Mike Anderson

Learning to Choose, Choosing to Learn

Mike Anderson

Offering students choices about their learning, says author Mike Anderson, is one of the most powerful ways teachers can boost student learning, motivation, and achievement. In his latest book, Anderson offers numerous examples of choice in action, ideas to try with different students, and a step-by-step process to help you plan and incorporate choice into your classroom. You’ll explore * What effective student choice looks like in the classroom. * Why it’s important to offer students choices. * How to create learning environments, set the right tone for learning, and teach specific skills that enable choice to work well. When students have more choices about their learning, they can find ways of learning that match their personal needs and be more engaged in their work, building skills and work habits that will serve them well in school and beyond. This teacher-friendly guide offers everything you need to help students who are bored, frustrated, or underperforming come alive to learning through the fundamental power of choice.

The Well-Balanced Teacher

Mike Anderson

You’ve probably heard the advice “put on your own oxygen mask before assisting others.” This is true both in airplanes and in classrooms—you have to take care of yourself before you can help someone else. If teachers are stressed out and exhausted, how can they have the patience, positive energy, and enthusiasm to provide the best instruction for students? Author Mike Anderson asked that question as a teacher himself, and the answers he found form the basis of The Well-Balanced Teacher. He found that teachers need to take care of themselves in five key areas to keep themselves in shape to care for their students. In addition to paying proper attention to their basic needs for nutrition, hydration, sleep, exercise, and emotional and spiritual refreshment, teachers also need
Belonging: Teachers need to feel positive connections with other people, both in school and outside school. Significance: Teachers want to know that they make a positive difference through the work they do. Positive engagement: When teachers enjoy their work, they have great energy and passion for their teaching. Balance: Healthy teachers set boundaries and create routines so that they can have rich lives both in the classroom and at home. Anderson devotes a chapter to each of these needs, describing in frank detail his own struggles and offering a multitude of practical tips to help readers find solutions that will work for them. When teachers find ways to take care of their own needs, they will be healthier and happier, and they will have the positive energy and stamina needed to help their students learn and grow into healthy adults.