Book picks similar to
Reading Bug by Paul Jennings


non-fiction
parenting
openlibrary
teens-and-adults

Failing Law Schools


Brian Z. Tamanaha - 2012
    Enrollments are on the rise, and their resources are often the envy of every other university department. Law professors are among the highest paid and play key roles as public intellectuals, advisers, and government officials. Yet behind the flourishing facade, law schools are failing abjectly. Recent front-page stories have detailed widespread dubious practices, including false reporting of LSAT and GPA scores, misleading placement reports, and the fundamental failure to prepare graduates to enter the profession.Addressing all these problems and more in a ringing critique is renowned legal scholar Brian Z. Tamanaha. Piece by piece, Tamanaha lays out the how and why of the crisis and the likely consequences if the current trend continues. The out-of-pocket cost of obtaining a law degree at many schools now approaches $200,000. The average law school graduate’s debt is around $100,000—the highest it has ever been—while the legal job market is the worst in decades, with the scarce jobs offering starting salaries well below what is needed to handle such a debt load. At the heart of the problem, Tamanaha argues, are the economic demands and competitive pressures on law schools—driven by competition over U.S. News and World Report ranking. When paired with a lack of regulatory oversight, the work environment of professors, the limited information available to prospective students, and loan-based tuition financing, the result is a system that is fundamentally unsustainable.Growing concern with the crisis in legal education has led to high-profile coverage in the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times, and many observers expect it soon will be the focus of congressional scrutiny. Bringing to the table his years of experience from within the legal academy, Tamanaha has provided the perfect resource for assessing what’s wrong with law schools and figuring out how to fix them.

Career Paths in Psychology: Where Your Degree Can Take You


Robert J. Sternberg - 1997
    In this comprehensive anthology, authors selected for their distinction in their chosen careers offer their professional - and personal - perspectives on 19 different graduate-level careers in psychology. Few fields of study offer more career opportunities than does psychology, and readers will find thoughtful discussions, leavened with tips and insights gained from personal experience, on the full range, including (to name only a few) academia, clinical psychology, health and school psychology, clinical neuropsychology, and government service. Each chapter discusses the nature of the career, its advantages and disadvantages, how to prepare for it, typical activities, ranges of financial compensation, opportunities for employment, and the personal attributes needed for success in the career. realities, challenges, and rewards of each career that the lab or lecture hall rarely provides. Reprinted eight times since the publication of the first edition in 1997, Career Paths in Psychology is recognized as the go-to sourcebook for anyone seeking a candid portrait of different careers in this ever-changing field. The second edition has been expanded (discussions of five new careers added) and updated to reflect current trends and changes in the field.

Several Short Sentences About Writing


Verlyn Klinkenborg - 2012
    It’s the harmful debris of your education—a mixture of half-truths, myths, and false assumptions that prevents you from writing well. Drawing on years of experience as a writer and teacher of writing, Verlyn Klinkenborg offers an approach to writing that will change the way you work and think. There is no gospel, no orthodoxy, no dogma in this book. What you’ll find here isn’t the way to write. Instead, you’ll find a way to clear your mind of illusions about writing and discover how you write. Several Short Sentences About Writing is a book of first steps and experiments. They will revolutionize the way you think and perceive, and they will change forever the sense of your own authority as a writer. This is a book full of learning, but it’s also a book full of unlearning—a way to recover the vivid, rhythmic, poetic sense of language you once possessed. An indispensable and unique book that will give you a clear understanding of how to think about what you do when you write and how to improve the quality of your writing.

The Little Red Writing Book


Mark Tredinnick - 2006
    

Image Grammar: Using Grammatical Structures to Teach Writing


Harry R. Noden - 1999
    Concepts illustrate how writers use image grammar to develop their art, while strategies provide classroom-tested lessons, as offered on the CD-ROM.

Homeschooling: Take a Deep Breath-You Can Do This!


Terrie Lynn Bittner - 2004
    Many people believe they can't homeschool because they are lacking some magical quality or skill successful homeschoolers have. The truth is that homeschooling can be done, and done well, by most ordinary people.Terrie Lynn Bittner's book will take you by the hand and show you how. She breaks the job down into doable chunks and carefully explains each part, giving you the confidence you need to get it done. Her explainations are clear and thorough.Down-to-earth and practical ... sensible and direct ... Designed to empower the novice toward home-schooling success, this book is friendly, reassuring and endlessly supportive ... like a very well-informed neighbor. (Publishers Weekly)In this honest and commonsensical book ... Bittner ... offers sound advice on legal issues, lesson plans, curricula, testing, teaching, values, preparing for graduation, and college ... This is an encouraging and helpful resource for parents considering homeschooling their children. (Booklist)

Reframing the Path to School Leadership: A Guide for Teachers and Principals


Lee G. Bolman - 2002
    A series of dialogues between a novice and a master teacher and between a new and a seasoned principal demonstrate how framing--and then reframing--challenges brings clarity.

You Can be an Optimist: Change Your Thinking, Change Your Life


Lucy MacDonald - 2013
    Optimistic people have more fun, are healthier and achieve more of their potential. Optimistic thinking is a skill that anyone can learn. In this simple easy-to-use book, Lucy Macdonald will show you how to harness the power of optimism to help you create a more positive, upbeat attitude to life. The book contains 20 specially devised exercises that include simple practices such as journaling, visualisation, affirmations and simple physical exercises. With its foundations in scientific principals of cognitive behaviour, You Can Be An Optimist will show you how to: Boost your optimism Recognise and deal with problems as they arise Stop being negative and nurture a positive outlook Deal with stress and increase your motivation Be happier and more successfulThis book will help you to plug into the power of optimism, improve your health and create happiness for yourself and those around you.

