Resource Library Smoothie Bike checkout for TSD staff

 Decisive: How to Make Better Choices in Life and Work

  Research in psychology has revealed that our decisions are disrupted by an array of biases and irrationalities: We’re overconfident. We seek out information that supports us and downplay information that doesn’t. We get distracted by short-term emotions. When it comes to making choices, it seems, our brains are flawed instruments. Unfortunately, merely being aware of these shortcomings doesn’t fix the problem, any more than knowing that we are nearsighted helps us to see. The real question is: How can we do better?

   In Decisive, the Heaths, based on an exhaustive study of the decision-making literature, introduce a four-step process designed to counteract these biases. Written in an engaging and compulsively readable style, Decisive takes readers on an unforgettable journey, from a rock star’s ingenious decision-making trick to a CEO’s disastrous acquisition, to a single question that can often resolve thorny personal decisions.

   Along the way, we learn the answers to critical questions like these: How can we stop the cycle of agonizing over our decisions? How can we make group decisions without destructive politics? And how can we ensure that we don’t overlook precious opportunities to change our course?

Kiss That Frog: 12 Great Ways to Turn Negatives Into Positives in Life and Work

Just like the lonely princess in the fairy tale who was reluctant to lock lips with a warty frog and transform him into a handsome prince, something stops many of us short of attaining our dreams. Our negative thoughts, emotions, and attitudes can threaten to keep us from achieving all that we’re capable of. Here bestselling author and speaker Brian Tracy and his daughter, therapist Christina Tracy Stein, provide a set of practical, proven strategies anyone can use to turn those negative frogs into positive princes.

Tracy and Stein present a step-by-step plan that addresses the root causes of negativity, helps you uncover blocks that have become mental obstacles, and shows how you can transform them into stepping-stones to achieve your fullest potential.

Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die

In Made to Stick, Chip and Dan Heath reveal the anatomy of ideas that stick and explain ways to make ideas stickier, such as applying the human scale principle, using the Velcro Theory of Memory, and creating curiosity gaps. Along the way, we discover that sticky messages of all kinds—from the infamous “kidney theft ring” hoax to a coach’s lessons on sportsmanship to a vision for a new product at Sony—draw their power from the same six traits.

Made to Stick will transform the way you communicate. It’s a fast-paced tour of success stories (and failures): the Nobel Prize-winning scientist who drank a glass of bacteria to prove a point about stomach ulcers; the charities who make use of the Mother Teresa Effect; the elementary-school teacher whose simulation actually prevented racial prejudice.
 
Provocative, eye-opening, and often surprisingly funny, Made to Stick shows us the vital principles of winning ideas—and tells us how we can apply these rules to making our own messages stick.

IMindful Parenting

A mindful approach to parenting that helps children (and their parents) feel happier, healthier, calmer, and less stressed in our frenetic era

Rooted in the science of the brain, and integrating cognitive neuroscience and child development, Mindful Parenting is a unique program that speaks directly to today's busy families who make up what Dr. Race calls "Generation Stress." Research has shown that mindfulness practices stimulate the prefrontal cortex of the brain. Regular stimulation of this part of the brain helps us feel happier, healthier, calmer, less anxious, less stressed, and makes it easier for us to concentrate and think clearly―the very behavior we are hoping our children will display.

Dr. Race provides:
An explanation of the way the brain works and why parents and kids today are more stressed, anxious, and angry than ever before
Practical solutions to the problem: Things parents can do to change brain patterns and create a more relaxed and happier home
"Brain Coolers": Quick tips that can be used in the moment to help families relax, recharge, and create happiness (such as "The Three Breath Hug")

Mindset

After decades of research, world-renowned Stanford University psychologist Carol S. Dweck, Ph.D., discovered a simple but groundbreaking idea: the power of mindset. In this brilliant book, she shows how success in school, work, sports, the arts, and almost every area of human endeavor can be dramatically influenced by how we think about our talents and abilities. People with a fixed mindset—those who believe that abilities are fixed—are less likely to flourish than those with a growth mindset—those who believe that abilities can be developed. Mindset reveals how great parents, teachers, managers, and athletes can put this idea to use to foster outstanding accomplishment.

In this edition, Dweck offers new insights into her now famous and broadly embraced concept. She introduces a phenomenon she calls false growth mindset and guides people toward adopting a deeper, truer growth mindset. She also expands the mindset concept beyond the individual, applying it to the cultures of groups and organizations. With the right mindset, you can motivate those you lead, teach, and love—to transform their lives and your own.

More Activities That Teach

Kids learn best by doing! Eighty-two creative, innovative, teacher-proven and user-friendly activities which will influence student behavior and attitudes for a lifetime. These activities cover topics such as alcohol and drug prevention, communication, problem solving, working together, decision making, self esteem, character, goal setting, anger management, stress management, peer pressure, etc. These activities have worked successfully with inner city, suburban and rural kids whether they are at-risk or gifted students. The activities are designed for grades three through twelve. The activities require very little in the way of preparation and materials. You won't spend a lot of time getting them together or a lot of money buying supplies. Feedback from those who work with kids has been extremely positive and kids love participating because they are non-threatening, safe and most of all fun. You won't find any worksheets or word search papers in this book. It is full of activities that will get them engaged in their own learning process and will help them internalize the concept you are teaching. Use the activities as stand-alone modules or to add some spice to lesson plans you already teach. The activities have been helpful for those in the classroom, after-school programs, camps, church groups, scouts, mental health centers, counseling groups, etc. Each activity comes with the teaching concept explained, materials needed, activity described and suggested questions listed. Most of the activities are from 5 minutes to 30 minutes in length. 

Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain

Did you know you can beat stress, lift your mood, fight memory loss, sharpen your intellect, and function better than ever simply by elevating your heart rate and breaking a sweat? The evidence is incontrovertible: aerobic exercise physically remodels our brains for peak performance. 

In SPARK, John Ratey, MD embarks upon a fascinating journey through the mind-body connection, illustrating that exercise is truly our best defense against everything from depression to ADD to addiction to menopause to Alzheimer's. Filled with amazing case studies (such as the revolutionary fitness program in Naperville, Illinois, that has put the local school district of 19,000 kids first in the world of science test scores), SPARK is the first book to explore comprehensively the connection between exercise and the brain. It will change forever the way you think about your morning run.

Strength-Based Leaderhip

In Strengths Based Leadership, #1 New York Times bestselling author Tom Rath and renowned leadership consultant Barry Conchie reveal the results of this research. Based on their discoveries, the book identifies three keys to being a more effective leader: knowing your strengths and investing in others’ strengths, getting people with the right strengths on your team, and understanding and meeting the four basic needs of those who look to you for leadership.

As you read Strengths Based Leadership, you’ll hear firsthand accounts from some of the most successful organizational leaders in recent history, from the founder of Teach For America to the president of The Ritz-Carlton, as they discuss how their unique strengths have driven their success. Filled with novel research and actionable ideas, Strengths Based Leadership will give you a new road map for leading people toward a better future.

The Happiness Advantage: The Seven Principles of Positive Psychology

Our most commonly held formula for success is broken. Conventional wisdom holds that if we work hard we will be more successful, and if we are more successful, then we’ll be happy. If we can just find that great job, win that next promotion, lose those five pounds, happiness will follow. But recent discoveries in the field of positive psychology have shown that this formula is actually backward: Happiness fuels success, not the other way around. When we are positive, our brains become more engaged, creative, motivated, energetic, resilient, and productive at work. This isn’t just an empty mantra. This discovery has been repeatedly borne out by rigorous research in psychology and neuroscience, management studies, and the bottom lines of organizations around the globe. 

In The Happiness Advantage, Shawn Achor, who spent over a decade living, researching, and lecturing at Harvard University, draws on his own research—including one of the largest studies of happiness and potential at Harvard and others at companies like UBS and KPMG—to fix this broken formula. Using stories and case studies from his work with thousands of Fortune 500 executives in 42 countries, Achor explains how we can reprogram our brains to become more positive in order to gain a competitive edge at work. 
            
Isolating seven practical, actionable principles that have been tried and tested everywhere from classrooms to boardrooms, stretching from Argentina to Zimbabwe, he shows us how we can capitalize on the Happiness Advantage to improve our performance and maximize our potential. 

The Kinesthetic Classroom: Teaching and Learning Through Movement

Discover the link between physical activity and academic success!

Research shows that regular physical activity helps children perform better in school. This inspiring book illustrates how to integrate movement within classroom instruction, ranging from short activity breaks to curriculum-enhancing games. Readers will find:

• User-friendly, research-based information on how physical activity affects the brain
• Hundreds of movement activities that can be easily implemented in the classroom, including many requiring two minutes or less
• Discussion of how movement can contribute to classroom management and community
• Case studies showing how combining physical activity and academics contributes to successful learning

Turnaround Tools for the Teenage Brain: Helping Underperforming Students Become Lifelong Learners

Powerful research-based strategies to turn around strugglingadolescent students

The achievement gap is widening and more teens than ever arestruggling in school. The latest research shows not only thatbrains can change, but that teachers and other providers have thepower to boost students' effort, focus, attitude, and even IQs. Inthis book bestselling author Eric Jensen and co-author CaroleSnider offer teacher-friendly strategies to ensure that allstudents graduate, become lifelong learners, and ultimately besuccessful in school and life. Drawing on cutting-edge science,this breakthrough book reveals core tools to increase studenteffort, build attitudes, and improve behaviors.

• Practical, teacher-tested, and research-supported strategiesthat will empower educators to make lasting and rapid changes
• Powerful academic evidence showing that every teacher can makea significant—and lasting—difference in student effort,behavior, attitude, and achievement
• Specific tools for making and managing the student'sgoal-seeking process and helping to develop a winner's mindset

From the very first chapter, educators will learn how to helptheir struggling students become excited, lifelong learners. EricJensen is a noted authority on brain-based learning and studentengagement. Carole Snider is an expert in both adolescent successand adult learning.

Workplace Wellness that Works

A smarter framework for designing more effective workplacewellness programs

Workplace Wellness That Works provides a fresh perspective on how to promote employee well-being in the workplace. In addressing the interconnectivity between wellness and organizational culture, this book shows you how to integrate wellness into your existing employee development strategy in more creative, humane, and effective ways. Based on the latest research and backed by real-world examples and case studies, this guide provides employers with the tools they need to start making a difference in their employees' health and happiness, and promoting an overall culture of well-being throughout the organization.You'll find concrete, actionable advice for tackling the massive obstacle of behavioral change, and learn how to design and implement an approach that can most benefit your organization.

Promoting wellness is a good idea. Giving employees the inspiration and tools they need to make changes in their lifestyles is a great idea. But the billion-dollar question is: what do they want, what do they need, and how do we implement programs to help them without causing more harm than good? Workplace Wellness That Works shows you how to assess your organization's needs and craft a plan that actually benefits employees.

• Build an effective platform for well-being
• Empower employees to make better choices
• Design and deliver the strategy that your organization needs
• Drive quantifiable change through more creative implementation