Presentation Rubric for Book Reviews

for Class and PLC/Discussion Board Collaboration

Part 1: Professional Reading Assignment

Honorio Gonzalez
EDU 542

Select/read a book from the list in the syllabus or one of your choice (with approval of professor) that
meets the criteria of a professional level book related to teaching and learning.
One book can be selected for the PLC group to read or different books can be selected. The
responses will still be made by individual group members.
The key is to synthesize the information and encourage others to read the book. Link the
information to the Big Idea of increasing student learning.
Do not recreate or try to teach the entire book. Others can read the book if they are interested.
Your job is to synthesize the information and present it in a compelling and professional manner.
Use the notions of Depth and Complexity in your review.
After reading the book each group member will do the following:
(No cursory responses table expands to accommodate your thinking.)

Chavis, B., & Blakely, C. (2009). Crazy Like a fox: One principals triumph in the inner city.
New York, NY: New American Library.
Task
Select 2-3 key
areas or points
made by the author
that add to your
professional learning
and synthesize the
ideas by making
connections to other
relevant research
and current
information to
support the validity
of the book content.

Response

Point 1- He is willing to get rough in the sense that he will take what many would
could an un-political correct approach when it comes to dealing with race at his
school.
He sees it as the only real way to address the issue while also doing something
about it.
Which he did without all the bureaucracy that would have prevented him otherwise
if he were at another school.

Point 2- He is has approach that would be considered very strict by many when it
comes to dealing with discipline at his school.

This allowed him set high expectations for the students from the get go in regards
to discipline.

Point 3- He has an approach that would be considered entrepreneurial by many

when it was first enacted at his school.

Elaborate on these

He would reward the students who came and attended classes every day and thus
give an incentive and reason for the students to attend their classes.
Idea 1: He believes that race doesnt matter when it comes to things like education.
1

key ideas (in

previous task) by
evaluating the ideas
and applying the
ideas to professional
practice.

Anyone can accomplish anything in the field od education as like as they put their minds
to it. The issue of race is one that many of his school hadnt tried to address at his school
before and many thought it was one of the reasons why the schools was failing because of
where the school was located in and the people attending it. But he did not think that was
an issue even though others may have believed otherwise, thus he set out to prove them
wrong by addressing this issue in that race didnt matter when it came to education and
making sure that everyone at the school knew. Ben Chavis states, Our staff does not
subscribe to the back swamp logic of minority students as victims. We will plow through
such cornfield philosophy with common sense and hard work! (p. 278).
Idea 2: Chavis was determined to restart everything at his school from the ground up and
he decided to also tackle the issue of discipline. Many people at his school had previously
not giving this a second thought because of where the school was located in, daily
disciplinary had become a common thing to deal with. Thus, the teachers and the staff
were no longer motivated to get to the core of a students problem when it manifested
itself. They would just deal with it disciplinarily as they would usually at their school. So
he decided that getting to the core of a students problem and addressing it was just as
important as disciplining them. Ben Chavis further states We retain those students not
willing to work towards improving their academic or social skills to advance to the next
grade level (p. 280).
Idea 3: Chavis decided that he would become capitalistic when it came to dealing with the
attendance issue at his school. He did this because he believed it would work the best and
produce the best outcomes since all other methods of boosting attendance records were
not working so well. However, many people began to criticize this because of how he was
rewarding the students at his school. They wanted for him to stop rewarding students the
way he did by incentivize and motivating the students to attend classes daily. Chavis chose
to continue this method because it was producing results and the attendance records were
going up. Ben Chavis further states We encourage classes to compete with each other
and instill in students the values of free market capitalistic society (p. 281).

Evaluate the content

in relationship to a
Christian worldview.
Describe and
explain areas of
compatibility and
areas of
differences?

Chavis was correct in that race doesnt matter when it comes to accomplishing things as
long as you put your minds to it and also hard work. To Christians it also matter who the
person is or their race so as long they are willing to learn they will be taught. This can be
demonstrated in how missionary schools all over the world for the past century have
taught and given people an education regardless of who they were or their race. Chavis
was also correct in how address the issue of discipline at his school because it is similar to
how the bible addresses the issue of discipline. Proverbs 13:24 state, Whoever spares the
rod hates their children, but the one who loves their children is careful to discipline them
(NIV). Chavis address he students issues while also carefully disciplining them for it just
like the verse above intended it to be. The one thing that I did not agree with is that Chavis
might have rewarded his too much for attending school daily and made them too
capitalistic. This is a bad thing because if not done with moderation it can lead to having
too much of a capitalistic and profit-driven mindset. 1st Timothy 6:10 states For the love
of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from
the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs (NIV). The students could become too
eager to always get their rewards to quickly which can lead to other problems in the
future.
2

Link the book

content to
one/several of the
four theories we are
studying in this
course. Provide a
comprehensive
overview of how the
content of this book
falls into the
category of one or
more of these four
theories.

