Gamesmanship for Teachers

Uncommon Sense is Half the Work

Ryan A. Donlan

• Publisher: R&L Education
• Year: 2009
• Edition: 1
• eBook ISBN:
  9798216349327
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Secondary Education

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.

Table of contents

• Contents
• Acknowledgments
• Preface: Teaching is the World’s Most Important Job
• Part I. NO TEACHER LEFT BEHIND?!
• Chapter 01. Gamesmanship
• Chapter 02. Straight Talk and a Prelude to the Gray Cloud over Education
• Chapter 03. Getting a Proper and Just Handle on Oneself, One’s Village, and One’s Place in the Universe and the Gray Cloud
• Chapter 04. What Our Journey Entails
• Part II. A DISCUSSION FOR SEASONED PROFESSIONALS ONLY
• Chapter 05. What are We Seeing in Our Newbies? The Wrong Reasons to Teach
• Chapter 06. Thinking Back on Our Professional Beginnings: Why Did We Want to Teach?
• Chapter 07. Never Smile Until November? . . . Not!
• Chapter 08. What is a Student? Philosophically, Theoretically, and Practically
• Chapter 09. Your Role as a Teacher Leader
• Chapter 10. Direct Advice that Teacher Leaders Can Use as Institutional Caretakers
• Part III. THROUGH A SIDE DOOR IN A SCHOOL THAT’S NOT ABOUT US
• Chapter 11. When Parents Enable
• Chapter 12. Instant Messaging for Parent Meetings
• Chapter 13. “It’s Not about Us”
• Chapter 14. More on Student-as-Product—Education’s Raw Material
• Chapter 15. Cherishing Those Baby Steps
• Chapter 16. The Most Important Furnishing in a Classroom—Hope
• Chapter 17. One’s Teaching Load, a Clairvoyant Perspective
• Part IV. SHARPENING THE SCYTHE FOR HEALTHIER TEACHING
• Chapter 18. Teachers as Surgeons
• Chapter 19. In the Trenches Now . . . the Toolbox
• Chapter 20. Power, and Brain-Compatible Elements
• Chapter 21. The Brainbox
• Chapter 22. Absence of Threat
• Chapter 23. Choices and Adequate Time
• Part V. THE 101s OF PROFESSIONAL SUPERVISION AND EVALUATION
• Chapter 24. Look-Fors for Principals
• Chapter 25. The Look-Fors YouDon’t Want
• Chapter 26. Professional Evaluation
• Part VI. MAKING YOUR LIFE EASIER THROUGH “YOUR DOMAIN”
• Chapter 27. Organizational Effectiveness through Student Responsibility
• Chapter 28. The Grab Bag for Maintaining Order
• Chapter 29. The Grab Bag for Placing the Responsibility of Learning and Succeeding in Students
• Chapter 30. The Grab Bag for Minimizing Interruptions
• Chapter 31. The Grab Bag/Wrapping Up
• Chapter 32. Room Décor
• Part VII. ON THE ROAD AGAIN
• Chapter 33. Professional Development and Conferencing
• Chapter 34. People Watching at Conferences
• Chapter 35. When You’re the Presenter
• Part VIII. THE HEALTHIER YOU—A LIGHT HEART LIVES LONG
• Chapter 36. You Call It Efficiency or Multitasking; I Call It Burnout
• Chapter 37. A Glowing Ember is Easily Rekindled
• Chapter 38. A Healthier Perspective on the Much-Maligned, yet Uniquely Lovable Lounge Lizards
• Chapter 39. Raconteurs in Lounges and the Follies of Leadershit
• Chapter 40. The Leaders We Need
• Chapter 41. Conclusion: What Will Come from the Briar but the Berry?
• References
• About the Author