Mike Anderson has been an educator for more than 25 years. A public school teacher for 15 years, he has also taught preschool, coached swim teams, and taught university graduate level classes. He now works as a consultant providing professional learning for teachers throughout the US and beyond. In 2004, Mike was awarded a national Milken Educator Award, and in 2005 he was a finalist for NH Teacher of the Year. In 2020, he was awarded the Outstanding Educational Leader Award by NHASCD for his work as a consultant. A best-selling author, Mike has written nine books about great teaching and learning. His latest book is Tackling the Motivation Crisis: How to Activate Student Learning Without Behavior Charts, Pizza Parties, or Other Hard-to-Quit Incentive Systems. When not working, Mike can be found hanging with his family, tending his perennial gardens, and searching for new running routes around his home in Durham, NH.
“Do we have to do this?” “Is this going to be graded?” “When am I ever going to use this in real life?”
Questions like this can feel infuriating. They seem to indicate a lack of motivation in students, and it’s so disheartening to feel like we’re having to threaten or bribe students to get them to do schoolwork. After all, didn’t we get into teaching because we’re passionate about learning—and don’t we want our students to share that passion?
In this active and interactive (and dare I say provocative?) session, we’ll tackle the problem of students’ (lack of) motivation. We’ll look at common school practices (such as traditional grading, incentives, and praise) that are meant to motivate but which actually demotivate. We’ll also explore lots of practical strategies for tapping into students’ intrinsic motivations so that they’ll more energized and engaged with daily learning. You’ll walk away from this workshop with a more complete understanding of how motivation really works, as well as many strategies for making learning more motivational for your students. You’ll also gain access to a robust set of online resources to help you continue to learn about this topic.
