The Book

Why YOU Need This Book!

Do you constantly repeat instructions? Are you fighting a never-ending paper battle? Strong classroom management is the cornerstone of effective teaching, and this book will help lay the foundation for everything you want to accomplish professionally:

* Turn needy, disorganized children into self-reliant, responsible students
* Develop and teach ANY classroom procedure
* Train the class to follow along, stay on-task, and work together
* Use fun teaching techniques that help you assess student learning
* Eliminate homework hassles and parent miscommunications
* Prevent burnout by enjoying and growing with students
* Construct a self-running classroom that frees you to teach

Using actual classroom photographs, forms, and dialogue examples, The Cornerstone will show you how to design instructional routines that facilitate learning. It will guide you through each step of communicating and reinforcing your expectations. Learn how to create a vision for your classroom and TEACH for it!

The Cornerstone Format

Through the book, you’ll learn how a positive teaching philosophy plays out practically in the classroom to create a calm, supportive environment that balances predictable routines with unpredictable teaching strategies and lessons.

The Cornerstone is a comprehensive guide with 500 pages of resources that will help you make this school year the very best possible, whether it’s your first or your thirty-first. The Cornerstone will guide you to reflect on why you teach, what type of students you want to produce, and ways to run your classroom that fit well with your personal teaching style…all within the context of planning for specific procedures and routines. From the first minute you spend with your students in August to the final hectic week in June, this book will show you how to stay focused on what’s really important, maintain your enthusiasm, and utilize all the resources you have available.

The Cornerstone is formatted to:

-include classroom forms and sample versions of reproducibles
-provide space in the margin for notes
-separate detailed information into small, easy-to-digest sections so you can easily skim or skip to the parts you need most
-utilize nearly 200 photographs to illustrate organizational tips, room arrangement ideas, and instructional resources
-expand on website ideas (approximately 70% of the book’s content is NOT available on the website)
-cross-reference with the website, where you’ll find recommended resources and regularly updated supplements

Click here to read more about the inspiration for The Cornerstone, including its beginnings online through the provision of free teacher resources, and an explanation of how the book and website can help meet YOUR needs.

NOTE: The Cornerstone is geared toward elementary teachers of grades K-6, but is frequently purchased by both early childhood educators and middle/high school teachers. The book is used by special educators, substitute teachers, and those working in classrooms across every continent. The vast majority of content is adaptable for a wide range of teaching situations. To get a feel for whether the book is relevant for you, check out the Table of Contents. And remember, orders placed through this site have a no-risk money-back guarantee that the book WILL help you create a self-running classroom that frees you to teach.

Ordering Information

You can purchase directly through this site! Ordering here will divert the greatest percentage of profit to the author at no cost to you. You’ll also receive your copy QUICKLY–autographed books are sent Priority Mail within 24 hours of purchase, so you don’t have to wait for ‘super saver’ or Media Mail shipping.

The Cornerstone can be purchased securely with a credit card or eCheck through PayPal for only $28.99 (six dollars off the list price.) Handling and Priority Mail shipment for U.S. residents (2-3 day delivery time) is $5.00, so the total is $33.99. Florida residents will have a 6% sales tax added to the cost. International Priority Mail (6-10 days) is also available (cost to Canada/Mexico is $12.95, all other countries $16.95).

Want free shipping? Add a copy of Awakened: Change Your Mindset to Transform Your Teaching to your Cornerstone order, and pay just $45.99 total for both books! This amount includes free Priority Mail shipment to any one address in the United States. Click here to buy both books together.

MY NO-RISK GUARANTEE! The Cornerstone will help you create a self-running classroom that frees you to teach. If this book does not meet your needs, please return it with your PayPal transaction number to Angela Watson, P.O. Box 341, Fort Lauderdale, FL, 33302, and I will promptly refund your money and Media Mail rate postage, no questions asked. I also welcome your suggestions for improving the next edition.

Download the eBook!

An eBook is the digital media equivalent of a conventional printed book which can be read on your computer. Here are the advantages of purchasing an eBook:

* No wait for shipping: you will receive an immediate email link with download instructions
* Read on your smart phone, eReader, or other mobile device
* View the book’s nearly 200 photographs in full color
* Enjoy the ability to print copies of book pages for your personal use
* Utilize a search function to quickly find information you need in the text

An eBook download is $14.99 , and total printing rights are permanently enabled.

There are several different formats of the eBook you can choose from. Each one is optimized for a different kind of viewing. The regular eBook version is a PDF document that shows properly on any Mac or PC. You can read it using Preview, Adobe Reader, Adobe Digital Editions, etc. This version comes with EVERY eBook download. If you also have a mobile reading device, keep in mind that the eBook may not view properly on it due to the tables, charts, and photos embedded in the text. You’ll need a special version that’s properly formatted for your device. For NO EXTRA COST, you can can get download a MOBI version of the eBook (designed for Kindle) or an ePub version (designed for most other eReaders, including Nook, Sony Reader, and most iPad and iPhone apps).

Choose between 3 formats (details in the paragraph above):

1) Cornerstone eBook: for viewing on any PC or Mac.

