoring can happen whenever there is a lesson to be shared, even if the lesson is as basic as showing love" (65).  This is Wooden teaching that you can me mentoring someone without even noticing.  Another them was discipline.  "Discipline applied fairly and effectively rarely needs to be repeated" (32).  Proving that Wooden's coaching worked because his players were well disciplined.  These themes go hand in hand because part of his mentoring was to have good discipline for the people he taught.  The author used the term "flexible" in the sentence "during my early coaching days I had to stay unconditionally flexible."  Wooden used this to say he needed to keep his schedule free and also keep his mind open to new ideas.  I feel like this advice doesn't just show how he was a great mentor but he gave qualities to look for in mentors.  "This really gave a good structure on how to proceed when seeking out a mentor."  I agree with this "I was impressed with how Coach Wooden stressed academics and wanted all of his players to graduate." And this really just stresses his ideals that an education is more important than sports.

All in all this was a great book that teaches a lot of life lessons.  I personally learned that mentoring and teaching happens every day through the smallest of things.  Not just the big events in your life go noticed.  I would completely recommend this book to anyone, sports fan or not.

TJHS 12th grade student
3005482
Michael Goldings book Listen Harder educates the reader on the full value of improvisation, which can be used for entertainment, education and therapy. His essays cover his extraordinary workshops with at-risk teens and comedians (including Robin Williams!), and his association with the pioneers of the educational theatre/ improv movement.  The curriculum section is a valuable resource for educators. The memorabilia chapter illustrates the vast history of this art form. I highly recommend this book.
4761299
This is an excellent book to use in the classroom.  I teach 6th grade, and Seedfolks provides a lesson on overcoming differences and working together to build unity.  Each chapter is told through the viewpoint of one of the people in the neighborhood, each of whom comes from a different ethnic group.  Through their efforts, the people in the neighborhood cultivate a garden, improve the appearance of their neightborhood and build a sense of community.
1660267
I liked reading this book, though perhaps not for the same reasons that others might give. Reading this book was gripping because I felt like I was sitting across from a new friend. This fascinating man was telling me about his life and how his work reflects his life.

Writing is an interesting topic to me (I enjoy it, I'm not good at it), so I liked hearing from this man as he told me how he got there. The trials and tribulations involved. The joys and highs that came with following his passion. I wouldn't go so far as to say it's inspiring or reaffirming. It IS helpful. Perhaps the best way to view this book is a session with a very long-winded teacher that goes off on tangents. There are some nuggets in here that make it well worth the read.

Totally worth it.
562973
This book, as all the works of Merrill Harmin, introduces the teacher to DESCA and methods that do make a difference in the lives of young people.  I have recommended and used it in my work with teachers around the world.  I cannot recommend it too highly.  It is a marvelous guide for young teachers and a grace-filled reminder for older teachers who are still inspired to help young people grow and change their lives for the better through education.&nbsp;<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Inspiring-Active-Learning-A-Complete-Handbook-for-Today-s-Teachers/dp/1416601554/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Inspiring Active Learning: A Complete Handbook for Today's Teachers</a>
4619551
This is an excellent resource for beginning teachers at the college level.  This is a reminder of why we went into teaching in the first place.  There is always one teacher who inspired and taught and brought a subject to life and that is how we ended up teaching it.  But it isn't always easy to translate what we know to action in the classroom or to remember what caused a classroom to be so effective.

I was lucky to have spent my first decade teaching at the college level because it gave me an opportunity to learn a great deal about my subject before I went to the middle school, elementary, and high school, where there are so many other pressures pulling at every classroom moment.  This book could have been helpful the first year, but I was lucky to have the resources of being in a group of beginning college instructors who were extremely supportive toward each other.

There are a lot of interesting ideas in this book, many of which can be used across grade levels.
963201
Full disclosure: I haven't read the book yet, but Mr. McCutcheon was my math teacher in 6th and 8th grade and all through high school, and he is singlehandedly responsible for making me comfortable and confident with math.  He made math class both fun and challenging, and taught in a way that forced us to use our brains creatively rather than simply memorizing formulas and spitting them back.  If this book is anything like his classes (as the title suggests it is), it would be a wonderful resource for teachers, students, and anyone interested in increasing their knowledge and enjoyment of mathematics.
2732819
PowerMentor is packed with inspiring stories. From beginning to end you will learn from real-life cases about different techniques and approaches in mentoring others, especially at-risk youth. LaChapelle begins with giving a historical context by explaining the origins and meaning of mentorship. He then goes on to elucidate different mentoring strategies that any person involved in education will find of great value. He delivers these strategies while providing specific examples of encouraging cases. LaChapelle ends with optimistic words "do not forget to focus on what is right in people rather than what is wrong."
4681793
Well written and captivating.  The volume kept my interest high, and the concepts that he advances in the book seem to be on target and consisten t with research in associated fields.  I thought that his tips were "solid enough," that I ordered one of his earlier volumes for my son.  It's entitled "How to Become an A Student."
3401978
Eiflers book is a fistful of verbal magic.  It offers nimbly observed stories from decades of teaching, looking, and listening.  A teacher could start the first five minutes of each day across an enviable month thinking through one of the thirty chapters.  The reward of these daily meditations by a dazzling bridge-builder: fresh connections between key moments of scripture and your classroom, a better understanding of how insightful the vulnerabilities of both students and teachers can be, a month of wry smiles from Eiflers subversive wit, and memories of your own best teachers.  The book helps us calibrate an attitude that allows us to learn as much from pupils as they learn from us.  Best of all, Eifler offers a poetics of hope (for as she asserts: Teaching is not for the faint of heart. Nor is it for the faint of hope).
3661868
This book felt as if I were sitting down with Tim, having a cup of tea, while he shared some of his most interesting highlights of his career.  He talks about his TV shows, his experiences as a teacher and faculty member and occasional meetings with interesting people.  He is truly a dedicated teacher and mentor.
4145759
A fun read written by someone with thousands of hours instructing appreciative students.  I'm glad Artie wrote a book to add permanence to his legacy.
4411420
Thanks you, Dr. Susan Shumsky, for teaching and big thanks for writing.  Having a book in hand is a wonderful addition to what she teaches, and this book is an education.  One reads and becomes "an explorer of eternity."  Susan writes as if she is talking to us, and soon we are accustomed to a gentle teaching of what has been available but somewhat inaccessible until now. Dr. Shumsky introduces us to numerous ascended masters.  There are stories and antidotes that inspire and amuse.  Mythical beings, saints, the Buddhas, and everyday people all have stories that open the doors in our minds to ascension.
This could be a much longer book, a history, but we were promised something else.  All the chapters and stories make us ready for the practical steps that bring us to soar into a larger awareness of what other masters have accomplished.  She helps us open our hearts and cross boundaries we may not have known, then brings us safely home.
2883330
After reading The Photoshop Darkroom last year, I became hooked on Harold Davis's amazing creativity and ability to teach.  As an avid reader of photography books (my shelves are crammed tight),  there are those books which I've never finished . . . and then there are those books that are tattered and weather beaten from going with me on photo shoots in the field.  Creative Lighting, like my other books from Harold Davis, is quickly falling into that second  category. He discusses ambient and studio light as it pertains to both nature and portrait photographers.

