Applicable to all levels of education
923023
I bought this book because I will be teaching freshmen college students so survival skills for college courses. This book is written clearly  and is focused on practical skills. I highly recommend reading and following the suggestions.
Partcularily good advise is on page 98 "it is about on simple choice: either you control your schoolwork, or it will control you." Another chapter is devoted to reading different kinds of books. Great!!
873458
This book provides a clear cut tried and true consistent method for increasing student achievement at all grade levels through all content areas! A great read for ever educator regardless of position or grade level...from superintendent to paraprofessionals.
2492323
This is an excellent exposition of the history and underlying philosophies of two mainstays of education: the textbook and the lecture. While these traditional modes of instruction are often maligned in contemporary education culture, Friesen's treatment helps the reader understand the fundamental nature of both the textbook and the lecture, and how we might re-envision or even redeem them for today and the future. An accessible read, this book would be an excellent choice for discussion by a professional learning community. Highly recommended reading for middle and high school teachers, faculty in higher education, educational technology professionals, professional development leaders, curriculum directors, instructional coaches, and administrators at all levels.
4799333
I have purchased several hundred dollars worth of books over the years for required reading in classes I have taken.  I would have to say that this book is the "most for the money".  It will be an excellent  resource for me in the future. I plan to keep it as a reference in  school-related matters. I only wish that I had had access to this material  when I was first starting out as a teacher.  The chapters are very well  organized, and the visual aids (graphs, charts, pictures) were well  selected and beneficial - the benchmark timelines helped to summarize  several important events. The "Voices" sections in each chapter,  featuring different viewpoints from real people on topics related to the  chapter gave the somewhat lenthy, arduous chapters life and vitality. The  inside cover of the book included educational issues included in the book.  I found myself several times scanning through the list, thinking of my  position on the matter.  If there would be any fault of the book, I would  have to say that the chapters could have been a little shorter.  It seemed  like a great deal of information to absorb.  I would recommend this book  for anyone interested in all aspects of education.
130162
I read Bill McGowan's book because I'm interested in communications, but after I finished it, I realized that its lessons can be applied to so many different situations, both professional and personal.  As a teacher, I am looking forward to trying them out in my classroom.  Many of the strategies for effective communication that McGowan identifies can be taught to students at the middle- and high-school levels, which is when they learn to write and speak persuasively.  The book is also helpful for teachers themselves, since communication and engaging students is what we are all about, and many of the tips McGowan offers speak directly to that.  The Conviction Principle (Chap. 7) is a perfect example.
I would definitely recommend this book to colleagues as well as people in any field.  The format is user-friendly, and I like the personal stories and anecdotes that illustrate the key points.  McGowans style is entertaining as well as being informative, and I laughed out loud at some of the gaffes he described  mistakes that we know we all are capable of making (or even worse  we have made!)  The Glossary is a helpful tool, with entries that are punchy and memorable.  Overall, this is a book worth reading and referring back to frequently.
437952
Aimed at parents and teachers concerned with children of all ages, this book certainly provides the reader with a series of useful, child-centered advice and good-practice, and may be especially welcomed by first-time parents and/or novice teachers in search of initial text/tips on this subject. Firmly grounded in a philosophy which supports the view that it is 'better to praise than to punish' in order to achieve one's desired results without harming self-esteem, Hartley-Brewer presents principles, tactics and practical tips for the effective management of children's behavior, whilst also providing cues as to the more subtle pitfalls of the overuse of praise as a reinforcer. Organized in eleven short chapters, ten sets of 10-point do's and don'ts, each address a different issue (though most are concerned with when and how to use praise effectively) -- with each briefly situated within a short text framing the relevant tips accompanying the different issues raised. Although clear in format and easy to read, it is, however, not always clear to the reviewers exactly which research findings supported the inclusion of any given introductory text, 'tips' or issue (i.e., no evidence is provided for any of the specific claims made, and there are no references/bibliography offered for further reading), but this will likely detract little from the value of this book for the general reader. As for the specific 'tips' section of each chapter, such consist in two adjacent columns marked "Parents" and "Teachers" each containing between one, or as many as six, short sentence cribs on a single page -- and, there is something here for everyone. Parents will find good, solid advice, throughout, though little really specific to the raising of boys in our view (indeed, 83 out of the 100 tips are also included in the companion  volume by the same author, Praising Girls Well). In the tips column provided for teachers, one finds the provision of good, student-oriented advice, perhaps biased towards the affordance of better classroom management (which is not necessarily a bad thing!), and this is cloaked in language (and examples) relevant to the development of most sound teacher's pedagogy.

Further to the gender-specificity issue already mentioned (90% of the text also appears identical in both the 'boys' and 'girls' version of this book), I could not help feeling that the 'Praising Boys' volume was perhaps written from the point of view of helping fathers coming to a better understanding, and thus better handling of, their sons, (and likewise for 'Praising Girls' -- to help a mums' understanding/handling of their daughters), with a surprising amount of reference being made to the use (and even assisted development ?) of gender-specific stereotype activities and interests. This issue is raised by the reviewers here in cautioning the reader against expecting two very different books -- but should not be taken to detract from the usefulness of either book taken alone. Sorely missing from the text, however, was any discussion concerning the relevance of significant context variables which may arise from one's 'boy' also being a member of a multi-sibling family, or being a boy with only brothers, or brothers and/or sisters, adoption, multi-racial sibling families, single-parent families, multiple-births (twins), etc., but perhaps further volumes in this series are still being planned (?). Despite these shortcomings, this book is certainly worth reading by those coming to these issues for the first time, or for those in search of a short list of tips for managing their child-adult interactions for better all-round communications, social and cognitive development. Not a scholarly text, but this is clearly a practical volume for the casual, yet serious parent and/or teacher to 'dip-into-and-out-of' from time to time.

