Showing posts with label education. Show all posts
Showing posts with label education. Show all posts

Curriculum: Foundations, Principles, and Issues (5th Edition) Review

Curriculum: Foundations, Principles, and Issues (5th Edition)
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Curriculum: Foundations, Principles, and Issues (5th Edition) ReviewBook Review: Curriculum: Foundations, Principles, and Issues by Ornstein and Hunkins
This book discusses various curriculum approaches and is an excellent source of information about philosophical, historical, psychological, and social foundations of curriculum. It discusses curriculum theory, curriculum development and curriculum designs. This book explains the taxonomic levels and approaches to educational objectives. It identifies curriculum implementation models and numerous curriculum evaluation models. It ends with a discussion of curriculum issues, trends and future directions. This book is an excellent source of theory related to curriculum and should be helpful to faculty and students studying curriculum and to anyone involved in developing curriculum.Curriculum: Foundations, Principles, and Issues (5th Edition) Overview

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100 Vocabulary Words Kids Need to Know by 5th Grade (100 Words Workbook) Review

100 Vocabulary Words Kids Need to Know by 5th Grade (100 Words Workbook)
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100 Vocabulary Words Kids Need to Know by 5th Grade (100 Words Workbook) ReviewI love this book! I've used both this one and the 4th grade version with my 5th graders for the past couple years and I have seen their vocabulary grow with leaps and bounds! It uses words that they actually do see all the time in their reading or hear on TV instead of those hard, never heard words that are in most vocabulary books. They get excited when they can find the words all throughout real life. There are lots of activities for each word list and it focuses on prefixes, suffixes, parts of speech, using the words in context, root words, and all those kinds of things that kids actually need to know instead of just a definition they don't understand anyway.100 Vocabulary Words Kids Need to Know by 5th Grade (100 Words Workbook) Overview

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Teaching Community: A Pedagogy of Hope Review

Teaching Community: A Pedagogy of Hope
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Teaching Community: A Pedagogy of Hope ReviewAs to be expected, bell hooks uses direct language to talk about the deficiencies in American culture. What I liked about this book is the hopefulness that is possible to change and be an agent of change. She calls it like it is, which can offend some people. This book is a very good read for anyone interested in creating social justice in education.Teaching Community: A Pedagogy of Hope Overview

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Cultural Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know Review

Cultural Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know
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Cultural Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know ReviewPut this on your To-Read-No-Matter-What list.
Hasn't the popularity of "Dummies" books raised a red flag anywhere? What does that say about the average American reader's view of him/herself? Do we sense that we're educationally lacking?
Too many of America's young people do not have, because they haven't been taught, the knowledge they need to preserve the exceptional way of life they've inherited. They know Harry Potter and West Wing but not the Peloponnesian Wars or who said, "To be or not to be." They are culturally illiterate.
Cultural literacy is the background information we need to know in order to understand and to communicate in our society. Without it we wouldn't understand what a reviewer says when he likens Julia Roberts in "Pretty Woman" to "Cinderella" or when a pundit says the environment is a politician's Achilles heel.
"To be culturally literate," Hirsch says, "is to possess the basic information needed to thrive in the modern world." Readers must understand the writer's unspoken "systems of associations."
I've taught college-level writing classes and have been astounded to meet students who have never read a book, who don't understand the simplest references to classical literature and who, frankly, don't care.
This ignorance threatens our very existence as a free nation. One of the most important points Hirsch makes is the need for the average citizen to understand enough science to comprehend debates about environmental and political issues. He cites the debate over the Strategic Defense Initiative and says of the voting public, "...their education should have provided them with the general facts and principles needed to understand the terms of the debate -- how a satellite works, what a laser is and can do, and under what conditions such a system would be likely to succeed or fail." He neglects to mention the historical, social and political backgrounds that enter into the debate but his point applies to those as well.
The highest stakes are involved here. The last election was a primary example of the ignorance of the American voter. Many still don't understand what happened and are merrily led down a primrose path of misunderstanding by an equally Constitutionally (as in the US Constitution)uninformed press. Further, and even sadder, they don't bother to find out!
Read CULTURAL LITERACY. Absorb it. Make it your mantra and work to see that the next generation of Americans learns the background of their culture as well as the history, sociology and science they need to protect our way of life at the ballot box.Cultural Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know Overview

