Shaped

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

Latest Posts

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A Guide to Engaging, Effective Instruction in Phonics, Spelling, and Vocabulary

In advance of the final fall 2017 Leadership Talk, literacy thought leader Dr. Shane Templeton previews his presentation on differentiating word study instruction.

Dr. Shane Templeton
Foundation Professor Emeritus, Literacy Studies, University of Nevada, Reno; Into Reading Program Author

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Can We Nudge Students To Be Better Learners?

Education thought leader, researcher, and practitioner Dr. David Dockterman gets us thinking about ways to motivate student performance using the types of cues we encounter in daily life. Read his thoughts on four educational nudges.

Dr. David Dockterman
Lecturer, Harvard Graduate School of Education

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Connecting Language Students to Culture: Celebrate Holidays in the French-Speaking World!

The HMH World Languages Fall French Holiday Calendar offers French teachers an opportunity to bring authentic culture, with suggested activities, into the classroom. Explore some of the October holidays here.

Shaped Staff

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Building Boys' Love of Lit!

Our series on motivating independent reading continues with five common-sense tips for engaging boys in books.

Rebecca Salinas
Learning Architect, HMH

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Getting Formative Assessment to Work

Thought leader Sheila Valencia continues our popular Lead the Way to Literacy series with some insight on formative assessment. Can it help close the achievement gap? Find out here.

Dr. Sheila W. Valencia
Professor, Language, Literacy, and Culture, University of Washington; Journeys Program Consultant

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Connecting Language Students to Culture: Celebrate holidays in the Spanish-Speaking World!

Spanish teachers wanting to introduce authentic culture into the classroom will love our new Fall Spanish Holiday Calendar, with suggested activities. Here’s a brief preview of October holidays.

Shaped Staff

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What’s the #1 Thing Educators Want?

This key statistic from our 2017 Educator Confidence Report appeared recently in the USA Today Snapshot, indicating sentiments expressed by your education peers in the survey are resonating nationally.

Shaped Staff

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Optimizing EdTech for Collaborative, Personalized Learning and Enhanced Student Outcomes

Eric Sheninger, International Center for Leader in Education Senior Fellow and nationally acclaimed EdTech thought leader, recently joined a panel of experts in to share his vision for creating a relevant learning culture where students combine digital tools with authentic work—essential for becoming tomorrow’s thinkers, innovators, collaborators, and problem solvers.

Eric Sheninger
Senior Fellow, the Center for Model Schools; Aspire Change EDU; Keynote Speaker; Author

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Attending ISTE 2017 in San Antonio This Month?

HMH is proud to participate at the ISTE 2017 Conference, sharing our expertise, best practices, and technology thought leadership with EdTech leaders.

Shaped Staff

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How to Advance Mathematical Thinking with Student-Focused Learning, a Growth Mindset, an End to Tracking, and Personalized Standards

The Spark continues the conversation with math educator and thought leader Dr. Cathy Seeley, whose tips on motivating mathematical thinking can help you ensure success for all learners.

Dr. Cathy Seeley
Author

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Introducing the Teachers of Beastie Hall: Last Stop, Professor Readwell’s Success Classroom

In Professor Readwell’s Beastie Hall Success Classroom, children put their newly acquired foundational skills together to read independently.

Shaped Staff

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Leading a Model School: Unleash the Experts in Your District

Leaders from Nixa Public Schools, named a 2017 Innovative District by ICLE, reveal a powerful and innovative strengths-based approach to professional learning.

Dr. Jennifer Chastain
Principal, John Thomas School of Discovery

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Introducing the Teachers of Beastie Hall: Meet Mrs. Wordy

Our tour of iRead’s Beastie Hall continues with Mrs. Wordy’s Word Play Classroom. See how children learn to build bigger words by understanding word parts.

Shaped Staff

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What Makes Educational Technology Effective?

Stevin Smith, from HMH Technical Services, offers two key guiding questions for districts planning technology acquisitions.

Stevin Smith
Senior Vice President of Technical Services, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

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Traveling beyond the Classroom Walls with Virtual Reality

Author and science educator Michael DiSpezio gives us a glimpse into the instructional possibilities of leading virtual field trips using simple VR technology.

Michael DiSpezio
Author, ScienceFusion and HMH Science Dimensions Programs

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Introducing the Teachers of Beastie Hall: Next Stop, Mr. Seemore’s Sight Words Classroom

Our tour of iRead’s Beastie Hall online classrooms continues with a visit to the Sight Words Classroom of Mr. Seemore, who helps children learn high-frequency words.

Shaped Staff

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Meet Mr. Sounders, Beastie Hall’s Expert in the Code

As we continue to introduce the animated teachers of iRead’s Beastie Hall, discover how Mr. Sounders systematically introduces students to the 44 sounds of the English language, and more.

Shaped Staff

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The path to reading proficiency by Grade 3: Systematic, explicit instruction

Our youngest learners are being more challenged than ever to attain reading proficiency, making systematic, explicit instruction in foundational skills more vital than ever.

Shaped Staff

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