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See what an interactive 21st-century science curriculum looks like.

In Amplify Science, students take on the role of a scientist or engineer to actively investigate compelling phenomena through engaging hands-on activities, immersive digital simulations, comprehensive reading and writing activities, and lively classroom discussions.

This video library will give you a sense of what Amplify Science looks like in the classroom.

Two students, one wearing headphones, closely observe a science experiment in a classroom setting with the text "amplify science in action" above them.

Immersive experiences

Watch how Amplify Science integrates hands-on learning and digital modeling tools to support three-dimensional (3D) learning in elementary and middle school.

Inspiring curiosity with hands-on investigations

Grades K-5: As part of Amplify Science’s Animal and Plant Relationships unit, students take on the role of plant scientists. In this video, second-grade students from Chicago Public Schools are engaging with a hands-on model in which they simulate animal dispersal of seeds, measure how many seeds were dispersed to places where the seeds are likely to grow, and analyze their results.

Grades 6-8: As part of Amplify Science’s Populations and Resources unit, students take on the role of ecologists. In this video, sixth-grade students from Denver Public Schools are conducting a hands-on investigation involving yeast to test the effects of the availability of food on the size of a population.

Collecting evidence with simulations and modeling tools

Grades K-5: As part of Amplify Science’s Earth’s Features unit, students take on the role of geologists. In this video, fourth-grade students from Chicago Public Schools are using digital modeling tools to investigate how fossils and rocks can be used to make inferences about past environments.

Grades 6-8: As part of Amplify Science’s Chemical Reactions unit, students take on the role of chemists. In this video, seventh-grade students from Chicago Public Schools are using a digital simulation to find and observe substances that do and do not react when mixed together.

Literacy connections

Watch how Amplify Science integrates literacy and discourse to support three-dimensional (3D) learning in elementary and middle school.

Making cross-curricular connections with literacy

Grades K-5: As part of Amplify Science’s Animal and Plant Relationships unit, students take on the role of plant scientists. In this video, second-grade students from Chicago Public Schools use Student Books to gather information, practice reading skills, and respond to writing prompts to construct evidence-based arguments.

Grades 6-8: As part of Amplify Science’s Matter and Energy in Ecosystems unit, students take on the role of ecologists. In this video, sixth-grade students from Denver Public Schools are reading science articles, then responding to writing prompts to create arguments using evidence.

Talking like scientists

Grades K-5: As part of Amplify Science’s Weather and Climate unit, students take on the role of meteorologist. In this video, third-grade students from Chicago Public Schools are discussing the data they collected, as well as which Science and Engineering Practices they used during the lesson.

Grades 6-8: As part of Amplify Science’s Matter and Energy in Ecosystems unit, students take on the role of ecologists. In this video, sixth-grade students from Denver Public Schools are using evidence to support their claims as part of a classroom discussion.

Hear from teachers.

Hear from teachers, administrators, and students across the country who are using Amplify Science in their classrooms right now.

A week in the life

Grades K-5: We asked Keniesha Charleston, a second-grade teacher from Chicago Public Schools, to talk through an example of what one week of using Amplify Science is like in her classroom.

Grades 6-8: We asked Amy Trujillo, a sixth-grade teacher from Denver Public Schools, to talk through an example of what one week of using Amplify Science is like in her classroom.

From the classroom

Grades K-5: Hear from elementary school teachers, administrators, and students about the impact of using Amplify Science in their districts.

Grades 6-8: Hear from middle school teachers, administrators, and students about the impact of using Amplify Science in their districts.

Access a free sample

Ready to take a closer look at Amplify Science? No problem. Just complete the form for instant digital access to two sample units.

Una computadora portátil muestra un programa científico titulado "Equilibrio de fuerzas" con capítulos de lecciones sobre trenes. Frente a la computadora portátil, hay una guía para maestros encuadernada en espiral con imágenes y títulos coincidentes.

Website Terms of Use

Description of Site Services; Acceptance of Terms of Use

Welcome to www.amplify.com (together with any successor sites and the Site Services and Company Content (each as defined below), in whole and in part, the “Site”). The Site is operated by Amplify Education, Inc. (“Company” or “we”). The services that Company makes available on or through the Site include education-related articles, information and instructional services, purchasing functionality, support chat functionality and any other features, content, services, functionality and applications offered from time to time by Company on or through the Site (collectively, “Site Services”).

BY ACCESSING OR USING THE SITE, YOU REPRESENT AND WARRANT THAT YOU ARE OF LEGAL AGE TO ENTER INTO THIS TERMS OF USE AGREEMENT (“AGREEMENT”) AND YOU AGREE TO BE BOUND BY THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF THIS AGREEMENT. BY PURCHASING GOODS AND SERVICES ON THE SITE, YOU ARE ACCEPTING THE PRACTICES DESCRIBED IN THIS AGREEMENT AS WELL AS ANY ADDITIONAL TERMS OF USE THAT MAY BE ASSOCIATED WITH THE PARTICULAR GOODS AND SERIVICES YOU ARE PURCHASING.

