Mike Anderson, Author at Mike Anderson Consulting

Whole Class Lessons: The Most Efficient, Least Effective Form of Instruction

By Mike Anderson
In Blog, Classroom Management, Great Academic Work, Teaching Strategies

Kathy Collins and I were co-teaching a summer workshop for teachers on how to teach reading effectively. We were sharing about different kinds of direct instruction—various ways we can teach students the skills, strategies, and mindsets they need to be

By Mike Anderson
In Blog, Classroom Management, Great Academic Work, Motivation, Social and Emotional Learning, Teaching Strategies, The Ebb and Flow of the School Year

A great learning environment is like a three-legged stool. Ruth Charney first introduced this concept to me years ago. It’s an important idea to keep in mind all year long, but it’s crucial during the first weeks of school. The

By Mike Anderson
In Blog, Great Academic Work, Teacher Talk, Teaching Strategies

A friend and colleague of mine, Andy Dousis, once told me that every lesson has three moments: a golden one, a silver one, and a leaden one. Whatever you say in the first 60 seconds of the lesson is the

By Mike Anderson
In Blog, Great Academic Work, Motivation, Social and Emotional Learning, Teacher Talk

Walk through most schools, and you’ll see messages like the ones above, posted in classrooms and in hallways. We often encourage kids, as they’re about to work to “try your best” or “put in max effort.” One year in

A few years ago my wife gave me three months of coaching for my birthday. I’d been running 5K road races and was trying some half-marathons. She thought I could use some professional help! We connected online, and I sent

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

Mike Anderson

Whole Class Lessons: The Most Efficient, Least Effective Form of Instruction

5 Strategies for Keeping Lessons Short

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