Maker Literacies and Maker Identities in the Digital Age


Book Description

This book explores “making” in the school curriculum in a period in which the ability to create and respond to digital artifacts is key and focuses on makerspaces in educational settings. Combining the arts with design to give a fuller picture of the engagement and wonder that unfolds with maker literacies, the book moves across such settings and themes as: Creativity and writing in classrooms Making and developing civic engagement Emotional experiences of making Race and gender in makerspace Game-based play and coding in schools and draws its case studies from the Netherlands, Finland, Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Giving as broad a perspective on makerspaces, making, and design as possible, the book will help scholars expand their understandings and help educators appreciate the power and worth of making to inspire students. It is useful for anyone hoping to apply design, maker, and makerspace approaches to their teaching and learning.




Becoming Forest: A Story of Deep Belonging


Book Description

Becoming Forest opens with Aishling—the young Irish woman at the heart of this story—as she visits her grandmother in California following her grandfather’s death. Aishling finds her grandfather’s journal and reads about a trip he made to India years ago to visit the original Bodhi Tree, the place where the Buddha found enlightenment. At the end of the journal, she finds a letter addressed to her from her grandfather asking for her help passing along his message of “deep security” to her generation as they deal with the climate crisis and the uncertain future ahead. Aishling goes to India to follow in her grandfather’s path to find a way of responding to his request. There she meets and falls in love with a young Buddhist monk, who is also on a quest. As they walk together along the roads of India, they gather unexpected and invaluable insights from each other and come closer to the answers they both seek. Thirty years later, Aishling’s daughter Tara is visiting her in Ireland. Tara is grieving the death of her father and also the destruction of the forests from drought and fire. She is also searching for a way to heal the burnout she and her friends are experiencing while working to combat climate change. Becoming Forest weaves together threads of Native American and Celtic spirituality with Buddhist understanding and connection to the natural world, creating a tapestry which holds both the despair and awakening of Aishling




The Burnout Solution


Book Description

Burnout is a state of chronic stress that leads to physical and emotional exhaustion, cynicism, detachment, feelings of ineffectiveness and lack of accomplishment – many of the same symptoms as depression. Burnout is on the increase as we struggle to juggle the pressures of work and family life with a constant feeling of always being on.Through her own experience of burnout and her work as a psychotherapist, Siobhán Murray has developed a 12-week plan for overcoming this condition.The Burnout Solution offers a step-by-step path through feelings of stress and anxiety towards renewed clarity of mind and an ability to prioritise the important things in life. Learn the beauty of saying no, rethink your boundaries, find your 'non-negotiables' and regain your power, passion and sense of purpose.




Derry Tale


Book Description

The intoxicating smell of a cube of Walnut pipe tobacco. The watery taste of the cream on the offered sweet. The 'Hello, little boy' as the man steps out of a copse of trees.These, the boy's addiction to the smell of gas, deep poverty, alienation and the 11+ exam build the terrain that explodes into a quarter of a century of political violence.This is life seen through the inquisitive eye of a young boy, his older seven sisters and his band of brothers - who are drawn ever closer by the brutal murder of one of their number.His mother, the epicentre of his childhood, is hostage to the vagaries of biology and the diktats of Catholic Ireland - diktats that are thrown into hilarious disarray with the arrival of American sailors, their Dixie-cup hats and Chesterfield cigarettes.Told with striking simplicity, with sensory information swooping and tearing at our hearts, A Derry Tale - In the beginning binds together credibly with jumps in time. Moments of great comedy, dry humour, and perceptive description pervade this, the first in a trilogy.




Grim's Door


Book Description

The Divine Comedy meets The Dark Tower as a hellish new attraction arrives at a smalltown carnival in this tale of horror inspired by Norse & Viking folklore. Old Grim—or Grimnir—comes from a time long before even Christianity had been born. Through all these years his kin have slowly faded into memory, and even the gods which once sat with him in his halls are now lost. His last hope was to spend his remaining years creating a world all of his own. The world of Altheim. Yet there is something missing. An ancient prophecy in which blood of his own line must rule, lest Altheim descend into chaos—the ripples of which will bring about the Twilight of the Gods themselves . . . The carnival comes every year, but in 1929, it brought something new. Beatrix finds that the price of admission, having your fortune told, may be too high of a price . . .




