Coolock Library: New Teacher Resources

Describes why secondary students don't read, and offers teachers practical advice and strategies for developing depth, stamina, and passion in adolescent readers.

"I believe each of my students must craft an individual reading life of challenge, whim, curiosity, and hunger, and I've discovered that it is not too late in high school to lead a non-reader to reading. It's never too late."-Penny Kittle

Penny Kittle wants us to face the hard truths every English teacher fears: too many kids don't read the assigned texts, and some even manage to slip by without having ever read a single book by the time they graduate. As middle and high school reading declines, college professors lament students' inability to comprehend and analyze complex texts, while the rest of us wonder: what do we lose as a society when so many of our high school graduates have no interest in reading anything?

In Book Love Penny takes student apathy head on, first by recognizing why students don't read and then showing us that when we give kids books that are right for them, along with time to read and regular response to their thinking, we can create a pathway to satisfying reading that leads to more challenging literature and ultimately, a love of reading.

"I don't know." Is there a more frustrating answer when we ask students what they think about the texts they're reading?  More often than not, they DO know; or at least, they have something to say but are afraid to say it. Marilyn Pryle argues that we can help students find their voices and deeply understand texts when we invite them to write and share short reading responses.  "If you've read something, you must have a thought," she explains. "The idea behind reading responses is simple: Read, and have a concrete idea about the text to bring to the discussion.  You don't have to be 'right.'  But you do have to have a thought from your own mind that is specific about the reading." This kind of engagement with texts is what Marilyn calls "reading with presence." Writing and sharing reading responses helps students look more closely at texts and their own thinking, while boosting engagement and self-confidence in their own voices. Marilyn provides a clear framework for helping students embark on a year long journey of literary criticism and intellectual growth, filling notebooks with responses that are both personal and scholarly. Her suggested categories for reading responses allow for plenty of student choice, and the writing examples she shares throughout the book illustrate students' deep thinking about a rich variety of texts both old and new, in a range of genres, from both whole-class and independent reading. "Reading responses put students on a road that leads to evidence-based interpretation rooted in personal experience, prior knowledge, and engagement," Marilyn writes. "The road, perhaps, of personal growth. And isn't that why we all teach in the first place?"

What is ADHD? Who has it? What does it tell us about our brains and how we think and act? Can it limit opportunities and connection? Does it offer cerebral superpowers? What does it mean for me? Dr. Edward M. Hallowell (aka Dr. Ned) reveals the answers to these questions, explaining the science, debunking myths, addressing FAQs, and transforming a deeply misunderstood diagnosis. With advice on health and well-being, education, career, finances, and relationships, each chapter enables you to unlock your potential in key areas of life.

The revision of this innovative book provides school counseling students, practitioners, leaders, supervisors, and faculty with information and resources regarding the alignment and implementation of school counseling, specifically comprehensive school counseling programs. Complementing and expanding upon the audience's knowledge and implementation of CSCPs such as the ASCA 2019 National Model, chapters include a strong theoretical and research base as well as related practical examples from the field--including case studies of practicing school counselors, and relevant, hands-on resources and tools to assist school counselors facilitate MTSS. New topics such as culturally sustaining and antiracist practice are woven into the chapters, in addition to covering the response to the COVID-19 pandemic, mental health crises, and capturing timely and current practices in K-12 education and school counseling. Innovative, unique, and including a plethora of useful tools and resources, this guide to MTSS and school counseling is ideal for graduate students and current school counselors in the field.

The new edition will be 20% longer with all ideas tried and tested at the chalk face. The ideas are applicable across the curriculum and range from getting students to understand how they think, to using games and activities to get students thinking.

Tyson Yunkaporta looks at global systems from an Indigenous perspective. He asks how contemporary life diverges from the pattern of creation. How does this affect us? How can we do things differently? Sand Talk provides a template for living. It's about how lines and symbols and shapes can help us make sense of the world. It's about how we learn and how we remember. It's about talking to everybody and listening carefully. It's about finding different ways to look at things. Most of all it's about Indigenous thinking, and how it can save the world.

Somewhere between Jupiter and Saturn is an undiscovered planet that is inhabited solely by children. What is it called? How is it different to planet Earth? How is it similar? In The Right-Brain Workout, you'll find 70 questions posed by some of Australia's most creative people from the worlds of comedy, art, advertising, music, literature, and photography. Questions that will probe, cajole, and challenge you to be more creative, every day. You'll rediscover the creativity that we all have inside of us when we were kids. Or you'll enhance your already creative mind. Plus, you'll uncover weekly Right-Brain Tips: simple things that you can do to stimulate your brain. Create an advertisement to encourage people to apply for the position of you, or, write your surname as a heavy metal logo. It's the fun and energizing exercise regime for your brain that you didn't know you were looking for. And it just might help unlock the creative genius inside of you. 

'This upcoming encyclical from Pope Francis on environmental issues has been widely anticipated around the world. It is tipped to emphasise the importance of nurturing all of creation and grasping the nettle in dealing with the ecological and environmental challenges the world is facing, through a shift in political and economic thinking that is life enhancing, especially for those in poverty.' - website

'In his encyclical 'Laudato Sí', Pope Francis shows the grave consequences of our blindness to the sacred, living earth. He quotes with enthusiasm Francis of Assisi: "Praise be to you, my Lord, through our Sister, Mother Earth, who sustains and governs us, and who produces various fruits with coloured flowers and herbs" (Canticle of Brother Earth and Sister Moon).

Cosmic Sparks builds on the thesis that Earth is all we have; we come from Earth and unto Earth we shall return. The collection of rituals is about realising that Earth is sacred once and for all.' - website