Dr. Tony Dickinson & Julia Hui, 2006
2040218
Informative and very well written in such a fashion anyone can understand it, and use the information with ease. Teaching is an art form as well as a profession and the man is good at both.

This is not a book just for chidren, it applies to all of us, as poor learners as children grow into poor learners as adults and can be held back in the business world as well. I am not a visual learner so I quickly knew how effective his metheods are when I started using them.  They work.

I felt good enough about the book to buy a copy for a friend who is a coach and to recommend it to associates who are therapists, counselors, teachers, and have children with learning problems.
4756186
Well written, and still applicable to current classes. Every text explains the same phenomena or process but in a myriad of ways. Having older text books to work through before taking a class is a good way to gain an overall picture of the subject and also useful as a secondary source of practice and sometimes clarification. Having both the text and the solutions manual have helped tremendously in earning higher grades.
3092177
This is one of the most engaging and useful books I've read on curriculum. I've been trying to attach concepts to my lesson plans but I've always been uncertain on how effective these plans are. The most useful part of this book was its main theme. That is, how to teach beyond facts. The book is constantly clarifying concepts developed by the author; and uses many models to visualize a concept-based curriculum. It is a must for every teacher and educator working at any level in education.
579894
I highly recommend this book for anyone yearning to be successful in life in the present knowledge economy.
I feel this could very well be considered as a subject text book in +2 level in the current education system.
2342370
A wonderful manual for solving nearly any problem.  It can be read chapter by chapter.  It also has an index to locate solutions for specific situations.  Great resource for the new or veteran teacher.  It contains something for everyone.  If you can afford only one book, this is the one to get in my opinion.
3917388
Excellent basics for everyone - at any age!  I wish I had had the opportunity to read this book when I was young.
 I have bought it for all my 20-30 year old grandchildren.  Am happy to see it in the kindle edition since I think the print of the paperback was too small.

Michael Zisa has made an important contribution to education with this easy-to-read and easy-to-understand book.  Should be required reading in all schools.  Too many young people have no understanding of money management at all.
3697840
This book is an excellent overview of what it takes to be a teacher for  today's world.  Gone are the days of children sitting silently in rows  while the the "sage on stage" lectures endlessly on facts and  figures.  In the year 2000, teachers need to be willing to share  responsiblity for learning with their students, and present subject matter  in relevant, engaging, collaborative ways.  Daniels and Bizar do a  masterful job presenting the "basics" for today.  Teaching with  integrated themes, the value of response projects, student conferences in  their various forms, and creating a workshop atmosphere in the classroom  are just some of the "methods that matter" presented in this  highly readable, jargon-free book.  If you are looking to to move toward  stepping out of the spotlight in your classroom, to become a more  child-centered facilitator of learning, this book is an excellent place to  begin.
An added bonus:  this book is not "pie-in-the-sky"  idealistic, as many professional development books tend to be.  Daniels and  Bizar come across as "real", and acknowledge the realities that  we as teachers face in the day to day politics that is American education  today.
3849443
This book is great for any teacher, teachers who are more experienced will have less take aways from this book, as they are probably already using a number of these techniques, but may gain insight even into the techniques they already use.
This book is not about one "style" vs. another, it's about techniques that work on every level of k-12, and are great at keeping a well run, and well managed classroom. The videos are shot primarily at the elementary grades, and I wish they would have done more in a high school setting, but the principals are easily translated to upper grades.
Well worth a ready, and one of the first books a new teacher should read.
1877629
When looking back at this book, it gave me ideas about technology and education from all grade levels K-college. The book is all about the way technology and the internet have made it possible for everyone to learn at any time. Bonk talks about how education needs to keep up with the every changing and upgrading technology field. Bonk teaches the reader about the WE-ALL-LEARN model.

WE-ALL-LEARN model:
W - web searching in the world of e-books
E - e-learning and blended learning
A - availability of open source and free software
L - leveraged resources and OpenCourseWare
L - learner participation in Open Information Communities
E - electronic collaboration
A - alternate reality learning
R - real-time mobility and portability
N - networks of personalized learning

I enjoyed all of the many resources the Bonk give the reader for all age levels. I will continue to look back on this book for ideas when it comes to technology and education. This book will not sit on my book shelf long and will be taken to school with me for references and ideas. Although this is an older book, I think that some schools and take some ideas from Bonk and start to upgrade what technology they have and how they use it. 4.5 Stars!
3595426
This book is a clear and gentle introduction to E&M at the sophomore level.  It also serves as a very useful reference for junior/senior level students.  It is written in a very balanced and judicious way with real students very much in mind.  The author pretends neither that a clever enough bare bones presentation will provide a magic short cut through all the difficulties, nor that oceans of chatty, apologetic prose will circumvent all the difficulties.  What you find here is the voice of an experienced teacher who is committed to an honest, straightforward treatment of the material, and who really knew what to say and what not to say.  It is a shame that this book is out of print.  It is as good today as it ever was, and in particular it still fits in very well with the standard progression of mathematics and physics courses in the first two years of college.  I wish it could be brought back into print so that it could be readily available to today's physics students.  (Perhaps Dover could acquire it?)
1548742
This book has given me many effective tools that apply to my own life, as well as to my teaching.  The philosophy it teaches focusing on the whole child is much needed in and outside the classroom. I would recommend this for teachers, school administrators and parents.