CT+LE has donated three new books to the MJGL for circulation. The first is Jeff Zwiers and Marie Crawford's Academic Conversations: Classroom Talk that Fosters Critical Thinking and Content Understandings. The authors identified five core communication skills that, when implemented appropriately, help students hold productive academic conversations in all content areas. Their strategies help to move the classroom from one dominated by lecture to an active learning space that encourages students to develop the life-long skill of asking questions and developing critical thinking abilities. The second book, Engage: The Trainers Guide to Learning Styles, is by Jeanine O'Neill-Blackwell. The idea of the instructor as trainer has gathered support due to the rapidly growing body of cognitive science research. She uses a four-step model for engaging all learning styles in any learning situation. Debate continues on the topic of learning styles but most agree that engaging all types of learners means the instructor must use a variety of teaching methods. The latest in brain research is used to validate her approach. George Lakey's Facilitating Group Learning: Strategies for Success with Diverse Adult Learners is the third book. We have received many requests for methods to help implement group-based work in the classroom. Collaborative work, the research shows, is very beneficial for all types of learning and is an important life-skill that translates well to the real world. Most of our students will be asked to work with diverse groups of people at their job. Lakey's use of compelling stories based on his experiences provides authenticity to this book. All of these books can be found on the CT+LE faculty resource bookshelves on the 6th floor of the MJGL. English teacher David McCullough Jr. has created quite a stir with his graduation address at Wellesley High School. McCullough says what a lot of faculty are saying about today's students but maybe with a little more eloquence. He says, "When every kid has soccer trophies and glowing report cards,you are not special. You are not exceptional.... No matter how often your maternal caped crusader has swooped in to save you ... you’re nothing special." While most people are focusing on McCullough's criticisms, it should be noted that he closed on a more uplifting note related to his theme: "The sweetest joys of life, then, come only with the recognition that you’re not special. Because everyone is." The Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) invites proposals that examine the new contexts for student learning and explore evidence-based, student-centered strategies that seek to align the multiple definitions of and practices in student success with the end goal of providing all students, especially those from traditionally underserved groups, with a quality education. They also invite proposals that describe frameworks that bring all campus practitioners together within a single campus and/or with other campuses to support innovation and leadership, and strengthen students’ abilities to integrate, transfer, and apply their knowledge for the sake of their own lives and the common good. The annual conference will be held April 4-6, 2013 in Miami, Florida. The deadline for proposal submissions is Wednesday, July 18, 2012. The Journal of Learning Spaces has just published its latest issue. D. Christopher Brooks' article Space and consequences: The impact of different formal learning spaces on instructor and student behavior has some interesting thoughts that may cause you to want to redesign your classroom.