Transformative Principal

Overcoming Our Motivation Crisis with Mike Anderson Transformative Principal 390


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Mike Anderson has been an educator for more than 25 years. A public school teacher for 15 years, he has also taught preschool, coached school 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 eight books about great teaching and learning. 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.

  • New book on motivation - Moving from systems of extrinsic motivation to supporting students’ intrinsic motivations
  • Extrinsic motivation is the default motivation in schools right now.
  • Motivate from without. Impose on others.
  • Punishments are also forms of extrinsic motivation.
  • Ditchie and Ryan - autonomy is the key intrinsic motivator.
  • Is there ever a time that extrinsic motivation is worthwhile.
  • We’ve taught them to think transactionally.
  • Book - Drive by Daniel Pink - animated video
  • Rote or Mechanical - extrinsic works in the short term.
  • You can lose creativity if extrinsic motivation.
  • Intrinsic motivation comes from within.
  • Self-motivation vs. Intrinsic motivators:
  • 6 indicators:
  • autonomy - need for power and control
  • purpose - what we are doing has meaning
  • competence - need to feel good at stuff
  • belonging - connected to others
  • curiosity - naturally interested in
  • fun - playful, joy, energetic.
  • Motivation is very complex.
  • Set this up and incentivize it for them.
  • How do we make this shift in education?
  • Recognize that it is coming from a place of good intentions
  • Signaling - we signal that the action is something distasteful because we have to incentivize it.
  • Alfie Kohn on Oprah
  • Kids who were paid stopped playing with the puzzles.
  • Jethro’s TEDx Talk
  • Stop trying to motivate kids. Tap into their intrinsic motivations
  • Conflict in US history.
  • 11 of 22 kids showed up on a Saturday morning, voluntarily.
  • Ongoing assessing throughout the project.
  • Take the content we have to teach and give kids control, purpose,
  • Numbers in expanded notation
  • Shift in thinking about content: It’s a means to an end, it shouldn’t be the end itself.
  • We should think of content as our playground.
  • Motivation - book Crisis focused? Learning to choose, choosing to learn.
  • Act of co-creation with Allison Zmuda.
  • How to be a Transformative Principal - Dig into the research on motivation. LiveBinder

Eduplanet21 courses

Sponsors TeachFX

Innovative school leaders across the country have started tracking online student participation using TeachFX because it’s one of the most powerful ways to improve student outcomes during COVID — especially for English Learners and students of color. Learn more about TeachFX and get a special offer at TeachFX.com

John Catt

Today’s Transformative Principal sponsor, John Catt Educational, amplifies world-class voices on timeless topics, with a list of authors recognized globally for their fresh perspectives and proven strategies to drive success in modern schools and classrooms.

John Catt’s mission is to support high-quality teaching and learning by ensuring every educator has access to professional development materials that are research-based, practical, and focused on the key topics proven essential in today’s and tomorrow’s schools.

Learn more about professional development publications that are easy to implement for your entire faculty, and are both quickly digestible and rigorous, by visiting https://us.johncattbookshop.com/. Learn more about some of the newest titles:

  • Michaela: The Power of Culture by Katharine Birbalsingh
  • Teaching WalkThrus: Visual Step-by-Step Guides to Essential Teaching Techniques by Tom Sherrington and Oliver Caviglioli
  • Putting Staff First: A blueprint for revitalising our schools by John Tomsett and Jonny Uttley
  • The Teaching Delusion: Why Teaching In Our Schools Isn’t Good Enough (And How We Can Make It Better) by Bruce Robertson
  • Stop Talking About Wellbeing: A pragmatic approach to teacher workload by Kat Howard

John Catt is also proud publisher of the new book from Transformative Principal host Jethro Jones: SchoolX: How principals can design a transformative school experience for students, teachers, parents – and themselves Visit this page to learn more about bulk orders and how to bring John Catt’s research-based materials to your school: https://us.johncattbookshop.com/pages/agents-and-distributors


Learn more about today's sponsors, Playworks, IXL, and Renaissance Learning:

As a global leader in education technology operating in more than 110 countries, Renaissance is committed to providing educators with insights and resources to accelerate growth and help all students build a strong foundation for success. We believe that technology can unlock a more effective learning experience, ensure that students get the personalized teaching they need to thrive, and help educators and administrators to truly, fully, See Every Student. Learn more at renaissance.com.

We’re proud to be sponsored by Playworks, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization with evidence-based practices that help schools improve the health and well-being of children by increasing opportunities for physical activity and safe, meaningful play.


If you’re a school or district leader struggling with the challenge of chronic absenteeism, as so many are across the U.S., you may not realize that structured recess is a research-backed approach to keep kids in school. In fact, a UC Berkeley study of Title I schools found that those partnering with Playworks had significantly lower chronic absenteeism rates. Further, Mathematica research demonstrated that Playworks schools spent 27% less time transitioning fr...

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