Learning Path Press
Helping students—and the adults who support them—learn how to learn.
Learning Path Press publishes memoir and study-skills books for readers who learn differently, start later, or carry quiet doubts about their ability to succeed. Our work is grounded in lived experience, research-based practice, and the belief that capability is often hidden—not absent.
Our titles serve students, educators, and lifelong learners who want understanding, strategy, and a clear path forward
John Tenny is an author and educator who helps students—and the adults who support them—learn how to learn. Once labeled a poor student himself, John struggled academically early in life before discovering practical study strategies that transformed his performance and changed his future.
That discovery led him back to college, where he graduated with honors, earned advanced degrees, and built a career as a university professor and graduate program director. Over decades of teaching and mentoring both traditional students and returning adults, he developed clear, step-by-step study strategies designed for real life—improving concentration, strengthening memory, reducing wasted study time, and raising grades.
These methods are presented in Sixteen Study Strategies, a practical guide that translates research and classroom experience into techniques students can apply immediately—and that parents can use to better understand and support effective study habits without frustration or guesswork.
John’s memoir, When the First A Changed My Life, tells the personal story behind this work—tracing a journey from academic shame to self-belief, and showing how learning how to learn reshaped his identity, career, and future.
All of his books are published under Learning Path Press, with a shared mission: helping learners of all ages move from self-doubt to confidence.
Featured Titles
When the First A Changed My Life
What if one moment — one letter on one test — could rewrite a lifetime of self-doubt?
In When the First A Changed My Life, John L. Tenny, Ph.D., takes us inside the quiet struggles of a boy labeled lazy and incapable, and the remarkable path that followed. From shame-filled classrooms to discovery in the carpentry trades to his return to academia, John reveals how learning how he learns transformed his identity, his career, and his future.
More than a memoir, it is the story behind a method — the lived experience that later shaped his Sixteen Study Skills framework, a set of practical strategies that helped him achieve academic success and that continue to guide students today.
This is proof that intelligence is not a gift granted — it is a capability unlocked.
“The day I saw that A, something inside me unlocked — not knowledge, but permission to believe in myself.”
John L. Tenny, Ph.D. is an educator, craftsman, and lifelong learner who proved that ability does not define destiny — belief does. After years in the trades as a journeyman carpenter, he earned advanced academic degrees and dedicated his career to helping others learn how to learn. His Sixteen Study Skills book expands the techniques that helped him excel, offering readers the tools to unlock their own potential. He lives on the beautiful Oregon Coast surrounded by family, tools, books, and the ongoing joy of curiosity.
“A powerful reminder that intelligence is not measured by early success–or failure—but by the courage to keep trying.”
— Kathryn Ellis, Ed.D., Educational Psychologist
Sixteen Study Strategies: proven techniques to raise grades and make learning easy
Are you a student looking to develop efficient learning skills? Are you falling behind in class, or struggling to keep up?
In Sixteen Study Strategies, John Tenny, an emeritus professor of education, lays out a tried and tested formula for making your study time more enjoyable and less time-consuming. Instead of focusing on conventional reading and memorizing, this book simplifies notetaking and improves information retrieval – which leads to accelerated learning.
The strategies presented in the book include:
- Keyword notetaking
- Notetaking a video or speaker
- Aggressive reading
- Speed reading novels
- Vocabulary & concept mapping
Whether you’re in high school, college, or contemplating a return to education, this book will provide you with the foundations for successful learning.