Some subjects seem too hot for a group to discuss sanely. Not necessarily.The Little Book of "Cool Tools for Hot Topics" -- Group Tools to Facilitate... Meetings When Things Are Hot shows how to help people hear each other when they feel like shouting; how to focus on the issues at stake rather than having a war of personalities; how to employ actual practices for better understanding (interviews, small-group discussions, role-reversal presentations); and how to move a group toward making a decision that all can honestly support.Lead author Ron Kraybill is a professor of Conflict Studies in the Conflict Transformation Program at Eastern Mennonite University, Harrisonburg, Virginia. During the years of the South African political transition, he trained local, regional, and national leadership in negotiation and mediation skills and served as a training advisor to the National Peace Accord.Cool Tools is rich in anecdotes and practical how-to for any group faced with tension-filled decision-making.

From the acclaimed author of Population: 485 and Truck: A Love Story comes a humorous, heartfelt memoir of a new life in the country. Living in a... ramshackle Wisconsin farmhouse—faced with thirty-seven acres of fallen fences and overgrown fields, and informed by his pregnant wife that she intends to deliver their baby at home—Michael Perry plumbs his unorthodox childhood for clues to how to proceed as a farmer, a husband, and a father. Whether he's remembering his younger days—when his city-bred parents took in sixty or so foster children while running a sheep and dairy farm—or describing what it's like to be bitten in the butt while wrestling a pig, Perry flourishes in his trademark humor. But he also writes from the quieter corners of his heart, chronicling experiences as joyful as the birth of his child and as devastating as the death of a dear friend.

As the globe shrinks, it is more important than ever to discuss ways for diverse groups to coexist peacefully. However, the individualistic ethic of... many competitive, adversarial models of argument undermines the interdependence so critical to an increasingly global society. This practical text offers a fresh approach to argumentation--one that combines reason and refutation with community building, mutual respect, and a recognition of interdependence. The authors provide a wide variety of examples to illustrate concrete proposals for cultivating moral abilities, cognitive skills, and communicative virtues. The ability to engage in cooperative argumentation across differences--moral, social, economic, political ethnic--permits individuals to resolve conflicts peacefully, effectively, and responsibly. Titles of related interest from Waveland Press: Hollihan-Baaske, Arguments and Arguing: The Products and Process of Human Decision Making, Second Edition (ISBN 9781577663621); Holmes-Gan, Nonviolence in Theory and Practice, Third Edition (ISBN 9781577667605); and Infante, Arguing Constructively (ISBN 9780881333275).

The laboratory course described in the lab manual emphasizes experimental design, data analysis, and problem solving. Inherent in the design is the... emphasis on communication skills, both written and oral. Students work in groups on open-ended projects in which they are given an initial scenario and then asked to investigate a problem. There are no formalized instructions and students must plan and carry out their own investigations.

The text begins with an overview of concepts from system theory. New results are provided on feedback stabilization and smooth control of non-holonomic... systems. Control design moves from open-loop steering control of an individual vehicle to cooperative control of multiple vehicles, a progression culminating in a decentralized control hierarchy requiring only local feedback information. Novel methods are presented: parameterization for collision avoidance and optimization in path planning; near-optimal control for tracking and regulation of non-holonomic chained systems and matrix-theoretical analysis of cooperativity. These methods generate solutions of guaranteed performance for problems of: optimal and collision-free path planning; near-optimal stabilization of non-holonomic systems; cooperative control of dynamic systems. Examples, simulations and comparative studies add zest to the fundamental issues, illustrate the technical approaches and verify the performance of the final control designs.

Increase student achievementIntervene effectively when students misbehaveDevelop a classroom climate and school culture based on caring, clear limits,... consistency, and respectBuild a foundation for the prevention of violenceImprove home, school, and community collaborationElementary and Secondary level packages availableOffers more practical, effective strategies for dealing with angry, aggressive, and difficult studentsFeatures conflict resolution process that resolves teacher-student problems, as well as student-student problemsFurther cements the parent-teacher partnership with strategies for including parents in the planning processModels a classroom code of conduct that holds all students accountable and teaches them how to evaluate their own behavior

Children live what they learn through games and play. Through Cooperative Games and Sports, you can teach children how to play with—rather than... against—each other, using 150 field-tested games and activities that are designed to build a child's self-worth through cooperation, acceptance, inclusion, and fun. The premise of cooperative games is that everybody wins and everybody has fun. With activities like cooperative musical chairs, partner gymnastics, and math and spelling games, children learn valuable concepts, plus you aren't left scrambling for expensive equipment in the process. These versatile games allow you to adapt the rules, equipment, and number of players to your own participants' capabilities and to different physical settings. You'll also find a chapter dedicated to teaching you how to create your own games.Cooperative Games and Sports shifts the focus from the outcome of a game to the experience of playing it. With instructive photos and straightforward terminology, it is your guide to building positive interactions that teach children—and adults—the value of playing simply for the sake of playing.

Written by the Outstanding Teacher of the Year, this book is an excellent guide for making social studies exciting and active, while covering course... content. This book will show you how to use cooperative learning strategies to make your social studies classroom come alive. Each of the 24 cooperative strategies includes an in-depth description, steps, activity ideas to use the strategy with other social studies content, and a lesson with ready-to-use blackline masters. Lessons are designed to teach the themes recommended by the National Council of Social Studies including issues, geography, historical events, historical characters, and current events. Also includes how to get started, how to manage the cooperative social studies class, what to do for assessment and evaluation. A favorite for middle and high school social studies teachers!

Widely used by Curriculum Directors and Administrators, this handbook/reference focuses on the everyday details of developing, organizing, operating,... and managing the cooperative occupational education plan—with topics presented in a logical sequence of an educational planning-strategy-structure system. It shows how to apply the plan at the secondary level, adult workforce level, and post-secondary and collegiate levels, and to occupations in agriculture, business, family and consumer sciences, marketing, and trade and industry. Features complete forms (training agreements, student evaluation forms, training plans, etc.) for use in coordinating and managing cooperative educational programs in each area. Covers in detail the impact of current vocational legislation, legal aspects, evaluation, and accountability of cooperative education. Cooperative Education Models. Coordinators and Their Roles. Initiating the Plan. Coordinator Responsibilities at the Secondary Level, for Adult Workforce, at the Post-secondary and Collegiate Levels. Planning and Carrying Out Effective In-school Instruction. Developing Training Stations as Instructional Laboratories. Correlating Instruction Between School and Job Laboratories. Accountability Through Evaluation. Legal and Regulatory Aspects of Cooperative Education. The Plan in Agricultural, Business, Health, Family and Consumer Sciences, Marketing, and Trade and Industrial Occupations. For Curriculum Directors, Local Administrators, Teachers, and Consultants involved in cooperative vocational education.

Comprehensive, up to date discussion of ag cooperatives written by leading authorities and sponsored by AIC. Less expensive than the competition.... Comprehensive, up to date discussion of ag cooperatives written by leading authorities and sponsored by AIC. Less expensive than the competition. Sophomore/Junior level courses in Ag Econ departments.

...practical & straight forward manner how elementary & secondary teachers can work together to better serve all the students in their... classrooms...