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Marketing Management (13th Edition) Review

Marketing Management (13th Edition)
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Marketing Management (13th Edition) ReviewThis book tries to cram too much into each chapter, often breezing over incredibly deep topics in a way that is only confusing.
For instance, one chapter on data analysis mentions linear regression but doesn't speak at all to what it is. If I had not taking a Quant course recently I would have been completely lost.
This seems to happen the most frequently at the ends of chapters. It seems as if they cover all the main points and then Kotler et. al try to cram all their other little notes and tidbits into overly dense paragraphs just before concluding.
Also if you're a student who has to take the accompanying tests created by Prentiss Hall, expect the questions to come literally word for word from the test, rather than asking concept questions. I felt like I was back in gradeschool.
On the plus side, the book constantly gives breakout examples of the topic being discussed as applied in real life to actual businesses. Where many texts would continually reference the same handful of examples, the companies featured in this book vary widely in size, industry, and other features, giving a good, broad look at marketing as a whole, not just in the US but globally.Marketing Management (13th Edition) Overview

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A Mind at a Time: America's Top Learning Expert Shows How Every Child Can Succeed Review

A Mind at a Time: America's Top Learning Expert Shows How Every Child Can Succeed
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A Mind at a Time: America's Top Learning Expert Shows How Every Child Can Succeed ReviewAnyone who has a child in the school system knows that the educational process does not allow for one-on-one assessment of a child's learning abilities. A child either keeps pace or in many cases, falls behind. The author has written an excellent book on what a child needs in order to grow, learn, and develop his or her full potential.
It would be wonderful if all children learned at the same rate and possessed the same aptitude for learning; however, each child is a unique individual. The educational system today does not structure its learning process around that fundamental fact. A good many of the behavioural problems we see surfacing today stem from the fact a child becomes frustrated, bored, overwhelmingly challenged, or discouraged by the educational process, and their actions are often a result of what is lacking in the education system. Some parents, as well, do not take that fact into consideration and often expect Mary to keep up with brother John, because John seems to excel in everything, while Mary struggles to achieve.
There are a variety of topics to be found in the book, including development of memory, language, and motor skills. If you are an educator or have a child who is experiencing difficulties in this area, this book provides excellent resource material. It is one parents and individuals with the authority to make changes in the system should read and take to heart. The book contains a valuable message, is well researched, and is equally as well written.A Mind at a Time: America's Top Learning Expert Shows How Every Child Can Succeed Overview

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Fostering Algebraic Thinking: A Guide for Teachers, Grades 6-10 Review

Fostering Algebraic Thinking: A Guide for Teachers, Grades 6-10
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Fostering Algebraic Thinking: A Guide for Teachers, Grades 6-10 ReviewThis is a wonderful resource for teachers and future teachers. It shows examples of how to begin to use reform mathematics in your classroom and more conceptually based problems vs. the traditional plug and chug methods that we had been taught years ago.Fostering Algebraic Thinking: A Guide for Teachers, Grades 6-10 Overview

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Approaches and Methods in Language Teaching (Cambridge Language Teaching Library) Review

Approaches and Methods in Language Teaching (Cambridge Language Teaching Library)
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Approaches and Methods in Language Teaching (Cambridge Language Teaching Library) ReviewUnlike some books on English language teaching, "Approaches and Methods" by Richards and Rodgers is a logically organised, relatively jargon-free and easily grasped book. It is almost certain you will not be diving for the headache tablets after this book.
Covering a large range of the historical and current second language teaching methodologies, the book discusses methods in a logical format that is the same throughout. They discuss three broad areas: Approach, (the theories and ideas underpinning the method), Design, (roles, materials and so on), and Procedure, (what happens in the classroom). This makes each chapter exceptionally well-organised.
The book covers a lot of different methods, including those that are less in favour these days, as well as some that are more recent. However, some very recent developments are not included, such as the controversial Dogme of Thornbury and Medding. What *is* in the book includes Suggestopaedia, TPR, NLP, Natural Way, Multiple Intelligences and more. All of them come with a brief discussion on the background that they came from.
This is an incredibly valuable book for a run down on the methodologies that have come and gone, (some still on the way out). It is an excellent resource that serves well as a reference, or something to be read from cover-to-cover. Or both.Approaches and Methods in Language Teaching (Cambridge Language Teaching Library) Overview