Please read this Agreement carefully. If you are an employee or other representative of a school or other organization who is accessing or using the Site on behalf of such organization, then you are agreeing to this Agreement on behalf of yourself and such organization. We may modify this Agreement at any time in our discretion, and we may provide such modifications to you by any reasonable means, including by posting the revised version of this Agreement on the Site. You can determine when this Agreement was last revised by referring to the “LAST UPDATED” legend at the top of this Agreement. Your access to or use of the Site following any changes to this Agreement will constitute your acceptance of those changes. Notwithstanding the foregoing, any changes to this Agreement shall not apply to any dispute between you and us arising prior to the date on which we posted the revised version of this Agreement incorporating such changes or otherwise notified you of such changes. If you do not agree to be bound by this Agreement, you must not access or use the Site. Your access to and use of certain parts of the Site may require you to accept additional terms and conditions, and may require you to download certain Software or Content (each as defined below).

Jurisdictional Issues

The Site is controlled and operated by Company from the United States, and is not intended to subject Company to the laws or jurisdiction of any state, country or territory other than that of the United States. Company does not represent or warrant that the Site is appropriate or available for use in any particular jurisdiction other than the United States. In choosing to access and use the Site, you do so on your own initiative and at your own risk, and you are responsible for complying with all local laws, rules and regulations. You are also subject to United States export controls and are responsible for any violations of such controls, including any United States embargoes and other federal rules and regulations restricting exports. We may limit the Site’s availability to any person, geographic area or jurisdiction we choose, at any time and in our discretion. Not all products or services described on the Site are available in all states or territories.

Company content

The Site contains information, text, files, images, video, sounds, musical works, computer code, works of authorship, applications, and other materials and content (collectively, “Content”) of Company or its licensors (“Company Content”). The Site (including the Company Content) is protected by copyright, trademark, trade secret and other laws, and as between you and Company, Company owns and retains all rights in the Site. Company hereby grants to you a limited, revocable, non-sublicensable license, during the term of the Agreement, to access, display and perform the Company Content (excluding any computer code) solely for your personal, non-commercial use and solely as necessary to access and use the Site. Except as expressly permitted by Company in this Agreement or on the Site, you may not copy, download, stream, capture, reproduce, duplicate, archive, upload, modify, translate, create derivative works based upon, publish, broadcast, transmit, retransmit, distribute, perform, display, sell or otherwise use or transfer any Content. You may not, either directly or through the use of any device, software, online resource or other means, remove, alter, bypass, avoid, interfere with or circumvent any copyright, trademark or other proprietary notice on the Content or any digital rights management mechanism, device, or other content protection or access control measure associated with the Content.

User content

You may not access or use the Site for any commercial purpose. You are responsible for all Content that you post, upload, transmit, e-mail or otherwise make available on, through or in connection with the Site (collectively, “User Content”). Please choose carefully the Content that you make available on, through or in connection with the Site. Company does not control any Content other than Company Content, and as such you may be exposed to offensive, indecent, inaccurate or otherwise objectionable Content by accessing or using the Site. Company is not responsible or liable for any Content or the conduct of any Site user. If you become aware of any misuse of the Site, please report such misuse immediately to Company at general@amplify.com. Company reserves the right (but has no obligation) to monitor the Site, including for inappropriate Content or conduct, and to remove any Content in Company’s discretion and without liability to you or any third party.

Your proprietary rights

You retain any ownership rights that you have in your User Content. You hereby grant to Company and its affiliates, licensees and authorized users, a perpetual, non-exclusive, fully paid-up and royalty-free, sublicensable (through multiple tiers), transferable (in whole or in part), worldwide license to use, modify, excerpt, adapt, create derivative works and compilations based upon, publicly perform, publicly display, reproduce and distribute such User Content on, through or in connection with the Site and/or any other commercial or non-commercial endeavor of Company or any of its affiliates, including in connection with any distribution or syndication thereof to Third Party Services (as defined below), on and through all media formats now known or hereafter devised, for any and all purposes including promotional, marketing, trade and commercial purposes. The exercise of such rights shall not require any further permission or notice, payment or attribution to you or any third party. Company reserves the right to limit the storage capacity made available for User Content.

You represent and warrant that: (a) you own the User Content made available by you, or otherwise have the right to grant the license set forth in this Section, and (b) the posting of such User Content through or in connection with the Site does not violate the privacy rights, publicity rights, copyrights, contract rights or any other rights of any person or entity. You agree to pay for all royalties, fees and any other monies owing to any person or entity by reason of the use of such User Content.

