Reviews for Behavior Analysis, Education, and Effective Schooling

The average rating for Behavior Analysis, Education, and Effective Schooling based on 2 reviews is 4 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2021-02-14 00:00:00 Kathryn Whaling Mary Adler's book is a unique but enthusiastic one about the need to teach (and the how-to of teaching) expressive writing, particularly fiction. The book is a nice blend of philosophical reasoning, hard evidence, and practical lessons any teacher can adapt for their classroom. I appreciate the practical and often clever classroom ideas, but what I found most refreshing was her metacognitive approach of analyzing each lesson as she presents them. She asks a series of questions about what each lesson was intending to achieve, what challenges exist in enacting the lesson, and what troubleshooting is necessary. Adler knows that while most teachers picking up a book like this want ideas they can apply immediately--practical ones! now!--this grab-and-go approach doesn't lead to big transformative changes in neither a classroom nor a teacher. With this in mind, she treads methodically yet recursively. Structurally it makes a lot of sense, and yet it was the first of its kind I've read. Reading this with other teachers in a Study Group over an extended period, chapter-by-chapter, was very beneficial to me. (The book includes a chapter-by-chapter Study Group guide.) Had I flown through the 147 pages quickly (and it would have been easy to do so), I don't know if I would have considered it as transformative as it really is to me. Adler now has me recommitting my teaching's focus on writing, personal experience, revision and that careful balance between opening possibilities in my students and giving them just enough focused freedom, support and boundaries to guide them. I enjoyed this a lot, but only time will tell the long-term effects of her stirring concepts.

Review # 2 was written on 2016-01-25 00:00:00 Matthew Vogel This book makes a good case for why we should teach creative writing, and she has some very good strategies and activities for doing so effectively. It took me some time to figure out her format; when I did, I enjoyed the book more. Also, there were some places where I felt I didn't need all she had in there. That said, I would recommend the book to teachers, not only for creative writing but for thinking about all writing as a kind of play--not just work.