Most Popular Books by Thomas Armstrong

Armstrong describes the best practices in education based on what we currently know about human development.

A fully revised and updated edition of the groundbreaking book on tackling the root causes of children’s attention and behavior problems rather than masking the symptoms with medication. More than twenty years after Dr. Thomas Armstrong''s Myth of the A.D.D. Child first published, he presents much needed updates and insights in this substantially revised edition. When The Myth of the A.D.D. Child was first published in 1995, Dr. Thomas Armstrong made the controversial argument that many behaviors labeled as ADD or ADHD are simply a child''s active response to complex social, emotional, and educational influences. In this fully revised and updated edition, Dr. Armstrong shows readers how to address the underlying causes of a child''s attention and behavior problems in order to help their children implement positive changes in their lives. The rate of ADHD diagnosis has increased sharply, along with the prescription of medications to treat it. Now needed more than ever, this book includes fifty-one new non-drug strategies to help children overcome attention and behavior problems, as well as updates to the original fifty proven strategies.

A new term has emerged from the disability movement in the past decade to help change the way we think about neurological disorders: Neurodiversity. ADHD. Dyslexia. Autism. The number of categories of illnesses listed by the American Psychiatric Association has tripled in the past fifty years. With so many people affected by our growing -- culture of disabilities, -- it no longer makes sense to hold on to the deficit-ridden idea of neuropsychological illness. With the sensibility of Oliver Sacks and Kay Redfield Jamison, psychologist Thomas Armstrong offers a revolutionary perspective that reframes many neuropsychological disorders as part of the natural diversity of the human brain rather than as definitive illnesses. Neurodiversity emphasizes their positive dimensions, showing how people with ADHD, bipolar disorder, and other conditions have inherent evolutionary advantages that, matched with the appropriate environment or ecological niche, can help them achieve dignity and wholeness in their lives.

The author of the best-selling book Multiple Intelligences in the Classroom offers practical strategies for teaching reading and writing through multiple intelligences.

Based on psychologist Howard Gardner''s pioneering theory of "multiple intelligences," the original edition of 7 Kinds of Smart identified seven distinct ways of being smart, including "word smart," "music smart," "logic smart," and "people smart." Now, with the addition of two new kinds of smart--"naturalist" and "existential"--7 Kinds of Smart offers even more interesting information about how the human psyche functions. Complete with checklists for determining one''s strongest and weakest intelligences, exercises, practical tips for developing each type of smart, a revised bibliography for further reading, and a guide to related Internet sites, this book continues to be an essential resource, offering cutting-edge research for general consumption.

An imaginative picture book that defines eight ways everyone is smart and shows how to get smarter in each way.? It’s easy for kids to get dejected and believe they’re not as smart as the people around them. Maybe they got a low grade on their math test last week, or maybe they have a difficult time making new friends, but what kids may not realize is that math skills and people skills are just two types of smarts. There are actually eight types of smarts: Word smarts Music smarts Number smarts Picture smarts Body smarts People smarts Self smarts Nature smarts Smarts! Everybody’s Got Them vividly explains and depicts the eight ways that everyone is smart and shows kids how they can get better at each one—even when they make a mistake.

A new concept on human diversity has emerged over the past 10 years that promises to revolutionize the way educators provide services to students with special needs: neurodiversity. Just as we celebrate diversity in nature and cultures, so too do we need to honor the diversity of brains among our students who learn, think, and behave differently. In Neurodiversity in the Classroom, best-selling author Thomas Armstrong argues that we should embrace the strengths of such neurodiverse students to help them and their neurotypical peers thrive in school and beyond. This innovative book focuses on five categories of special needs: learning disabilities, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, autism, intellectual disabilities, and emotional and behavioral disorders. For each category, Armstrong provides an in-depth discussion of * The positive attributes associated with that category, * Acclaimed neurodiverse adults who have excelled in their chosen fields, * Computer programs and applications that allow students with special needs to overcome obstacles and achieve success, * Rich networks of human resources both inside and outside of school that educators can draw upon to support the social and emotional lives of neurodiverse students, * Innovative learning strategies that are tailored to each student''s unique strengths, * Future career paths for which a student''s particular gifts might be a good fit, * Modifications in the school environment that allow for seamless inclusion of neurodiverse students in the regular classroom, and * Timely information about how to integrate the strategies and assessments for each category with the Common Core State Standards. It''s time that we focused on celebrating rather than pathologizing our students with special needs so that they can fully realize their potential in school and life. This practical and thought-provoking book will inspire teachers and administrators everywhere to make sure that all students with special needs get the support and strength-based instruction they deserve.

