All about teaching - a key book review for new teachers

A book review for student teachers and new teachers

"The Naked Teacher - How To Survive Your First Five Years in Teaching"  a review of the book authored by Louisa Leaman published 2006 - reviewed by Chris Garrah on March 24, 2013

The Naked Teacher - How to Survive your First Five Years In Teaching - authored by Leaman, Louisa

 

Why Student Teachers and New Teachers Need this book

When I attempted to be a teacher in the early 1980's I was sent on a practicum to teach high school students.   My teaching adviser merely said I needed to have more energy after watching me give a demonstration in a lesson.  But what the adviser did not see are several common fears - how to keep going when the lesson plan dies, or the fear that the student teacher has not received training on how to  maintain control of a class in any situation,  This book allays all of those types of fears by explaining that the teacher is a performer and their are techniques to manage the classroom that the teacher should become aware and intimate with in order to give one's confidence a giant boost in the classroom.
This manual will surely give you a secret weapon to boost your confidence and allay your fears of interacting with a group of students where you are the performer and where as the teacher you are the center of attention..   This really is a manual of how empower a new teacher or student teacher.  Sometimes training programs do not give you this type of training - it is better to be trained with a manual of how to do basic things like survive and thrive - especially if you, the teacher-to-be has unadressed fears of how to teach or control students.  This book delivers on its promise to show you the ropes of how to things and how to prepare.  Louisa Leaman really talks to you as a trusted friend in the book.  Its a comforting book to have for new teachers - even if you are a veteran teacher that is getting stressed - this book should help you get on the top of your game. 

Behavior management in the Classroom

If you spend going time reading  this book over and over your resourcefulness will be many times those who have never received training in depth classroom behavior management .  There are many things a teacher can do to put a firm hand on classroom development through reporting, contacting teachers.  But very importantly, there is an incredible listing of  a large variety of "easy" type lessons such as having students lead the course, exams, taking questions that could be created while the student teacher gets the feel of teaching.

The Politics of Teaching

The book covers every aspect of interacting with principals, fellow teachers, school staff, parents and students.  An emphasis is placed on developing  personality traits and teaching skills to allow you to survive and excel as a teacher.

Use It as A Reference

The book is available on www.amazon.com as well as other books by Louisa Leaman such as "Managing Very Challenging Behaviour " and "Classroom Confidential (Practical Teaching Guides)"   Check these books out and improve your odds of being a successful teacher. 

Learned Optimism - Why aren't people talking about this?

A review of a book that will help you achieve much, much more in life-  "Learned Optimism" by Martin Seligman Phd published in 1990  - A Book Review by Chris "Crispy" Garrah   March 24, 2013 

 

How the book changes you into an optimist

I really thought I was an optimist and a realist until I took the quiz in the book "Learned Optimism" by Martin E.P. Seligman.  But the book showed me that my "realistic" view was actually "pessimistic" in some ways. The quiz literally changed my life.  After reading the book people started to ask why I was smiling - apparently for no reason.. It was all about the author explaining how to re-wire your thinking to achieve incredibly more by being optimistic.  Because the author explains why and how to change your thinking this explains the title.  "Learned Optimism"  ....... the book is all about optimism you can learn. 

Why change into an optimist instead of a realist?

The author and his team pursued original research on dogs and humans - investigating why dogs and humans learned "helplessness" - where they gave up or in human's cases achieved far less than they were capable of. Optimists don't give up - on the other hand how many people have given up on achieving more because they have had a number of failures.

The golden nugget exposed in the book on how to become an optimist

It may sound crazy or irresponsible but the key is to attribute good qualities to YOURSELF when good thing happen to yourself and BLAME others or circumstances when BAD things have happened to you.  If you take the quiz in the book first it  will allow you to bounce around in the book and explore chapters in the book.   In this way if the quiz indicates pessimistic tendencies in some area you can rewire your self talk to more optimistic self-talk. It's all about promoting good self-talk so you don;t give up for example if you have had a string of failures. 

Isn't it irresponsible to blame others for your misfortunes?

The book explains that this is about SELF-talk.   Obviously, if you shared this outlook with an interviewer it wouldn't come across very well.. Ha. Ha.  It is also explained in the book where safety of people is involved a different approach would be warranted .   Are you thinking like me - " I think I can jump between those two buildings - well I guess that didn't work.  I  am feeling a lot of pain now" 

Avoiding depression and being Bummed Out

To sum up, people talk to themselves all day - "self- talk"  and the book is stressing the importance of attributing good qualities to yourself.  If you are having success at your company you should not be saying it's because of a good economy - it's really because you are a great manager or salesperson.  Remember, this is what you tell yourself.  You don't need to share your self-talk with other people. 

