The Big Book of Independent Thinking

The Big Book of Independent Thinking

Author: Ian Gilbert

Publisher: Crown House Publishing

Published: 2006-06-11

Total Pages: 254

ISBN-13: 1845905547

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In 1992 Ian Gilbert, author of the highly acclaimed Essential Motivation in the Classroom founded Independent Thinking Ltd (ITL). His aim was to 'enrich young people's lives by changing the way they think and so to change the world'. He has done this by gathering together a disparate group of associates specialists in the workings of the brain, discipline, emotional intelligence, ICT, motivation, using music in learning, creativity and dealing with the disaffected. ITL achieve their objective by 'doing what no one else does or doing what everyone else does in a way no one else does'. With a chapter from each of the associates plus an introduction and commentary by Ian Gilbert, this is the definitive guide for anyone wishing to understand and use some of the thinking that makes ITL such a unique and successful organisation. If you're looking for a quick 'How to'guide and a series of photocopiable worksheets you can knock out for a last minute PSHE lesson or because the INSET provider you had booked has let you down at the last minute and you're the only member of the middle management team who didn't attend the last planning meeting so you've ended up with the job of stepping in to fill in the gap, then this is the book for you. As befitting a disparate group of people brought together under the banner of Independent Thinking, these chapters are to get you thinking for yourself thinking about what you do, why you do what you do and whether doing it that way is the best thing at all. This book is meant to be dipped into, with not every chapter being relevant for everybody all of the time. Some chapters are written with the classroom practitioner very much in mind, others with the students in mind, other still with an eye on school leaders. That said, there is something here for everyone so we encourage you to dip into it with a highlighter pen in one hand and a notebook in the other to capture the main messages and ideas that resonate with you. So, does the assembly you're about to give, or that lesson on 'forcesyou're about to deliver or that staff meeting you're about to lead or that new intake parents evening you're planning look like everyone else's anywhere else? If so, then what about sitting down with your independent thinking hat on and identifying how you can make it so that we couldn't drop you into a totally different school on the other side of the country without anyone noticing the difference. Have the confidence to be memorable the world of education needs you to be great.


There is Another Way

There is Another Way

Author: Ian Gilbert

Publisher: Crown House Publishing Ltd

Published: 2015-11-13

Total Pages: 310

ISBN-13: 1781352380

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Edited by Ian Gilbert with chapters by Mark Anderson, Lisa Jane Ashes, Phil Beadle, Jackie Beere, David Cameron (The Real David Cameron), Paul Clarke, Tait Coles, Mark Creasy, Mark Finnis, Dave Harris, Crista Hazell, Martin Illingworth, Nina Jackson, Rachel Jones, Gill Kelly, Debra Kidd, Jonathan Lear, Trisha Lee, Roy Leighton, Matthew McFall, Sarah Pavey, Simon Pridham, Jim Roberson, Hywel Roberts, Martin Robinson, Bethan Stracy-Burbridge, Dave Whitaker, Phil Wood. We are living at a time when loud voices from inside and outside the profession are telling teachers and school leaders 'this' is the way education should be done. This is how you should lead a school. This is how you should manage a class. This is how children should learn. This is what you should do to make children behave. These messages are given as if there is only one way to achieve these things their way. However, with decades of experience working in all types of school around the globe, the many associates of Independent Thinking know there is always another way. This book is for educators everywhere who are hearing these loud voices yet who know that children deserve something better. Full of inspiration and ideas for how to achieve just that, There is Another Way is a call to action to swim against the tide and reclaim the heart of education. All of the royalties from sales of this book will go to the Big i Foundation.


Independent Thinking

Independent Thinking

Author: Ian Gilbert

Publisher: Crown House Publishing

Published: 2013-12-12

Total Pages: 227

ISBN-13: 1781350795

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Think for yourself before someone does it for you. The first in a new series by and for people who know how important it is to think for yourself. Written by Independent Thinking founder Ian Gilbert, this book is an invaluable collection of reflections, ideas and insights on the nature of learning, thinking, creativity and, drawing on Ian s experience in three continents, the role education has in changing not only people s lives but also entire societies. Combining articles published in the UK, Middle East and South America plus examples of his controversial online postings and Tweets with new observations and insights and at least 100 Twittered Thunks or Twunks this book is the informed ramblings of a passionate educationalist who has made a significant difference to classrooms for over 20 years and has earned the right to speak his mind.