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Understanding by Design, Expanded 2nd Edition Review

Understanding by Design, Expanded 2nd Edition
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Understanding by Design, Expanded 2nd Edition ReviewWith respect to some of the previous reviewers, I really don't think they have done justice to this book. I'll completely expose my inner geek and admit that curriculum design is fascinating to me, and add that I own a considerable number of books on the topic. I am particularly interested in differentiating curricula, and I purchase books about educational theory and classroom ideas the way other women purchase shoes--insatiably. I have constantly challenged myself to create personalized lessons with meaningful learning goals throughout my teaching career, but I will say that this book has definitely changed the way I view teaching and curricular design--and for the better.
I liked this book because it embraces the numerous messy variables that exist in the real world of teaching, and provides a template for you to construct meaningful, integrated learning activities for students. These messy variables include differing student interests and abilities, the struggle to keep activities engaging as well as applicable to important premises of a given discipline, as well as logistical restraints, such as time and access to resources. Other models provide neat flow charts that look beautiful, but often prove unusable given a unique teaching situation (and who doesn't have a unique teaching situation?) This philosophy expects messy variability, and gives a vision and a plan to work with that, instead of hoping everything will turn out neatly.
Here are some of the huge ideas I got from this book. First, it is essential to clarify the "so what?" of whatever you are teaching--the big ideas, the principles of the field, the "It" things you want students to come away with. I have always done this instinctively, but I have not been so great about communicating those principles clearly and repeatedly to students (and parents and colleagues). The idea that students can be actively involved in the philosophy and understanding behind the curricular design (as well as, of course, make choices as part of the lessons), was a light bulb for me. Also, teaching often tends to become scattered with lots of facts and pressure to "cover" information, and clarifying these big ideas and working from there makes intuitive sense--if it doesn't connect to the big ideas you've established as critical, then the lesson doesn't belong. Perhaps these ideas seem like huge "duh" statements, but in the real world of teaching, I think very few people manage to adequately establish the critical issues, articulate and refer to them with students, and connect them to related ideas throughout the term. This book really is a valuable resource for doing the hard, thinking work that teachers really are capable of doing. It provides direction in an environment bound by paperwork and directives that have us running in circles. It is not the idea of backward design that's revolutionary, but the practicality of the technique that aligns so well with what good teachers instinctively know works best.
The reviewer who took issue with the philosophy as being problematic because it was inherently incapable of being truly student-driven raises an interesting point, but I'm not sure it's really a downfall of the book. There are very few schools (with a notable exception profiled on 60 Minutes some years ago) which allow students to determine what they will study based solely on their interests. I appreciate the question, and it's a worthy one to discuss--after all, is it only worthwhile to investigate and learn about things that really interest us? Or should every person be responsible for a core set of knowledge before branching into specialization in a field? Most schools operate with the latter premise and have requisite standards to be met, so a student-driven curriculum is not an option for most teachers. Further, a central tenet of the book relates to designing curricula so that students will "uncover" truths--rather than having a teacher or textbook "tell it" to them--students uncover meaning in an authentic way as it relates to a given topic in a discipline. To me, this is meaning-making--learning--at its best.
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Constructing Meaning Through Kid-Friendly Comprehension Strategy Instruction Review

Constructing Meaning Through Kid-Friendly Comprehension Strategy Instruction
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Constructing Meaning Through Kid-Friendly Comprehension Strategy Instruction ReviewThis book is full of practical and kid friendly comprehension strategies that any teacher can use to help students with comprehension. There are charts/posters, sample lessons, and reading activity forms that can be reproduced or forms may be downloaded by a CD that is included with the book. The reading strategy activity forms can be used with a book of your choice to teach a specific reading comprehension strategy. Dr. Nancy Boyles also recommended a bibliography of books to teach each strategy. This is a great book to read if you are still searching for reading strategies to help your class with comprehension.Constructing Meaning Through Kid-Friendly Comprehension Strategy Instruction Overview

