Ryan A. Donlan

Uncommon Sense for New Teachers: A Good Beginning is Half the Work is a uniquely written resource for any preservice or new teacher moving into the profession of education. Noted by its author as the book to read, before deciding what other books to read, it offers deft perspective on the pressing issues weighing heavily on the minds and hearts of new teachers, including what teachers don’t learn before they start, but should. Written in short-read sections in each chapter—relevant units to be read in any order—the readings serve as the whisper in one’s head about what one might think, and how to act uncommonly when the next situation arises each day. This book supercharges new teachers, as they apply what they discover in their own way, in any grade, content area, or community.

Uncommon Sense for New Teachers: A Good Beginning is Half the Work is a uniquely written resource for any preservice or new teacher moving into the profession of education. Noted by its author as the book to read, before deciding what other books to read, it offers deft perspective on the pressing issues weighing heavily on the minds and hearts of new teachers, including what teachers don’t learn before they start, but should. Written in short-read sections in each chapter—relevant units to be read in any order—the readings serve as the whisper in one’s head about what one might think, and how to act uncommonly when the next situation arises each day. This book supercharges new teachers, as they apply what they discover in their own way, in any grade, content area, or community.

Educational leadership continues to be the most powerful key to ensuring the successful future of all other professions, and thus, the quality of lives for people around the world. This book, your weekly reader, will allow you to have the conversations to help faculty and staff, to help kids. More importantly, these readings invite your thinking to go to different places in your mind as you search for meaning. They are designed to cause new thinking about some familiar issues, and of course, creativity in their solutions. It is this book’s intent to offer solutions for leaders at all levels to do things right, and to do what’s right, or better said, to do things “right-brained.” Our 52-weekly chapters will help you, first and foremost with your personal and professional capacities, as we address topics pertaining to all of the co-centric circles of impact noted above in the diagram.

Educational leadership continues to be the most powerful key to ensuring the successful future of all other professions, and thus, the quality of lives for people around the world. This book, your weekly reader, will allow you to have the conversations to help faculty and staff, to help kids. More importantly, these readings invite your thinking to go to different places in your mind as you search for meaning. They are designed to cause new thinking about some familiar issues, and of course, creativity in their solutions. It is this book’s intent to offer solutions for leaders at all levels to do things right, and to do what’s right, or better said, to do things “right-brained.” Our 52-weekly chapters will help you, first and foremost with your personal and professional capacities, as we address topics pertaining to all of the co-centric circles of impact noted above in the diagram.

The secret of effective leadership can elude even the best principals. In The Secret Solution, How One Principal Discovered the Path to Success, a principal travels a journey through four distinct leadership styles as he works to transform a school. On this journey, he encounters characters familiar to all of us who have worked in education, including superstars, fence-sitters, and even bullies. This quick-reading parable provides practical guidance for both current and future administrators, immediately relevant in applying knowledge to practice. Readers will quickly recognize staff from their own buildings who come to life in this engaging story.

The secret of effective leadership can elude even the best principals. In The Secret Solution, How One Principal Discovered the Path to Success, a principal travels a journey through four distinct leadership styles as he works to transform a school. On this journey, he encounters characters familiar to all of us who have worked in education, including superstars, fence-sitters, and even bullies. This quick-reading parable provides practical guidance for both current and future administrators, immediately relevant in applying knowledge to practice. Readers will quickly recognize staff from their own buildings who come to life in this engaging story.

Gamesmanship for Teachers, a must-read from working educator and author Ryan A. Donlan, provides a much-needed shot-in-the-arm for veteran teachers who are inarguably on top of their game, yet are currently bludgeoned by the many nonsensical notions in No Child Left Behind. Great teachers, now working in a much-maligned profession, can give themselves a pat on the back for great work. In this book, teachers discover the power of uncommon sense that this author shares with respect to pedagogy, politics, and the personal health of professionals. This book is a respectful blend of "by-educator/for-educator straight talk," game sharpening strategy, and a celebration of why great teachers went into education in the first place and why they should stay.