In her new book, Yvette Jackson shows educators how to focus on students’ strengths to inspire learning and high intellectual performance. Jackson asserts that the myth that the route to increasing achievement by focusing on weaknesses (promoted by policies such as NCLB) has blinded us to the strengths and intellectual potential of urban students—devaluing the motivation, initiative, and confidence of dedicated educators to search for and optimize this potential.The Pedagogy of Confide...

Many urban educators live in fear: of their schools being labeled failures, of increasingly punitive sanctions, of loss of respect and livelihood. This fear pervades the entire school community, affecting the physical, mental, and emotional well-being of its members.The authors of this guide to transformation in urban schools are convinced that the key ingredient for school renewal is fearless leadership. Fearless leaders work in schools under-resourced and overburdened an...

What if your next faculty meeting began with this question: What are the strengths of our underachieving students?When teachers recognize and focus on student strengths, they transform the learning environment into one of positivity and potential. Students begin to believe in themselves as capable, valued, and respected and show more willingness to invest and engage in school. They perform better. They crave and enjoy academic challenge, and they delight in outdoin...

With foreword by Paul LiabenowBuild compassionate classroom environments and mindful schools that prioritize high levels of achievement and high levels of well-being. Based on the latest neuroscience research, Mindfulness Practices details how mindfulness in schools can lead to new, improved ways of educating, learning, and living. The book's mindful education exercises are easily adaptable across grade levels -- from prekindergarten through high school -- as well...

Build a thriving school community that creates healthy, resilient, and successful students. A companion to Mindfulness Practices, this research-backed guide outlines how to teach self-regulation by fostering the five Cs of social-emotional learning and mindfulness: consciousness, compassion, confidence, courage, and community. The authors provide a wealth of practical exercises, strategies, and tools to bring this scientifically proven approach to life across grade levels and subj...

Written by a collective of brilliant authors, this essential work provokes respectful dialogue about race that catalyzes school-changing action. The book masterfully weaves together an array of scenarios and discussions, and directly addresses challenging topics such as discomfort, violence, advocacy, bias, and responsibility. The authors call on their lived experiences and, most important, their work with tens of thousands of educators, leaders, and students to help all of us do better in...

Christmas Time Is Here… And Brown Girls Books is bringing you nineteen talented writers, sharing heartwarming stories filled with the joy, sorrow and downright drama of this magical season. Christmas time brings out the best – and for some, the worst – in us and these holiday tales capture it all, just in time to warm your soul for the holidays. All I Want For Christmas is filled with tear-jerking, treasured, and laugh-inducing stories. Like Sonia Johnston's "Home...

A compelling look at the contemporary art and artists that are transforming Detroit's physical landscape.Detroit's unique and partly abandoned cityscape has scarred its image around the world for decades. But in the last several years journalists have begun to view the city through a different lens, focusing on the wide range of contemporary artists finding inspiration amid the emptiness and adding a more complex chapter to the story of a city long labeled as a hau...