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The Ethics of Authenticity Review

The Ethics of Authenticity
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The Ethics of Authenticity ReviewThis is a short and powerful book. The frequent references to Taylor's "Sources of the Self" may indicate that it is a mere introduction to the longer work, but I feel that it stands well alone.
Taylor, a Canadian, observes the conservative-liberal debate in America from an outsider's position. He is able to distance himself from the rhetoric, vocabulary, and narrow categories of this debate. I found his insights well worth consideration.
In essence, Taylor attempts to redefine the debate. His concerns are threefold. First, radical individualism has disavowed most moral absolutes, eroded the meaningfulness of life, and resulted in a centripetal self-orientation that denigrates relational connectiveness. Secondly, Taylor is concerned that modern thought has become dominated by a reason that finds the highest good in the economic maximizing of ends. This "instrumental reason" demeans others as mere means to an end, disregards important perspectives that are not integral to the cost/benefit equation, and creates a technological supremacy that may cost us our humanity. Thirdly, Taylor is concerned that institutions have embraced instrumental reason as supreme and creating a power-base that may stand in the way of reform.
Most of this book deals exclusively with Taylor's thoughts on the first of these concerns. Conservatives will be upset that Taylor does not call for a return to older values and older worldviews. Instead, he accepts the modern emphasis on individualism and the corollaries of self-fulfillment and self-actualization. He parts with these liberal ideals by arguing that the centripetal self-focus can only find meaning outside of the self. Discovery of my originality and uniqueness is a dialogical process (with others, values, or deity) that demands an objective "horizon."
Hence, my definition of Taylor's authenticity is the dialogical discovery of my "being." Others are not used to complete my project, but are collaborators and partners. Together we work to throw off the shackles of psychological, institutional, and familial pressures to conform. Freedom from these shackles is not license to abuse, but becomes ground to assume responsibility for self without excuse. Radical individualism escapes meaninglessness only in dialogic connectedness and assumption of personal responsibility.
In my view, the ethics of authenticity are much needed. I hope this book finds many receptive readers.The Ethics of Authenticity Overview

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The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know Review

The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know
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The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know ReviewI am a foreign citizen living in the US for about 4 years for graduate level degree in the US. Culture as well as language are the biggest obstacles of my life in the US. I overcame the basic survival and class language barrier after living 2-3 years, but the cultural barrier with combined with conversational language is very challenging. Not only for more socializing but also more nature English writing and speacking, I worked hard, and Culturacy Dictionary helps me a lot. It includes expressions from various areas, e.g. bible, literature, idiom, etc. During the reading or watching TV, I can understand better the implications and expressions rooted from relgion, history, literature, and other areas of culture.
I use this dictionary with several ways. First, just read the page I am intersted in. Second, I consult it during my writing to find better expression, and do more research to understand the background better via internet. Third, play game with this book with my American Classmates - in fact, this helps me the most. They explain what is not written in the dictionary, and this is the way I can acquire the knowledge of the expression easily and last long in my brain.
This dictionary is wonderful, I think, for both for navtive and non-native. Non natives can upgrade their English level with cultural understanding, and natives can be more sophisticated using their languages. It is a great tool, and I am happy to find it!The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know Overview

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Strong Families Successful Students: helping teenagers reach their full academic potential Review

Strong Families Successful Students: helping teenagers reach their full academic potential
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Strong Families Successful Students: helping teenagers reach their full academic potential ReviewI like Dr. Gavazzi's sense of humor to help parent teens of the new decade. He presents simple explanations for successful family communication, rules, and internal/external boundaries in relation to teens along with looking at the current life stages of family members. His book reflects the latest research for creating strong families and helping teens become academically successful. It's very concise and easy to understand along with step-by-step lessons and worksheets. This book is excellent for the motivated parent that wants to help their teen. As a school guidance counselor working with teens, I will keep a copy on my resource shelf to recommend to parents.Strong Families Successful Students: helping teenagers reach their full academic potential Overview