If you would like to learn post-processing techniques that are unique, inspirational, and cutting edge, look no further. For instance, many books cover HDR, but only Davis teaches what he calls "Hand HDR", a process that combines different exposures using layers and layer masks, resulting in an image superior to anything produced using an automated HDR program. Does it take longer?  You bet.  But it challenges and nurtures the artist within the photographer in ways often overlooked. Davis inspired me to  explore the world of LAB color and I have never viewed a photograph the same way since, knowing that there is a color space that transcends RGB.

Looking for a cookie-cutter, how-to book on digital photography, then this book is not for you.  Looking for an innovative, inspirational journey that challenges you to jump "outside of the box" and tap into your creative potential, Creative Lighting is the perfect choice.
3358946
Paul Kengor does an excellent job in presenting his case about the politics of Frank Marshall Davis. Rather than basing his book on here-say and conjecture, he goes to the source--CPUSA archives, microfilm newspaper copies, and FBI records--for the facts that he presents. He even shows empathy as to why Frank Davis converted from being a supporter of the Republican Party to a card carrying Communist. He also does a credible job of showing the link between Davis and the Marxist influence on the young Barrack Obama through our President's own words.  He also lays out for comparison columns written by Davis and Obama's speeches. If Davis were the only Red in Obama's closet, than the Davis influence would be a mote point; but, Obama continued to seek out and enjoy the company of fellow Marxists like Bill Ayers, Bernadette Dorn, and others. In his vision for change, the transformation of America, Obama echo's the words found in the many editorials written by Frank Davis. The information is laid out in Kengor's book along with notes as where to find the original documents in case you wish to see them with your own eyes. Those puzzled by Obama's meteoric political rise to the Presidency beating out the far more experienced Hillary Clinton for the Democratic nomination, will understand more after reading this book.
I found "The Communist" extremely helpful in providing me with information about my own mentor, my father, and his attraction to the Party. Pap was a card carrying communist and worked on many of the same projects as Davis, Robeson, and others mentioned in the book. In learning more about my father's associates, I understand more about his progressive ideas. We are, after all, judged by the company we keep. I found the facts presented by Paul Kengor backed up many of the things my father told me about and warned me might happen in the future.
After seeking out the archives to research my own books, Blood on the Constitution and Bucket of Blood the Ragman's War, I now know that truth really can be stranger than fiction. "The change when it comes might seem sudden, but, in really has been happening in small increments all along,'" a quote from my father.
1893913
Jody Fisher deserves a lot of credit. He's written an accessible introductory jazz tutorial with progressively skillful lessons that address both melody and chordal harmony. Believe it or not, this is a rarity in jazz instruction books - I find they are often elitist and condescending. Fisher instead is both welcoming and inclusive.

Fisher assumes you already know the basics of guitar mechanics (and are probably self-taught) and are a decent enough musician to want to learn to play something with more musical sophistication. He respects the reader in a way that most jazz authors don't. He also presents an amazing variety of scale fingerings in different positions - while also placing them within useful musical contexts.

All the examples in the book are also included on the DVD, along with some video lessons. Somewhat surprisingly, the video lessons elaborate on the content of the second volume of the series, not the present volume. Furthermore, the audio quality of the video lessons isn't very good - the overall volume is too low and there's too great a disparity in volume between the music and the instructional information. While it's nice to have a DVD instead of a CD, I'd rather have seen the DVD with the volume it seems to have been intended for and would have preferred better audio quality. That is the only reason why I docked this book one star.

Regardless, this is one of the most useful guitar tutorial books I have ever seen. I was already an experienced electric guitarist when I picked up this book, but I improved tremendously as I worked through Fisher's excellent tutorials. If you already have a few years experience playing blues or melodic rock and want to explore the wonderful world of jazz guitar, this is the book you ought to buy. I can think of no warmer welcome to improvisation.