We’re a community of educators obsessed with sharing the science-backed study skills and executive function strategies EVERY STUDENT needs to THRIVE.
Have you noticed students are struggling to:
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Take ownership of their learning
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Manage their time effectively
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Manage their mental health
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Juggle school and life
But it’s not just our students.
We’re struggling too…
to teach or coach students who:
are increasingly distracted and scattered
don’t study effectively—or at all
forget to turn in assignments
can’t advocate effectively for themselves
The struggles might be because of overwhelm, lack of skill development, diagnosed learning differences, anxiety and depression, or countless other barriers. They might be exacerbated by systemic inequities of being poor, under-resourced, of color, LGBTQ+, or other marginalized identities. Regardless of the reason — it’s messy out there today in the world of schools and schooling and educators are feeling it.
But guess what? You don’t have to feel frustrated, burnt out, and overwhelmed. With a few simple tools and practice, you can have a productive and positive relationship with your students while equipping them for success in school.
Cue the Anti-Boring Learning Lab where you’ll learn the tools and the brain science students need to shift from unmotivated, bored, and struggling students into independent, motivated, self-starting learners.
Most importantly, you’ll join a community of passionate educators to ask questions, share ideas, and rethink learning and schools together.
Are you ready to invigorate your practice AND transform how your students learn? I promise it won’t be boring.
—Gretchen
Founder, Anti-Boring Learning Lab
Learning Science + Practical Strategies + Community = 🥳
OUR APPROACH
Educators consistently tell us, "This is the best professional development I've ever participated in", followed by "You have profoundly changed how I work with students." Yay! We’re so honored to hear this so consistently.
So the next question is why is Anti-Boring Learning Lab such a transformative program for educators and their students?
Our comprehensive training approach is designed to serve three needs at once:
What students need to know about brain science and study skills (content)
How educators need to teach and coach (pedagogy), and
How educators need to learn (praxis)
To this end, the Anti-Boring Study Skills Toolkit is based on five principles:
Principle 1 - The most effective study strategies that students will actually use
Principle 2 - The brain science behind why these strategies work
Principle 3 - The least students need to know to take effective action
Principle 4 - The tiniest action students are willing to take now
Principle 5 - Practicing what we preach in our own learning and lives
Our approach helps EVERYONE move from surviving to thriving as quickly as possible:
Educators feel more hopeful, energized, and effective
Students feel more competent and engaged, confident and happy
Everyone is less stressed… and doing their best! (Gotta love that rhyme…)
Learn 41+ Anti-Boring Tools in our 9 micro-credentials:
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The Science of Studying
Learn at deeper levels to ensure content sticks longterm
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Learning Styles Are Dead
Use a variety of senses to make stronger connections in the brain
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Academic Coaching 101
Connect with students more deeply and effectively
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Train the Brain
Understand how the brain works to unlock its full potential
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Powerful Note Taking
Create notes that organize and visualize information in new ways
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Quizzable Study Tools
Study in more effective ways than rote memorization
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Rock Solid Study Plans
Stay on track by creating realistic and actionable study plans
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Overcome Procrastination
Crush stress and overwhelm by implementing better systems
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Habits and Grades
Track progress to boost motivation and momentum
Want to jumpstart your learning FOR FREE?!
What Educators are saying…
“My major takeaways are the Study Cycle and the organization of studying, which has always been a problem for me to get across to students. The other thing that I want to say is that I haven’t had a cohort like this since I was in grad school: people who I can bounce ideas off of, go to the group and say, “Hey guys! What about this?” You have given us this enormous resource in each other.”
Adam Sanford
College instructor &
Academic Life Coach
“Hands down, the two best student success toolkits out there are Gretchen’s Anti-Boring Approach and Sarah’s Ward’s EF Practice. Every academic, adhd, and executive function coach should learn the anti-boring toolkit, as well as every educator. I pay for all the coaches I hire in my business to go through Gretchen’s program.”
Crista Hopp
Director, Connected Pathways Coaching
“Gretchen's Anti-Boring Toolkit is one of the best coaching courses I've come across. It has the most practical tools to use with students who have lost their passion for learning due to academic challenges. In addition, Gretchen fosters such a welcoming community, and we even get to access resources from expert coaches and each other. Also, I truly appreciate the coaching calls, which have been an invaluable part of the learning experience.”
Jasleen Kaur Monga
Educational Therapist/Executive Function Coach
Join the Anti-Boring Learning Lab…
and experience the BEST professional development community for educators.
Learn 40+ tools and become an expert in research-based strategies to help students become engaged, independent learners.
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Everything in The CORE Toolkit PLUS:
Train the Brain
Powerful Note Taking
Quizzable Study Tools
Rock Solid Study Plans
Overcome Procrastination
Habits & Grades
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A monthly “All About Students” call to ask your questions and discuss all things learning and executive functions
A monthly “Boost” call where you can get your dose of community and ask all questions related to coaching and education with rotating times to allow for different time zones
Regular bonus calls like our “No Pressure Book Club”, “Tech Q&As”, and more
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Ask your questions and share your ideas in our three chat spaces:
—All About Us: Make friends and achieve goals within the community
—All About Students: discuss student and coaching skills and more!
