"The Having of Wonderful Ideas" & Other Essays on Teaching & Learning

Rating:
Summary: Some Wonderful Ideas
Review: "The Having of Wonderful Ideas", by Eleanor Duckworth, was not quite what I expected. Although I learned from some aspects of the book I expected more"ideas" that could be easily understood and incoporated into classroom activities. I felt that the essays on the many experiments conducted by the author and Piaget were far too lengthy, almost drowning out any real "wonderful ideas". This book is not easy to read, and may leave the reader struggling to read to the end. However, as I stated previously I did learn a few things, but they came too far and few between the lengthy essays.

Rating:
Summary: Some Wonderful Ideas
Review: "The Having of Wonderful Ideas", by Eleanor Duckworth, was not quite what I expected. Although I learned from some aspects of the book I expected more "ideas" that could easily be understood and incorporated into classroom activities. I felt that the essays on the many experiments conducted by the author and Piaget were far too lengthy, almost drowning out any real "wonderful ideas". This book is not easy to read, and may leave the reader struggling to read to the end. However, as I stated previously, I did learn a few things, but they came too far and few between the lengthy essays.

Rating:
Summary: Some Wonderful Ideas
Review: "The Having of Wonderful Ideas", by Eleanor Duckworth, was not quite what I expected. Although I learned from some aspects of the book I expected more"ideas" that could be easily understood and incoporated into classroom activities. I felt that the essays on the many experiments conducted by the author and Piaget were far too lengthy, almost drowning out any real "wonderful ideas". This book is not easy to read, and may leave the reader struggling to read to the end. However, as I stated previously I did learn a few things, but they came too far and few between the lengthy essays.

Rating:
Summary: How about the Having of Original Ideas?
Review: Although the book was inciteful, it seemed to be a little less than original. As a result of studying under Jean Piaget, Eleanor Duckworth (author of the Having of Wonderful Ideas) learned a great deal about cognitive development. However, her ideas for the book and her foundation for the book was simply restating much of Piaget's work adding her own interpretations here and there. Many of these "interpretations" were quite helpful in further understanding Piaget's work, but most were not. Anyone familiar with Piaget's work might find this particular text somewhat repetitive.

Rating:
Summary: "The Having of Wonderful Ideas"
Review: Although the book was inciteful, it seemed to be a little less that original. As a result of studying under Jean Piaget, Eleanor Duckworth (author of "The Having of Wonderful Ideas") learned a great deal about cognitive development. However, her ideas for the book and her foundation for the book were simply restating much of Piaget's work adding her own interpretation here and there. Many of these "interpretations" were quite helpful in further understanding Piaget's work, but most were not. Anyone familiar with Piaget's work might find this particular text a little redundant. Nevertheless, her "twist" on Piaget's theories may be helpful, so try it for yourself.

Rating:
Summary: I'd give it 10 stars if I could
Review: For me, the real strength of this book is the way the presence of Eleanor Duckworth shines through her writing. I liken it more to the beacon provided by a lighthouse than to a how-to manual that describes rowing techniques. The clear direction that shown through for me was that learning is complex, and that teacher behaviors must be equally complex, but the guiding light is simple: Listen to and respect the learner and respond with your whole person, and the learning that needs to happen will occur, for both partners in the process.

Rating:
Summary: I'd give it 10 stars if I could
Review: For me, the real strength of this book is the way the presence of Eleanor Duckworth shines through her writing. I liken it more to the beacon provided by a lighthouse than to a how-to manual that describes rowing techniques. The clear direction that shown through for me was that learning is complex, and that teacher behaviors must be equally complex, but the guiding light is simple: Listen to and respect the learner and respond with your whole person, and the learning that needs to happen will occur, for both partners in the process.

Rating:
Summary: Lovely~Not a Compilation of Lesson Plans~A Must for Teachers
Review: This book is excellent. It is an important read for teachers today. As an educator it is extremely disheartening to see the direction of education being driven today by politicians, rather than parents and teachers. Ms. Duckworth redirects are attention where it belongs, on the students & how they learn. This book gets us (teachers) thinking about the kind of classroom culture we want to create for our children. It is about what we value as educators. Don't mistake it for a quick reference, how-to book. This is not meant to be a outline of various lesson plans to try out with your class. It is more thoughtful than that and more important

Rating:
Summary: Lovely~Not a Compilation of Lesson Plans~A Must for Teachers
Review: This book is excellent. It is an important read for teachers today. As an educator it is extremely disheartening to see the direction of education being driven today by politicians, rather than parents and teachers. Ms. Duckworth redirects are attention where it belongs, on the students & how they learn. This book gets us (teachers) thinking about the kind of classroom culture we want to create for our children. It is about what we value as educators. Don't mistake it for a quick reference, how-to book. This is not meant to be a outline of various lesson plans to try out with your class. It is more thoughtful than that and more important

Rating:
Summary: Having of Wonderful Ideas? A BIT MISLEADING!
Review: This book is one of the most difficult books I have ever read. It seems to me that the author, Eleanor Duckworth, simply gathered a great deal of dreadfully boring, scientific information and put it in one pile. For the most part, I feel like I had to read parts at least 3 times for it to make sense. In all fairness, though, there are some good ideas in the book and that is why I gave it 2 stars instead of one. The title is very much misleading, in my opinion. It should have been called something like - "A CATALOGUE OF WHAT SOMEONE ELSE THOUGHT WAS WONDERFUL IDEAS". Good luck to all who attempt this one - know in advance what you are getting into and it might not be so bad.