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  • About
    • Brief Overview
    • Curriculum Vitae
    • Testimonials
  • Books
    • Tackling the Motivation Crisis
    • What We Say and How We Say It Matter
    • Teacher Talk that Matters
    • Learning to Choose, Choosing to Learn
    • The Well-Balanced Teacher
    • The Research-Ready Classroom
    • The First Six Weeks of School, 2nd Edition
    • What Every Teacher Needs to Know Series
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Teaching Strategies

Inequities Hidden in Plain Sight: Homework

  • By Mike Anderson
  • In Equity, Homework, Mike's Blog, Teaching Strategies
There is much debate about what kind of role homework should play in schools. Research on the topic is mixed. It has negative impacts on the achievement of younger children, positive impacts at the high school level, and mixed results
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Inequities Hidden in Plain Sight: Incentive Systems

  • By Mike Anderson
  • In Equity, Mike's Blog, Social and Emotional Learning, Teaching Strategies
Are incentive systems used in your school? Do kids get handed tickets or fake money (to be spent at the school store) for walking quietly in hallways? Are gem and marble jars used to motivate kids to raise their hands
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The First Weeks of School: The Beginning of the Story Your Students Will Tell

  • By Mike Anderson
  • In Mike's Blog, Social and Emotional Learning, Student Choice, Teacher Talk, Teaching Strategies
Tell a story that you would want your students to tell about your class at the end of the year. This compelling challenge was posed by Bena Kallick on a recent video interview I had with her and Allison Zmuda.
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Literacy Teachers: Rethink the Phrase, “Good Readers…”

  • By Mike Anderson
  • In Mike's Blog, Motivation, Social and Emotional Learning, Teacher Talk, Teaching Strategies
If you teach reading and/or writing, there’s a good chance that when introducing a new concept or skill, you begin your lesson by saying some variation of, “Good readers….” “Good readers pay attention to context clues.” “Good writers add
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Positive Engagement and Behavior at the End the Year–35 Ideas to Try

  • By Mike Anderson
  • In Mike's Blog, Social and Emotional Learning, Teaching Strategies
As the school year winds down, it can be hard for students (and teachers) to keep their positive energy high. With the end in sight, it can be hard to stay motivated to do work. With worries about the end
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Rethinking Praise

  • By Mike Anderson
  • In For Parents, Mike's Blog, Motivation, Social and Emotional Learning, Teacher Talk, Teaching Strategies
One of the most deeply held beliefs of many educators is that we should praise students—a lot. Many of us were taught, early on in our careers, that the more we praise our students, the better they’ll feel, and the
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Reduce Anxiety in the Classroom: Three Strategies to Try

  • By Mike Anderson
  • In Mike's Blog, Social and Emotional Learning, Teacher Talk, Teaching Strategies
    Childhood anxiety is on the rise. According to research cited in a recent Washington Post article, the diagnosis of childhood anxiety in children ages 6-17 has jumped 20% in recent years.  
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Five Alternatives to “Good Job!”

  • By Mike Anderson
  • In For Parents, Mike's Blog, Motivation, Social and Emotional Learning, Teacher Talk, Teaching Strategies
Traditional praise (such as "Good job!" and "I love the way you're..." can do more harm than good. Read on to find out what to say instead!
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Set Students Up for Success with Choice

  • By Mike Anderson
  • In Mike's Blog, Student Choice, Teacher Talk, Teaching Strategies
The way we introduce learning options to students can make or break a choice experience for students. In this blog post, you’ll learn some practical strategies and ideas from Maggie West, a fifth-grade teacher in Conway, Massachusetts. To get
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A Few Tips for Teachers Giving Presentations

  • By Mike Anderson
  • In Mike's Blog, Professional Development, Teaching Strategies
It seems to be more and more common for teachers to give presentations to adult audiences. Whether it’s sharing with parents at an open house night, making a persuasive speech at a school board meeting, facilitating part of a faculty
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Without These Three Conditions, Student Choice Probably Won’t Work

  • By Mike Anderson
  • In Mike's Blog, Motivation, Social and Emotional Learning, Student Choice, Teacher Talk, Teaching Strategies
“If I give my students choice, I’m worried they’re going to make bad choices,” I often hear teachers say. “They’re just going to choose the easiest option. Or, they’re going to choose what their friends choose.” There’s no doubt that
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Teach Social-Emotional Skills through Literacy Workshop