What does it mean to a kid to be labeled attention-deficit disordered (ADD)? Or to have "hyperactive" added to the label (ADHD)? What can teachers do to boost the success of students with attention and behavioral difficulties? Are we relying too much on medication for these kids and not enough on new perspectives on learning, child development, the child''s socioeconomic and cultural background, biological and psychological research, and the learner''s emotional and social needs? Armstrong urges educators and parents to look for the positive characteristics in learners who may carry the ADD/ADHD label. Are they bursting with energy? Are they intensely creative? Do they enjoy hands-on learning? Are they natural leaders? Are they unusually introspective and reflective? We need to look beyond a "deficit" approach and embrace a more holistic view of learners that includes teaching to their multiple intelligences, learning styles, and other brain-friendly approaches. For example, here are some classroom activities for kids who "can''t sit still" Learning spelling words by having kids jump up out of their seats on the vowels and sit down on the consonants. Mastering the multiplication tables by forming a conga line, moving around the classroom counting from 1 to 30 out loud, and on every multiple of 3 shaking their hips and legs. Showing patterns of molecular bonding in chemistry class through a "swing your atom" square dance.

Urging readers to look beyond traditional understandings of what constitutes genius, Armstrong describes 12 such qualities: curiosity, playfulness, imagination, creativity, wonder, wisdom, inventiveness, vitality, sensitivity, flexibility, humor, and joy. He cites research in various fields that supports this broader understanding of genius and explains how influences in the home, the popular media, and the school itself "shut down" the genius in students.

"To respect the many differences between people"--this is what Howard Gardner says is the purpose of learning about multiple intelligences (MI) theory, which holds that the human mind is composed of eight intelligences--linguistic, logical-mathematical, spatial, bodily-kinesthetic, musical, interpersonal, intrapersonal, and naturalistic--plus a possible ninth (existential). This updated 3rd edition of Multiple Intelligences in the Classroom, Thomas Armstrong''s bestselling practical guide for educators, includes two new chapters that address the worldwide reach of MI and rebut some common criticisms of the theory. This new edition includes updated information and resources throughout the text to help educators at all levels apply MI theory to curriculum development, lesson planning, assessment, special education, cognitive skills, educational technology, career development, educational policy, and more. The book includes dozens of practical tips, strategies, and examples from real schools and districts. Armstrong provides tools, resources, and ideas that educators can immediately use to help students of all ages achieve their fullest potential in life.

In the segregated Deep South when lynching and Klansmen and Jim Crow laws ruled, there stood a line of foot soldiers ready to sacrifice their lives for the right to vote, to enter rooms marked "White Only," and to live with simple dignity. They were called Freedom Riders and Thomas M. Armstrong was one of them. This is his story as well as a look ahead at the work still to be done. June, 1961. Thomas M. Armstrong, determined to challenge segregated interstate bus travel in Mississippi, courageously walks into a Trailways bus station waiting room in Jackson. He is promptly arrested for his part in a strategic plan to gain national attention. The crime? Daring to share breathing space marked "Whites Only." Being of African-American descent in the Mississippi Deep South was literally a crime if you overstepped legal or even unspoken cultural bounds in 1961. The consequences of defying entrenched societal codes could result in brutal beatings, displacement, even murder with no recourse for justice in a corrupt political machine, thick with the grease of racial bias. The Freedom Rides were carefully orchestrated and included both black-and-white patriots devoted to the cause of de-segregation. Autobiography of a Freedom Rider details the strategies employed behind the scenes that resulted in a national spectacle of violence so stunning in Alabama and Mississippi that Robert Kennedy called in Federal marshals. Armstrong''s burning need to create social change for his fellow black citizens provides the backdrop of this richly woven memoir that traces back to his great-grandparents as freed slaves, examines the history of the Civil Rights Movement, the devastating personal repercussions Armstrong endured for being a champion of those rights, the sweet taste of progressive advancement in the past 50 years, and a look ahead at the work still to be done. Hundreds were arrested for their part in the Freedom Rides, Thomas M. Armstrong amongst them. But it is the authors'' quest to give homage to "the true heroes of the civil rights movement . . . the everyday black Southerners who confronted the laws of segregation under which they lived . . . the tens of thousands of us who took a chance with our lives when we decided that no longer would we accept the legacy of exclusion that had robbed our ancestors of hope and faith in a just society."