2) Cornerstone eBook and Kindle version: one file to view on your computer and one MOBI version for your Kindle reader or Kindle app.

3) Cornerstone eBook and ePub version: one file to view on your computer and one ePUB version for your mobile reader (Nook, Sony Reader, iPad/iPhone, and any other device that supports the ePub format).

Want a discount? Add a copy of Awakened: Change Your Mindset to Transform Your Teaching to your Cornerstone eBook order, and pay just $19.99 total for both eBooks! Click here to buy both eBooks together in either the eBook, Kindle, or ePub format described above.

NOTE: These Kindle and mobile reader options became available on September 27, 2010. If you purchased a Kindle version of The Cornerstone on Amazon prior to this date and it is not showing properly on your device, please email me your proof of purchase and I will send you a replacement file that has been optimized for Kindle’s MOBI format. You can also email me if you purchased the eBook from my website prior to this date and are now wishing you’d waited so you could get the mobile reader version, too–not a problem, I’ll send it along to you! Just send me an email that includes the email address you used to purchase the eBook and either the transaction number or PayPal confirmation number, and I’ll send you a Kindle- or ePub-compatible file. 

Other Purchasing Options

Amazon.com
Click on Amazon through this site, and a portion of the sale supports web hosting for the resources provided on The Cornerstone website (at no additional cost to you!)  It’s a great way to buy the book at the lowest possible price AND support the site. You can also purchase the Kindle version directly from Amazon. Thank you for clicking through from this website!

Bookstores
All major booksellers (such as Barnes and Noble) have added The Cornerstone to their inventories. If you prefer to purchase in-store and no copies are in stock, order a copy at the customer service desk and the store will notify you when it arrives.

Free Excerpts

The Cornerstone is an expansion of the ideas presented on my website, and provides a tangible, more comprehensive resource for teachers to keep and reference in the classroom. Take a look at the Table of Contents to see what you’ll learn.

Here’s a sample called “How to Teach ANY Procedure”. In just this single chapter (15 pages!), you’ll learn:

-The importance of ongoing (distributed) procedure practice
-How to form precise expectations and figure out exactly what you want
-What not to do (how to phrase your expectations so kids will successfully meet them)
-Why you should be cautious about misusing the term ‘we’
-How to use a variety of signals to facilitate routines
-The art of replacing nagging and criticism with performance feedback
-The 8 steps for teaching ANY procedure you want kids to follow
-How to play the Procedure Review Game as a FUN reminder for kids
-The key to revising your criteria without confusing kids or seeming incompetent
-What to do when kids don’t meet your expectations (repeat the practice, not the command)
-The power of “Go back and try it again” (and how to get kids to do it without attitude!)
-Ways to accommodate special needs children
-How to avoid a slow descent into laziness and sloppily-done procedures
-Ideas for logical rewards and appropriate incentives that foster intrinsic motivation

Free PDF download of Chapter 9 “How to Teach ANY Procedure!”
(You will need Acrobat Reader 8 or higher for proper viewing.)

You can also search inside the book and read additional excerpts at Amazon.com.

Looking for Free Printables from the Book?

All the forms referenced in the book have been compiled on one web page for easy reference! Instead of making photocopies of the versions in the book, you can simply download the forms you like in Microsoft Word format and quickly make modifications to fit your own preferences. You’ll also find a cross-reference that organizes all the resources on this website by chapter so you don’t have to search around for what you need.  To access the printables, login to the password-protected page here. Your password is the last word in the book (on the Afterword page). This page will be regularly updated throughout the summer of 2010.

Book Details

The Cornerstone: Classroom Management That Makes Teaching More Effective, Efficient, and Enjoyable by Angela Powell. (ISBN# 978-0982312704). Originally published July 2008 with Xulon Press; re-released with Due Season Press in May 2009 (no content changes or revisions). List price US $34.99. 500 pages, 11x8x1. 2.4 pounds. Available in paperback, eBook, and Amazon Kindle editions.

About the Book’s Re-Release

The Cornerstone was originally published in July 2008 with Xulon Press using the ISBN 978-1606473672.  It was re-released under the author’s own publishing company, Due Season Press, with an official publication date of May 1, 2009. No changes or revisions were made to the book’s content: only the publisher’s logo, copyright date, and ISBN have been altered. Additional information about the decision to re-release can be found in this blog post by the author.

About the Publisher

Due Season Press and Educational Services is an independent publisher providing professional development correlated with educational and inspiration books. For more information, please send an email to info [at] due-season-press [dot] com.

Read the Reviews

See what others are saying about The Cornerstone!

Like the Book?

If you’re a fan of The Cornerstone, help spread the word! Amazon.com is not just a bookseller; it’s a forum for book fans to share their thoughts about whatever they’re reading. If you’ve purchased The Cornerstone from ANY seller, would you please go to Amazon and post an honest critique? Having multiple reviews from real readers helps build future customer’s confidence in the product and provides them with feedback about the book’s helpfulness.

Contact Info

For more information about ordering the book or its contents, please email Angela at Purchases [at] TheCornerstoneForTeachers [dot] com.