More than 670,000 middle school teachers (grades 6-8) are responsible for educating nearly 13 million students in public and private schools. Thousands more teachers join these ranks annually, especially in the South and West, where ethnic populations are ballooning. Teachers and administrators seek practical, time-efficient ways of teaching language arts to 21st-century adolescents in increasingly multicultural, technologically diverse, socially networked communities. They seek sound understanding, practical advice, and proven strategies in order to connect diverse literature to 21st-century societies while meeting state and professional standards like the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts. This book offers strategies and resources that work.

More than 670,000 middle school teachers (grades 6-8) are responsible for educating nearly 13 million students in public and private schools. Thousands more teachers join these ranks annually, especially in the South and West, where ethnic populations are ballooning. Teachers and administrators seek practical, time-efficient ways of teaching language arts to 21st-century adolescents in increasingly multicultural, technologically diverse, socially networked communities. They seek sound understanding, practical advice, and proven strategies in order to connect diverse literature to 21st-century societies while meeting state and professional standards like the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts. This book offers strategies and resources that work.

More than 670,000 middle school teachers (grades 6-8) are responsible for educating nearly 13 million students in public and private schools. Thousands more teachers join these ranks annually, especially in the South and West, where ethnic populations are ballooning. Teachers and administrators seek practical, time-efficient ways of teaching language arts to 21st-century adolescents in increasingly multicultural, technologically diverse, socially networked communities. They seek sound understanding, practical advice, and proven strategies in order to connect diverse literature to 21st-century societies while meeting state and professional standards like the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts. This book offers strategies and resources that work.

Communications expert Quentin Schultze offers an engaging and practical guide to help Christians interact effectively at home, work, church, school, and beyond. Based on solid biblical principles and drawn from Schultze's own remarkable experiences, this book shows how to practice "servant communication" for a rich and rewarding life. Topics include how to overcome common mistakes, be a more grateful and virtuous communicator, tell stories effectively, reduce conflicts, overcome fears, and communicate well in a high-tech world. Helpful sidebars and text boxes are included.

Virtually every human endeavor involves interpersonal communication. Leading Christian scholar and media commentator Quentin Schultze and respected professor of communication Diane Badzinski offer a solid Christian perspective on the topic, helping readers communicate with faith, skill, and virtue in their interpersonal relationships. Designed as a companion to Schultze's successful An Essential Guide to Public Speaking, this inviting book provides biblical wisdom on critical areas of interpersonal communication: gratitude, listening, self-assessment, forgiveness, trust, encouragement, peace, and fidelity. Given the rapid rise and widespread use of social media, the book also integrates intriguing insights from the latest research on the influence of social media on interpersonal relationships. It includes engaging stories and numerous sidebars featuring practical lists, definitions, illustrations, and biblical insights.

"Extraordinary.... A hundred books in one.... This book is a home run." -- From the FOREWORD by Richard N. Bolles, author of the best-selling "What Color Is Your Parachute? A Practical Manual for Job-Hunters and Career-Changers"

The ultimate guide for college students and grads seeking interviews in a tough economy. It explains how to:

(1) transform even modest educational achievements and non-paying life experiences -- from hobbies and travel to family circumstances and extracurricular activities -- into persuasive statements about abilities,

(2) generate job interviews by professionally fine-tuning resumes and cover letters specifically for each application, and

(3) prepare successfully for interviews by writing persuasive resumes and cover letters.

REVEALS RESUME-WRITING SECRETS:

* what to include when you lack paid professional experience

* how to get great references even from people you don't know well

* why to use a summary statement instead of an objective statement in most fields

* when to include hobbies, travel, and technology skills

* why you should NOT list most courses already taken

* what to do if your GPA is unimpressive

* which designs and basic templates work the best

* how to determine the perfect verbs and adjectives for a specific job

* the 5 things you MUST address in a cover letter

SPECIAL FEATURES

* an in-depth index so you can find exactly what you need

* before-and-after samples of rewritten resumes and cover letters

* a helpful flow chart for writing resumes and cover letters

* "Dr. Qs Tips" based on actual student and alumni experiences

* "Expert Advice" quotations from dozens of publications not online

* a categorized list of "action verbs" that appeal to potential employers

* sample resumes with accompanying cover letters

THE AUTHORS

Quentin Schultze, Ph.D. (AKA "Dr. Q"), is a well-published and prize-winning author, a popular speaker, and an award-winning college teacher with over 30 years experience mentoring students and graduates. Bethany Kim is a writer, teacher, and consultant on teaching English to adult learners.

ENDORSEMENTS

"This superb book explains how students and graduates can demonstrate that they're equipped for a job when they don't have any formal job experience to reference. Wish I had it 20 years ago." -- Gary Van Prooyen, Global Brand Director, Motorola, Inc.

