Schools used to set standards, and students were expected to meet them. Today, teachers are told they must entertain the students. Students know that if they don't pay attention, the teacher will be blamed. Teachers are expected to pass students even when they refuse to work. If a student knows he will pass whether he works or not, he will not work. The school board and the administration set these standards, then blame teachers for the results. And the media, and the public have swallowed their excuses. American Universities are the envy of the world, yet our public schools are among the worst, because Universities demand the best from their students, while public schools have fallen prey to “new age” concepts that just don't work. Written by a teacher, You Can't Blame the Teachers is a lively and honest look at what's really behind the failure of American education. It captures the frustration, the absurdity, and the outright stupidity of daily life in American high schools. Visit our website at www.youcantblametheteachers.com

This extended special edition of Mark Lewisohn's magisterial book Tune In is a true collector's item, featuring hundreds of thousands of words of extra material, as well as many extra photographs. It is the complete, uncut and definitive biography of the Beatles' early years, from their family backgrounds through to the moment they're on the cusp of their immense breakthrough at the end of 1962. Designed, printed and bound in Great Britain, this high-quality edition consists of two beautifully produced individual hardbacks printed on New Langely Antique Wove woodfree paper, with red-and-white head and tail bands and red ribbon marker. The two books will sit within a specially designed box and lid featuring soft touch and varnish finishes. The whole product comes shrinkwrapped for extra protection. Mark Lewisohn's biography is the first true and accurate account of the Beatles, a contextual history built upon impeccable research and written with energy, style, objectivity and insight. This extended special edition is for anyone who wishes to own the complete story in all its stunning and extraordinary detail. This is genuinely, and without question, the lasting word from the world-acknowledged authority.

An award winning book by the noted Harvard educator which examines six schools that have earned reputations for excellence.

A New York Times Best Seller "Essential reading for all adults who work with black and brown young people...Filled with exceptional intellectual sophistication and necessary wisdom for the future of education."—Imani Perry, National Book Award Winner author of South To America An award-winning educator offers a much-needed antidote to traditional top-down pedagogy and promises to radically reframe the landscape of urban education for the better Drawing on his own experience of feeling undervalued and invisible in classrooms as a young man of color, Dr. Christopher Emdin has merged his experiences with more than a decade of teaching and researching in urban America. He takes to task the perception of urban youth of color as unteachable, and he challenges educators to embrace and respect each student’s culture and to reimagine the classroom as a site where roles are reversed and students become the experts in their own learning. Putting forth his theory of Reality Pedagogy, Emdin provides practical tools to unleash the brilliance and eagerness of youth and educators alike—both of whom have been typecast and stymied by outdated modes of thinking about urban education. With this fresh and engaging new pedagogical vision, Emdin demonstrates the importance of creating a family structure and building communities within the classroom, using culturally relevant strategies like hip-hop music and call-and-response, and connecting the experiences of urban youth to indigenous populations globally. Merging real stories with theory, research, and practice, Emdin demonstrates how by implementing the “Seven Cs” of reality pedagogy in their own classrooms, urban youth of color benefit from truly transformative education.

The public education system in New York is in turmoil. Is this because of leadership in Albany, the No Child Left Behind Act, parents who fail in their effort to raise children properly, or is it just the fault of kids who show little to no respect for authority, peers, or themselves? Or should we accept the most popular place of blame? The teacher is the problem. The former world, where teachers were revered, looked up to by children and parents, and respected because of the crucial role they played, is all but a forgotten memory. Today, parents and school administrators often demonize teachers and are openly critical of the tenure system, which protects their positions seemingly forever. Riverton School District has lots of issues. There is rampant bullying and peer intimidation. Some kids are even afraid to come to school. The disrespect and outrageous behavior runs not only unchecked, but leadership in Albany wants to see even less discipline and consequences for the young perpetrators. Brendan Moss teaches eighth-grade math at Riverton. As a widower and devoted father of three, he does his best to assist young people, but the school superintendent wants to use the veteran math teacher as a test case to overturn the right to lifetime tenure. Dont Blame the Messenger addresses school policies, State Department of Education leadership, bullying, and why a teachers tenure should be maintained and viewed as something good for kids and the process of learning. The author works in the trenches, where truth and reality collide. Opinions on what is wrong with public education vary. Dont Blame the Messenger is written by a teacher who knows how it really is.

There is a story going around about the public schools and the people who teach in them—a story about how awful our nation’s teachers are and why we should blame teachers for the poor state of our public schools. But is the story about teachers right or fair? Why do so many people point fingers at teachers and seem to resent them so much? Blame Teachers: The Emotional Reasons for Educational Reform examines why many people blame teachers for what they understand to be the poor state of our schools. Blame comes easily to many people when they read about poor student performance and how “protected” teachers are by teachers’ unions and tenure policies. And with blame comes resentment, and with resentment comes demands for all kinds of educational reform—calls for more standardized testing, merit pay, charter schools, and all the rest. And we expect teachers to like and accept all the reforms being proposed. Conceiving educational reform out of blame and resentment aimed at teachers does no good for teachers, students, or schools. Blame Teachers outlines many of the strange and unacceptable assumptions about teaching and the purposes of education contained in these educational reforms. Intended for teachers, teacher education students, policymakers and the larger public, Blame Teachers suggests much better and more productive conversations we can have with teachers—conversations much more likely to improve teaching and learning in classrooms. The book argues for conversations with teachers that don’t begin or end with blame and resentment. In this lively, personal meditation on what it means to be a teacher, Steven Jones demonstrates how an emotional, unreasoned ‘blame game’ directed at teachers by educational reformers today is undercutting the future of the nation’s children. It is doing so by threatening to deprive them of teachers as contrasted with by?the?numbers technicians. Today’s reformers neglect the philosopher Spinoza’s time honored insight, that a person in the grip of emotion is “in human bondage” and simply cannot see the truth of things. Can educators themselves, in tandem with knowledgeable members of the public, transform the reformers’ dogmatic, harmful narrative about our teachers? Jones’ thoughtful study will surely help in this much?needed effort. ~ David T. Hansen, Weinberg Professor in the Historical and Philosophical Foundations of Education, Teachers College

Beat burnout with time-saving best practices for feedback For ELA teachers, the danger of burnout is all too real. Inundated with seemingly insurmountable piles of papers to read, respond to, and grade, many teachers often find themselves struggling to balance differentiated, individualized feedback with the one resource they are already overextended on—time. Matthew Johnson offers classroom-tested solutions that not only alleviate the feedback-burnout cycle, but also lead to significant growth for students. These time-saving strategies built on best practices for feedback help to improve relationships, ignite motivation, and increase student ownership of learning. Flash Feedback also takes teachers to the next level of strategic feedback by sharing: How to craft effective, efficient, and more memorable feedback Strategies for scaffolding students through the meta-cognitive work necessary for real revision A plan for how to create a culture of feedback, including lessons for how to train students in meaningful peer response Downloadable online tools for teacher and student use Moving beyond the theory of working smarter, not harder, Flash Feedback works deeper by developing practices for teacher efficiency that also boost effectiveness by increasing students’ self-efficacy, improving the clarity of our messages, and ultimately creating a classroom centered around meaningful feedback.