Shaped

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

 

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Latest Posts

Sense of belonging

Fostering a Sense of Belonging: A School Transformation Story

Learn how Chastain Road Elementary School implemented a strong behavioral and social-emotional learning program to dramatically decrease discipline referrals and improve school culture.

Jessica Patterson
Principal, Chastain Road Elementary School, South Carolina

Joy Ellison
Assistant Principal, Chastain Road Elementary School, South Carolina

Margaret walker jubilee

Celebrating the Legacy of Author Margaret Walker and Jubilee

Honor author Margaret Walker and her book Jubilee, which tells the story of American slavery, the Civil War, and Reconstruction from the point of view of the enslaved people.

Susan Steinway
Archivist, HMH

Benjamin banneker image

Benjamin Banneker’s Prime Observation

Benjamin Banneker was an important mathematician in history, in part for being an early African American intellectual who studied astronomy, clocks, nature, and mathematics, among other things.

Richard Blankman
Shaped Executive Editor

Bellview Santos Elementary

Rigor, Relevance, and Relationships: From F to the Brink of B in a Single Year 

After attending the Model Schools Conference, Belleview-Santos Elementary School instilled a culture resulting in growth from a state grade of an F to almost a B.

Ashley Kemp
Former Principal, Belleview-Santos Elementary School; Current Principal, Evergreen Elementary School, Marion County Public Schools, Florida

Reading conferring

The Challenges of Conferring With Our Strongest Readers: Part 1

Follow these tips as you try to confer with strong and prolific readers in your classroom who seem to have everything.

Kathy Collins
Literacy Consultant, Author, and Aspiring Educator

Julia Allan Shaped 1

Podcast: Wearing the Kindness Cape with Julia Allan on Teachers in America

Meet Julia Allan, a Kindergarten teacher in Howard County Public Schools. She talks about equity in education, social-emotional learning, the tooth fairy, bus stresses, and the joys of seeing her students grow together.

Onalee Smith
Shaped Contributor

Myth of multitasking

Is It Possible to Multitask? Time Management Insights and Tips for Teachers

Answering a key question—"Is it possible to multitask?"—can help you better manage your time as a teacher. Dive into research and debunk the myth of multitasking.

Rachel L. Schechter, PhD
VP Learning Sciences, Learning Sciences and Research Advisory Board Chair

Students raising hands in math class

Stuck on a Math Problem? Try Solving It Another Way

Inform your students that math problems rarely have a single method for solving them and frequently have multiple solutions.

Richard Blankman
Shaped Executive Editor

Summer school growth mindset

Summer School Through a Growth Mindset Lens

Dr. David Dockterman provides suggestions for leveraging learning mindsets to help students view summer school as a valuable opportunity for growth.

Dr. David Dockterman
Lecturer, Harvard Graduate School of Education

Black History Month

5 Teaching Tools to Honor Black History Month in the Classroom

These tools can be used throughout the year—but especially during Black History Month—to promote lifelong learning.

Geraldine Stevens
Social Studies Content Expert

WF1093654 Celebrate a Holiday in Class Every Day Hero Image Opt4

February 2020: Celebrate a Holiday in Class Every Day

Have fun every day with these February classroom ideas for elementary students. Ideas range from fun facts to share with the class to more detailed school activities and lessons.

Onalee Smith
Shaped Contributor

The importance of sel in schools

Why Is Social-Emotional Learning Important in Schools?

Why is SEL important? In an HMH survey, K-12 educators noted the high importance of social emotional learning in schools today.

Jordan Friedman
Former Shaped Editor

College Application

Teaching Supreme Court Cases: Affirmative Action in Higher Education

Affirmative action in higher education gained national attention during the 1978 Supreme Court case University of California Regents v. Bakke.

Shaped Staff

Invention convention

How to Hold an Invention Convention in Your School

Because research shows engineering can help students understand what they can do with the knowledge they learn in science, encouraging them to invent and create is a natural outcome.

Shaped Staff

Get students engaged in reading

How to Get Students Engaged in Reading: 5 Tips for Teachers

Learn from a READ 180 educator how to get students engaged in reading, especially in the intervention classroom. Encouraging reading in the classroom starts with these five steps.

Charmion Mohning
Secondary Reading Coordinator, Cypress-Fairbanks Independent School District

How to write a persona poem

Unearthing Challenging History: Teaching Persona Poems in the Classroom

Teach your students how to write a persona poem with these tips from poet and teaching artist Glenis Redmond along with four persona poem examples.

Glenis Redmond
Poet and Teaching Artist

TIA s2 hold cover

Teachers in America Podcast Season 2

New episodes for 2020! Hosted by Noelle Morris; a podcast for teachers, celebrating teachers. Hear firsthand from the K-12 teachers who are shaping young lives around the country every day.

Ali Habashi
Former Shaped Editor

Onalee Smith
Shaped Contributor

WF1094307 Meet Noelle Morris Hero Image

Podcast: Words from a Teacher Influencer with LaQuisha Hall on Teachers in America

Meet LaQuisha Hall, 2018 Baltimore City Teacher of the Year, as she talks about teaching in the community of Baltimore, using social media as a teacher, and being a survivor of sexual abuse and a former ward of the state.

Onalee Smith
Shaped Contributor