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Subtractive Schooling: U.S. Mexican Youth and the Politics of Caring Review

Subtractive Schooling:  U.S. Mexican Youth and the Politics of Caring
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Subtractive Schooling: U.S. Mexican Youth and the Politics of Caring ReviewDr. Valenzuela's research compels me to continue my work in critical theory and ethnography. SUBTRACTIVE SCHOOLING contributes to the dialogue on the education and schooling of U.S.-Mexican youth. Moreover, the study can extend to the schooling and education of Latinas and Latinos in the United States. Our schooling demands struggle for survival both within and beyond the classroom/school setting, especially when the curriculum is lifeless and irrelevant to students' immediate reality.
Clearly, Dr. Valenzuela spent time with the students and school culture at Seguin High, documenting the push and pound urban students encounter to succeed. Researchers in education rarely document the daily struggles of U.S.-Mexican high school students, but Dr. Valenzuela succeeds in presenting their story, their plight, their journey, their turmoil against uncaring bureaucracies. She does this with respect for the students' voices and naming of their schooling experiences as expressed through critical research and an insightful ethnographic equation. Dr. Valenzuela's research reminds educators, learners, and researchers that they must reconsider their politics and practices of caring when working with young students and thinkers of Mexican origin.Subtractive Schooling: U.S. Mexican Youth and the Politics of Caring Overview

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Anti-Intellectualism in American Life Review

Anti-Intellectualism in American Life
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Anti-Intellectualism in American Life Review"The age of philosophy has passed...that of utility has commenced..." said an orator at Yale in 1844. Richard Hofstadter uses this telling quote and well as a wealth of other information to show how a thread of anti-intellectualism runs through the history and culture of "practical" America. He dissects anti-intellectualism, goes into its history and origins in the US, and shows its impact in education, politics, and business. This thorough analysis won him the 1964 Pulitzer Prize in Non-Fiction.
Hofstadter is careful to define what he means by the intellect and intellectuals. The intellect is the critical, creative, contemplative side of mind that examines, ponders, wonders, theorizes, criticizes, questions, imagines. It is the province of writers, critics, skeptics, professors, scientists, editors, journalists, lawyers and clergymen. Just being a "mental technician" in these fields is not enough; one also acts as an active custodian of values like reason and justice and truth.
Unfortunately, America's practical culture has never embraced intellectuals. The intellectuals' education and expertise are viewed as a form of power or privilege. Intellectuals are seen as a small arrogant elite who are pretentious, conceited, snobbish. Geniuses' are described as eccentric, and their talents dismissed as mere cleverness. Their cultured view is seen as impractical, and their sophistication as ineffectual. Their emphasis on knowledge and education is viewed as subversive, and it threatens to produce social decadence.
Instead, the anti-intellectuals believe that the plain sense of the common man is altogether adequate and superior to formal knowledge and expertise from schools. The truths of the heart, experience, and old-fashioned principles of religion, character, instinct, and morality are more reliable guides to life than education. After all, we idolize the self-made man in America.
Hofstadter goes on to cite examples of anti-intellectualism from the nations founding to today. For example, the founding fathers were sages, scientists, and men of cultivation, yet the Federalists attacked the brilliant Thomas Jefferson by portraying the curiosity of his active mind as too trivial and ridiculous for important affairs. Today, military ability is the kind of test of character which is viewed as good for political leadership, and voters view a show of intellect with suspicion.
In business, commercial culture tends to breed acquisitiveness rather than inquisitiveness. Business often demands group cohesion instead of independent thought. Hofstadter points this out using a number of examples. A Harvard Business School Dean said, "we don't want our students to pay any attention to anything that might raise questions about management or business policy in their minds." A famous chemical company's training film spouts, "no geniuses here; just a bunch of average Americans working together." The general point is that business is indifferent to knowledge on a broad scale; only the money-making faculty needs to be cultivated to succeed.
Turning to education, Hofstadter points out that broad public education in the US was started not for developing the mind or the pride of learning for its own sake, but for its supposed political and economic benefits. Children were viewed not minds to be developed, but as citizens to be trained for a stable democracy. He goes on to outlines the debates within the community of educators about what should be taught, especially in previous eras when most people did not go to college. Hofstader also cites studies that show that even if students study "superfluous" intellectual subjects with no practical application, there ARE practical benefits; namely, learning any subject in depth teaches one how to learn something new.
Overall, this was a good analysis; the writing is very readable but not sprightly, and while some chapters are slightly slow going, others are fascinating. Overall, though, I thought Hofstadter's analysis has stood the test of time well, and it's easy to see how this book, over 40 years old, could be applied to analyze the world today. So if you're interested in a cogent analysis of anti-intellectualism, I'd recommend this book.
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Guiding Readers and Writers (Grades 3-6): Teaching, Comprehension, Genre, and Content Literacy Review