Use of the site

You agree not to:

  • Post, upload or otherwise transmit or link to Content that is: unlawful; threatening; harmful; abusive; pornographic or includes nudity; offensive; harassing; excessively violent; tortious; defamatory; false or misleading; obscene; vulgar; libelous; hateful; or discriminatory.
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  • Use technology or any automated system, such as scripts or bots, to collect user names, passwords, e-mail addresses or any other data from or through the Site, or to circumvent or modify any security technology or software that is part of the Site.
  • Send or cause to send (directly or indirectly) unsolicited bulk messages or other unsolicited bulk communications of any kind through the Site. If you do so, you acknowledge you will have caused substantial harm to Company, and that the amount of such harm would be extremely difficult to measure. As a reasonable estimation of such harm, you agree to pay to Company $50.00 for each actual or intended recipient of such communication.
  • Modify, adapt, translate, reverse engineer, decompile or disassemble the Site.
  • Solicit, collect or request any information for commercial or unlawful purposes.
  • Post, upload or otherwise transmit an image or video of another person without that person’s consent.
  • Use the Site to advertise, promote or engage in any commercial activity (including engaging in sales, contests or sweepstakes) without Company’s prior written consent.
  • Frame or mirror the Site without Company’s express prior written consent.
  • Use the Site in a manner inconsistent with any applicable law, rule or regulation.
  • Use any robot, spider, site search/retrieval application or other manual or automatic device to retrieve, index, “scrape,” “data mine,” or in any way gather content of the Site or reproduce or circumvent the navigational structure or presentation of the Site without Company’s express prior written consent. Notwithstanding the foregoing, Company grants to the operators of public search engines the permission to use spiders to copy material from the Site for the sole purpose of, and solely to the extent necessary for, creating publicly-available searchable indices of such material, but not caches or archives of such material. Company reserves the right to revoke these exceptions either generally or in specific cases.
  • Attempt, facilitate or encourage others to do any of the foregoing.

Company reserves the right to investigate and take appropriate legal action against anyone who, in Company’s discretion, violates this Agreement or attempts to do so, including terminating or suspending a user’s Account or access to or use of the Site, or reporting any User Content or conduct to law enforcement authorities.

You (and not Company) are responsible for obtaining and maintaining all telecommunications, broadband and computer hardware, equipment and services needed to access and use the Site, and for paying all charges related thereto.

User disputes

You are solely responsible for your interactions with other users of the Site, providers of Third Party Services (as defined below) or any other third parties with whom you interact on, through or in connection with the Site.

Purchases

Company may make available products and services for purchase through the Site, and may use third-party suppliers and service providers to enable e-commerce functionality on the Site. You may only purchase products and services that appear on the Site and that are delivered to an address located in the United States. You may only purchase products and services for personal, non-commercial use by you, your educational institution or students of your educational institution. We may limit quantities or refuse any order for any reason or no reason, including if we have reasonable cause to believe an order is for onward sale or resale other than through distribution channels approved by us. We make no promise that products or services available on the Site are appropriate or available for use in locations outside the United States, and purchasing products or services for delivery to or use in territories where their contents are unlawful is prohibited. If you choose to purchase products or services from locations outside the United States, you do so at your own risk. It is your responsibility to ascertain and obey all applicable local, state, federal and international laws (including minimum age requirements) in regard to the possession, use and sale of any product or service made available through the Site.

If you wish to purchase any product or service made available through the Site, you may be asked to supply certain information relevant to your transaction, including your credit card number, the expiration date of your credit card, your billing address and your shipping information. YOU REPRESENT AND WARRANT THAT YOU HAVE THE LEGAL RIGHT TO USE ANY CREDIT CARD(S) USED IN CONNECTION WITH ANY TRANSACTION. By submitting such information, you grant to Company the right to provide such information to third parties for purposes of facilitating the completion of transactions initiated by you or on your behalf. Verification of information may be required prior to the acknowledgement or completion of any transaction. While it is our practice to confirm orders by e-mail, the receipt of an e-mail order confirmation does not constitute our acceptance of an order or our confirmation of an offer to sell a product or service.

Details of the products and services available for purchase are set forth on the Site. All prices are displayed exclusive of all taxes and shipping/freight charges. Available payment methods, methods of shipping and shipping charges (including charges for expedited shipping, if available) are detailed on the Site. Company may also collect and remit sales tax on your purchase as required by United States law. If you are a tax-exempt entity, please enter the appropriate information where requested on your order form and we will not collect sales tax on your purchase.

