Book Review: Switch How to Change Things When Change Is Hard

I have a friend at work who is one of the most engaging conversationalists around. Our recent topic at morning coffee is change and how it could affect the young people we mentor and teach in the Academy. Because I am a fan of Lev Vygotsky and Jean Piaget, I sent her a web article on the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) in the hope  that we can look at change and learning how to change from theories tried and tested.

Piaget  theorized that children learn at their leisure and in autonomy. But Vygotsky added the  environment as a factor in learning. By guiding, mentoring and scaffolding learning experiences at a child’s ZPD, he/she will be able to build self confidence and continuously construct knowledge by intearcting socially with parents, teachers and peers. I haven’t heard from her since the email.

I persisted by sending her a short book review of Switch: How to Change Things When Change is Hard (Heath and Heath, Crown Business 2010)

On change and what research in the human and social sciences say about it; what makes it complicated; why people find it such a challenge. But, early on in the book Chip Heath and Dan Heath, the authors of the book, gave a very simple and real reason. They said, “Often, the heart and mind disagree. Fervently.” 

Peppered with stories on change and managing change in big and small ways, research on human interactions and behavior towards it are overlaid. Studies are presented and built around these human interest stories. For example, to introduce the idea that perception plays a role in the will to change, a study on popcorn consumption is used to great effect. There are chapters that include specific strategies in making the change and responding to it in personal ways, as well as its implications to the community. My personal favorite is the chapter on sustainability because it is for me, the more challenging task in creating and making a chane.

Available at the BA Library for your reading pleasure!

Library Promotions: Book List and Recommended Reads

One promotional strategy, and the easiest to do (at least to me), for new books to get noticed is to send a list with short reviews of selected titles through the school's mailing list. Sharing with you this email I sent to teachers and staff.

Good day everyone!

Attached is the list of new acquisitions. Choice picks from this harvest:

Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan - satire meets chic lit; something for the coming term break if you want a light and fun read.

Silence by Shusaka Endo - if you feel like reading something moving and thought provoking; for those familiar with the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius; for those who are fascinated with Japan's culture, history and geography; for those who are baffled by silence.

This Explains Everything, edited by John Brockman - a compilation of essays on varied subjects and disciplines, from Evolutionary Genetics, Language and Natural Selection, The Universe Growing Like A Baby, Commitment, Simplicity, Fitness Landscapes, Feynman's Lifeguard, Equations and Their Continuity, Sex at Your Fingertips -- almost everything, really! The writing is TOKish, and (kinda) metacognitive.

Strategies for Application by David Wilson - tips and techniques for applying one's self in the classroom and in life, in general. 

How To Differentiate Instruction in Mixed-Ability Classrooms by Carol Ann Tomlinson - Differentiated Instruction 101; it has the basic principles of differentiating instruction; makes for a good companion to R. Jackson's Never Work Harder Than Your Students.

That's it, pansit. Hope to see you at the library! For queries, shoot us an email: 

library@beaconacademy.ph (Flynn - who will provide you with basic sourcing and reference services) 

librarian@beaconacademy.ph (Zarah - who can be your sounding board for instructional or pedagogical matters and teaching partner in research skills instruction)

Check our OPAC for queries on specific titles of books - tbalibrary.org 

I apply a different strategy when promoting books to students. Watch out for the next post on library promotions!

Extending the Use of the Reading Passport

And then, of course, the avid readers turned in their finished passports way ahead of the rest. To share their reading experiences to the rest of the community, I clipped the passports in a clothesline on the library bulletin board. Anyone is free to read the passports. As a rule, passports must be returned to the clothesline after reading them.

Here are more ways to share the books read and written about in the passports:

a. In a book discussion, readers can talk about their passports; its contents, answers to the questions, recommended reads and their insights on the books the have read.

b. Chose the recommended reads. Pull these books out of the shelf and display them in the library. Put these book displays near the circulation counter where students, teachers and staff can see them. Think of this strategy as on the cashier counter displays, the merchandise that people would buy on the last minute.

c. Take picture of the recommended books and post these in the school's social media account.

d. Have these recommended reads featured in the school paper as well. This way, parents and other members of the community are informed of books being read by students.

e. Compile the recommended reads into a list for use in readers' advisory, reading guidance and bibliotherapy programs and services.

I like planning and implementing activities like these. There is so much you can do with information generated from readers and the books they read. There are patterns in their use of information but there are little surprises along the way too. This makes my work a really enjoyable and meaningful job!