Guiding Readers and Writers (Grades 3-6): Teaching, Comprehension, Genre, and Content Literacy
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Guiding Readers and Writers (Grades 3-6): Teaching, Comprehension, Genre, and Content Literacy ReviewAgain, Fountas and Pinnell have helped teachers with their incredible insight on educating children. This time their help/advice/knowledge focuses on grades 3-6 but do not let that stop you if you teach another grade level. Their information on the essential components of a quality literacy program is true for any grade level. Fountas and Pinnell offer suggestions for effectively helping readers and writers who are not meeting "standard". These suggestions are specific and establish teaching practices that will help all readers and writers. They also give many mini lesson ideas and great literature connections that make a teacher's job easier. The appendices include forms for language/word study for both reading and writing and for literary assessment. Once again, their book ends with a valuable book list that is leveled. This book is an essential resource for all teachers.Guiding Readers and Writers (Grades 3-6): Teaching, Comprehension, Genre, and Content Literacy Overview

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Teaching Language: From Grammar to Grammaring Review

Teaching Language: From Grammar to Grammaring
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Teaching Language: From Grammar to Grammaring ReviewThis book doesn't provide grammar activities or explain grammar rules. What you will get is an understanding of what grammar really is. Grammar is not just the rules that your English teacher taught you back in high school. It is much more than rules. This book presents how grammar is viewed through Second Language Acquisition Theory. Also the author dismisses some common preconceptions about grammar that may be holding teachers back from understanding what grammar really is--a dynamic process. To gain a better understanding of this process, I recommend that teachers pick up this book. It's not so thick, so it should be a quick read.Teaching Language: From Grammar to Grammaring Overview

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100 Words Every High School Graduate Should Know Review

100 Words Every High School Graduate Should Know
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100 Words Every High School Graduate Should Know ReviewI was strolling through my local bookstore and spotted this title in the reference section, begging to be picked up and thumbed through. I really wanted to check my vocabulary with that of a respectable high school senior.
It was eye-opening to say the least. The last time I was in a conventional classroom was upon receiving my bachelor's degree twenty years ago..... and I wondered if I had been adequately introduced to these words then... or not?
(It reminds me of the line Tom Hanks speaks in "Sleepless in Seattle" - "I don't even want to think about what they are not teaching you in school.")
I knew some words well - like oligarchy and usurp and feckless. I patted myself on the back in that moment.
I had been able to sort of "get" inculcate (to impress upon the mind of another by frequent instruction) but on the other hand, I had no idea what nanotechnology meant nor did I know much about the word "evanescent" except for some songs made popular by a band called "Evanescence" which I now can tell you means "vanishing like vapors."
The book includes an occasional quote from thinkers and writers which incorporates the word being stressed. My favorites included Willa Cather and Thomas Hobbes.
I noticed from visiting here at Amazon there is also a version of this book for college freshmen. I think my seventh grade daughter and I will start with that volume (a word a day) and work up to this one.
Not only was it educational, it was enjoyable - a significant combination.
100 Words Every High School Graduate Should Know Overview

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McGraw-Hill's Nursing School Entrance Exams Review

McGraw-Hill's Nursing School Entrance Exams
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McGraw-Hill's Nursing School Entrance Exams Review***3 star-rating refers to suitability of this book for the TEAS examination only. Otherwise, the quality of this book is quite adequate.
It seems that there is no one book that sufficiently prepares you for this test. This was one of three manuals I used for the TEAS exam and probably the one I liked the most. I found it less detailed than the Kaplan's book-GOOD THING!. I'd especially recommend it over the Kaplan if you are short on time. It is well-written, easy, and fits the TEAS better. However, it only prepared me sufficiently for the Math and English sections. Sadly, about 60% of its Science section I found useless for this test (applies to all books I'VE tried). And the most upsetting, about 6 topics necessary to pass the exam were missing in all books. You can't screw up more than 5 questions out of 40 per section. Someone told me that you could find the geography questions on various nursing blogs. I could not, but it's worth trying.