  • By Mike Anderson
  • In Mike's Blog, Social and Emotional Learning, Teaching Strategies
Social-emotional learning (SEL) is a hot topic in schools right now—as it should be. It’s increasingly clear that social and emotional skills are the keys to the kingdom—it’s the skill set that employers are seeking—the skill set that’s less likely to
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36 Ideas for the Last Weeks of School

  • By Mike Anderson
  • In Mike's Blog, Professional Development, Social and Emotional Learning, Teaching Strategies
We all know the importance of the first six weeks of school. We build positive relationships with students and a strong sense of community membership within our classes. We establish consistent and predictable routines to help students feel safe and allow them
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Getting Started with Cloning Yourself in the Classroom

  • By Gillian Andrews
  • In Mike's Blog, Teaching Strategies
Here’s another great post by guest-blogger and teacher, Gillian Andrews. Enjoy! You may have read my previous blog post, Need More Teachers in the Classroom? Clone Yourself!, and thought this looks like a great idea in theory, but who has
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Need More Teachers in the Classroom? Clone Yourself!

  • By Gillian Andrews
  • In Mike's Blog, Teaching Strategies
Today’s cool idea comes to us from friend and colleague, Gillian Andrews. Make sure to check out her bio at the end of this post! How many times on any given day do you catch yourself saying, “I wish there
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Homework: A Grievable Offense

  • By Mike Anderson
  • In Homework, Mike's Blog, Teaching Strategies
It’s the beginning of a new school year, and your energy and optimism are high. You’re looking forward to a wonderful year—full of new growth and learning. As you settle in with colleagues for the first staff meeting, you chat
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Teach Like Finland: A Must-Read for All Educators

  • By Mike Anderson
  • In Mike's Blog, Professional Development, Teaching Strategies, Work Life Balance
What if the best recipe for creating successful schools was developing relaxed, safe, and joyful ones? What if the key to raising achievement (even as measured by standardized tests) was to have students engage in authentic, student-driven, choice-based, and fun
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Five Ways to Move Away from Compliance-Based Classrooms

  • By Mike Anderson
  • In Mike's Blog, Motivation, Social and Emotional Learning, Student Choice, Teacher Talk, Teaching Strategies
In survey after survey, business leaders are clear about what they’re looking for in employees. They want creative, dynamic, and independent thinkers. They want people who work well with a variety of people. And, importantly, they don’t want to hire
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Connecting SEL and Literacy Teaching: A PD Activity to Try

  • By Mike Anderson
  • In Mike's Blog, Professional Development, Social and Emotional Learning, Teaching Strategies
I wish I could teach social and emotional skills, but there’s too much pressure to teach academics—I just don’t have time! As I work with teachers in schools across the United States, I often hear some version of this statement.
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Succeed in (Don’t Just Survive) the Last Days of School

  • By Mike Anderson
  • In Mike's Blog, Teaching Strategies, Work Life Balance
You already know this, but I’m going to say it anyway. You can’t do it all in these last days of school. Go ahead. Admit it. You have too much planned, and you know no one’s going to come along
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What is Self-Differentiation?

  • By Mike Anderson
  • In Interviews, Mike's Blog, Professional Development, Social and Emotional Learning, Student Choice, Teaching Strategies
How Sharing Control of Learning with Students Makes Differentiation Better Too often, differentiation (especially when it’s called differentiated instruction) places nearly all of the responsibility and work for differentiation in the teacher’s court. This often results in teachers feeling like
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Spark Passion and Purpose with Independent Research

  • By Mike Anderson
  • In Mike's Blog, Motivation, Professional Development, Student Choice, Teaching Strategies
One of the most exciting and enjoyable ways to differentiate learning for students is to lead them through a process of independent research. When students get to dig deeply into something they’re passionate about, they have the drive and stamina
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12 Routines to Revisit in January

  • By Mike Anderson
  • In Mike's Blog, Teaching Strategies
You invested hours and hours of time and energy in the first six weeks of school teaching and practicing routines, and it made a huge difference. Students knew what to do and how to do it, and your classroom (usually) ran
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Teachers and Parents: Three Strategies to Help Focus on this Year, not Next

  • By Kristen Vincent
  • In For Parents, Mike's Blog, Teaching Strategies
Today’s post comes to us from good friend and colleague, Kristen Vincent. To learn more about Kristen and her work, check out her bio at the end of this post! Many teachers and families are wrapping up the fall season
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Teaching Math without Homework

  • By Mike Anderson
  • In Homework, Mike's Blog, Teaching Strategies
I have always struggled with assigning math homework. I hate the idea of busywork, so work that seems too easy feels like a waste of time. Then again, assignments that are challenging don’t work either since I’m not there to
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