Generally, credit and debit cards are not charged until we either ship the product(s) or confirm store availability (at which time you will be charged only for the products we have actually shipped along with any applicable taxes and shipping charges). However, we may pre-authorize your order amount with your credit or debit card issuer at the time you place the order, which may have an effect on your available credit line. When paying for a preorder with a debit card, you will be charged at the time you place your preorder. Please contact your credit or debit card issuer for more information. If you ordered a special delivery product, you will be charged once a delivery time is confirmed. For digitally delivered orders, your credit or debit card will be charged at the time that you initiate the download of the product.

All purchases made through the Site are made pursuant to a shipment contract. As a result, risk of loss and title for products purchased through the Site pass to you upon delivery of the products to the carrier. You are responsible for filing any claims with carriers for damaged and/or lost shipments. Please note that all shipping addresses must be compliant with the shipping restrictions contained on the Site.

Products, services and specifications

All products and services described or depicted on the Site, and all related features, content, specifications and prices, are subject to change at any time without notice. Certain weights, measures and similar descriptions are approximate and are provided for convenience purposes only. Packaging may vary from that shown. We make reasonable efforts to accurately display the attributes of our products, including the applicable colors; however, the actual color you see will depend on your computer system, and we cannot guarantee that your computer will accurately display such colors. The inclusion of any product or service on the Site at a particular time does not imply or warrant that such product or service will be available at any time. Occasionally, the manufacture or distribution of a certain product or service may be delayed for a number of reasons. In such event, we will make reasonable efforts to notify you of the delay and keep you informed of the revised delivery schedule. By placing an order, you represent that the products and services ordered will be used only in a lawful manner. All DVDs and similar products are sold for private, non-commercial home use (where no admission fee is charged), non-public performance, or classroom or instructional use only, and may not be duplicated.

Return and exchange policy

Unless otherwise specified in the terms associated with a particular product, you may return or exchange any product purchased through the Site within fourteen (14) days of receipt, by calling our customer service hotline, 1–800–823–1969, in the event that the purchased product is defective or you received the wrong product. Except for the foregoing, you may not return, cancel or exchange any product or service. Certain jurisdictions may provide additional statutory rights. Nothing herein is meant to limit your return or cancellation rights under local law. In the event that a return or exchange is due to an incorrect order or faulty product, we will be responsible for the shipping costs associated with such return. We will ship a replacement product upon receiving your defective or incorrect product and verifying the reason for the return or exchange.

Accuracy of information

We attempt to ensure that information on the Site is complete, accurate and current. Despite our efforts, the information on the Site may occasionally be inaccurate, incomplete or out of date. We make no representation as to the completeness, accuracy or currency of any information on the Site. For example, products or services included on the Site may be unavailable, may have different attributes than those listed, or may carry a different price than that stated on the Site. If an item’s correct price is higher than our stated price, we will, at our discretion, either contact you for instructions before shipping or cancel your order and notify you of such cancellation. Items in your “Shopping Bag” reflect the current price displayed on the item’s product detail page. Please note that this price may differ from the price displayed when the item was first placed in your Shopping Bag. In addition, we may make changes in information about price and availability without notice.

Chemicals, agricultural materials, and other hazardous materials

Certain products made available through the Site may include chemicals, agricultural materials or other material that may be subject to regulations or restrictions with respect to import or export, or to whom we may sell such material or where or how such material may be used. It is your responsibility to read and abide by all warning notices that accompany any products that you purchase. In addition, we reserve the right to request additional information from you, verify your identity, limit sales to certified educational or research institutions, or cancel or delay your order if required by law or if we believe it is necessary or advisable. Due to special shipping and handling requirements, freight companies routinely impose a surcharge on each package of hazardous material shipped. In such event, we will add such surcharge to your order.

Registration and account security

You may have the ability to create an account on or through the Site (an “Account”). If you submit registration information to create an Account, you represent and warrant that all information submitted to Company in connection with such registration is complete and accurate, and that you will update such information if it changes. If you create an Account, you are responsible for all use of your Account, and for maintaining the confidentiality of the information used to access your Account (including user name and password). You agree not to share your user name or password with anyone, or use anyone else’s Account at any time. You agree to notify Company immediately if you suspect any unauthorized use of, or access to, your Account (including your user name and password). You acknowledge that the reuse of your password in connection with accounts on other websites increases the risk that the security of your Account may be compromised.

