MSI Press Blog

Every few days this year (2025), we plan to sift through our author pages and find the hidden video and audio gems because, let's face it, though they often contain fascinating videos and audio gems, often those reading the pages don't have time to listen at the moment and may not find their way back easily. There is often something special about hearing an author's voice. We plan to bring that "special" to you every few days this coming year. The first gem was recorded by the International Transformative Learning Association after a conference at Columbia University and features MSI Press author, Emilie Cleret ( Journal for Distinguished Language Studies ) and MSI Press managing editor, Betty Lou Leaver (author of Achieving Nativelike Second Language Competence  and Think Yourself into Becoming a Language Learning Super Star and co-author of The Invisible Classroom ). Emilie also wrote a book chapter for the book, Transformative Language Learning and Teaching (...

  Precerpt (excerpt prior to publication from the forthcoming memoir,  In with the East: A Mary Poppins Kind of Life  by Dr. Betty Lou Leaver Animals of Acton: Sanctuary, Scavengers, and Sentiment Acton had its share of animals—some wild, some domesticated, all woven into the rhythm of our lives. The deer were the most majestic, but in a humbler way than the moose. During hunting season, they’d gather in our swale, grand creatures with 8-point racks among them. Somehow, they knew our land was safe. It was posted  No Hunting , and so was my uncle’s. But that didn’t stop the out-of-town fools from skulking in the woods and firing into the fields. One year, one of them shot my uncle’s prize Guernsey cow—brown, unmistakably not a deer. My uncle caught the man trying to make off with the carcass, certain that he had just bagged a deer, and grabbed him by the ear. And then the captive had to listen to a tongue-lashing! We paid a price for being a deer sanctuary. The deer...

Precerpt (excerpt prior to publication from the forthcoming memoir,  In with the East: A Mary Poppins Kind of Life  by Dr. Betty Lou Leaver Blueberry Hill Farm Blueberry Hill Farm sat just up the hill from our family farm in Acton—walking distance, if you were local, maybe half a mile or so. The entrance was a long dirt road that wound its way along the hilltop, eventually opening onto wide, sun-drenched fields of domestic blueberry bushes, their rows neat and generous. It was a commercial farm back then, owned by the Robinson family, a kind and upright clan whose patriarch had done more good in his lifetime than most people ever hear about. I liked working for him. He encouraged me. And he especially liked my sister—she was a natural, one of the best blueberry pickers around. As kids, we started with pea picking, the domain of the younger crowd, ages five to fourteen. But once we hit our teens, we graduated to blueberries, which required more finesse. You had to know how ...

Every few days this year (2025), we plan to sift through our author pages and find the hidden video and audio gems because, let's face it, though they often contain fascinating videos and audio gems, often those reading the pages don't have time to listen at the moment and may not find their way back easily. There is often something special about hearing an author's voice. We plan to bring that "special" throughout this coming year. Today's gem was recorded by Teach Russian.org and an interview with Dr. Betty Lou Leaver, MSI Press managing editor, on differentiated instruction. Listen to it HERE . Read more posts by and about  Betty Lou Leaver  and her works. VISIT OUR  WEBSITE  TO LEARN MORE ABOUT ALL OUR AUTHORS AND TITLES. GET 25% OFF ALL OUR BOOKS WITH COUPON CODE FF25 AT OUR  WEBSTORE .   Sign up for the MSI Press LLC monthly newsletter (recent releases, sales/discounts, awards, reviews, Amazon top 100 list, author advice, and more -- stay up to date) ...