Mike’s Experience
- Created “The 6 Focus Strategies for Meaningful Engaged Learning” model.
- Identified in “Louisiana Department of Education Initiatives Best Practices,” as an approved school improvement model.
- Founding Director of the Maine Center for Meaningful Engaged Learning.
- Numerous articles and workshops on motivating students, creating engaging learning experiences, and project-based learning.
- Designed the Plain English Instructional Model.
- Creator and director of Projects4ME, Maine’s statewide virtual project-based program for at-risk and dropout youth.
- Chair of the Board: Maine Academy for Natural Sciences.
- Co-Authored, then supported, the School District of Philadelphia’s Magnet School Grant, which brought $7.5M into the district for a K-12 project-based learning program (as part of the Citadel Group)
- Member: Maine’s Secondary Education Policy Task Force.
Some of Mike’s Writing on the Topic
- Focus on 6 High-Impact Motivation Strategies
- What Motivates Underachieving Students? (Middle School Journal, Nov. 2001)
- Some Students Need More Than Direct Instruction
- Advantages of a Plain English Instructional Model
- Are Parents Leaving Their Good Kids at Home? Easy to Teach and Hard to Teach
- What Makes for Good Learning Experiences?
- The Good and Bad of Extrinsic Motivation
- Correct Answers vs. Building Understanding: What Do Learners Need?
- We Had It All Backwards: The Two Types of Instruction
- Making Lessons Interesting (Part 1; Part 2)
- What Students and Teachers Say About Voice and Choice
- “Student Voice and Choice” is More Than Just Choice
- Tone of Voice Matters (In Surprising Ways)
- The Importance of Helping Students Save Face
- Sometimes Humor is the Best Way to Correct Behavior
- Student Motivation: What Level of Engagement Are Your Students At?
- We Must Do More Than Fill Students’ Vessels
- Kindling Fires of Curiosity
- What’s to Blame for Kids Not Learning?
Mike Muir 