As I interpret the book it is better to blame other people or events for those things that you consider your major life screw ups as long as you don't share your self talk with others.  In this way you avoid learned helplessness - where you give up on life or achieving because you are remembering past failures that are not etched in life to repeat..  Instead you have followed the book and have learned to be an optimist.    

Read the book.  

 Personally,  I enjoyed taking  the quiz in the book -  48 questions long but if you review your answers and then take a look at how a very optimistic person would answer you will gain a lot of insight into how to become more optimistic and achieve more in life.  Why is it necessary to become an optimist?     Because optimists know they have many talents and skills and want to put them to work. You can and should become an optimist.  Remember - you don't need to be an optimist before you read the book You will have "learned optimism" after you read Dr. Seligman's book "Learned Optimism?  

The Book Review of "100 Ways to Motivate Yourself"

Book Review of "100 Ways to Motivate Yourself" - Author Steve Chandler - Reviewed by Chris Garrah

February 20, 2013

100 Ways to Motivate Yourself - Change Your Life Forever by Steve Chandler

The Bible of Motivation

This could  be your Bible of motivation!  In the book author Steve Chandler recommends that :' it is not how many books you read it's how many you apply."   He recommends it is better to read one book over and over than to read many books.

Reasons to Buy the Book

In my opinion this should be the book to read.  The strongest reason I think is that author  Steve Chandler overcame addiction  to become a successful author and speaker .  But also there are 100 ideas that are bound to kick-start if you have been in a long term rut .   This book will move you out of your comfort zone and help you make some improvements in your life.

Overcoming Procrastination

 I especially like his motivation  in chapter # 74.  - which is "Do something badly"  - meaning that you shouldn't wait till you're feeling 'just right' to do something that is important.

I have re-read some of the chapters and realized that the first time in reading that the message of some of the chapters did not sink in.  That is WHY you should buy this book.   There are a 100 short chapters with easy to digest ideas.   The writing style is breezy and agreeable.  It is written in a style that is current unlike some early 20th Century motivational authors that use a more stilted , formal style that is common to that time period.

Book Reviews "What the Best College Students Do" and "Mastery"

Two Book Reviews in one - "What the Best College Students Do" authored by Ken Bain and "Mastery" authored by Robert Green - both reviewed by Chris Garrah on January 8, 2013

These two books tended to merge in my mind. as books that guide anyone and everyone on how to pursue studies and mastery of those studies with curiosity and extra effort.    I was impressed by Robert Green's statement that if someone, anyone pursues an activity of interest that that person can become a master of that interest in 10,000 hours.   The brain becomes transformed.  The neural connections change.

Similarly in the book "What the Best College Students Do'  author Ken Bain suggests that intelligence can grow with study.   Ken Bain shows that the motivation of students may differ - and that if students motivation is grades or status they may get good grades but they may learn superficially.   But for those students who want a deep understanding - they are the ones that actually come to understand  the material.   

In this way, both books suggest you pursue your studies with a passion and pursue interests over a lifetime. 

College Students also offers specific techniques that will help students get a deeper understanding of  course  material. 

LIFE LONG LEARNING   

I hope these books support each other in the idea of gaining mastery of subkects over a life-time. 

The 10,000 hours mentioned in Mastery could for example take about 1 hour a day for 30 years of time dedicated to study..

I encourage readers to read the books  for ideas that appeal to the individual.   The case is made in "What the best College Students Do" that all of us are individuals with unique histories and talents and therefore we will have a unique slant on how we relate to the world. 

Embracing Failure and Examples of Mastery and Success

Both  books present examples of successful people that  have studied and succeeded in life - and both books present the idea of persevering through hardship and present ideas or traits that can cause people to give up.   Mastery  presents studies of great figures through the centuries while College Students presents more current biographies.

Mastery .is also about total life experience so it also showcases how to adapt to social environments at work and how to improve your odds with mentorships. but the book also shows how to succeed without a mentor by showcasing the great inventor Thomas Edison.. Thomas Edison had NO mentor yet still succeeded.

Happy reading!  .... and of course feedback is welcome.