A couple of years ago, I read Carol Dweck™s Mindset: The New Psychology of Success and it made me think a lot about how my mindset has affected my success and failure as a chess player. As a result, I made a lot of changes in my approach to my training and gameplay “ as well as what I do with myself and how I process the game and the outcome afterwards. I remember thinking that somebody should write a book about this kind of thing in relation to chess, and this has now happened thanks to Barry Hymer and Peter Wells. 

Chess Improvement is very different from most chess books in that it is not packed with actual examples from chess games. There are some chess examples, but these are there to contextualise the theories and examples discussed. In addition to the discussion by the authors, there are insights offered from several of the best players in England from the last couple of decades, including: Adams, Short, Howell, Jones, McShane, Sadler, and Hunt. An impressive line-up “ and their insights from their successes and failures definitely help to underline the validity of the authors™ analysis and hypothesis. 



This book should be a must-read for all ambitious players, as well as their coaches and parents (if we are talking about a young player). It is eye-opening in many aspects of psychology and in the approach to playing and supporting a player. Through the reading of this book, I have had reason to finetune many of the things I do for myself, as well as for the students I work with. Without giving in to hyperbole, I think Chess
Improvement is one of the most important books pertaining to chess that have been written in the last few years, and possibly extending beyond that.

Carsten Hansen in American Chess Magazine, issue #20.

Find out more about Chess Improvement here.

Pros

From an early point, Paul encourages that teachers and school leaders upgrade their own professional behaviours and relationships to make a setting safer, more predictable and better place to learn.
The book starts very strongly, encouraging ˜Emotionally Consistent Teaching™, offering great guidance to become calm, consistent and seemingly unruffled by challenges that you face each day in the classroom.
When face with challenging behaviours, as a teacher, Paul guides with tips and ideas that aim to repair, restore and get students returning to learning as soon as possible. Kindness and soft power rule.
In exploring the Glasgow Model, Paul calls that schools see that exclusion is not a behaviour strategy and that exclusion is not a default response.
Patience is key, and the book finishes off with a call to lead like a tortoise with fantastic advice on how to develop policies that weed out negative language but mirror the simplicity of daily practice.

Read the full review here.

Discover After the Adults Change here.

A 75-minute professional shot in the arm for new and experienced practitioners working in Key Stages 3 & 4

If you would like to improve your students™ conceptual and contextual understanding of your curriculum come and join us. And it™s FREE!   

We will be discussing:

the six principles that underpin a good RE lesson.

what ˜disciplinary lenses™ are

how you can ensure good feedback from your pupils



But, ultimately, in this interactive session, how the conversation goes will be up to you!

Find out more here.

Find out more about Making Every RE Lesson Count here.

PROS

• This book offers invaluable behaviour management for any secondary teaching colleague who works in any challenging school.


• Sharing his own experiences, Samuel demonstrates that it is possible to build rapport, respect and effective learning with pupils who the system may not accommodate for.


• Many behaviour management strategies shared within the book are developed from research, psychology and Samuel™s own experiences.


• This is a very raw book, offering real-life classroom scenarios, that will be invaluable for any secondary teaching colleague wanting to develop their confidence for dealing with challenging behaviour.


• Ideal for NQTs, trainee teachers or teachers who struggle with behaviour management issues with ˜those groups™.

Read the full review here.

Find out more about ASBO Teacher here.

NULL

‹Click here to listen to the interview.

Discover a bit more about Rubin Battino and his publications here now!