Product Description

Two award-winning educators give you strategies to reach out and instill skills for success in your kids or students

With multiple teaching awards to their credit, Tommie Lindsey and Randall McCutcheon have taught every type of student--from the underprivileged to the ordinary. It Doesn't Take a Genius gives you first-hand access to the strategies that have inspired students to succeed, even in impoverished districts.

Entertaining and packed with practical advice, this motivating narrative is organized into five principles, each composed of "bite-size" lessons and testimonials from the teachers' greatest success stories.

(20051201)

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #728136 in Books
• Published on: 2005-11-15
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 240 pages

Review
Teacher, coach, and author Randy McCutcheon and Lindsey, who works in the California public school system, share their award-winning strategies for teaching and transforming at-risk students into academic and social success stories. Their approach is organized around what they believe to be five "truths" that, if properly applied, will assist all students in turning possibilities into realities; these truths, in turn, are presented in brief, easy-to-read and -follow steps that are complemented by testimonials from the authors' students, all inner-city children from at-risk backgrounds who went on to defy the odds and become successful adults. The practical, insightful, and realistic strategies are designed to assist students in becoming not only smarter but also more confident, curious, and motivated. This unique book demonstrates the impact that highly qualified teachers can have on a student's success. Highly recommended for all libraries and for all readers interested in learning effective teaching techniques. -- Walter J. Cegelka, St. Thomas University, Miami (Library Journal )

From the Back Cover

Be the reason your students succeed

Do you remember that teacher who literally changed your life? Most likely, it wasn't the teacher who stood in front of the class and lectured every day, filling your little head with information. In fact, you probably can't even remember specifically what you learned in the class, only that you had some sort of awakening. As coauthor Tommie Lindsay points out, a great teacher doesn't merely provide knowledge but rather "takes away the barriers to learning."

It Doesn't Take a Genius will help you become that teacher. Written by two nationally acclaimed educators, this inspirational collection of real-life lessons takes you past the long hours, low pay, and school politics that come to dominate the job and provides a refreshing reminder of why you entered the profession in the first place: to change lives for the better. It Doesn't Take a Genius will also help parents identify and break through that seemingly invisible barrier preventing their kids from reaching their highest potential.

Tommie Lindsey and Randall McCutcheon have divided their book into five sections, each focusing on a single "truth" they believe will motivate students and forge them into individuals who want to be engaged in their education and the outside world.

These five "truths" will aid you in being the model all kids need and deserve--regardless of their background. The authors' ideas, presented in short, easy-to-digest articles, are complemented with first-hand success stories written by former students who defied the odds, including inner-city kids with at-risk backgrounds.

Every student has a purpose in this world, and it's one of life's great gifts to help him or her find it. Practical and insightful, It Doesn't Take a Genius arms you with realistic strategies to create students who will go out into the world not only smarter but--more important--motivated, confident, and curious.

Learn how to become the teacher you always wanted to be and to help your students realize their potential

Each and every student is fertile ground for learning, even those who seem bored, distracted, or even bitter. All they need is care and attention. Whether you are a struggling teacher or frustrated parent, It Doesn't Take a Genius helps you foster success in even the most apathetic of students.

The authors, who hold numerous teaching awards, share their secrets of turning kids from all walks of life into successful students who go on to lead fulfilling, productive lives in adulthood. It Doesn't Take a Genius is organized into five universal "truths" behind making great possibilities come true. Accompanying the authors' inspiring ideas are first-hand accounts from their former students describing how they turned their lives around to become successful lawyers, playwrights, professors, and more.

Written with affection and sincerity--and featuring cartoons by acclaimed cartoonist Sidney Harris--It Doesn't Take a Genius is a refreshing response to detached behavioral theory, dry teaching manuals, and negative media stories concerning teachers and our education system. It provides the tools you need to help students unlock their enormous potential. Best of all, you'll come away with the very real but often forgotten fact that the desire to build students into curious, caring members of society isn't a pipe dream. It's a calling.

About the Author

Tommie Lindsey works in the California public school system, where nearly 100 percent of his students have gone on to college--in a district where the average college admission rate is 38 percent. He won the MacArthur Foundation's Genius Grant in 2004 and has also been named the nation's top forensics coach and California Teacher of the Year.

Randall McCutcheon is an award-winning teacher, coach, and author who is also a former Teacher of the Year and National Forensics League Coach of the Year. He taught high school English, speech, debate, and journalism for twenty-seven years and is the author of the Increase Your Score in 3 Minutes a Day series of prep guides for the SAT and ACT exams.

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Customer Reviews

A Book to Ponder
This book is a fascinating mix of direct and indirect communication. The book's basic points are made directly
by its coauthors and then exemplified indirectly by the vignettes provided by an interesting assemblage of their
former students. The coauthors' arguments are clear and unlittered with academic jargon. (For example, what
academics would call "intertextuality" is discussed without invoking the guild's current buzzword.) Many of the
brief student contributions are surprisingly moving.

In characterizing one of Tommie Lindey's emphases, a student writer (Joseph Riley Whitfield Jr.) in fact aptly
describes the book: "...a complex message delivered in common language [that] does not lose its sense of
the profound."

My advice to readers would be to read each of the "five truths" sections, breaking off reading after each to ponder
what it means for them. Considered and pondered, the book has practical and uplifting messages that have made, and will make, a difference.

Nurturing the genius in every child
While this inspiring book tells us that "it doesn't take a genius" to help students succeed, passage after passage show us how these two dedicated educators manage to bring out the genius in each of the students whose lives they touch. This is powerful testimony to the commitment, passion, wisdom, and strategies of skillful teachers who, first and foremost, believe in their students and honor them as human beings, thereby enabling them to attain excellence, not only in high school but also in life. This is a must-read book for teachers, parents, and others who might be moved by stories of student success against all odds posed by living in an inequitable, race-based society.

An inspiring work
Reading "It Doesn't Take A Genius" was an inspirational experience. Having been more than a little disillusioned by our nation's crumbling public education system, this book reaffirmed my faith in it. This should be required reading for all teachers, because it helps them truly recognize the tremendous impact that they can have on the lives of children who might otherwise have nothing else.