The Site may make available, or third parties may provide, links to other websites, applications, resources, advertisements, Content or other products or services created, hosted or made available by third parties (“Third Party Services”), and such third party may use other third parties to provide portions of the Third Party Service to you, such as technology, development or payment services. When you access or use a Third Party Service, you are interacting with the applicable third party, not with Company, and you do so at your own risk. Company is not responsible for and makes no warranties, express or implied, as to the Third Party Services or the providers of such Third Party Services (including the accuracy or completeness of the information provided by such Third Party Service or the privacy practices of any third party). Inclusion of any Third Party Service or a link thereto on the Site does not imply approval or endorsement of such Third Party Service. Company is not responsible or liable for the content or practices of any Third Party Service or third party, even if such Third Party Service links to or is linked by the Site, and even if such Third Party Service is operated by an affiliate of Company or a company otherwise connected with us or the Site

Feedback

Unless we expressly agree otherwise in writing, if you provide us with any ideas, proposals, suggestions or materials (“Feedback”), whether related to the Site or otherwise, you hereby acknowledge and agree that (a) your provision of any Input is gratuitous, unsolicited and without restriction and does not place Company under any fiduciary or other obligation; and (b) any Feedback is not confidential and Company has no confidentiality obligations with respect to such Feedback.. You hereby grant to us a world-wide, royalty-free, fully paid-up, exclusive, perpetual, irrevocable, transferable and fully sublicensable (through multiple tiers) license, without additional consideration to you or any third party, to reproduce, distribute, perform and display (publicly or otherwise), adapt, modify and otherwise use and exploit such Feedback, in any format or media now known or hereafter developed, and you hereby represent and warrant that you have all necessary rights to grant the foregoing license. We may use Feedback for any purpose whatsoever without permission or notice, compensation or attribution to you or any third party. You are and remain responsible and liable for the content of any Feedback.

Privacy

Please review the Privacy Policy for the Site, available at http://www.amplify.com/privacy, to learn about our information collection, usage and disclosures practices with respect to information collected by us through the Site. Please note that certain products or services made available by us, other than the Site, may be subject to different privacy policies. In addition, the Site’s Privacy Policy does not address, and we are not responsible or liable for, the information collection, usage and disclosures practices of any third party or Third Party Service.

Disclaimers

THE SITE, USER CONTENT, THIRD PARTY SERVICES, AND ALL PRODUCTS AND SERVICES SOLD THROUGH THE SITE (COLLECTIVELY, THE “SITE PRODUCTS”) ARE MADE AVAILABLE “AS-IS” AND “AS AVAILABLE” AND COMPANY DOES NOT GUARANTEE OR PROMISE ANY SPECIFIC RESULTS FROM USE OF THE SITE PRODUCTS. COMPANY AND ITS AFFILIATES EXPRESSLY DISCLAIM ANY WARRANTIES AND CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, WHETHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NON-INFRINGEMENT. IN PARTICULAR, COMPANY AND ITS AFFILIATES MAKE NO WARRANTY THAT THE SITE OR USER CONTENT OR THIRD PARTY SERVICES, OR YOUR ACCESS TO OR USE THEREOF, WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED, TIMELY, SECURE, ERROR-FREE, ACCURATE OR RELIABLE. UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES SHALL WE BE LIABLE FOR ANY CONSEQUENCES OF ANY UNAUTHORIZED USE OF THE SITE PRODUCTS THAT VIOLATES ANY APPLICABLE LAW OR REGULATION. CERTAIN STATE LAWS DO NOT ALLOW LIMITATIONS ON IMPLIED WARRANTIES OR THE EXCLUSION OR LIMITATION OF CERTAIN DAMAGES. IF THESE LAWS APPLY TO YOU, SOME OR ALL OF THE ABOVE DISCLAIMERS, EXCLUSIONS, OR LIMITATIONS MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU, AND YOU MIGHT HAVE ADDITIONAL RIGHTS.

Under no circumstances will Company or its affiliates be responsible for any loss or damage, including property damage, personal injury or death, resulting from use of the Site, Products, problems or technical malfunction in connection with use of the Site, Products, attendance at any Company event or the conduct of any Site users, whether online or offline. Your use of the Site, Products is solely your responsibility and at your own risk. The User Content and Third Party Services do not necessarily reflect the opinions or policies of Company or its affiliates.

Limitations on liability

IN NO EVENT WILL COMPANY OR ITS AFFILIATES BE LIABLE TO YOU OR ANY THIRD PARTY FOR ANY INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, EXEMPLARY, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, INCLUDING LOST PROFIT DAMAGES, ARISING FROM YOUR USE OF THE SITE PRODUCTS, EVEN IF COMPANY OR ONE OF ITS AFFILIATES HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. NOTWITHSTANDING ANYTHING TO THE CONTRARY CONTAINED HEREIN, THE TOTAL LIABILITY OF COMPANY AND ITS AFFILIATES TO YOU FOR ANY CAUSE WHATSOEVER AND REGARDLESS OF THE FORM OF THE ACTION, WILL AT ALL TIMES BE LIMITED TO THE AMOUNT PAID, IF ANY, BY YOU TO COMPANY FOR THE SITE PRODUCTS.