Just One More Question


Book Description

The No 1 Bestseller 'Compelling ... colourful, thoughtful' Sunday Independent 'Tubridy's compassionate, no-nonsense approach makes him a comforting guide through the landscape of neurological medicine' Irish Times __________ As a medical student Niall Tubridy fell in love with neurology. Figuring out how the brain and nervous system signal problems was a form of high stakes detective work and answers could be life-changing. Just One More Question is the story of Niall Tubridy's career in neurology. He shares the stories of encounters that are, by turn, poignant, dramatic and funny, such as... - The chef who goes for his usual morning walk, and loses his memory for the next six hours - The painter who believes her left hand is her guardian angel - The eager young lover whose head 'explodes' every time he orgasms Using simple and illuminating language Tubridy also explains well-known conditions like multiple sclerosis, motor neuron disease and Parkinson's and and brings us into the examining room as he accompanies patients with these diagnoses on their challenging path. In addition, he reflects candidly on the reasons he, a doctor's son, went into medicine, how he has been tested, and what he has learned about people - and about himself - along the way. Revealing, gripping and moving, Just One More Question will make you think in a new way about the human brain - and about what it's like to be a doctor. __________ 'Fascinating ... teems with interesting characters' Sunday Business Post '[Oliver] Sacks hoped that his neurological tales ... could bring us closer to where the psychic and the physical meet ... Tubridy's concerns are less rarefied. He wants us to understand the human toll that illness takes' Sunday Times 'It's a most readable book. There's no jargon in it' Seán O'Rourke, RTÉ '[My brother] has written a book which has to be one of the most extraordinary books written in Irish medical history! I would say that, wouldn't I? But it is great. It's really good, really accessible, a super read. We're all very proud of him' Ryan Tubridy, RTÉ 'Fascinating' Liz Nugent 'Very interesting and very entertaining' Pat Kenny 'Niall's sense of wonder at the human brain is enormously clear even with almost three decades of work in the field under his belt' RTÉ Lifestyle 'Will make you think in a whole new way about the human brain' Ireland AM 'A book that will fascinate you with the patients' tales but leave you at the end pondering the notion of what life really is' Journal.ie 'Simple and illuminating' Irish News 'Written in a very accessible way for non-medical people, like myself' Dave Fanning, RTÉ




Plain Jane


Book Description

At nearly 16, Jane has lived in the shadow of her little sister Emma's cancer diagnosis for over three years. Not that she was ever in the limelight; it is her sister who is the talented one, a dancer who at ten had been outgrowing her small town teachers' skills. Jane had never resented her sister's talent; without any interests herself, it had always kept the pressure off her. Now though, with her parents struggling to cope financially and emotionally, Jane's life in her rural mining village seems to be a never ending monotony of skipping school, long bus rides to the hospital and hanging out with a boyfriend she doesn't even know why she is with. Nobody really cares that her life is stuck in neutral; she is finding it difficult to care herself ... Ultimately, Jane begins to understand the real parts of her life that are good; her sister Emma's chances of recovery begin to improve and the two sisters try to rebuild the relationship they shared before the illness took over.




Creating Outstanding Classrooms


Book Description

This timely new book outlines a whole-school approach to embedding a sustainable model of teaching and learning that puts the learner at the heart of the system. It provides an entire framework for ensuring all students achieve above their expectations; incorporating school vision, teacher professional development, assessment models, school culture, leadership and management, and core classroom practices. It takes what the current research suggests does – and does not – work and builds it into a practical approach that has been tried, tested and proven to work. Each section incorporates the research, a model of how this can be embedded across a school and then a training section that allows senior leaders in schools to teach the skill-set to others to ensure it can be embedded and reviewed. Covering all aspect of teaching and learning including curriculum design, teacher practices, assessment and leadership, the book features: a clear planning framework that is easy to implement; subject based case studies to exemplify good practice; diagrams to clarify and consolidate information; training activities throughout each chapter, also available to download at www.routledge.com/9780415831178. Designed to be used as a training tool for both new and established teachers, this book is essential reading for senior leaders that want to equip their teachers with the skills and knowledge to create a school of outstanding classrooms.




The Survivor's Mindset Overcoming Cancer


Book Description

Why it so difficult to change your lifestyle habits, even when you know your life is at risk? Bernadette Bohan acknowledges that it's not easy to change your life, especially if you are also dealing with a health crisis that is in itself life-changing. The Survivor's Mindset provides a series of easy-to-understand strategies to help overcome the hesitancies, fears and prejudices that are so often a barrier to making personal change. Using case studies, Bernadette shows how different therapies and approaches can be used to develop personal strengths and overcome doubts, helping you to make the changes you need to make. These real stories from real people vividly illustrate how lifestyles can be restructured both physically and mentally to help you recover from, and indeed prevent, illness.




Love and the Game


Book Description

Do hustlers need love too? This is the question in the fictional jaunt of Love and the Game. Jersey City author, Daniel Ali explores the socio-economic causes of criminality in the inner cities of America, and how those who get caught up in the ‘Game’ reconcile their lives, relationships, and emotions. Ali unpacks the ‘Game’ through protagonist Adriano de Souza, a young, first-generation Afro-Brazilian street hustler torn between a lucrative but violent world and the woman he’s loved his entire life. He intentionally and methodically unmasks their pain and secret coping mechanisms as they struggle to balance life with betrayal and deception. He skillfully breathes life into relatable characters by focusing on the real-world human themes evident in the tragic but all too common reality of the street. While Love and the Game exposes the truths of the fast-life allure and the American lust for material gain, it also offers a unique perspective of the conflicted, inner humanity of many of those who get caught up and whose voices are often muted.