Helping Good Teachers Become Excellent  Did you ever wish you could miraculously implant in your brain all the most useful and effective teaching techniques known to humans? Well, that's impossible, but the next best thing is this collection of book summaries taken from the top educational experts writing  in the past ten years. Each piece covers the essential ideas expressed in the book, kind of  like "wisdom in a nutshell." If you find an author really exciting or appealing then you can buy the whole book to get the full effect. Nevertheless, if you just want the essentials, Helping Good Teachers Become Excellent is a good buy for you. For an idea of what a book summary from the book looks like and to order, click on More

 Drugs, Lies & Teenagers
Alan Sharpe, formerly a teenage drug addict and now a high school social studies teacher, gives parents, teachers, and administrators the frank reality of why kids do drugs, why current prevention practices fail, and what parents and teachers can do about it. Taking on primary prevention programs such as D.A.R.E., he uses his own experiences as teen drug abuser, teacher, and drug counselor to shed light on why such programs have failed. Unlike most authorities on teen drug abuse, Sharpe is able to see from the perspective of the teen and offers strategies that will help rather than hurt. More

 Stepchildren Speak: 10 grown-up Stepchildren Teach Us How to Build Healthy Stepfamilies
We've heard from the parents and stepparents. We've heard from the child psychologists and family counselors. Now let the children speak. Here are the wise words of ten children who grew up in stepfamilies. They are young enough to remember the experience well and old enough to have learned from it. They offer their poignant stories and even better they tell us what worked and didn't work. We gain new insights into how divorce and remarriage affects children. Invaluable information, not only for parents and stepparents, but teachers and counselors as well.  More

Lesson Plans on Films and others teaching Valuable Life Skills. When you need new ideas for teaching or when you need a lesson plan fast for a substitute, these ready-to-go lesson plans will do the trick. Each lesson is teacher friendly with easy-to-follow directions and student handouts. Film lessons are based on current films readily available at your local rental store. Some are on classical literature; some focus on historic events; some deal with environmental issues, many deal with ordinary life and its problems--perfect for teens figuring out how to cope. All have valuable lessons to teach.   More

Teaching Life Skills Through Film: 12 teaching units using mainstream video  This practical book contains lesson plans based on popular videos from past Making a Difference issues, adding ready-to-use worksheets and 7 to 10 activities per lesson. Each unit has a minimum of 2 to 3 handouts as well as discussion/writing questions and step-by-step directions. A 12-page Appendix adds more handouts and special helps.   More

The Second Chance Writing Book
Many young people don’t learn how to write under traditional instruction in the high school writing class for one reason or another. This book breaks writing into practical segments avoiding confusing terminology and offering strategies that break the rules most textbooks establish. Written by Frances Caldwell, who has almost 20 years of experience teaching English at middle school, high school and college levels, this approach simplifies the writing process and has proven successful with students who have failed in the past. More

Other Sites we recommend where you can find quality educational materials:

www.abcfeelings.com  These materials for both children and adults really get to the heart of teaching and learning

http://www.educationaltoysplanet.com/  Large selection of educational toys and materials that are safe and reasonably priced 

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