I recently read three pieces addressing student motivation by authors that I follow because they each trigger my thinking with their insights and examples: In an Education Week article , Alfie Kohn commented on the current interest in the “Marshmallow Studies” (past blog) and “Grit” (past blog ). He raised the concern that the enthusiasm […]

This week I was working with teacher leaders from a GA district who were studying with instructional coaches and administrators from their buildings. We examined teacher leaders’ roles in facilitating PLCs, building team cultures, and promoting a culture of coaching. One of the areas that emerged from our conversations was how to assist teachers in […]

In my use of backwards planning to gain student motivation, I am continually asking teachers to identify what student behaviors are needed to reach the student achievement that has been set as a goal. Very often they identify intrinsic motivation. When we take the next step in backwards planning, we have to examine “what teacher […]

I’ve been searching and gathering thoughts and examples that explore what learning could and should look like. In Tapping Student Effort, and in many of my presentations, I present William Glasser’s model of motivation from survival, belonging, power, freedom and fun.   Connecting that with Daniel Pink’s work in Drive (autonomy, mastery and purposefulness), I […]