The Ultimate Teen Book Guide


Daniel Hahn - 2005
    . . From true classics to must-read cult fiction, from the top award-winners to up-to-the minute bestsellers, there's something for everyone.You'll also find special genre features written by expert authors—like E. Lockhart on Love and Relationships, and Patrick Jones on Short and Gripping Books—plus Top Ten Lists by genre for the perfect place to start, and results of our Top Ten Surveys where you decided which books and authors were the best in their categories.Each rave review comes with suggestions for what to read next, so with over 1,000 recommended books total, you'll never be without a good book again!

Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within


Natalie Goldberg - 1986
    In her groundbreaking first book, she brings together Zen meditation and writing in a new way. Writing practice, as she calls it, is no different from other forms of Zen practice--"it is backed by two thousand years of studying the mind." This edition includes a new preface and an interview with the author.

Breathing New Life Into Book Clubs: A Practical Guide for Teachers


Sonja Cherry-Paul - 2019
    Managing classroom book clubs can be hard. Real hard. But honestly, is there any better way to get students vested in reading? When book clubs work, don't they create a culture of reading unlike anything else? One that brings out the very best in our students?With both infectious enthusiasm and a realistic perspective, Sonja and Dana take on teachers' doubts and concerns about book clubs, and build a compelling case for their value in every classroom. They provide all the nuts and bolts for creating and managing successful book clubs, including:Dozens of pitfalls and pathways minilessons that address common roadblocks Tips for using technology to enhance book club work for deeper student engagement Suggested book bins for book club work, organized by grade level and genre. Whether you're looking to breathe new life into book clubs or begin implementing them in your classroom, Sonja and Dana give you essential strategies to make book clubs work. Because book clubs, they write, are where students fall in love with reading.

The Writer's Toolbox: Creative Games and Exercises for Inspiring the 'Write' Side of Your Brain (Writing Prompts, Writer Gifts, Writing Kit Gifts)


Jamie Cat Callan - 2007
    Sixty exercise sticks: First Sentences, Non Sequiturs, and Last Straws will get stories off the ground, 60 cards fuel creative descriptions and four spinner palettes will ignite unexpected plot twists. For any aspiring writer, this kit is the perfect first step on the path to literary greatness!Inspires writers with creative prompts and samplesGets writers in the right headspace to let creativity flowFeatures 60 writing exercises and other creative gamesMake those days and nights of struggling to create writing ideas go away without having to bury yourself in more books with Writer's Toolbox, which makes for the perfect gift for writers.

I Read It, but I Don't Get It: Comprehension Strategies for Adolescent Readers


Cris Tovani - 2000
    Cris Tovani is an accomplished teacher and staff developer who writes with verve and humor about the challenges of working with students at all levels of achievement—from those who have mastered the art of "fake reading" to college-bound juniors and seniors who struggle with the different demands of content-area textbooks and novels.Enter Cris' classroom, a place where students are continually learning new strategies for tackling difficult text. You will be taken step-by-step through practical, theory-based reading instruction that can be adapted for use in any subject area. The book features:anecdotes in each chapter about real kids with real universal problems. You will identify with these adolescents and will see how these problems can be solved;a thoughtful explanation of current theories of comprehension instruction and how they might be adapted for use with adolescents;a What Works section in each of the last seven chapters that offers simple ideas you can immediately employ in your classroom. The suggestions can be used in a variety of content areas and grade levels(6-12);teaching tips and ideas that benefit struggling readers as well as proficient and advanced readers;appendixes with reproducible materials that you can use in your classroom, including coding sheets, double entry diaries, and comprehension constructors.In a time when students need increasingly sophisticated reading skills, this book will provide support for teachers who want to incorporate comprehension instruction into their daily lesson plans without sacrificing content knowledge.

Homeschooling: A Patchwork of Days: Share a Day with 30 Homeschooling Families


Nancy Lande - 1997
    When author Nancy Lande started homeschooling more than 10 years ago, this is the book she wanted that didn't exist. What better way to create your homeschool than reading about others and picking and choosing the styles that appeal to you? Lande has corralled a variety of homeschoolers and, with some deft editing, allowed them to speak for themselves. Every chapter features a different household on any given day. Many of the writers are mothers, but a stay-at-home dad and several children tell their tales as well. Their detailed descriptions start in the waking hours of morning and get down to the nitty-gritty information of everyday life in a homeschool: how moms fit in showers, how chores are divvied up, how reading and research are gently initiated, how parents set aside time for themselves. These writers invite the reader into their homes and advise, "Don't mind the mess." Their passages are often funny and unflinchingly honest. They aren't embarrassed to tell you they whipped out SpaghettiOs for a hurried lunch or stole a peek at CNN while ignoring the chaos in the playroom. Some of the families have created highly structured school environments within their homes, with desks and sharpened pencils. Others promote freestyle learning, with their children sprawled across the house working on projects or reading in between walking the dog, playing games, and riding bikes. The majority of families here live in Pennsylvania, the author's home state, but one writes from as far away as Scotland, another lives on a mountain in Alaska, and yet another checks in from a college town in Texas. Their learning logs, reading lists, and journal entries, along with family photos, help illustrate the book. The quilt they piece together is a great service to those wondering how to approach homeschooling. --Jodi Mailander Farrell