Everyday experiences present unique opportunities to teach children about God. But often parents aren't prepared to take advantage of those times—and the moment's gone. The Power of Teachable Moments shows parents how to see God's activity in their world and share it with their children. How to recognize teachable moments, what to do with them, and how to use them to make a lasting impact are just a few of the topics covered in this practical resource.

How do we understand what curriculum 'is' and 'does' for both learners and teachers? Using actual field-based vignettes, this book introduces teachable moment-oriented, emergent-oriented, and negotiation-oriented curricula practices, and explores how, while the three curricula notions are distinctively different from one another, they are simultaneously interconnected. Teachable Moments is a valuable resource for teachers at all levels. In addition, this is a book for senior undergraduate- and graduate-level early childhood curriculum courses, as well as graduate students and faculty who are interested in studying contemporary postmodern curricula discourses.

This book draws from and analyzes teachers’ and students’ stories of great classes in order to promote teachers’ development of pedagogical tact and to encourage flow states for students. Taken together, these theoretical lenses—pedagogical tact and flow—provide a valuable framework for understanding and motivating classroom engagement. As the authors suggest, tactful teachers are more likely to see their students in flow than teachers who struggle with basic classroom routines and practices. Grounded in narrative research, and written for pre-service teachers, the book offers strategies for replicating these first-hand accounts of peak classroom teaching and learning.

Just A Girl is the sensitive, personal story of the author’s ambition to become and succeed as a scientist during the “white man in power” era of the 1950s to 2010s. In the male-dominated science world, she struggles from girlhood unworthiness to sexist battles in jobs on the farms and in the restaurants of America, in academia’s laboratories and field research communities, and in the executive corner office. Jackson overcomes pain, shame, and self-blame, learns to believe in herself when others don’t, and becomes a champion for others. The turbulent legal and social background of sexual harassment and sexism in America over seven decades is delivered as “history with emotion.” Just a Girl is also a call to action: it identifies the court cases and lawsuits that helped advance the cultural changes we see today; outlines the pressing need for a Boys and Men Liberation (BAML) movement; highlights new approaches by parents; advocates for changes in our universities; and suggests a different direction for corporate America to take to stop the cycle of sexual harassment. Eye-opening and inspiring, it points the way to a brighter future for women everywhere.

In The Power of a Plant, globally acclaimed teacher and self-proclaimed CEO (Chief Eternal Optimist) Stephen Ritz shows you how, in one of the nation’s poorest communities, his students thrive in school and in life by growing, cooking, eating, and sharing the bounty of their green classroom. What if we taught students that they have as much potential as a seed? That in the right conditions, they can grow into something great? These are the questions that Stephen Ritz—who became a teacher more than 30 years ago—sought to answer in 2004 in a South Bronx high school plagued by rampant crime and a dismal graduation rate. After what can only be defined as a cosmic experience when a flower broke up a fight in his classroom, he saw a way to start tackling his school’s problems: plants. He flipped his curriculum to integrate gardening as an entry point for all learning and inadvertently created an international phenomenon. As Ritz likes to say, “Fifty thousand pounds of vegetables later, my favorite crop is organically grown citizens who are growing and eating themselves into good health and amazing opportunities.” The Power of a Plant tells the story of a green teacher from the Bronx who let one idea germinate into a movement and changed his students’ lives by learning alongside them. Since greening his curriculum, Ritz has seen near-perfect attendance and graduation rates, dramatically increased passing rates on state exams, and behavioral incidents slashed in half. In the poorest congressional district in America, he has helped create 2,200 local jobs and built farms and gardens while changing landscapes and mindsets for residents, students, and colleagues. Along the way, Ritz lost more than 100 pounds by eating the food that he and his students grow in school. The Power of a Plant is his story of hope, resilience, regeneration, and optimism.

What do you do when you have someone you just can’t forgive? How do you get through those days when you feel like you’ve been in a wrestling match; when you are fed up with yourself; when praying seems a waste of time? What can you do to cope with loneliness; depression; failure; jealousy and regrets? Dr. Stephenson considers these to be Teachable Moments to embrace and from where growth can occur and he offers ways to equip the reader for these times. But always with a powerful story to illustrate how hope able to found in the midst of these and many other difficult times.