—All About Biz: Grow your biz alongside other edupreneurs -
Covering essential topics like:
Executive Functions essentials
Recorded sessions with students
Countless other topics related to coaching, teaching, and learning
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We welcome you to stay as long as you’d like to learn and grow with us; however, if you’d like to become a licensed anti-boring coach, most educators complete the requirements in one year, though you could move through quicker, depending on the amount of time you can dedicate.
By completing the requirements you’ll unlock:
A certificate of completion
Access to our Anti-Boring Approach to Powerful Studying online course to share with your students
A library of resources you can use with your students
Exclusive badges for your website/profile
The opportunity to be featured on our website and newsletter
$999 Annually
Our BEST Value and HIGHEST Access!
or $349 every three months
FAQs
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Due to the nature of digital products, we do not offer refunds on Anti-Boring Learning Lab memberships. However, we do offer a free three-day trial membership so you can determine if the lab is right for you. Cancel anytime during that window to avoid being charged. You can even cancel right after you subscribe to the trial so you don’t forget :)
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The Anti-Boring Toolkit was initially designed for students in middle school through university. However, elementary educators and graduate school coaches have also enjoyed the training. The truth is that every student needs this toolkit, and even older students appreciate the anti-boring nature of the strategies.
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Yes! In fact, the tools were initially designed to support students with learning differences such as ADHD, dyslexia, dyscalculia, autism, and so many others.
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Over the 15+ years that we’ve been training educators, we’ve noticed two significant patterns — teachers often lecture too much, and academic coaches often don't teach enough. As a result, teachers benefit from incorporating some elements of student-centered coaching into their teaching practice, and coaches benefit from learning the art of a well-placed lecture and how to teach specific skills to students.
We’ve created a training program that helps educators learn both the art of coaching and the art of the mini-lecture which is our signature approach to sharing the Anti-Boring tools as simply and effectively as possible.
We reference coaching often because it de-centers common assumptions about the role of the teacher in classroom life.
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Along with academic coaches and classroom teachers, a myriad of other kinds of educators have been raving about how this toolkit helps them be more efficient and effective in their work with students: educational therapists, occupational therapists, learning specialists, special ed teachers, school counselors, college admissions counselors, university learning center staff, school psychologists, therapists, independent study teachers, tutors, homeschool educators, and so many more!
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Yes! We have organized the entire Anti-Boring Study Skills Toolkit into micro-credentials so you can focus your learning around which skills will be most useful for your students in your context. Take what you like and leave the rest! However, many educators opt to learn the entire Toolkit in order to reap the benefits of becoming a Licensed Anti-Boring Coach.
These benefits include: a certificate of completion, access to our Anti-Boring Approach to Powerful Studying online course to share with your students, a library of resources you can use with your students, an exclusive badge to add to your website to show off your training, the opportunity to be shown off on our newsletter and website, and ongoing membership in one of the most supportive and invigorating professional learning communities in the world!
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Most educators become licensed Anti-Boring Coaches within one year of joining the program, though you could complete the requirements in less time depending on your availability.
It turns out that spaced practice over time is the “magic” behind learning new skills. So many professional development programs teach you the tools but expect you to be self-sufficient as you practice including them in your teaching context over time. At the Anti-Boring Learning Lab, we provide both the toolkit and the time.
We know a full year seems like a long time. Because that’s what I’ve noticed it takes to learn the tools, practice teaching them, and getting support as you hone your new teaching and coaching skills. I’ve priced the program to actually be incredibly cost effective given that it’s a full year. Even if you only show up to half the training calls over that year, as long as you are practicing the tools in your classroom or coaching sessions throughout the year, you will still have gotten full value from the course.
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Yes! We will give you a micro-credential for each module you complete in the program as well as for your time spent participating in community calls. We are able to provide resource hours for the International Coaching Federation (ICF) but you might like to check in with our office staff to find out the details of this program, which are ever evolving.
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No problem! Many members of the Anti-Boring Learning Lab are not able to make the community calls live. They comment that even just watching the recordings of the calls is rejuvenating, insightful, and transformative.
You are always welcome to email questions and concerns ahead of time, and we will address them in the call and then time stamp the calls so that you can easily find the discussion about your situation. In order to receive credit for attendance, you can watch the recordings in the online portal and then comment meaningfully below the recording to show that you participated. We also have a monthly unrecorded Boost Call at different times each month, to provide an additional touchpoint to folks who can’t make the regular call times.
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Great! That’s totally possible. Gretchen has spoken for students, trained faculty/staff, and served as a consultant focusing on the Anti-Boring toolkit and transforming school/organizational culture at all levels from elementary through medical school!
Please reach out to us here and we will schedule a chat ASAP.