Shaped

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

Latest Posts

Timeline Hero

Q&A: Teaching the Holocaust to Middle School and High School Students

Learn how to teach the Holocaust in schools and overcome the challenges of teaching this subject with these insights and guidelines from the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.

HMH Staff

8 elements of reading literacy instruction hero

8 Elements of Reading & Literacy Instruction

These eight elements of reading and literacy instruction can serve as the foundation of an effective literacy program.

Francie Alexander
Senior Vice President, Efficacy & Consulting Research

Dr. Amy Endo
Education Research Director, Supplemental & Intervention Language & Literacy

Renee Behring
Education Research Director, Core ELA

Dr. Terry Salinger
Institute Fellow and Chief Scientist for Literacy Research, American Institutes for Research

Most read shaped blogs of 2021 hero

Our Top 10 Ed Blogs of 2021: The Best of Shaped

Before we say goodbye to 2021, let’s highlight our most-read and favorite Shaped blogs.

Christine Condon
Shaped Editor-in-Chief

Science of Reading hero

What Is the Science of Reading? Top 5 Questions

HMH's research team answers commonly asked questions about the science of reading to help educators apply its principles in their classrooms.

Renee Behring
Education Research Director, Core ELA

Dr. Amy Endo
Education Research Director, Supplemental & Intervention Language & Literacy

Plcs reimagined a fresh approach to teacher collaboration hero

PLCs in Education Reimagined: A Fresh Approach to Teacher Collaboration

What is PLC in education, and what makes professional learning communities effective? Discover best practices for ensuring success with PLCs.

Dr. Lisa Corbin
Instruction & Leadership Coach

Albert Morton
Professional Learning Consultant, HMH

Structured Literacy small group reading

What Is Structured Literacy?

Get the answers to commonly asked questions like, "What is structured literacy and how can I implement the approach?"

Renee Behring
Education Research Director, Core ELA

Dr. Amy Endo
Education Research Director, Supplemental & Intervention Language & Literacy

Hannah French Outdoor Teaching Hero

7 Outdoor Teaching Strategies

Thinking of teaching outside of the classroom? Make the most of your school's location with these outdoor teaching strategies.

Hannah French
Teacher, Rowe Elementary School, MA

Maximizing instructional time in the classroom hero

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

Respect Teachers hero

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

Research insights on online and blended coaching hero

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

Personalized Learning Hero

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

Structuring the literacy block hero

Structuring the Literacy Block

The most productive literacy block schedules include various reading and writing activities and instruction to help build foundational skills.

Francie Alexander
Senior Vice President, Efficacy & Consulting Research

Dr. Amy Endo
Education Research Director, Supplemental & Intervention Language & Literacy

Renee Behring
Education Research Director, Core ELA

Dr. Terry Salinger
Institute Fellow and Chief Scientist for Literacy Research, American Institutes for Research

SEL

What is Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) in Education? Insights for K–12 Educators

Get answers to common questions like "What is social-emotional learning in education?" and "Why is SEL important?"

Jordan Friedman
Former Shaped Editor

Shellye Archambeau Hero Banner

Podcast: How to Encourage Ambition with Shellye Archambeau (Author)

Meet Shellye Archambeau, former CEO of MetricStream and author of the book Unapologetically Ambitious. In this episode we learn how to encourage our students to be future leaders.

Ali Habashi
Former Shaped Editor

Teaching math to ells hero

7 Strategies for Teaching Math to English Language Learners

These ELL strategies for math instruction will help you with teaching math to English language learners and supporting math learning for multilingual students.

Richard Blankman
Shaped Executive Editor

How to build a classroom library hero

How to Build a Classroom Library

Get tips on how to build a classroom library—and where to find books for elementary and middle school students.

Lisa Sims
Former HMH Consultant

Middle School Classroom Management

10 Middle School Classroom Management Strategies That Work

Create a healthy and happy learning environment with middle school classroom management strategies that are rooted in brain science.

Dr. Adriana Chavarín-López
Strategy and Instructional Support Officer, San Diego Unified School District

Dr. Michael Vea
Strategy and Instructional Support Officer, San Diego Unified School District

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