Thomas Armstrong, Ph.D., an award-winning educator and expert on human development, offers a cross-cultural view of life''s entire journey, from before birth to death to the possibilities of an afterlife. Dr. Armstrong cites both clinical research and anecdotal evidence in a comprehensive view of the challenges and opportunities we face at every stage of our development. His accessible narrative incorporates elements of history, literature, psychology, spirituality, and science in a fascinating guide to understanding our past as well as our future. - "Thomas Armstrong''s The Human Odyssey is an extraordinary book; an intellectual feast. Armstrong has amassed and integrated an amazing amount of information from developmental and transpersonal psychology, modern consciousness research, biology, anthropology, mythology, and art, and created an extraordinary guide through all the stages of the adventure of human life. While the rich content of this book will impress professional audiences, it''s clear and easy style makes it quite accessible to the general public." — Stanislav Grof, M.D., former Chief of Psychiatric Research, Maryland Psychiatric Research Center; author of Realms of the Human Unconscious, Beyond the Brain: Birth, Death, and Transcendence in Psychotherapy and Adventures in Self-Discovery

This novel is set in 14th century Yorkshire and tells the story of Ughtred, a young monk and artist at Rievaulx, and Lazelle, a young nun from a Gilbertine convent at Watton. The opening ten pages are titled 2The Immurement3 and describe how the pair, who have been convicted of heresy, are walled up alive. Just before the walling up is completed a Franciscan friar, Jerome, looks in at the couple and declares that he sees signs of plague. The walling up is completed hurriedly and the observers leave in a panic. The main part of the novel then describes the events leading up to this punishment, beginning with 2The Eleventh Month before Immurement3. Ughtred and Lazelle meet by chance when she is swept into a river and Ughtred rescues her. He thinks of her constantly and decides to use her face for that of the madonna in a painting he works on at Rievaulx. Because of their vows, they may not meet but chance does offer opportunities. Alongside this developing relationship, Armstrong shows Ughtred''s exposure to the ideas of John Wycliffe and the Lollards and his increasing disillusionment, not with Christianity, but with the worldliness of the Church.

Howard Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences has revolutionized the way we think about being smart. Written by an award-winning expert on the topic, this book introduces the theory, explains the different types of intelligences (like Word Smart, Self Smart, Body Smart), and helps kids identify their own learning strengths and use their special skills at school, at home, and in life. As kids read the book, they stop asking “How smart am I?” and start asking “How am I smart?” This powerful learning tool is recommended for all kids—and all adults committed to helping young people do and be their best. Resources describe related books, software, games, and organizations. This revised and updated edition includes information on a newly researched ninth intelligence, Life Smart—thinking about and asking questions about life, the universe, and spirituality.

Moody. Reckless. Impractical. Insecure. Distracted. These are all words commonly used to describe adolescents. But what if we recast these traits in a positive light? Teens possess insight, passion, idealism, sensitivity, and creativity in abundance--all qualities that can make a significant positive contribution to society. In this thought-provoking book, Thomas Armstrong looks at the power and promise of the teenage brain from an empathetic, strength-based perspective—and describes what middle and high school educators can do to make the most of their students'' potential. Thoroughly grounded in current neuroscience research, the book explains what we know about how the adolescent brain works and proposes eight essential instructional elements that will help students develop the ability to think, make healthy choices, regulate their emotions, handle social conflict, consolidate their identities, and learn enough about the world to move into adulthood with dignity and grace. Armstrong provides practical strategies and real-life examples from schools that illustrate these eight key practices in action. In addition, you''ll find a glossary of brain terms, a selection of brain-friendly lesson plans across the content areas, and a list of resources to support and extend the book''s ideas and practices. There is a colossal mismatch between how the adolescent brain has evolved over the millennia and the passive, rote learning experiences that are all too common in today''s test-obsessed educational climate. See the amazing difference—in school and beyond—when you use the insights from this book to help students tap into the power of their changing brains.