Mike's Blog Archives - Mike Anderson Consulting

5 Reasons to Not Use Incentives This Year (and 5 Things to Do Instead)

By Mike Anderson
In Blog, Classroom Management, Great Academic Work, Mike's Blog, Motivation, Teacher Talk, Teaching Strategies

Classroom management and academic engagement are two of the most important aspects of getting off to a great start in the new school year. Though gem/marble jars, tickets, clip charts, and other incentive systems (including traditional grades) are common throughout

By Mike Anderson
In Blog, Health and Balance, Mike's Blog, Motivation, Work Life Balance

A Conversation Between Starr Sackstein and Mike Anderson Starr Sackstein and I each often hear a worry from teachers we work with. They’re dedicated to the profession but are feeling exhausted, worn out, and stagnant. They aren’t sure what to

By Amy Difeo
In Classroom Management, Great Academic Work, Mike's Blog, Motivation, Student Choice, Teaching Strategies

Are you a teacher struggling to keep your students engaged? You’re not alone. A team of teachers at Sandown North Elementary School faced similar challenges, witnessing a decline in student engagement and an uptick in students that were dysregulated. Instead

By Mike Anderson
In Audio, Great Academic Work, Health and Balance, Interviews, Mike's Blog, Teaching Strategies

When my district first adopted a math program I had mixed feelings. On the one hand, I was relieved. Look a this—all of my math lessons are planned for the entire year! Just imagine the time I’ll save. I won’t

By Jaclyn Rohr
In Blog, Mike's Blog, The Ebb and Flow of the School Year

Early in the school year, there’s a powerful proactive strategy we should all consider. Positive phone calls to families give you the chance to build connections and relationships with families that will yield benefits all year long. But is this

By Tom Tuscano
In Great Academic Work, Mike's Blog, Motivation, Student Choice, Teaching Strategies

“How’d it go?” On the surface, it is such a basic question. I’ve been asked that question plenty of times in my life. After a sports game, doctor’s appointment, or school meeting, not to mention that nerve-wracking best man’s speech

By Mike Anderson
In Mike's Blog, Motivation, Social and Emotional Learning, Teacher Talk, Ted Lasso

What did the mathematical acorn say when he grew up? “Ge-om-e-try!” (“Gee, I’m a tree!”) Ah—dad jokes. Silly plays on words. Puns. Cornball humor. Eye-rollers. Groaners. Ted Lasso is packed with goofy humor. Have you noticed how this keeps your

By Mike Anderson
In Blog, Great Academic Work, Health and Balance, Mike's Blog, Student Choice, Teaching Strategies, Ted Lasso

In the final episode of Season I of Ted Lasso, players are somber and nervous heading into a do-or-die match against a superior team. Ted decides they all need to try something new, so he invites the players to name

By Mike Anderson
In Blog, Health and Balance, Mike's Blog, Ted Lasso

As I’ve watched Ted Lasso, I can’t help but think about the lessons that we educators can learn along the way. Today we’ll consider a line from the very first episode: “Taking on a challenge is a lot like riding

By Mike Anderson
In Blog, Classroom Management, Mike's Blog, Motivation, Social and Emotional Learning, Ted Lasso

My wife and I loved watching Ted Lasso. In fact, when our daughter came home from college for the holidays, we got her into it and watched both seasons again! One of the most powerful and uplifting scenes comes in

By Mike Anderson
In Blog, Classroom Management, Mike's Blog, Social and Emotional Learning, Ted Lasso

Even if you haven’t binge-watched Ted Lasso like I have (twice!), you’ve probably heard of it. In this blog post, we’ll explore one of Ted Lasso’s classic lines: Be a Goldfish and consider how it might help us when we’ve

Beyond Behaviorism: Three Key Strategies

A Brief History of Behaviorism, Part 5 If you could travel back in time about 60 years and walk through a typical school, you might be surprised to find something missing. You wouldn’t see behavior charts or “star student” award

By Mike Anderson
In Blog, Classroom Management, For Parents, Mike's Blog, Motivation, Social and Emotional Learning

A Brief History of Behaviorism, Part 4 If you could travel back in time about 60 years and walk through a typical school, you might be surprised to find something missing. You wouldn’t see behavior charts or “star student” award

By Mike Anderson
In Blog, Classroom Management, For Parents, Mike's Blog, Motivation, Social and Emotional Learning

A Brief History of Behaviorism, Part 3 If you could travel back in time about 60 years and walk through a typical school, you might be surprised to find something missing. You wouldn’t see behavior charts or “star student” award

By Mike Anderson
In Blog, Classroom Management, For Parents, Mike's Blog, Motivation, Social and Emotional Learning

A Brief History of Behaviorism, Part 2 If you could travel back in time about 60 years and walk through a typical school, you might be surprised to find something missing. You wouldn’t see behavior charts or “star student” award

Drooling Dogs and the Birth of Behaviorism

A Brief History of Behaviorism, Part 1 If you could travel back in time about 60 years and walk through a typical school, you might be surprised to find something missing. You wouldn’t see behavior charts or “star student” award

Do your students seem young this year? You’re not alone. In every single school I’m working in this year—with no exceptions—teachers are saying the same kinds of things. This shouldn’t be surprising. Students always seem a bit young in the

15 Strategies for Learning Students’ Names

“To weave the magic of a thing, you see, one must find its true name. In my lands we keep our true names hidden all our lives long, from all but those we trust utterly; for there is great power,

By Mike Anderson
In Blog, Great Academic Work, Mike's Blog, Motivation, Teaching Strategies, Video

In this vlog post, published through Eduplanet21, I share a story about a student who seemed motivated but wasn’t really self-motivated. She was always seeking my approval: “Is this okay? Is it good enough?” I tell about how I helped

100 Ideas for Awesome Academic Work in the Last Weeks of School

Don’t look now, but the end of the school year isn’t far away. Of course, we know how important the first weeks of school are, but what about the last weeks of school? Surely, this is just as important a

As Students Return to School, Don’t Focus on SEL or Academics: Do Both

As schools welcome more and more students back through their doors, we’re all trying to figure out the best way to do so. It seems as though there are two wildly different needs we must address. As I talk with

Teacher language can be a great focus for a New Year’s resolution. After all, we all use language with students, and we all surely have some habits that could use some refinement. Often, some of our language habits don’t line

You want at-home learning to feel purposeful and engaging for students, but you don’t want to further overwhelm yourself with work. What if there was a way to both boost student engagement and reduce the daily assigning, correcting, and keeping

Mike’s Blog

5 Reasons to Not Use Incentives This Year (and 5 Things to Do Instead)

Feeling Burned Out? Maybe It’s Time for a Shake-Up!

Struggling with Motivation? Try Engaging Students with Project-Based Learning!

How Teachers Can Forge Instructional Autonomy

A Powerful Proactive Strategy: Positive Phone Calls to Families

Can You Really Own Something You Didn’t Choose?

3 Planning Moves to Reenergize Your Teaching

Taking on a Challenge Is Like Riding a Horse

Helping Students Become More Self-Motivated

100 Ideas for Awesome Academic Work in the Last Weeks of School

Tap into Self-Motivation with an At-Home Project