Praise for Plan Like a PIRATE...

Dawn’s passion and experience for teaching illuminate her brilliantly penned manifesto. She helps you discover your greatness as an educator and guides you through designing extraordinary, purposeful, and life-changing learning journeys that will impact every student far beyond the classroom experience.  You will be captivated by her stories and empowered by her ideas and strategies that can be applied in any grade level and content area. Get ready to set sail for an incredible adventure with Dawn Harris!

Tisha Richmond

Student Engagement & PD Specialist, and author of Make Learning Magical

Even if you've never met Dawn Harris, after reading her book, there is no doubt--this exceptional educator has a passion for teaching what matters; it's her philosophy! Harris has purposefully penned Plan Like a PIRATE to serve educators around the world. As you navigate the pages of this gem, you will gain insight from Dawn's expertise with antiracist teaching, explore a planning framework of Eight Essential Practices, and discover a plethora of resources to intentionally meet the needs of every one of your learners. This is one of those books you will keep on your desk and refer back to time and again. Not only will you glean ideas to create a classroom culture that thrives in all areas of academics, but your mind and heart will leave with a renewed commitment to making every student feel included and valued.

Want to teach with purpose?

Plan Like a PIRATE is a must-read!

Tara Martin

educator, and author of Be REAL: Educate from the Heart and Cannonball in

The Greatness Within

Dawn Harris’ first book can be summed up in two words: compellingly captivating. Plan Like a Pirate reaches into your heart and soul to draw out the greatness within - a captivating experience. This book reaches far beyond planning.  It charts the reader’s destiny to become a great educator. 

The Charge

Readers are issued a charge to grow themselves professionally and are guided to become Antiracist educators who provide challenging, empathetic, and memorable experiences for our students.  

Steering the Ship

Readers are passionately encouraged to steer their own ship toward comprehensive personal and professional growth that leads to powerful success and achievement. These adventures and journeys toward greatness have a direct impact on student confidence, achievement, success, and performance. The institution of education desperately needs Dawn’s secrets to igniting students' curiosity,  heightening the level of engagement and enthusiasm around learning experiences, and calling educators to a higher level of action. Whether you are a superintendent or classroom teacher, Plan Like a Pirate is for you, it’s for all of us.

Traci Browder, M.Ed.

Intelligogy Education Consulting, GritCrewEDU Co-founder, Betterflies

Great educators make teaching look effortless - but master teachers know that deep learning happens only through intentional design. Plan Like a Pirate shares a roadmap on how to design rich experiences where students engage deeply and critically with content to advance their learning. A master teacher herself, Dawn Harris shares stories from the trenches and weaves in practical strategies and frameworks to help make learning accessible and meaningful for students. This is a must-read for all educators!

Jill Siler, Ed.D.,

Deputy Executive Director, Texas Association of School Administrators and author of Thrive Through The Five: Practical Truths to Powerfully Lead Through Challenging Times

Our journey as educational leaders never ends. The goal? To leave a lasting impact on those students as we empower them to build their foundations of truth. 

Dawn guides us directly to her brilliantly narrated adventure in transforming planning with intentional authenticity and commitment.

Her inspirational enlightenment from personal experiences encourages us to keep cultivating antiracist teaching and learning. Dawn attests this will not be an easy process, yet her charge to readers is that we CAN and WILL do this work with genuine advocacy, passion, and dedication.

Discover, wonder, connect, and engage with Dawn through this profound exploration that will leave you anchored with confidence.

Jillian DuBois

Educator/Author/Illustrator, Liv's Seashells; Road to Awesome: A Journey for Kids; Look at YOU, Piper Lou!

I’m humbled and honored to have been around some great minds in education over the years. Dawn is definitely one of those minds, and her book Plan Like A Pirate is her bold manifesto. From redefining “CEO” to mean Chief Engagement Officer to being intentional about creating the culture in classrooms and in our lives, Dawn has created a blueprint that will give you insight on how to create your own. 

We sometimes assume that educators intuitively know how to create engaging environments; however, that’s not always the case. What Plan Like A Pirate does is look at the specifics of the educator and learner interactions that create compelling learning experiences. Plan Like A Pirate is more than just a tool to look at how we structure learning. It goes well beyond that to create memorable experiences for both the educator and the learner. It’s time for you to take those experiences to the next level. This is such a book for such a time!

Vernon Wright

Speaker, Author, Consultant, Leader