The Little Book of Big Stuff About the Brain

The Little Book of Big Stuff About the Brain

Author: Andrew Curran

Publisher: Crown House Publishing

Published: 2008-04-03

Total Pages: 190

ISBN-13: 1845902092

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Designed as a cover to cover read which leaves the reader with a working knowledge of the human brain from its first evolution 2 billion years ago to the present day. A light-hearted look at the brain aimed at a lay audience. It especially focuses on the neurobiology of emotional intelligence and in many ways is the neurobiological explanation of why emotional intelligence is so important to health, wealth and happiness.


The Smallest Minority

The Smallest Minority

Author: Kevin D. Williamson

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Published: 2019-07-23

Total Pages: 247

ISBN-13: 1621579778

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"The most profane, hilarious, and insightful book I've read in quite a while." — BEN SHAPIRO "Kevin Williamson's gonzo merger of polemic, autobiography, and batsh*t craziness is totally brilliant." — JOHN PODHORETZ, Commentary "Ideological minorities – including the smallest minority, the individual – can get trampled by the unity stampede (as my friend Kevin Williamson masterfully elucidates in his new book, The Smallest Minority)." — JONAH GOLDBERG “The Smallest Minority is the perfect antidote to our heedless age of populist politics. It is a book unafraid to tell the people that they’re awful.” — NATIONAL REVIEW "Williamson is blistering and irreverent, stepping without doubt on more than a few toes—but, then again, that’s kind of the point." — THE NEW CRITERION "Stylish, unrestrained, and straight from the mind of a pissed-off genius." — THE WASHINGTON FREE BEACON Kevin Williamson is "shocking and brutal" (RUTH MARCUS, Washington Post), "a total jack**s" (WILL SALETAN, Slate), and "totally reprehensible" (PAUL KRUGMAN, New York Times). Reader beware: Kevin D. Williamson—the lively, literary firebrand from National Review who was too hot for The Atlantic to handle—comes to bury democracy, not to praise it. With electrifying honesty and spirit, Williamson takes a flamethrower to mob politics, the “beast with many heads” that haunts social media and what currently passes for real life. It’s destroying our capacity for individualism and dragging us down “the Road to Smurfdom, the place where the deracinated demos of the Twitter age finds itself feeling small and blue.” The Smallest Minority is by no means a memoir, though Williamson does reflect on that “tawdry little episode” with The Atlantic in which he became all-too-intimately acquainted with mob outrage and the forces of tribalism. Rather, this book is a dizzying tour through a world you’ll be horrified to recognize as your own. With biting appraisals of social media (“an economy of Willy Lomans,” political hustlers (“that certain kind of man or woman…who will kiss the collective ass of the mob”), journalists (“a contemptible union of neediness and arrogance”) and identity politics (“identity is more accessible than policy, which requires effort”), The Smallest Minority is a defiant, funny, and terrifyingly insightful book about what we human beings have done to ourselves.


The Little Book of Values

The Little Book of Values

Author: Julie Duckworth

Publisher: Crown House Publishing

Published: 2009-03-13

Total Pages: 159

ISBN-13: 1845904311

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The Little Book of Values explores twenty-two values that can be taught through schools and indeed the whole community. The book will inspire you by using examples of where values are being used by children and adults in schools already and shares practical tools to stimulate discussion and philosophical debate. It will also help people to take stock of their own values and how they wish to lead their.