Describe1-3 Big
Ideas that seem to
link your book to a
theory we are
studying and provide
a rationale for your
choice. Explain in
full detailed manner.
Your critical thinking
should come
through your report.

The social learning theory is what I see is making up the better part of the book because of
how Chavis went around implementing his plans and the results of those plans in action.
He in a sense took on the role of a teacher and became a facilitator and encourager to both
the students and the staff at this school. He became a flexible supervisor in how he
managed the school, students, and staff. By becoming a co-participant in the students
learning he set himself up as a role model that the students could look up to observe abd
learn from by observational learning. This encouraged them to participate more in their
classes and advance their own academic learning. He also used the model democratic
process and experience-based learning in how the teacher would teach and how he would
implement his changes. The students also became peer role models for each other and
became a primary part of the process of knowledge in their classroom learning with each
other in how they interacted with each other in classroom activities. The students also
began to participate more in their own education and cooperated more with their peers in a
democratic learning environment with the teacher, which would produce the change that
Chavis wanted to occur all along.
Big Idea #1- The students in Chaviss school are constructing their unique understanding
of the world in terms of their education. They are cooperating not only with the teacher
but with fellow students as well. Since the students can relate to one another they can
further their own unique understanding of what they are learning in the classroom. Thus,
they are actively sharing information with each other and growing in their educational
understanding of what they want to accomplish in their lives.
Big Idea #2- Chavis is also teaching the students self-efficacy and making sure that their
current actions in school positively affect their future learning and performance in
whatever the students set their mind to. The students will be able to learn self-regulation
and self-instruction in any topic they to discuss or research. They are also learning to
accomplish goals for themselves one step at a time, which is producing good results for
them. Therefore, self-efficacy for students is a primary goal that Chavis accomplished by
helping the students achieve this level of thinking and way of doing things.
Big Idea #3- The students are also cooperating with each other and reading each others
ideas on any topic/discussion that may occur in their classroom as seen by the school
results Chavis produced. The students can relate to one another and thus engage more
openly with each other I classroom activities. The students all come from a similar
socioeconomic and educational background, which is why they can relate to each other in
in their struggles in learning at school. Therefore, they are able to encourage one another
to persevere and continue to help each other in the process of learning at their school.

How has this

reading helped you
develop a deeper
conceptual
knowledge of this
content? Refer to
deeper learning in
Learning Sciences
article.

I will not only have the knowledge with how to approach certain education situations but
also how to apply and then modify it if the situation calls for it. I will also be able to help
the students advance their own educational learning by having them actively participate
with each other and have them become impassioned for their own learning and education.
I will also help the students by teaching them how to apply all that they have world to
real-world situations and how to precede once they have applied this knowledge and how
to modify it also if need be. I will also teach on prior knowledge that I have learned and
have the students do the same by teaching them something in which they already have
prior knowledge. This existing knowledge will then help them understand the topic better
3

Depth and
Complexity: How
did you achieve
deeper learning for
yourself in your
study of this book
content? Provide
explicit evidence.

How has this study

helped move you
from novice to
expert professional?
See chapter 17 of
text regarding
novice and expert
professionals.

and participate better in the classroom activities. Finally, I will teach the students the
importance of reflation on what they learned by having them discuss topics with each
other and also writing about which would give them the opportunity to analyze their own
state of knowledge in what they have learned in the classroom environment.
I learned by applying all previous knowledge that I had and have combined it with the
knowledge I have learned in this book on how Chavis raised the academic rank of his
school in the amount of time that he did. I also know now how to approach any situation
that may arise and hoe to apply what it carefully to the situation and also modify it if need
be. Using prior knowledge to approach a situation will also allow me to analyze the state
of my knowledge in regards to dealing with academic situations. I also know the students
participation in the classroom is key to their academic success and also to their future
learning. I will be able use the self-efficacy I have learned so far in my education in
accomplishing anything that I put my mind to with hard work.
I know have the knowledge with how to move from a novice to an expert professional in
the field of education. Everything I have learned so fat will continue to provide me with
the knowledge needed to always combine new knowledge with old one. This is the road of
an educator in that they are always learning how to continually apply new teaching
strategies to the one they already have. Thus, teaching future students self-efficacy will be
one of the goals that I will try to help them obtain for their own educational advancement
and future. Accomplishing this will help them better themselves while also helping them
obtain new knowledge they will be able to put into practice in future academic settings.

Part 3- Responses to other postings of group book reports

1. Respond at least 2-3 other book reports posted.
2. Include the following in your response to a book Review/colleagues:
o Application: How does this knowledge apply to your professional development and /or inform your
teaching practice?
o How does the book support or conflict with your worldview/Christian perspective?
o How do the Big Ideas (see Ormrods 10 big Ideas article below) in this book topic link to your
curriculum/teaching?
o How does the book content link to one of the theories?
o How does this content inform / support your worldview?
o Other points of interest you would like to share with your colleagues. Apply critical thinkingno
cursory responses on any of the areas of this assignment.