Indemnity

You agree to indemnify and hold harmless Company, its affiliates, subcontractors and other partners, and each of their respective officers, agents, partners and employees, from any losses, costs, expenses (including reasonable attorneys’ fees), liabilities, claims or demands, due to or arising out of your use of the Site, your breach or alleged breach of this Agreement, your violation or alleged violation of any rights of another, or any Content that you post or otherwise submit on, through or in connection with the Site.

Termination

This Agreement remains in full force and effect while you access or use the Site. If you create an Account, you may terminate your Account at any time, for any reason, by contacting us at general@amplify.com. Company may terminate or suspend your Account and/or your access to or use of the Site at any time, for any or no reason, with or without prior notice or explanation, and without liability. Upon any such suspension or termination, your right to access and use the Site will immediately cease, and Company may immediately deactivate or delete your Account and all files and other information associated with it, and/or bar any further access to such files and other information. Company shall not be liable to you or any third party for any suspension or termination of your Account or of access to or use of the Site or any such files or other information, and shall not be required to make such files and other information available to you after any such suspension or termination. Sections 2, 5, 13, 17, 18, 19, 22, and 26 shall survive any expiration or termination of this Agreement.

U.S. export controls

All software made available in connection with the Site (“Software”) may be subject to United States export controls. No Software may be downloaded from or through the Site or otherwise exported or re-exported in violation of U.S. export laws.

Governing law

The terms of this Agreement are governed by the laws of the State of New York, U.S.A., without regard to its conflicts of law provisions, and regardless of your location.

Arbitration

EXCEPT FOR DISPUTES THAT QUALIFY FOR SMALL CLAIMS COURT, ALL DISPUTES ARISING OUT OF OR RELATED TO THIS AGREEMENT, WHETHER BASED IN CONTRACT, TORT, STATUTE, FRAUD, MISREPRESENTATION OR ANY OTHER LEGAL THEORY, WILL BE RESOLVED THROUGH FINAL AND BINDING ARBITRATION BEFORE A NEUTRAL ARBITRATOR INSTEAD OF IN A COURT BY A JUDGE OR JURY, AND YOU AGREE THAT COMPANY AND YOU ARE EACH WAIVING THE RIGHT TO TRIAL BY A JURY. YOU AGREE THAT ANY ARBITRATION UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL TAKE PLACE ON AN INDIVIDUAL BASIS; CLASS ARBITRATIONS AND CLASS ACTIONS ARE NOT PERMITTED AND YOU ARE AGREEING TO GIVE UP THE ABILITY TO PARTICIPATE IN A CLASS ACTION.

Arbitration procedure

Any arbitration under Section 23 above will be administered by the American Arbitration Association under its Commercial Arbitration Rules and Supplementary Procedures for Consumer-Related Disputes (“Supplementary Procedures”), as amended by this Agreement. The Supplementary Procedures are available online at http://www.adr.org/aaa/ShowPDF?doc=ADRSTG_015820. The arbitrator will conduct hearings, if any, by teleconference or videoconference, rather than by personal appearances, unless the arbitrator determines upon request by you or by us that an in-person hearing is appropriate. Any in-person appearances will be held at a location which is reasonably convenient to both parties with due consideration of their ability to travel and other pertinent circumstances. If the parties are unable to agree on a location, such determination should be made by the AAA or by the arbitrator. The arbitrator’s decision will follow the terms of this Agreement and will be final and binding. The arbitrator will have authority to award temporary, interim or permanent injunctive relief or relief providing for specific performance of this Agreement, but only to the extent necessary to provide relief warranted by the individual claim before the arbitrator. The award rendered by the arbitrator may be confirmed and enforced in any court having jurisdiction thereof. Notwithstanding any of the foregoing, nothing in this Agreement will preclude you from bringing issues to the attention of federal, state, or local agencies, and, if the law allows, they can seek relief against us for you.

Employment opportunities

Company may, from time to time, post Company employment opportunities on the Site and/or invite users to submit resumes to Company. If you choose to submit your name, contact information, resume and/or other personal information to Company in response to such employment listings, you are authorizing Company to use this information for all lawful and legitimate hiring, employment and other business purposes. Company also reserves the right, at its discretion, to forward such information to Company’s affiliates for their legitimate business purposes. Nothing in this Agreement or contained on the Site will constitute a promise by Company to review any such information, or to contact, interview, hire or employ any individual who submits such information.

The Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998 (“DMCA”) provides recourse for copyright owners who believe that material appearing on the Internet infringes their rights under U.S. copyright law. If you believe that any material residing on or linked to from the Site infringes your copyright, please send (or have your agent send) to Company’s Copyright Agent a notification of claimed infringement with all of the following information: (a) identification of the copyrighted work claimed to have been infringed, or, if multiple copyrighted works are covered by a single notification, a representative list of such works; (b) identification of the claimed infringing material and information reasonably sufficient to permit us to locate the material on the Site (such as the URL(s) of the claimed infringing material); (c) information reasonably sufficient to permit us to contact you, such as an address, telephone number, and, if available, an e-mail address; (d) a statement by you that you have a good-faith belief that the disputed use is not authorized by the copyright owner, the copyright owner’s agent or the law; (e) a statement by you that the above information in your notification is accurate and a statement by you, made under penalty of perjury, that you are the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed or are authorized to act on such owner’s behalf; and (f) your physical or electronic signature. Company’s Copyright Agent for notification of claimed infringement can be reached as follows: Copyright Agent, Amplify Education, Inc., 55 Washington Street, Brooklyn, NY 11201; Facsimile: 212-796-2311; Attn: Legal. Company’s Copyright Agent for notification of claimed infringement can also be reached electronically at: legal@amplify.com. Company reserves the right to terminate infringers’ and suspected infringers’ Accounts or their access to or use of the Site.

Notice for California residents

Under California Civil Code Section 1789.3, California users are entitled to the following consumer rights notice: If you have a question or complaint regarding the Site, please contact us by writing to Amplify Education, Inc., 55 Washington Street, Brooklyn, NY 11201 or by calling us at 212–213–8177 or sending a fax to 212–796–2311. California residents may reach the Complaint Assistance Unit of the Division of Consumer Services of the California Department of Consumer Affairs by mail at 1625 North Market Blvd., Sacramento, CA 95834, or by telephone at (916) 445–1254 or (800) 952–5210.

Other terms

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Celebrating the 2026 Science of Reading Star Awards finalists

Three ribbons on a blue background: a yellow ribbon with paper symbolizing personalized learning, a blue ribbon with a rocket representing MTSS strategies, and an orange ribbon with a star.

Every day, teachers and education leaders guide students toward a future lit up by literacy. It’s not always easy, especially for those championing shifts toward programs grounded in the Science of Reading.

That’s why we’re thrilled to celebrate the finalists of the 2026 Science of Reading Star Awards! These awards recognize educators, schools, and districts who go above and beyond to make evidence-based instruction a reality.

Empowering students through literacy

The Science of Reading Star Awards shine a beacon on the champions of literacy—the educators putting research into action.

Studies show that systematic phonics instruction leads to significantly higher achievement, particularly for students experiencing reading difficulties. Literacy instruction grounded in the Science of Reading strengthens critical thinking by building the vocabulary and background knowledge students need to make meaning from complex texts.

But shifting to this instruction is about more than swapping programs—it’s about leading change and inspiring others. With these awards, we celebrate the educators and districts whose innovative approach does just that.

Here are this year’s categories and finalists:

  • The District Captain: For the district that exemplifies strong Science of Reading practices across the board
    • Keppel Union School District, CA
    • Traverse City Area Public Schools, MI
    • DeSoto County School District, MS
    • Colton Joint Unified School District, CA
  • The Literacy Legend: For the school that’s seen significant reading gains among their students school-wide when using the Science of Reading
    • Albuquerque Collegiate Charter School, NM
    • Faircrest Memorial Elementary School, OH
    • Grantsburg Elementary School, WI
  • The Background Knowledge Builder: For showing the world that the Science of Reading empowers students with knowledge, context, and vocabulary from elementary through middle school
    • Sara Allen, Spring Hill Unified School District 230, KS
    • Joy Villahermosa, North Slope Borough School District, AL
    • Jesse Muehler, St. John-Emmanuel Lutheran School, IN
  • The Changemaker: For showcasing exemplary Science of Reading routines and practices, and serving as an inspiration to others on the journey
    • Olivia Eastwood, Dedham Public School District, MA
    • Amy Sell, Lower Dauphin School District, PA
    • Rob Murray, Romeo Community School District, MI
  • The Comprehension Champion: For fostering deep understanding and critical thinking by expertly guiding students to make meaning from complex texts, ask thoughtful questions, and connect reading to their world and experiences
    • Kiera Bridley, Webster School District, WI
    • Sandi Bourque, Ascension Parish School District, LA
    • Rebecca Zandbergen, Kamaile Academy Public Charter School, HI
  • The Data Dynamo: For expertly using data to drive instruction within a Multi-Tiered System of Supports framework, identifying student needs with precision, and implementing targeted interventions that accelerate literacy growth for every learner
    • ZaTaya Rivenbark, Charleston County School District, SC
    • Yaneth Acosta, Buncombe County School District, NC
    • Diana Van Osdell, Northwestern School Corporation, IN
    • Kelly Scheurich, Stratford Public Schools, CT
  • The Language Luminary: For outstanding success in developing the skills and strengths of multilingual/English learners
    • Melissa García, Passaic Public Schools, NJ
    • Maria Monsivais, Cicero School District 99, IL
    • Yessenia Viera, Carthage R9 School District, MO
    • Jennifer Gomez Vallejos, Buncombe County School District, NC
  • The Science of Reading Rookie: For a teacher in their first three years of teaching already making strides with the Science of Reading
    • Johanna Vargas, Grand Island Public Schools, NE
    • Christian Watkins, Cornerstone Prep Denver, TN
    • Marissa Riley, Urbana School District 116, IL
  • The Writing Whiz: For integrating writing instruction with the Science of Reading, cultivating articulate and confident writers through innovative and effective practices
    • Joandra Mendoza, Rome City School District, GA
    • Jennifer Csolkovits, Walton-Verona Independent School District, KY
    • Caitlyn Bacom Dominguez, Cambridge Public School District, MA
    • William Strunk, South Bend Community School Corporation, IN

