Product reviews for Of Teaching, Learning and Sherbet Lemons

This book is packed full of such practical advice and stunning resources, covering so many different issues that learners, teachers and parents are facing every day. It should be provided as a reference book for every teacher on teacher training courses (and those already in the profession) as it provides not only a toolkit for dealing with those challenges that we all face but also helps us to realise that we are not alone. At its heart is the importance of learning for all - teachers included. I hope that the posters and the wonderful artwork will be available for us all to display because they are so powerful and meaningful. Just fantastic. 

Comments on some of the chapters:

Effective introduction, where the imagery of the sherbet lemon works well “Nina comes over well as a benevolent agony aunt, as “an impartial, caring, experienced educator.” I am sure many teachers can relate well to the turned off teacher who has lost their fizz, becoming “all hard exterior and no exciting middle.” 

In Chapter 2 the words. “Learning how to motivate and engage your learners is one of the most powerful skills you need to embed in your daily teaching and learning routines,” powerfully makes a simple but central and pivotal point; this issue is right at the heart of every day teaching and learning! This is a useful and stimulating chapter and the use of music as a means of pupil engagement is interesting. I love the idea of engagement being seen in “the sparkle in their eyes”

In Chapter 3 Nina clearly defines the term inclusion as: “Inclusion is the term we give to the belief and practice that all pupils can be taught in mainstream education with their chronologically age-appropriate peers. The idea is that with the necessary support and services for pupils with learning difficulties or disabilities in place, then a general education can be provided in all classrooms.” There are some helpful ideas with having to cope with the reality of inclusion - the SLIM is wonderful - it should be printed out and put in every staffroom.

I like the way in Chapter 5, where Dyslexia is seen as not being a disability, even to the point of it perhaps being a gift, if the person is aware of that they have also strengths and talents. It is encouraging to hear that Dyslexia - “is only a disability when a young person is unable to develop skills and strategies to get past the problems it throws up or lets it get in the way of other learning tasks and activities.”
A seminal and useful Chapter for teachers to reflect on a most important issue. The quality of 11 year old Olivia's letter speaks well for the work of teachers at Moon Hall College. Is the reply from Mr Gove referred to included or have I missed it?

Chapter 8 deals with the issue of pushy parents with some good advice and a refreshing approach to holistic education. We are there to encourage all learners to be the best they can be and develop the whole child. Later on in the book, this idea comes through more strongly with the beautiful phrase “the invisible stamp” which, I think, sums up what should be every teacher's approach to every learner in their class.

The teacher's school mentioned in Chapter 18 appears to have a lot to do about improving the quality of INSET provided, and makes the crucial point, “continuing professional development - or professional learning - is crucial for us as practitioners, as long as it serves to make us even better at what we do.” Nina, rightfully summarises that “the right INSET at the right time and for the right reasons can be extremely powerful.” Her advice to “Take your inspiration from the format of the ever-popular Teach Meets,” is very useful. A very helpful chapter.
Chapter 20 deals helpfully with the issue of bereavement. The advice given in Chapter 21 helps to confront a difficult professional issue in the working relationship of a teacher with her line manager. The suggestion to “Ask formally for her to 
come into your lessons, either to chat with the pupils about their learning or to do a lesson observation,” is sound and should bring about some resolution of the questionable relationship either one way or the other.

Chapter 22 seems to bring the imagery of the sherbet lemon back into focus. The title “Where's the spark gone?” could well be Where's the fizz gone? The chapter does encourage the teacher to reflect upon why the fizz appears to have gone out of class lessons. Is it the fault of those in the class or perhaps more importantly does it have something to do with the teacher?

In Chapter 23 the reader is usefully told that “dysgraphia is a neurological disorder linked with-¦-¦.challenges, such as poor handwriting-¦-¦-¦-¦. -˜Dys' means -˜difficulty' and -˜graphia' relates to -˜writing.” This is a useful interpretation of the original Greek and might have appeared earlier in the book, for example when Dyslexia was being so well discussed. Perhaps these chapters on Dyspraxia (Chapter 30,) and the multiple disorders discussed in Chapter 31 later, should be more closely linked in the book, with those on Dyslexia and Dysgraphia. 



Chapter 26 is currently of particular importance for teachers generally, as Nina remarks, self-harming-¦-¦-¦. “For some, it's a way of coping with distress, trauma and difficult emotions, such as self-esteem issues, the pressure of school and examinations and problems at home.” Whilst all of these issues are important day to day in schools, in terms of child protection the highlighting of problems at home or in the neighbourhood is an issue well raised. The “Whisperers and the Listeners' approach developed by the author seems to be worthy of some attention by schools. The poster appended to this chapter, “You are not Alone,” is both poignant, and very useful.

Chapter 28 properly asserts that “All good transition ensures there is a healthy emotional and academic link between the feeder primary schools and local secondary schools.” This is so true but sadly is not always so.