A Trimester Schedule that Works is a guidebook for secondary educators who want to maximize teaching and learning opportunities in their schools. The book begins with research that supports a trimester schedule and then begins to help readers understand the change efforts and challenges associated with the redesign of the school day. Several planning tools are included to lead readers through the steps necessary to build the capacity for change and a culture of collaboration. The benefits of the improved schedule are then quickly divulged by the authors - increased time for core content classes, a bonus period for intervention and acceleration activities, opportunities for dual college/vocational education credit, to name a few. Several case studies illustrate how middle and high schools have transformed traditional settings into thriving, high-performing schools, with collaborative teachers and engaged students.

A Trimester Schedule that Works is a guidebook for secondary educators who want to maximize teaching and learning opportunities in their schools. The book begins with research that supports a trimester schedule and then begins to help readers understand the change efforts and challenges associated with the redesign of the school day. Several planning tools are included to lead readers through the steps necessary to build the capacity for change and a culture of collaboration. The benefits of the improved schedule are then quickly divulged by the authors - increased time for core content classes, a bonus period for intervention and acceleration activities, opportunities for dual college/vocational education credit, to name a few. Several case studies illustrate how middle and high schools have transformed traditional settings into thriving, high-performing schools, with collaborative teachers and engaged students.

In Empowering Students: Seven Strategies for a Smart Start in School and Life, educators Robert Brower and Amy Keller provide teachers with seven powerful steps that build character and promote success in students' lives. These step include making critical distinctions; building strong and resilient relationships; avoiding negative attention; positive body language; small, positive behaviors and actions; practicing 'mirror relationship building'; and understanding and accepting consequences of your actions. The character-building approach outlined in this book demonstrates that positive traits can be developed subtly, as evidenced by a multitude of stories testifying to the credibility of the concepts, and the impact of these strategies can be witnessed almost immediately. With the potential to revolutionize methods of building character and gaining success among learners, Empowering Students will be of interest to all educators.

Much of what is mandated and touted as cures for school improvement are not research-based and in many instances, are doing more harm than any perceived good. This book examines all aspects of the present public school reform movement and explores how capitalism and the market system does not and cannot apply to public schools. Robert Brower contends that mandating a business model for education to force competition and change may destroy not only our system of education but also dismantle the intricate social, political, and economic successes we presently enjoy. In this book, the author gives research-based and practical advice on how to 'right the ship' of educational reform by making bold recommendations for where public education must go to ensure this country's continued leader in the free world. Includes sections on: _

"Can you read music too?" This question, addressed by the singer Lili Kraus in 1936 to the 15 year-old Robert Brouwer, then a regular autograph collector haunting the artist's entrance of the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, was the start of his short but memorable years as a page-turner to many of the great musicians who performed there before 1940. The author's passion for music, starting with his time at the Concertgebouw and continuing throughout his life in many parts of the world, shines vividly in the pages of this book. Here, enlivened with photographs and with some of the gems from the author's youthful collection of autographs, we meet many of the greatest musicians of the 20th century. But there is more than that. From his discussion of Willem Mengelberg, the conductor who made the Concertgebouw Orchestra great but ended his life in eclipse, to his account of Nigel Kennedy taking time off to jam in a "hole-in-the-wall" night club in Kowloon, it is the authors' gift to relate, on a personal level to the musicians he met, that serves to make these recollections of what they did and said, and of the opinions they expressed, both fascinating and endearing.

Shotetsu monogatari was written by a disciple of Shotetsu (1381–1459), whom many scholars regard as the last great poet of the courtly tradition. The work provides information about the practice of poetry during the 14th and 15th centuries, including anecdotes about famous poets, advice on how to treat certain standard topics, and lessons in etiquette when attending or participating in poetry contests and gatherings. But unlike the many other works of that time that stop at that level, Shotetsu's contributions to medieval aesthetics gained prominence, showing him as a worthy heir—both as poet and thinker—to the legacy of the great poet-critic Fujiwara no Teika (1162–1241).The last project of the late Robert H. Brower, Conversations with Shôtetsu provides a translation of the complete Nihon koten bungaku taikei text, as edited by Hisamatsu Sen'ichi. Steven D. Carter has annotated the translation and provided an introduction that details Shôtetsu's life, his place in the poetic circles of his day, and the relationship of his work to the larger poetic tradition of medieval Japan. Conversations with Shotetsu is important reading for anyone interested in medieval Japanese literature and culture, in poetry, and in aesthetics. It provides a unique look at the literary world of late medieval Japan.

BART "brims over with examples of Bart Giamatti's eloquence. It contains, as well, quotations about Giamatti from his colleagues in both academia and baseball, and from people familiar with his life from his earliest days growing up in Holyoke, Massachusetts, where Dante and baseball were topics of conversation around the family dinner table. BART contains a wealth of images associated with Giamatti's life ranging from a photograph of the gas station where Holyoke men and boys gathered to listen to the Red Sox games to a sampling of Italian art works and photography associated with his scholarly pursuits...a deft and balanced selection."--Yale Magazine, 1991 "A wonderful read."--Larry King, USA Today "This book...is a celebration of baseball as an essential fiber of Americana. It is inspirational, thought-provoking and unique."--The Arizona Daily Star, 1991 "Exquisite and elegant."--Yankee Magazine

Much of what is mandated and touted as cures for school improvement are not research-based and in many instances, are doing more harm than any perceived good. This book examines all aspects of the present public school reform movement and explores how capitalism and the market system does not and cannot apply to public schools. Robert Brower contends that mandating a business model for education to force competition and change may destroy not only our system of education but also dismantle the intricate social, political, and economic successes we presently enjoy. In this book, the author gives research-based and practical advice on how to "right the ship" of educational reform by making bold recommendations for where public education must go to ensure this country's continued leader in the free world. Includes sections on: * Standardized testing * Capitalism * Change * Labeling * Prescriptions for immediate action This book will be of interest to all educators, parents, lay people, and business leaders.