Product reviews for Teachers Change Your Bait!

Martha Kaufeldt's Teachers, Change Your Bait wins this week's prize for most self-consciously wacky title. It's written with the full age span of school learners in mind and the presentation heavy on clip art tries to create a sense of fun and accessibility. This fits with what we are told about the author: Martha Kaufeldt is a teacher and presenter from Santa Cruz, California. Her case is that “we can't wait for the neuroscientists to tell us what to do with our classes of unique learners”. That's where she parachutes in with strategies that are “compatible with how the brain learns”. Consequently, using her son's interest in angling as a template, she encourages us to think about the best time of day for learning, choose the best location, stock our tackle boxes with strategies and diverse lures. You get the idea.

There are chapters on hooking students' interest, varying the physical environment, and building understanding. If you can inoculate yourself against the occasional excesses of Californian wackiness, this is a hugely practical book. It's written by a teacher who clearly knows how to engage and motivate young people, and that charm and enthusiasm comes shining through in the book. Not that Martha Kaufeldt is (wait for it) fishing for compliments.