The Monkey-Proof Box

The Monkey-Proof Box

Author: Jonathan Lear

Publisher: Crown House Publishing Ltd

Published: 2019-03-15

Total Pages: 201

ISBN-13: 178135328X

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Written by Jonathan Lear, The Monkey-Proof Box: Curriculum design for building knowledge, developing creative thinking and promoting independence is a manifesto on how to dismantle the curriculum we're told to deliver and construct in its place the curriculum we need to deliver. A group of monkeys. A box full of nuts. A lever. A chute. The monkeys excitedly poke at the box with rocks ... nothing happens. Meanwhile, one monkey sits to the side, observing. Then, when the others wander off, he gets up and - with a curious push of his palm - presses the lever and the nuts tumble down the chute! Not believing his luck, he eats the nuts, presses the lever again and is rewarded with yet more nuts. He's cracked the challenge of the monkey-proof box. In their early years, children experience a world full of monkey-proof boxes - it's a time of discovery, observation and experimentation, as they engage in the frustration and joy of learning how to release life's nuts. Then, as they progress through school, learning becomes more formal, easier in many ways. The nuts are handed to them on a plate and something important is lost. But it doesn't have to be that way. In this absorbing book, Jonathan sets out how primary school teachers can resist the 'nuts on a plate' approach and deliver a curriculum rich in authentic learning experiences that help children learn from one another and grow into empowered, knowledgeable and creative thinkers who are driven by insatiable curiosity. In doing so, he inspires educators to unclutter their classrooms of the latest shiny initiatives and to foster a more refined pedagogical approach - incorporating elements of facilitated and concept-based learning - that simply improves pupils' learning. Suitable for teachers, middle leaders and head teachers in primary school settings. Contents include: Part I: Curriculum. 1 - Slippers; 2 - Less is more; 3 - Skills; 4 - Tightrope walking; 5 - Planning; 6 - 'Love and hugs, Dave C.'; 7 - Softly, softly, catchee monkey; 8 - Hitches and hiccups. Part II: Pedagogy. 9 - Monkey sex; 10 - Rapid and sustained nonsense; 11 - Nuts on a plate; 12 - Nuts scattered in a clearing; 13 - Across the curriculum; 14 - The awkward banana; 15 - Caveman Dave and the TARDIS; 16 - Mastery and independence; 17 - The monkey-proof box; 18 - A spanner in the works; 19 - Freedom.


Independent Thinking on Restorative Practice

Independent Thinking on Restorative Practice

Author: Mark Finnis

Publisher: Crown House Publishing Ltd

Published: 2021-03-18

Total Pages: 148

ISBN-13: 1781353905

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In Independent Thinking on Restorative Practice: Building relationships, improving behaviour and creating stronger communities, Mark Finnis shares a practical and inspiring introduction to the use of restorative practice in educational settings. For those educators who are uncomfortable with the punitive world of zero tolerance, isolation booths and school exclusions, Mark Finnis - one of the UK's leading restorative practice experts - is here to show you that there is another way. Drawing on his many years' experience working with schools, social services and local governments across the country, Mark shares all you need to know about what restorative practice is, how it works, where to start and the many benefits of embedding a relational approach into any educational organisation that genuinely has people at its heart. Covering coaching circles and the power of doing things with (and not to) children and young people, to moving your values off lanyards and posters and into the lived experience of every member of the school community, this book sets out how restorative practice - when done well - can transform every aspect of school life. The book shares advice on how to put behaviour right when it goes wrong in a more positive, less punitive way, and, more importantly, on how to get it right and keep it right in the first place. Furthermore, it advocates an approach that is collaborative, empowering and positive - and ultimately geared to improve motivation, engagement and independent learning in even the hardest-to-reach young people. Suitable for school leaders, educators and anyone working with young people.


The Book of Plenary

The Book of Plenary

Author: Phil Beadle

Publisher: Crown House Publishing

Published: 2013-08-26

Total Pages: 139

ISBN-13: 1781350736

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You paint an outside wall. It rains. What happens to the paint? It runs off, of course! So it is with our students. We teach them something. We can't be bothered to do the recap, the plenary, as we don't have any ideas. They leave the lesson. They promptly forget what you have taught them. There was no point their being in the lesson in the first place. The world continues turning. This practical little book of plenaries does what it says. It delivers a series of simple ideas for how to make your lesson endings - or mid-lesson recaps - interesting, engaging and cognitively challenging. Apply the ideas in this book and your students will leave the lesson with the information you have taught them still in their heads.


The Big Book of Small Presses and Independent Publishers

The Big Book of Small Presses and Independent Publishers

Author: Marylee MacDonald

Publisher:

Published: 2020-03-20

Total Pages: 340

ISBN-13: 9781951479206

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This book is for authors who have: finished writing their book; given up on finding an agent; waited months for an agent to call back; longed for an editor to validate their creativity; recoiled at the thought of self-publishing.In this essential reference, writers will discover publishers for romance, women's fiction, historical fiction, sci fi, fantasy, poetry, literary fiction, history, self-help, spirituality, politics, sports, thrillers, regional guidebooks, creative nonfiction, essays, Christian fiction, horror, crafts' books, young adult fiction, and children's books. Best of all, the publishers in this book aren't vanity presses. They don't charge a fee to consider a manuscript. If they like the story, they will proofread the book, create a stunning cover, and upload the manuscript to the online bookstores. Finally, when people ask where they can buy the book, authors will have an answer.