Showing titles in Educators

Speaking My Soul is the honest story of linguist John R. Rickford's life from his early years as the youngest of ten children in Guyana to his status as Emeritus Professor of Linguistics at Stanford, of the transformation of his identity from colored or mixed race in Guyana to black in the USA, and of his work championing Black Talk and its speakers. In this engaging memoir, Rickford recalls landmark events for his racial identity.

In 1972 Lorene Cary, a bright black teenager from Philadelphia, was transplanted into the formerly all-white, all-male environs of the elite St. Paul's School in New Hampshire, where she became a scholarship student in a "boot camp" for future American leaders. Like any good student, she was determined to succeed. But Cary was also determined to succeed without selling out. This wonderfully frank and perceptive memoir describes the perils and ambiguities of that double role, in which failing calculus and winning a student election could both be interpreted as betrayals of one's skin.

On August 15, 2014, I received a phone call that would forever change my life. My husband of 19 years, Larry, and only child, nine-year-old Landon, had just died in a plane crash. This is my survival story. I say survival because at times I thought I would die of a broken heart. Although this story is the raw, vulnerable truth of grief, my survival is anchored in hope and faith that was shaken to its core. God met me right where I was and walked with me on the most difficult and burdensome journey of my life. My prayer is that my story helps pave the path for others on this journey.

Before she was an author of paranormal romance and urban fantasy novels, N. D. Jones was an educator. In her essay, she reflects on her 20-plus years as an educator in a field where most public school teachers and administrators are middle-class White women responsible for the academic future of more than 20 million students of color. Jones’ insights come from her years of facilitating cultural proficiency professional development for employees in a White-dominated public school system where all is supposed to mean all, yet racial inequity and disproportionality persist.

One American seldom receives the attention he rightly deserves. Noah Webster, Jr., does not often come immediately to mind when one considers those who helped the United States during its infancy. He should. His services were many and unique in the earliest stages of America. Even as a boy, Noah was fascinated with language and education. He was troubled by the lack of interest shown by others in formal schooling, and the lack of books and proper facilities bothered him even more. When the fires of the Revolution broke out in the early 1770s, Noah was a student at Yale. 

As a retired high school English teacher and boys’ basketball coach of 38 years, Tom Lowery has helped thousands of students negotiate the ups and downs of high school life. During that time, he noticed many of the challenges they faced weren’t all that different from the ones he had to face growing up: things like relationships, the battle for good grades, and the wins and losses of the sports world. Tom began to ask himself why students nowadays are unable to handle life’s stressors.

Frederick Stewart, born in Buchan, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, was the first headmaster of the Hong Kong Government Central School for Boys (now Queen's College) and second inspector of schools. His consistent policy was to educate pupils in Western knowledge while preserving their Chinese identity, and he insisted on equal time for Chinese and English studies. By the end of his life, Stewart’s intimate knowledge of Hong Kong was considered unequaled among non-Chinese in Hong Kong at the time.

The stories in this book are all of real encounters, ranging from backstage encounters in universities that reveal the social world of academe to lessons learned from anxiety-ridden sororities girls to a transforming encounter with a Black man who grew from a child working at jobs such as a chicken-catcher at nights to support his family and became successful and wealthy to the point that he was able to buy the movie theater that forced him to sit in the balcony when he was young.

In the summer of 2014, Firas Jumaah was working diligently to complete his doctorate in chemistry at Lund University in Sweden when he suddenly received news that an ISIS advance in northern Iraq threatened the lives of his wife and children. As the situation worsened by the minute, Firas managed to send a message to his professor, Charlotta Turner, to let her know that he did not expect to return to Sweden to complete his dissertation. She quickly organized a commando mission that resulted in the dramatic rescue of Firas from war-torn Iraq.

On a therapist’s advice, a teacher begins journaling about her school year in an effort to be more present for her family. Her journal documents the school year from beginning to end. Since her school year starts with a bad evaluation, which gets her put on a performance plan, the journal becomes a lifeline for saying everything a "good teacher" would never say.

