Angela Novak

I've been considering switching careers and hoped this book would provide a consistent set of modern practices for teaching. As it stands, I felt disappointed by the sometimes naive or stereotypical responses regarding best to engage students on the autistic spectrum and how they need less emotional engagement than their LGBTQ+ peer group (who apparently skew heavily in favor of humanities courses vs. mathematics or sciences). The example of Sarah, the diversity-clueless white teacher who "loved kids" and thought her adoration of them would provide a solid base for becoming a teacher saw me throwing this to the floor in frustration. Did she live in a plastic bubble? I could rant about the suggestions for her self-guided course in diversity training for hours.

I'm halfway through the essays without much inspiration to read further. Apparently one must teach, provide subtle psychological insights, bolster flagging or nonexistent self-esteem, and run interference with family members, community members, other educators, and the school's administration. I'm not certain I want to bring all that on board.… (meer)

As a substitute teacher, wishing I was teaching full-time, I love reading various books on education. This was a fascinating look at instruction for gifted students. Apparently this book is the second volume of a three volume series. I am going to have to look at the others as well. This volume dealt specifically with strategies for specific topics in this field. The book looks at special populations of gifted students that include twice-exceptional students, GLBTQ members, students from culturally diverse backgrounds, hyperactive students and underachieving students, as well as how teachers can support their parents in the joint effort to achieve success for these students. The second half of the book deals with programming topics. I found this book to be a wonderful resource. It includes case studies that I found particularly interesting, full discussions of each topic, concise summaries of each chapter and lists of resources for further reading.… (meer)