Shaped

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

Latest Posts

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Podcast: The Freedom in Reading for Quarantined Kids with Kitty Donohoe

Elementary teacher Kitty Donohoe joins us for a discussion on reading, looping with her class, and her debut children’s novel, How to Ride a Dragonfly.

Ali Habashi
Former Shaped Editor

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Maximizing Instructional Time in the Classroom

Get strategies for maximizing instructional time in the classroom to meet your teaching goals and each student’s needs.

Jennifer Prescott
Shaped Contributor

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Pearl Harbor Activities for Elementary and Middle School Students

Give a lesson on the significance of National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day with these Pearl Harbor activities for elementary and middle school students.

Alicia Ivory
Shaped Editor

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Building Respect for Teachers: What Can Be Done?

Our latest Educator Confidence Report shows many teachers don't feel that respect for the profession has increased in the last year, after feeling an initial surge of appreciation at the start of the pandemic. Here’s what can be done.

Brenda Iasevoli
Shaped Executive Editor

Infusing Multiple Narratives in History Classrooms: Native American Studies

Infusing Multiple Narratives in History Classrooms: Native American Studies

How do we reframe our pedagogy to incorporate multiple narratives within our classrooms? We can start with three building blocks: reading, content integration, and scaffolding of information.

David J. O’Connor
American Indian Studies Consultant, Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction

Paul ST Rykken
Lecturer, First Nations Studies Department, University of Wisconsin-Green Bay

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2024 National Novel Writing Month: Turning Students into Excited Writers

In November, National Novel Writing Month begins for thousands of writers around the world. At the same time, many teachers introduced their classrooms to the NaNoWriMo Young Writers Program, and found their students developing a new-found passion for creative writing.

Ali Habashi
Former Shaped Editor

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Teaching Mean, Median & Mode Graphing Using a Dot Plane

Teach your students about the different ways to describe data, including the concepts of mean (average), median, and mode.

Richard Blankman
Shaped Executive Editor

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Election 2021: How Can You Teach the Election Process to Elementary Students?

Discover helpful tips for teaching the election process to elementary students and how important voting is in a democratic society.

LaNesha Tabb
Kindergarten Teacher, Indianapolis, IN

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The Importance of Classroom Community

Students need to believe that they belong in their learning environment. Learn about the importance of classroom community—and ways to foster positivity.

Alicia Ivory
Shaped Editor

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Research Insights: Online and Blended Coaching

Research suggests that online coaching has several strengths, including lowering costs while increasing scalability, which makes it overall effective.

Dr. Grant Atkins
Education Research Director, Professional Services

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Teaching x- and y-Axis Graphing on Coordinate Grids

Teach students about graphing along the x and y axis on coordinate graphs as a visual method for showing relationships between numbers.

Richard Blankman
Shaped Executive Editor

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Podcast: The Benefits of Outdoor Teaching with Hannah French

Meet fourth grade teacher Hannah French, who has moved many of her classes into the woods nearby. There, students engage in location-specific challenges, journaling, and free play.

Ali Habashi
Former Shaped Editor

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4 Tips for Teaching Media Literacy in the Classroom

How media literate are you? Take our quiz, then try our four tips for teaching media literacy in the classroom.

Erik Palmer
Program Consultant, Into Reading and Into Literature

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Teaching Solid Figures: Vertices, Edges and More

In this lesson, students will explore the parts that make up solid figures, including edges, faces, and vertices.

Richard Blankman
Shaped Executive Editor

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Classroom Library Organization Tips

Get students excited about reading by organizing your classroom library with relevant books and updated displays.

Ellen Ullman
Shaped Contributor

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What Is Personalized Learning in Education?

Get the answers to commonly asked questions like, "What is personalized learning and why is it important?" Plus, we provide strategies to reach every learner in your classroom.

Jennifer Prescott
Shaped Contributor

Teaching fact versus opinion

Teaching Fact vs. Opinion: Tips, Activities, and Resources

Get tips for teaching fact versus opinion with these resources, insights, and activities from journalist and educator Esther Wojcicki.

Esther Wojcicki
Journalist and Teacher; Founder, Palo Alto High Media Arts Program

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The New Era of Education Is High-Tech and High-Touch

We can recover and transition into a new post-pandemic instructional model that fuses the power of technology with the tried-and-true social gathering of the classroom.

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

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