TEAS consists of English, Reading, Math and Science and is not hard. You'll be given enough time-I was able to bank at least 5 minutes per section, even though I was not rushing. If you were a decent student in high school and have a good recollection of it, you will probably do fine.
The biggest problem for me was not knowing exactly what to expect.
Math section is heavy on all sorts of conversions such as: decimals to fractions and to percentages, Fahrenheit to Celsius, KGs to LBs and so on. Review graphs/charts and their purpose-when would you use bar graph or line graphs. Be able to solve equations such as "x-3=10". Review multiplication tables-you can't use calculators (a big mean lady watches you) so do lots of simple addition, multiplication, and subtraction such as 2359-219, 369*4469, (order of operation (multiplication and division before subtraction an addition, unless in parenthesis) and so on. Know how to calculate the area and peremeters of a circles, triangles, cubes, squares, know Pythagorean theorem, know how to compare different fractions with different bottom part (forgot the name), know some common percentages (25%=1/4,=0.25, 35%, 75%, 50%=0.5=1/2)-this book has an excellent table-memorize it, otherwise, you'll be reinventing the wheel.
I was completely caught by surpirse by 3 or 4 Geology questions. You will not find them in any of the books I've used! Also, some Physics questions caused surpirse. I imagine you can read up on that in some basic Earth Science textbooks but who has the time? Moreover, the book's Science section is unnecessarily deep. Aim for basic understanding of concepts. For Chemistry: know bonding, sub-atomic particles, isotops, acids. Don't forget to study the Mendeleev's Table-covered nicely in the book-know what columns and rows represent. It's useful to know some common element symbols (K, Ca, H and so on. Know basic genetics, alleles, phenotypes (mother is short, father is tall-what children are we expecting). Know how to calculate speed, average speed, mean, mode, velocity, electricity (basic), definitions of melting and evaporation. Know the difference between eukaryotic and prokaryotic cells, basic ecology-like who eats who in the animal chain (grass is the producer, mouse eats grass, hawk eats mice). Know some basic anatomy: stomach, mouth, trachea and so on. Know where South, West, North is on a map (that's easy!). Book covers plants well, memorize what "autotropism" is and some other definitions.
Reading Comprehension review in this book was much more extensive and way harder than was required on the test, but somehow I still managed not to do well on it.. Also, the vocabulary on the actual test was more basic than covered in the book. I found the exam's level to be closer to the GED tests. Also, many questions call for drawing conclusions from various graphs and prescription labels. Passages are short, but some multiple questions are a little confusing. I found helpful pre-reading questions first. You will be asked to identify main ideas. You really have to pay close attention, but you'll have enough time, so don't rush. Even though this section seemed easy, lots of people don't do well on it.
I found the English to be the easiest section of all, and this book prepared me adequately. Be able to correct some common English usage problems (GED Books). Review basic grammar (especially, commas). Be able to find subjects and verbs. Study easy vocabulary such as "ambivalent", "biannual". Don't go into harder ones of SAT level (ex: aesthetic, zephir, taciturn). Know how to fix a run-on sentence. It's crucial to review all commonly misspelled words. This book did not help me with these sections at all. If anything, it made me more nervous by emphasizing hard vocabulary that turned out to be unnecessary. Again, I'd find a simple GED study guide with test samples in addition to this book, and you'll do fine.
Please know, if you finish each section with time left, you'll be given an option to go back and review that particular section. Be very careful with the reading section, as I changed many correct answers at the end :-(. The tester in the college I took this test never mentioned the option to review.
If I had 4 weeks to practice for the test, this is how I'd handle this knowing what i know now:
1. Study multiplication tables daily-at least 10 minutes and do lots of conversions: drill yourself till it becomes second nature: fractions to decimals and vice versa, decimals to percentages and so on. (This book or any GED book). Kaplan's also has some useful examples.
2. Study this books's Science and Chemistry sections. Should take about 1-2 weeks
6. Study this book's Basic Biology and Basic Physics sections. Alternatively, any pre-nursing test book-covers the same material 1-2 weeks.
3. Take Reading comprehension tests daily,especially if you are a slow reader, 20-30 minutes daily, mainly from any GED or SAT preparation manual, focus on short, no more than 2 paragraph passages-chart your improvements-you should see the improvements. Read the questions first. Go for main ideas. This book is ok, but GED books are better for this purpose. Aim to improve your focus, by paying attention to details as you read. Learn GED"s most-used vocabulary; unfortunately, it will be more than you'd need, but there is no other way.
4. Learn frequently misspelled words. This book does not have it, get them online.
5. Practice GED format questions on how to correct wrong structure sentances: wrong tenses-this book plus any GED book.
6. Know where west, east, north and south are on the map. Know vertical from horizontal. Know directions: clockwise, count clockwise and be able to tell 90, 180, 360 degrees angles.
7. If you have some extra time, search online about origins of rocks. Nothing too deep, just general notions.
8. Improve your ability to focus and handle stress, if this is a problem for you.
9.
Finally, prepare yourself mentally for the nursing school. After speaking to my friends who are nurses and factoring in opinions of other students in my class, I found majority of teachers to be jaded nurses with inadequate knowledge of nursing theory, with very little teaching experience or simply unqualified to teach for various other reasons. See, being a nurse and teaching nursing, are two different things, and most "teachers" don't have the educational background. You have to wonder how they managed to even pass NCLEX. Many know this and act defensively by instilling military structure. They often break rules, yet expect perfection from others. Can you handle this? Does abuse of authority makes you angry? Students, too, act differently under the pressures of a nursing school. They compete with each other and often trip each other up. This was my experience at Keiser University at Fort Lauderdale Campus. To be fair, there were some teachers who were effective and stimulating, but they were vastly outnumbered by the bad teachers. So, be ready for unimaginable and often unnecessary stress and total experience that is not like you ever encountered.
What worked for me was finding a small group of students who were my best buddies and my support system. They kept me sane and focused, and I am grateful to them to no end. I would not have made it without them. I am ready to take the NCLEX and leave the bad experience of Keiser Fort Lauderdale Nursing school behind forever.
Good luck to you all!McGraw-Hill's Nursing School Entrance Exams Overview

