Now in paperback comes the "amusing, engaging, and truly enlightened" ("Library Journal") guide to cultivating Zen practice through housekeeping tasks and finding the hidden spirituality in everyday life. 15 illustrations.
From two-time Newbery Honor and New York Times–bestselling author Kevin Henkes, this timeless novel about loss, loneliness, and friendship tells the story of the spring break that changes seventh-grader Amelia Albright’s life forever. Amelia Albright dreams about going to Florida for spring break like everyone else in her class, but her father—a cranky and stubborn English professor—has decided Florida is too much adventure. Now Amelia is stuck at home with him and her babysitter, the beloved Mrs. O’Brien. The week ahead promises to be boring, until Amelia meets Casey at her neighborhood art studio. Amelia has never been friends with a boy before, and the experience is both fraught and thrilling. When Casey claims to see the spirit of Amelia’s mother (who died ten years before), the pair embarks on an altogether different journey in their attempt to find her. Using crisp, lyrical, literary writing and moments of humor and truth, award-winning author Kevin Henkes deftly captures how it feels to be almost thirteen. With themes of family, death, grief, creativity, and loyalty, Sweeping Up the Heart is for readers of Kate DiCamillo, Rebecca Stead, Lauren Wolk, Kimberly Brubaker Bradley, and Pam Muñoz Ryan.
What needs to be improved at your school? In this essential new book, Todd Whitaker and Courtney Monterecy provide a clear roadmap to making the changes that will bring lasting benefits to your students and staff, whether those changes are small tweaks or larger overhauls. You’ll learn step-by-step ways to diagnose the issues and listen to your staff about what needs to change, to hire more effectively and improve the teachers you have, to implement structures and coaching to address student behavior, and to communicate before you need to. Whitaker and Monterecy also show you how to grow as a leader by making time for what only you can do, by developing other leaders within the building, and by always communicating your why. Each chapter is filled with helpful strategies and inspiring true stories. With this book's wisdom and practical takeaways, you will have the courage and know-how to implement the important changes your students truly deserve.
How does a diverse community thrive in spaces that were designed to be exclusionary? Museums—with histories tied to colonial violence and racist practices and whose survival is largely reliant on the generosity of wealthy donors—were not built to be inclusive. Yet many museums’ missions and the people who bring these missions to life have egalitarian aims. In recent years museum practitioners across the country have been proactively confronting our histories of colonization and exclusion and advancing equity and inclusion. Museums of all types have formed cross-departmental teams to critique their internal practices, review hiring processes, and ultimately foster a more diverse and inclusive environment for both visitors and staff alike. But how do such initiatives get off the ground? How do individuals build support among all stakeholders and successfully advocate for new positions, programs, and cross-departmental working groups? How can colleagues work together across departments to foster more inclusive museum practices? This book from the American Alliance of Museums brings together a collection of tools, solutions, and models from DEAI practitioners who have actively worked together towards institutional change. With 60% BIPOC authorship, this book will provide hope and inspiration, as well as concrete strategies for museum workers all over the country who are achieving small wins and fostering sweeping change in the predominantly white cultural sector through innovation, collaboration, and courage. This is the first book to focus specifically on collaborative and inclusive practices in equity and anti-racism work in different types of museums. Its case studies demonstrate the importance of relationship building, authentic connections, and developing foundations together over time, providing a much-needed resource for museum professionals at every level who are grappling with inequities that are pervasive in museums.
Practical, tested, implementable real-world advice for transforming any business and is written by people that have “been there and done that”. Changing an organization is tough. Transformation is hard work that should not be attempted by the faint of heart or the weak of mind. But transformation is not rocket science either. By taking a realistic, simple and direct view of what is required to transform an enterprise, the authors reduce the noise and nonsense that surrounds much of the discussion of transformation and provide straight forward lessons, examples and thought provoking questions to guide the reader to a more powerful position as an agent of change. Based on the authors' decades of experience dealing with major business transformation, this book provides valuable guidance for any company engaged in large scale change brought on by shifts in the competitive landscape, mergers, acquisitions, or a major restructuring of their business model. Many organizations undergo transformation with lots of enthusiasm, but are frustrated with the results. This book contains a set of lessons gained in the process of working in and with organizations in the process of transformation. The book starts out by framing transformation and explains the overall system the enterprise that is involved in transformation. By doing so, clarity is brought to the question of why change is so difficult and problematic. What you can expect to get by reading this book is: A way of looking at transformation that is comprehensive and yet manageable without all the buzzword bingo terminology 11 critical lessons taken from the author’s broad experience on a broad range of topics that you can leverage in your situation To get some thought provoking insight from 10 key questions for each lesson that you can use to apply the lessons to your organization A comprehensive framework for leading transformation that will challenge your thinking and provide a path forward to taking immediate action With rare insight and candor, the authors provide thoughtful advice backed by examples from their comprehensive experience. If you don’t like transformation, you are going to hate irrelevance. This book is your best bet for getting the insight you need to transform your organization before it becomes irrelevant.
Public education in the United States faces an unprecedented crisis. The explosive growth of charter schools over the last two decades has shaken the status quo to its core. At stake are the future of public schools and how they will continue to educate our nation's youth. Clashes over money and ideologies have led to a struggle between the public education establishment and those at the forefront of educational reform. The conflict is being waged in the court of public opinion, as well as in courtrooms throughout the country. While the outcome is impossible to predict, both sides are preparing for a fight of David versus Goliath proportions. Collaboration is critical to the success of both. In Charter Storm, they use their combined knowledge and research of over 120 individual interviews over five years to teach you about-- - essential insights those new to the charter school movement need for their schools to survive and thrive - how aggressive educational establishment pushback threatens to sweep away the most vulnerable - key issues authorizers must know to effectively oversee their organizations - the overwhelming challenges the educational establishment faces today and how it can effectively navigate the changing local and national educational landscape - why active participation and support of charter school associations are essential to each charter school and the educational reform movement's long-term success - what every charter school parent needs to know to create and support an exceptional educational experience for his or her children.