This professional development (PD) sequence provides participants/teachers with research-based strategies for promoting students’ motivation and engagement in learning in the context of classroom instruction.  The PD sequence consists of a one day face to face workshop coupled with follow-up technical assistance (TA) in the form of monthly conference calls with a team of other professionals and Dr. Holland.  The TA component focuses on helping teachers implement ideas they learned in the workshop and supports their ability to become effective leaders within their schools and districts as they disseminate what they have learned. 

Workshop: Current classroom approaches to student motivation rely largely on antiquated theory from the first half of the twentieth century.  Therefore, the first part of this two part presentation will focus largely on problematic aspects of this theory (behaviorism) and how it plays out in classrooms (e.g., sticker charts, card charts).  A more modern theory of motivation (self-determination theory) will also be discussed and some practical applications of this theory will be explored.  The focus in this part of the presentation will largely be on classroom management, concentrating on ways to improve student engagement and decrease teacher stress.  Part two of this presentation will dig deeper into practical applications of the theory discussed in part one (self-determination theory), addressing topics such as tattling, bathroom time, lining up, aligning with PBIS, and persistent misbehavior.  Time will be allotted to discuss issues provided by participants as well.  Finally, a second modern theory of motivation (achievement goal theory) will also be presented and implications for pedagogy and collaborative inquiry will be discussed.  Lunch will be provided.

Ongoing technical assistance: During the workshop, participants will form into groups of 4.  These teams will have monthly conference calls with Dr. Holland and one another to discuss issues, solve problems, and find ways to take effect changes in their schools and districts based on what they have learned.  Conference calls will last for an hour.  Email will also be used for working through issues that come up between calls.