As we set out to relaunch our blog, I thought a lot about what education has meant to me as someone who has worked in teaching, educational publishing, and the ed tech space for 20 years. Out of college, I had set out to become a teacher because I wanted to share my love of learning with students. I transitioned to educational publishing to help develop resources that support academic success on a broader scale.
The Who (a little about me)
This past year I became a first-time mom and the significance of a good education hits home in a very personal way as I watch my daughter grow. Now, the desire to give her the best experience in school and to ensure that the natural growth mindset she was born with prevails (she’s always ready for the challenge of tummy time!) adds a new depth of meaning to the work I’ve been doing.
As the Director of Content Marketing at HMH, my goal is to initiate an open conversation with educators and school leaders like you and provide content that will both help you in your daily life and assist in your own career and personal growth.
The Why (blogging behind the scenes)
Each of us has an important role to play in shaping the minds and lives of students and in shaping the future of education. The purpose of our blog is to give voice to all teachers and school leaders as they build important relationships with students. We want to open a dialogue with you, our readers, who are key to shaping a better future.
We’ll also allow experts who have made it their life’s mission to support teachers to share proven instructional strategies or the latest research on how the brain learns. Most important, we plan to share stories of those on the ground—from the principal who is knee deep in transforming school culture to the teacher who has helped a struggling reader reach a breakthrough and finally to the coach who helps a group of teachers implement an intervention program. With this blog, we want others to benefit from these experiences and see they’re not alone in many of the same challenges and triumphs.
The What (to expect)
We’ve worked hard to make this community experience even better. So—beyond our fresh, new look, you might be wondering—what else is new on the blog?
- Every week, as my team and I brainstorm relevant topic ideas, interview experts, and compile useful tips, we ask ourselves, “what’s keeping educators and leaders up at night?” And we’ll be writing content to address the answers we find.
- We’re sharing more candid conversations with our thought leaders and educators— bringing their practice to life through videos, webinars, and more.
- We’ll share stories from educators and leaders like you on a regular basis.
- We’re better linked to all of your go-to social channels so you can share your favorite content with friends and colleagues.
- We’re easier to navigate, more fun to read, and closely connected to the content you want—thanks to your ongoing feedback and community participation.
In the coming weeks, we will be soliciting input and guest posts from educators who work with our coaches and from Model School leaders. We’ll also ask our thought leaders to continually provide us with insights they are hearing in the field. We are planning a few series that will address your biggest concerns right now, such as ESSA, coaching and professional learning, and mindset. We’ll have some great pieces on STEM, intervention, literacy, and teaching English learners. In our first week, you can look forward to a Mindset blog by expert Emily Diehl of Mindset Works, a moving article on the impact of a teacher by Eric Sheninger, and so much more.
Your Top Questions
Teaching is so much more demanding than the average person realizes—and so many dimensions of teaching or of leading a school or district need to be mastered in order for educators to make an impact in the classroom. Where are you in your teaching and leading journey? What is keeping you up at night? What do you need to keep moving forward? We hope that we can address these questions with you and your peers from across the country.
Let us know your thoughts on our Facebook page.
So without further delay, please allow me to welcome you to Shaped! We hope you are as excited as we are to go all in and shape the future of education.