Mike Roberts has been a middle school educator for the past twenty-five years. In that time, he has received numerous awards for his outstanding teaching, including being named an American Star of Teaching by the U.S. Department of Education in 2008, the NCTE Outstanding Middle Level English Educator in 2009, the 2014 Utah English Teacher of the Year, and the 2019 Utah Star of Middle Level Education. He pivoted from teaching into instructional coaching, and from there, he went on to his current position as an Assistant Principal
Mike's most recent book, Hacking Modern Teaching - 10 Ways to Build Student Engagement, Maximize Success, and Inspire Authentic Learning, offers a variety of strategies to help teachers and students thrive within today's modern classroom. Mike is also the author of Chasing Greatness: 26.2 Ways Teaching is Like Running a Marathon, where he shares advice from some of the best teachers and runners from across the country as a way to help you reach your highest potential. Mike is also the author of Hacking Classroom Management - 10 Ideas to Help You Become the Type of Teacher They Make Movies About, which identifies a variety of strategies that empower students in the learning process. Finally, he is the co-author of The New Science Teacher's Handbook: What You Didn't Learn From Student Teaching, and was a featured columnist in English Journal.
Mike also teaches college classes focused on classroom management and literacy in the content areas. He has served on many educational committees, and has been a featured speaker at dozens of state, regional, and national conferences.
When he's not teaching or presenting, Mike can usually be found running ultra-marathons in the mountains. And even after all these years, he's still not sure which takes more energy...a week with middle schoolers or a 100 mile race.