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Dude, You're a Fag: Masculinity and Sexuality in High School Review

Dude, You're a Fag: Masculinity and Sexuality in High School
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Dude, You're a Fag: Masculinity and Sexuality in High School ReviewWell first off I am a currently a freshman male in college required to read this book.
Dude You're a Fag is a very interesting review of the development of masculinity and gender in high school. The author Pascoe takes an observer role in a high school for 18 months. She treads the lines between student and adult therefore she manages to build a rapport with a great number of students. This method brought a great deal of information to her study that would have been otherwise impossible if she was an authority figure.
Although I found the examination presented in this book thought provoking, it was also extreme. Having just graduated from high school, I was very surprised to not relate to very many of the behaviors the students exhibited. While the students were hormonally laden and certain behaviors are expected, I was under the impression that the administrators and teachers did not care what went on in their school besides open sex education (which they cowered in fear of). There was a point in the book when a gay student recollected the bullying he faced where I almost had to stop reading the book. I know without a doubt most of the teen behavior described would not have been allowed and would have been disciplined at my high school. Maybe public school in Wisconsin are completely different, but I was simply appalled at the content of this book. I would be eager to read the results she would find by repeating the study in my high school. Then we could tell if the school was that bad or if there was some bias introduced.
So I guess in summary, I do recommend this book but not whole-heartedly. The basic themes identified and suggestions for improvement were all great, but I would caution all readers to not base their thoughts on teens and high school from this one account.Dude, You're a Fag: Masculinity and Sexuality in High School Overview

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