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WHO IS
RORY DONALDSON?

What makes him so smart?

"How can I help?"

RORY DONALDSON (Resume/Vitae) is the chief brain around here. He knows how to teach. He has thirty years of classroom experience, corporate trainer, fundraiser and businessman. He assumes full responsibility for the solutions that appear on this site. Smart? Sometimes! One thing he does know is how to teach students to succeed academically: how to read, write, listen, speak, organize information, study and do math. He knows how to negotiate parent/student contracts that result in starting on time, staying on task, completing assignments. He knows how to provide students with massive doses of academic success and achievement. He knows how to turn "I can't attitudes" into "I can!" behavior.

• As a teacher he has direct experience with every solution presented here, and has seen test scores rise across the board.
• As a person with a Masters of Arts in Teaching degree, he knows directly about schools of education and teacher training.
• As the director of a public charter school he learned the concerns of parents.
• As a trainer of teachers he knows how much teachers are looking for solutions that work.
• As a husband and parent of three boys, I know the dream of  family unity.
• As a school reformer he knows that far too many of our children aren't performing academically as well as they should, falling behind, and risking a productive future.
• As a fundraiser he knows that people like to pay for programs that can prove their worth.
• As a businessman he understands the importance of linking marketing and sales.

He has been trained in Direct Instruction, Precision Teaching, Positive Discipline, Accelerated Learning, Reading and Study Skills, Experiential Education, Core Knowledge, Cultural Literacy and Outward Bound. His website, Brainsarefun.com, include only techniques that have been personally used, field-tested and verified by research. They work.

Brainsarefun is dedicated to answering four fundamental questions: (1) What can we do with students who are failing? (2) How can our schools get better results for all students? (3) How can teachers and parents achieve what they really want to achieve? (4) What can schools do to nurture family unity?

IN HIS OWN WORDS:

My experience? I have been a teacher, school administrator, fund raiser, corporate trainer and businessman for thirty years. I have taught kindergarten through post-graduate university; inner-city high-school students and the incarcerated; business people from some of the most powerful corporations in the world. I have taught mountaineering and caving in the wilderness. I have taught reading, writing, listening, speaking, information organization, computers, physical fitness, study skills and math. I have taught children with ten-straight years of academic failure to succeed academically. I can teach virtually any child to ride a bicycle in 15 minutes, without the training wheels. I was a driving force and the Director of Positive Discipline at Littleton Preparatory Charter School, a Direct Instruction/Core Knowledge elementary and middle school in Littleton, Colorado, the day the Columbine High School massacre occurred just down the street. I organized the barricades that day, and have not been the same since.

Today, I direct fundraising for 9Health Fair and run Brainsarefun. I have three sons, two granddaughters, a wife, and a little black dog named Sam. My boys Tom and Mike have attended Brainsarefun Summer University and I have been reading aloud to them for fifteen years. Has my effort turned them into perfect students? Far from it, but I shall never, ever, ever give up. Besides, I'm not looking for perfection, all I want is for all children to be taught how to read.

Now, in my seventh decade of life, I am committed more deeply than ever to providing students and teachers with opportunities for academic achievement and success.

My big challenge is my experience: it all points to the enormous difficulty of challenging a culture largely convinced that meaning and achievement come from ease, and that "work" is something to be avoided at all costs; a culture that is largely in "blame someone else" mode.

I refuse to acquiesce to this world view, or to offer platitudes as solutions. Not content with coasting through life with brain on idle, I am committed to all children being taught how to read, write, listen, speak, organize information, study and do math. In addition, I believe that everyone should learn the three fundamental behaviors of success: starting on time, staying on task, completing assignments. These are the skills and behaviors that need to be taught to mastery in every classroom, every school, every subject, by every teacher, no matter what else is being taught -- it is staggering to me that they are skills virtually never mentioned.

Providing the skills and information to achieve these fundamental objectives is all I do at Brainsarefun.

My big advantage is that I don't have to fear laying it on the line because it might make me unpopular, drive away customers, clients, or votes. Because the solutions posted on Brainsarefun are free, the choice is simple: Either you like what you see here, and find the solutions useful, or you choose to go someplace else. This huge advantage is what sets Brainsarefun apart -- my livelihood is not dependent on pandering to customers so they will continue to pay my wage. That's smart!

What else sets Brainsarefun apart from virtually every other education site is that it offers real solutions, not cliches, platitudes or marketing slogans. Shouldn't I try to turn Brainsarefun into a money-making proposition? Some people encourage me to do so. I don't think so. Before I knew it, someone would be complaining.

I have direct experience with every solution presented here. I do not offer solutions that I have only heard about. I have used every one successfully and know they work. I have seen poor students become good students. I have seen students with "learning disorders" lose the terrible stigma of "special education" and excel. I have seen medicated students put aside their medication and wake up. I have seen parents fire the "expert" and have seen non-readers become readers. I have seen homes torn apart by daily homework battles become unified. I have seen average teachers become exceptional teachers. I have seen classrooms where there is no accountability become centers of academic success. I have seen classrooms in chaos become well-ordered and mannered. I have seen schools where there is no curriculum or methodology adopt a real curriculum and system of instruction. My own children have gone from fair academic performance to the honor roll. I have changed from a discouraged skeptic into a "true" believer.

When it comes to children who are failing to achieve academically, Brainsarefun offers new choices. That's Smart!

Thank you. Good luck. I know you'll let me know what you discover about being smart. Email me at: roryd@brainsarefun.com.

Never, ever, ever give up. And, above all, Love!

Rory

Interested in how to cross the finish line smiling? Check out Donaldson Exercise. I think this is also smart.

WHAT MAKES A MASTER TEACHER?

COPYRIGHT NOTICE: SMART? © February 2001 by Rory Donaldson. All rights reserved. In order to help reverse the tide of academic failure and optimize success, individuals may copy brainsarefun solutions for non-commercial use at no charge. Contents may not be sold or repackaged in any manner without the written permission of Rory Donaldson. Since all material is copyrighted, please ensure that this entire copyright notice and contact information continues to be attached to each article you download. Mr. Donaldson appreciates the feedback. Additional solutions may be viewed and downloaded at no charge by logging on to brainsarefun.com. New titles are being released regularly.