TEACHING: 10 BIG IDEAS

By Jeanne Ormrod
4

Many principles that we teach in educational psychology are common to two or more Isms. Here are ten examples
of such Big Ideas:
1. Learners do not passively absorb information from the environment; rather, they actively work to
make sense of their environment and construct their own, unique understandings of the world. This
perspective pervades much of cognitive theory; for instance, we see it in constructivists notion of
knowledge construction and in information processing theorists concept of elaboration. But it is also
shared by the active information seeking that some behaviorist describe.
2. Learning is more likely to occur when learners pay attention to the information to be learned. We see
this idea in information processing theorists dual-store model of memory, in social cognitive theorists four
essential conditions for modeling to occur, and in behaviorists concept of an orienting response.
3. Learners learn more effectively when they relate new information to prior knowledge. Such learning
may take the form of chaining two or more previously acquired S-R associations (a Piagetian perspective),
or drawing on an existing script to interpret a new situation (an idea from schema theory).
4. The close contiguity of events increases the likelihood that learners will associate those events with
one another. The concept of contiguity has historically been associated with behaviorist views of both
classical and operant conditioning. But it also plays a prominent role in contemporary views of information
processing: Two pieces of information are most likely to be associated in long-term memory if they have
been in working memory at the same time.
5. Learners future learning and performance are influenced by the consequences that follow their
behaviors. In some cases, these consequences may be external (e.g., concrete reinforcers, teacher
feedback); in other cases, they may be internal (e.g., feelings of satisfaction, causal attributions).
6. Hints about how to think or behave often facilitate performance. Hints take difference guises in
different Isms; for instance, they may be retrieval cues (information processing theory), scaffolding (the
sociocultural perspective), or discriminative stimuli (behaviorism).
7. Learning and development are fostered when learners are challenged to perform increasingly more
difficult tasks or to think in increasingly more sophisticated ways. We see this idea in concepts from
many theories; for example, we find it in Piagets disequilibrium. Vygotskys zone of proximal
development, Kohlbergs moral dilemmas, and behaviorists shaping. We see it, too, in information
processing theorists belief that learners develop more complex cognitive strategies only when
environmental events challenge them to do so, as well as in social cognitivists belief that self-efficacy is
better enhanced when learners succeed at challenging rather than easy tasks.
8. Learners benefit from hearing or reading the ideas of others. As noted earlier, many people
conceptualize information processing theory as being based on the notion that information is transmitted
from the outside world rather than constructed by the learner. This premise underlies much of behaviorism
as well; we see it not only in programmed instruction but also in the view that organisms are conditioned by
environmental circumstances. Yet this Big Idea is hardly unique to objectivist perspectives. Even social
constructivists acknowledge that group-constructed knowledge does not occur all at one sitting; for
instance, the physical, life, and social sciences have evolved over the years (in some cases, over the
centuries) through a process of studying, testing, modifying, and sometimes rejecting the ideas of those
who have gone before.

9. Learning is enhanced when learners engage in self-evaluation. We see this principle in behaviorists
programmed instruction, in information processing theorys concept of comprehension monitoring, and in
social cognitive theorys view of self-regulation.
10. Learning is best assessed by using an assessment instrument that reflects the goals of instruction (i.e.,
an instrument that has content validity). In some cases, this instrument may be a traditional paper-pencil
test (a strategy often attributed to behaviorist and/or information processing perspectives). In other cases, a
teacher can assure greater content validity by using authentic assessment (a strategy often attributed to the
constructivist and perspectives).

NOTE Ormonds conclusion and apply:

A focus on Big Ideas has at least three advantages over a focus on Isms. First, Big Ideas are far less
controversial than Isms; most theorists agree with them to some extent. (As an example, when I changed the title
of the Constructivism chapter in my educational psychology textbook to Knowledge Construction--thus
changing it from an Ism to a Big Idea--I received more consistently positive comments from reviewers.) Second,
Big Ideas typically describe general principles of learning and/or instruction that lend themselves readily to
concrete classroom applications; in contrast, experts do not always agree regarding the specific applications of
various Isms (e.g., see Anderson et al. [1997], or contrast the analyses of Spivey [1997] and Greeno et al. [1996]).
Finally, a focus on Big Ideas allows us to draw from two or more Isms simultaneously when developing
classroom applicationsperhaps to analyze the effectiveness of authentic activities (a notion for which both
constructivism and situated perspectives take credit) from the perspective of generalization (as behaviorists
describe it), or to talk about teacher scaffolding (a sociocultural concept) when discussing ways to promote
effective study strategies (strategies derived largely from information processing theory).