tips tools and techniques to help recognise common mistakes and become a purposeful listner

The latest teaching standards demand that all teachers 'take responsibility for promoting high standards of literacy and correct use of standard English, whatever the teacher's specialism'. That's no bad thing, but it leaves some of us feeling under-trained and over-exposed. Enter the Literacy Across the Curriculum Pocketbook. The book is based on four principles: literacy is important for all learning; we owe it to our pupils to help them develop their literacy; developing strategies for LAC enhances teaching and learning across the school; teachers do not have to be literacy experts to promote LAC. In a series of punchy chapters, (Speaking for Success, Write Better! Vamp up your Vocabulary, Splendid Spelling, Raring to Read) Caroline Bentley-Davies presents practical ideas and simple strategies for incorporating literacy skills into your own lessons. All this plus some really helpful advice on note-making and a self-audit LAC checklist."Literacy Across the Curriculum Pocketbook is a necessity for all teachers wanting to find manageable, effective and exciting ways of promoting literacy in their lessons. A great resource!" Justin Wakefield, Literacy & Numeracy Co-ordinator, Humberston Academy, Grimsby "Innovating tips, strategies and ideas to revitalise literacy in your lessons instantly. Every page offers simple and realistic approaches to promoting literacy across all subjects. Vamp up your vocab; make tricky spelling stick; weave literacy seamlessly into your lessons. I love it!" Lesley Ann McDermott, History Teacher, St Patrick's Catholic College, Thornaby-on-Tees "Contains everything you should know about Literacy and more. Written in a clear and concise manner, even as an experienced English teacher it still taught me a trick or two!" Sarah Martin, CPD Leader, Academies Enterprise Trust

The Telephone Skills Pocketbook covers every aspect of using the telephone to improve business performance. It highlights the importance of good communications skills, the need to build rapport, favourite bad habits and how to avoid them, how to take control of a call, how to keep customers happy, and more. There are separate chapters on receiving and making calls. The former includes 10 easy ways to give your caller a bad experience and 10 easy ways to give your caller a good experience. The latter explains how to get through to people and get the information you need, as well as how to complain and negotiate on the 'phone. In conclusion, the author sets out the rules for becoming a telephone 'super-user' and for fulfilling the super-user's oath: 'I will be in charge and make the 'phone work for me; I will seek out time-eaters and destroy them; I will use super-user control techniques at all times'. For more on using the telephone as a selling tool, see The Telesales Pocketbook.

' "I really like it when we can talk in class," says Kelly in Year 8, grinning from ear to ear when I suggest a group activity on a grey Monday morning. Although I suspect that she might like it for the wrong reasons, I know that there is a lot for her - and the other 29 students in the class - to learn in a structured co-operative learning context.' Gael Luzet's Pocketbook about small group work focuses on how 'the power of more than one' can transform learning. Like all good teaching and learning strategies, successful collaborative learning relies on meticulous planning and careful delivery, both of which are discussed here. Ideas for basic collaborative activities are included as well as practical examples of how to use various high impact strategies in lessons. You begin to see what lies behind Vygotsky's words: 'The one who does the talking does the learning'. And assessing and evaluating? Process and product; individual and team contributions; formative and summative approaches - they're all covered.

The Manager's Pocketbook is aimed at team leaders, supervisors and people managers of all levels. The 5th edition of this popular title in the Pocketbook Series will be published in March 2014. Using the acronym POLCA, the pocketbook teaches the five essential management skills: 'P' for 'planning'; 'O' for 'organising'; 'L' for 'leading'; 'C' for 'coaching/correcting'; and, 'A' for 'achieving'. There is a separate chapter on each of these five skills, preceded by an overview of the manager's role. The Manager's Pocketbook is extensively illustrated and concisely presented, reflecting the lively, right-brained approach that author John Townsend has developed throughout his long career in helping managers excel and deal with the many challenges they face.

Most children develop speech, language and communication skills instinctively, a process that begins at birth and continues into adulthood. However, in most classrooms there are children - as many as 50% in some areas - who have not acquired the fundamental spoken and written skills that underpin all types of social interaction, skills that are essential for success in education and at work. This book shows teachers how to support pupils with SLCN - speech, language and communication needs. Written by a speech and language therapist and a secondary teacher working in mainstream schools, this highly illustrated Pocketbook begins by defining SLCN and placing it against a backdrop of normal language development. The authors identify who has SLCN and explain how weak communication skills lead to academic, social, emotional and behavioural problems. Language is both received and transmitted; both input and output pose problems for pupils with SLCN. A chapter on attention and listening covers hearing impairment, auditory memory, teacher talk and active listening skills. It is followed by sections on receptive language difficulties - understanding concepts and inference, reasoning and deduction - and expressive language difficulties: building sentences and narrative in speech and writing. Speech difficulties such as stammering, phonological difficulties, articulation and voice disorders are also covered. Learning, storing and retrieving vocabulary are given a section of their own as is social communication. The book concludes with ideas for implementing a whole school approach. Cartoons, diagrams and visual prompts support the text throughout.

By helping students to recognise, understand and handle emotions - their own and others' - we can build their self-esteem, improve their confidence and pave the way for them to become educationally and socially successful. The authors use case studies to demonstrate the effectiveness of helping children to feel CLASI - Capable, Listened to, Accepted, Safe, Included. There are chapters on building relationships that support learning, on nurturing 'open' conversations, on working effectively in groups and on classroom organisation. Sections on using stories to build emotional literacy and on emotional literacy in the staffroom emphasise the need to keep the bridge open between the thinking and feeling parts of the brain. A reliable and authoritative Pocketbooks that, as one literacy coordinator told us, guides newcomers while stimulating and reinvigorating those already familiar with the field.