"Practical and inspiring. If more of the resumes that come across my desk used this advice, hiring would be a lot easier. The appendices alone are worth the price of the book." -- Kevin Jeffer, Partner, Chief Creative Officer, re: creative

"I used to teach resume writing without a textbook because none of them really covered all the essentials. That's over. This book has all the nuts and bolts college-aged job hunters need." -- Professor Kathy Bruner, Taylor University

"I am making this book required reading for all my students." -- Professor Kevin T. Jones, Director of Internships, George Fox University

"Great for todays fiercely competitive job market " -- Scott Stegenga, Partner Manager, Yahoo Search Marketing

"Brilliant Should be required reading for every career-bound college graduate." -- Professor Peter A. Kerr, Asbury University

"Finally, a book I can recommend on writing resumes and cover letters " -- Professor John Pauley, Eastern University

"WOW I can't wait to get copies for my students." -- Professor Barbara Spies, Cardinal Stritch University

Over half of all North Americans live in the suburbs. In "The Suburban Church," retired pastor Arthur H. DeKruyter encourages Christians to "go where the people congregate" and illustrates how to plant, grow, and renew suburban congregations. Throughout this book, DeKruyter relies on forty-five-plus years of pastoral ministry experience in which his own congregation grew from five families to more than five thousand members. He dispels myths about suburbia and demonstrates how to minister successfully, fit historic preaching and worship to suburban needs, finance church programs, recruit and support volunteers, connect international missions to local church growth, and more. Each chapter concludes with questions for discussion, making the book ideal for pastors and church committees.

Christianity Today's 2018 Book of the Year Award of Merit - Apologetics/Evangelism How are Christians viewed in the broader culture? We blush at the possibilities. Brainwashed fanatics? Out-of-touch dogmatists? Buffoons? The task of bearing faithful witness to Jesus is complicated by persistent-and not altogether baseless-cultural stereotypes. In our post-Christian society, thoughtful Christians are considering again how to engage the dominant culture as a minority, a counterpublic, amid varying perceptions and misperceptions. In this timely book, Timothy Muehlhoff and Rick Langer ask what our interactions with the dominant cultural ethos should look like. How might we be persuasive and civil at the same time? How should we respond to those who ridicule and caricature us? How can we challenge the beliefs of other communities with love and respect? Muehlhoff and Langer present a model for cultural engagement that integrates communication theory, theology, and Scripture. Penetrating, wise, and relentlessly practical, it includes test cases and examples from history, such as William Wilberforce and Harriet Beecher Stowe. Now more than ever, Christians need what Winsome Persuasion offers: a compelling vision of public engagement that is both shrewd and gracious.

Communication expert and popular speaker Quentin Schultze offers a practical, accessible, and inspiring guide to public speaking, showing readers how to serve their audiences with faith, skill, and virtue. This thoroughly rewritten and expanded four-color edition has been tested and revised with input from Christian undergraduates and contains new chapters on timely topics, such as speaking for video, conducting group presentations, and engaging society civilly. A complete public speaking textbook for Christian universities, it includes helpful sidebars, tips, and appendixes. Additional resources for students and professors are available through Textbook eSources.

"Minimal job experience? No problem "
You've just graduated and are ready to land your first real job after college or high school. But how do you write the first resume and cover letter of your career if you don't have any previous jobs to list? How do you stand out above the other applicants--including people with more experience who are out of work--with your summer job at the diner, internship at the local paper, or spot on the Ultimate Frisbee team?
Dr. Q to the rescue For two decades, communication professor Quentin Schultze has been teaching resume-writing to college students and recent graduates, helping them identify their strengths and transferable skills from their unique life experiences--from extracurriculars to part-time jobs to internships to volunteering. With "Resume 101," you'll discover the secrets to composing strong, impressive resumes and cover letters, such as:

What to include when you lack professional experience
How to get great references and recommendations
Why to use a summary rather than objective statement
When to include hobbies, travel, and technology skills
What to do if your GPA isn't sky-high
Which designs and basic formats work the best
Where to find the perfect verbs and adjectives for a specific job

With Dr. Q's help, you'll soon have a resume and cover letter that will show hiring managers who you really are, why you're prefect for your dream job, and why they should choose" you."

Have you ever wondered what God has planned for your life? What is God calling you to do and to be? Here I Am helps to solve part of the mystery by distinguishing between your vocation and life stations. Your stations include jobs, situations, and relationships, some of which may change every day. But your vocation as a Christian remains constant-to care about and for God's world in all areas of life. Here I Am eloquently explains how to fulfill your vocation as a faithful, caring follower of Jesus. It offers practical ways to strive for excellence, spread hope, celebrate leisure, nurture community, give and receive care, and cultivate a legacy. Discover God's call and participate fully in his renewal of all things by applying faith in every area of your life. "In this very practical book, the outstanding Christian thinker Quentin Schultze invites us to see all of life as God's and every role in life as a holy calling. The reader is encouraged to consider how he or she fits into God's grand project of making all things new."-Charles Colson Quentin J. Schultze (Ph.D., University of Illinois) is a nationally known communications expert whose many books include Habits of the High-Tech Heart and High-Tech Worship? He holds the Arthur H. DeKruyter Chair in Faith and Communication at Calvin College.