Monday, August 8, 2011

The Horse in Action: The Walk, Trot, Canter, Gallop, and Jump, Illustrated

The Horse in Action: The Walk, Trot, Canter, Gallop, and Jump, Illustrated Review



This profusely illustrated study by a noted equestrian authority was among the first works to clearly define and depict the sequence of maneuvers made by the horse in its varied gaits. Over 200 amazing, accurately rendered illustrations accompany a text that will be of value to equestrians, artists, students, and teachers. 219 figures and illustrations.


Sunday, August 7, 2011

Taking Action on Adolescent Literacy: An Implementation Guide for School Leaders

Taking Action on Adolescent Literacy: An Implementation Guide for School Leaders Review



Literacy lies at the heart of student understanding and achievement. Yet too many educators mistakenly assume that the reading, writing, speaking, and thinking skills that students developed in elementary school are sufficient for the sophisticated learning tasks they face in middle and high school. The result? Disappointing test scores, high dropout rates, and students unprepared for higher education, citizenship, and the world of work.
Taking Action on Adolescent Literacy: An Implementation Guide for School Leaders presents a structured approach to using literacy as a lever for overall school improvement. Literacy instruction is not an add-on, authors Judith L. Irvin, Julie Meltzer, and Melinda Dukes insist; it s an ongoing essential. All adolescent students, no matter what their level of achievement, can benefit from direct instruction in reading, writing, speaking, and thinking. And all secondary school leaders can improve students literacy and learning by following the five action steps outlined in this book: (1) develop and implement a literacy action plan, (2) support teachers to improve literacy instruction, (3) use data to make curricular decisions, (4) build capacity for shared leadership, and (5) creatively allocate resources to support the literacy plan.
The book also offers strategies to help educators integrate literacy and learning across the content areas, provide targeted interventions for students who are struggling the most, and develop a supportive school environment that involves parents, community members, and district leaders. Practical tools, helpful resources, and vignettes based on the authors extensive work in school districts nationwide make this an indispensable guide for principals, central office administrators, literacy coaches, department chairs, and other school leaders committed to helping students succeed.


Friday, August 5, 2011

The Four Yogas: A Guide to the Spiritual Paths of Action, Devotion, Meditation and Knowledge

The Four Yogas: A Guide to the Spiritual Paths of Action, Devotion, Meditation and Knowledge Review



The philosophy of Yoga tells us that the root cause of our sorrows and suffering is loss of contact with our true Self. Our recovery is only possible by reestablishing contact with our innermost Self, the Reality of all realities, and by recognizing that knowledge of Self is our salvation.

In this comprehensive guide, Swami Adiswarananda introduces the four spiritual paths of yoga--Karma-Yoga, Bhakti-Yoga, Raja-Yoga and Jnana-Yoga--and what you can expect as an aspirant on each path. Covering the message and practice of each of the yogas as well as philosophy and psychology, preparatory practices, common obstacles and ways to overcome them, this accessible book will prove invaluable to anyone wishing to follow a yoga practice in order to realize the goal of Self-knowledge.


Thursday, August 4, 2011

Transition in Action: Totnes and District 2030, An Energy Descent Action Plan

Transition in Action: Totnes and District 2030, An Energy Descent Action Plan Review



  • The first 'energy descent action plan' for a community in the UK
  • An essential guide for Transition activists who want to plan the future for their local communities
This is a lively and colourful community-based guide to reducing local dependence on fossil fuels and reducing the local carbon footprint over the next 20 years, a period during which they anticipate changes associated with declining oil supplies and the impacts of climate change to become more apparent. The Energy Descent Action Plan has been developed by and for the community of Totnes and District, a busy market town and its fifteen encircling parishes, by engaging the community in a creative process of preparing for resilience based on localization with understanding, skills and inner preparation for the anticipated changes and some of the biggest challenges civilisation has ever faced.

At the heart of the EDAP are 15 sections covering key sustainability topics from food production to governance; within each are scenarios of business as usual versus willingness to change proposed with a vision of 2030. It offers a new story of the future, based on a scenario of positive visions and proposes practical pathways of ideas, activities and policy changes across a series of themed timelines to 2030.


Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Actions and Objects from Hobbes to Richardson

Actions and Objects from Hobbes to Richardson Review



How do minds cause events in the world? How does wanting to write a letter cause a person's hands to move across the page, or believing something to be true cause a person to make a promise? In Actions and Objects, Jonathan Kramnick examines the literature and philosophy of action during the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries, when philosophers and novelists, poets and scientists were all concerned with the place of the mind in the world. These writers asked whether belief, desire, and emotion were part of nature—and thus subject to laws of cause and effect—or in a special place outside the natural order. Kramnick puts particular emphasis on those who tried to make actions compatible with external determination and to blur the boundary between mind and matter. He follows a long tradition of examining the close relation between literary and philosophical writing during the period, but fundamentally revises the terrain. Rather than emphasizing psychological depth and interiority or asking how literary works were understood as true or fictional, he situates literature alongside philosophy as jointly interested in discovering how minds work.


Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Leadership in Action: How Effective Directors Get Things Done

Leadership in Action: How Effective Directors Get Things Done Review



This book dispels the myth that there is one best leadership style that all directors should emulate. It will help you understand the subtle but important distinction between leadership as a role and leadership as a set of skills and competencies that can be supported and nurtured at all levels of the organization.


Sunday, July 31, 2011

Portlets in Action

Portlets in Action Review



A "portal" is a browser-based container populated by small applications called "portlets". Good portlets need to work independently, but also communicate with the portal, other portlets, and outside servers and information sources. Whether they're part of internal or web-facing portals, high-quality portlets are the foundation of a fast, flexible, and successful development strategy.



Portlets in Action is a comprehensive guide for Java developers with minimal or no experience working with portlets. Fully exploring the Portlet 2.0 API and using widely adopted frameworks like Spring 3.0 Portlet MVC, Hibernate, and DWR, it teaches portal and portlet development by walking the reader through practical examples that incorporate key features and challenges. The accompanying source code can be easily adapted and reused by readers.