Maria Montessori non fu certo una donna comune. Capace di destare le più entusiastiche adesioni e le critiche più malevole, fu oggetto al suo tempo di illazioni, maldicenze, pettegolezzi e, ancor oggi, il suo senso di libertà e le scomode novità del suo pensiero suscitano reazioni contrastanti.

After 15 years traveling the world in the high-tech industry, Tory Anderson found himself driving his first busload of kids. What started as an act of desperation turned into a life-changing experience that led to courage he was lacking and love he didn’t know he had. Bus Driver Diaries puts you in the driver’s seat with Tory to experience the world that unfolds on a bus in between school and home. Amid the noise and frustration, you will find a world of beauty, wonder, and humor. After listening to this book, every sighting of a school bus will bring a smile to your face.

Som ung lærer var Dines Skafte Jespersen et år på Hirsholmene, og det skildrer han her på den fornøjeligste måde. Han nøjes ikke med at tage sig af sine skolebørn, men går med liv og lyst op i befolkningens daglige liv. Med sin åbne sans for mennesker og natur kommer han hurtigt i kontakt med omgivelserne, og som den storartede fortæller, han er, forstår han at gengive sine oplevelser i al deres friskhed.

Illustreret af Leif Ragn Jensen.

Der Lehrer, von dem du gerne gelernt hättest (und deine Eltern wären froh gewesen, hättest du so einen Lehrer gehabt). Ein ganz und gar ungewöhnlicher Lehrer schreibt über die Erkenntnisse aus der jahrzehntelangen Arbeit mit Schülerinnen und Schülern. Die wichtigsten Dinge hat Dieter Bachmann nämlich nicht im Studium gelernt, sondern vom Leben selbst oder eben von den Kindern. Von Herrn Bachmann können wir wiederum lernen, wie man Kindern Vertrauen schenkt, wie man im Umgang mit ihnen authentisch bleibt, Haltung und Mitmenschlichkeit zeigt und dabei Kreativität, Toleranz und Kommunikation in den Mittelpunkt stellt.

Christy Engel Wilson began her educational journey working in youth camps and has since taught every grade from kindergarten to eighth. Her 25 years of work in professional development, student management, and instruction with English Language Learners has helped establish her as a primary advocate for high-risk students and school leaders promoting equity and restorative justice.

After devoting half of his lifetime transforming his start-up business into a multi-million dollar industry leader, author John McLaughlin set out in a new direction: to teach what he had learned to others. Due to a lack of teaching experience, his only job offer was to teach entrepreneurship to prisoners at a minimum-security camp in North Carolina. John gradually builds an effective program until a scandal involving prison officials blindsides his progress and threatens to bring his teaching career to an unceremonious end.

This is the story of one man's journey from mind numbing insecurity to a facade of confidence. On his journey, he is able to meet many characters, finding humor and laughter on the way.

Born into slavery, Booker Washington suddenly gained his freedom after the American Civil War. This is a firsthand account from a slave around the events of the Emancipation Proclamation. The book covers the inspiring story of a young man as he works to rise up from being enslaved as a child, overcoming massive obstacles to obtain an education, to eventually become an advisor to the president. A truly inspiring and informative story.

Miracles can and do happen—when one does the footwork. Dr. Walter Turnbull dreamed of creating opportunities and better lives for the children of Harlem, and Lift Every Voice is the inspirational story of how he realized his dream. Dr. Turnbull shares the hard-bought wisdom he learned throughout his life—from his impoverished childhood in backwoods Mississippi to his experiences as founder and director of the Grammy Award-winning Boys Choir of Harlem. Turnbull shares insights on how to teach children that with hard work, discipline, and self-respect they can attain their highest goals.

From 1950s "housing project" child in segregated Texas to award-winning principal and published author, the inspiring story of how Theodore Timms beat the odds and learned the rewards of never giving up.