Shaped

A community-driven blog supporting educators, building lifelong learners, and shaping the future of education.* 

 

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Notice note signposts

7 Tips for Introducing Notice & Note Signposts in Your Classroom

Incorporate Notice & Note Signposts into your reading or ELA curriculum with these strategies and tips for teachers.

Zoe Zolbrod
Director, Learning Experience Design, Literature and Language Arts, HMH

Emdin hero

Thinking of Pedagogy as Protest with Dr. Chris Emdin

Dr. Chris Emdin says pedagogy, or the science of teaching and learning, should be about protesting the wrongs that have been done to young people in society.

Shaped Staff

Hero Banner Yellow

Podcast: Lessons in Language and Loss with Angelica Moreno

Meet Angelica Moreno, a Spanish kindergarten teacher at the Dual Language Academy at Dr. Sue Shook Elementary in El Paso, Texas. This week's discussion includes dual language learnering, the El Paso Walmart shooting, and the school's reaction to losing one of their own to COVID-19.

Ali Habashi
Former Shaped Editor

Virtual End of Year Activities

6 Virtual End-of-School Year Celebration Ideas

School will soon be out. Give your students a special send-off with these virtual end-of-school-year celebration ideas.

Brenda Iasevoli
Shaped Executive Editor

Alicia Ivory
Shaped Editor

My experience as a teacher during the pandemic hero

How COVID Transformed My Teaching Experience—and Life

David Jamison, also known as “The Dope Educator,” believes love and human interaction are the foundation of any lesson plan. He reflects on the valuable lessons he learned while teaching during the pandemic.

David Jamison II
Fifth-Grade ELA Teacher, Shelby County School District, Tennessee

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Podcast: Breaking Barriers in Tech with Rana el Kaliouby

How can we introduce more emotion to the AI space? Our guest this week, Rana el Kaliouby, seeks to answer that question. Founder of Affectiva and author of Girl Decoded breaks down ethics and equity in tech.

Ali Habashi
Former Shaped Editor

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Jones County Public Schools: A Success Story in Hybrid Learning

Learn how Jones County Public Schools adopted digital solutions to prioritize personalized learning and narrow COVID-19 learning gaps.

Jordan Friedman
Former Shaped Editor

Hero Learning Loss Recovery

5 Actions to Achieve Learning Recovery and Lasting Success

Here are five steps educators can take to achieve COVID learning recovery and improve students’ chances for long-term success.

Dr. Bonnie Cochran
Director of Academic Planning and Analytics, HMH

TAW 2021

Virtual Teacher Appreciation Week 2024: How to Celebrate Remotely

Happy National Teacher Appreciation Week! We've created 2024 virtual Teacher Appreciation Week ideas during COVID-19 just for you. Explore ways administrators, parents, caregivers, and students can show their appreciation for teachers—this week and all year long.

Brenda Iasevoli
Shaped Executive Editor

Learning Loss Opt3 1

The Connected Learning Model: Mitigating COVID-19 Unfinished Learning

Students typically experience a "summer slide" when returning to school in the fall, but this year, the interrupted learning could be much deeper.

John "Jack" Lynch
President, Chief Executive Officer, and Director, HMH

Emdin hero2

Leverage Knowledge of Self to Engage Your Students with Dr. Chris Emdin

Dr. Chris Emdin, an associate professor at Columbia University, writes that before you can connect with your students, it is critical to lean into who you are.

Shaped Staff

WF1350300 Venola Student Teacher Relationships HERO

Rebuilding Relationships With Your Students Now and Post-COVID

To rebuild relationships during and after the pandemic, consider reaching out to students' families and consider students' new needs after a challenging year.

Venola Mason
Associate Partner, ICLE and Author, Instructional Excellence, Social and Emotional Learning

Peak charter 5

How Differentiated Instruction Transformed a Charter School

Learn how Peak Charter Academy in North Carolina prioritized differentiation in the classroom, even when the pandemic hit the U.S.

Steve Pond
Principal, Peak Charter Academy, North Carolina

WF1336960 Intervention Post COVID HERO

Why and How to Prioritize Intervention to Bridge the COVID Learning Gap

What can be done to help those students who have felt the impacts of unfinished learning? Note that there isn't a one-size-fits-all solution.

Brittany Mamphey, M.Ed.
Dean of Students, Mt. Healthy South Elementary School, Ohio

Tips and Tricks for Into Math HERO

10 Tips and Tricks for Into Math

Here are inside tips from Into Math writers, coaches, and experts, on how to make the most of our core K–8 math program.

Shaped Staff

Alexandria middle magnet school case study hero

Against All Odds: Alexandria Middle Magnet School’s Success Story

Nobody believed Alexandria Middle Magnet School had a promising future. With Principal Dennis Stewart and his leadership team's guidance and the support of turnaround specialists and the ICLE, the school transformed in three years against all odds.

Shaped Staff

Financial literacy month hero

Financial Literacy Lesson Plans and Activities for Middle School Students

Use these financial literacy lesson plans and activities for middle school to teach students about topics ranging from salaries to wages to creating a personal budget.

Shaped Staff

SEL Current Events hero

How to Boost Students’ SEL Skills Using Current Events

Fourth-grade teacher Perry Hollins shares tips for teaching current events through an SEL lens.

Perry Hollins
Fourth-Grade Teacher, Evanston/Skokie School District, Illinois

*The views expressed in our blog are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of HMH.