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Shaped

The learners of today will shape 

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

Latest Posts

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Multiply or Add First? Teaching Order of Operations Rules

Use this lesson to teach students about the order of operations: complete operations in parentheses, multiply and divide from left to right, and add and subtract from left to right.

Richard Blankman
Shaped Executive Editor

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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

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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

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Teaching Students How to Write an Expository Paragraph

Want to help your students develop their organizational, analytical, and research skills? Teach them how to write an expository paragraph.

Alicia Ivory
Shaped Editor

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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

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How to Create an Effective SEL Professional Development Training for Teachers and Staff

Discover how SEL professional development training can provide the foundational knowledge and initial tools needed to implement SEL in schools.

Morgan Hugoboom
Shaped Contributor

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

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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

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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

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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

TAW 2024

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

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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

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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

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40 Mother’s Day Writing Prompts

Celebrate moms with these Mother's Day writing prompts for your K–3 classroom. Have students practice descriptive language or get creative with a short story.

Ali Habashi
Former Shaped Editor

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Teaching Students How to Write a Persuasive Paragraph

Teaching kids how to write a persuasive paragraph consisting of their opinion and supporting sentences puts them on the right track to being an effective communicator.

Alicia Ivory
Shaped Editor

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How Can Technology Improve Education?

How can technology improve education? Explore 6 ways technology can help improve education for students, parents, and teachers.

Casey Brown
Shaped Contributor

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