2025

September 18, 2025

Edutopia: “Using Virtual Manipulatives in Math Class”

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August 19, 2025

Education Week: “Here’s Why It’s Important for Teachers to Have a Say in Curriculum”

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August 18, 2025

Investors Hangout: “Amplify Classroom Revolutionizes K-12 Teaching Experience”

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August 5, 2025

WhaTech: “K-12 Online Education Market Set for Strong Expansion, Reaching $349.77 Billion by 2029”

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August 4, 2025

Education Week: “Districts Using ‘High-Quality’ Reading Curricula Still Supplement With Other Materials. Why?”

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July 9, 2025

K-12 Dive: “Youngest students see big reading gains post-COVID on DIBELS assessment”

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June 25, 2025

The 74: “How Districts in Georgia, Maryland and D.C. Are Raising Reading Proficiency”

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May 28, 2025

Open PR: “K-12 Online Education Market Forecast 2025-2034: Comprehensive Analysis And Growth Opportunities”

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May 27, 2025

District Administration: “Early literacy: How to implement programs that start strong”

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May 20, 2025

EdSource: “California schools prepare to introduce universal reading screening”

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April 23, 2025

The 74: “Eric Adams Expands Reading, Math Curriculum Mandates to All NYC Middle Schools”

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April 21, 2025

Daily News: “NYC expanding reading, math curriculum overhaul to more schools”

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March 19, 2025

Education Next: “School Reinvention in Practice”

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February 28, 2025

K-12 Dive, “Test yourself on this week’s K-12 news”

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February 26, 2025

K-12 Dive: “Only 56% of K-2 students are ready to read”

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January 24, 2025

Chalkbeat Philadelphia: “Two AI-powered charter schools could soon open in Pennsylvania”

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January 16, 2025

Tech & Learning: “What is Polypad and How Can Teachers Use It?”

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2024

December 18, 2024

EdSource: “State takes another step toward mandatory testing for reading difficulties in 2025”

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December 6, 2024

Chalkbeat Philadelphia: “Philadelphia is now spending over $100 million on its curriculum overhaul. Here’s a breakdown.”

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November 27, 2024

Lincoln Journal Star: “Lincoln Public Schools drops a classification rating on statewide assessment”

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November 6, 2024

EdNC: “New K-3 literacy data shows growth in skills for North Carolina students”

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October 1, 2024

The 74: “As NY District Implements Science of Reading, Parents Push for New Focus on Math”

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September 18, 2024

Tech & Learning: “Tech & Learning Announces Winners of Best for Back to School 2024”

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August 22, 2024

Chalkbeat Philadelphia: “Philadelphia school board renews charters, funds tutoring and a new science curriculum”

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August 2, 2024

EdNC: “‘Dedication of our teachers’ praised in an update on the state’s science of reading journey”

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July 31, 2024

The 74: “Classroom Case Study: To Maximize the Impact of Curriculum Mandates, Follow the Science of Reading”

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July 23, 2024

Chalkbeat: “Should teachers customize their lessons or just stick to the ‘script’?”

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July 7, 2024

The Economist: “Will artificial intelligence transform school?”

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June 24, 2024

Chalkbeat: “Math instruction overhaul: NYC unveils new curriculum mandate for middle and high schools”

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June 6, 2024

EdNC: “Perspective | Teachers are the heroes of the literacy story in North Carolina”

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May 24, 2024

The Dallas Morning News: “How Don Quixote changed a Dallas public school classroom”

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May 2, 2024

Akron.com: “Tutoring program at Summit Academy Akron Elementary School attracts national interest”

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April 25, 2024

Edutopia: “Using Tech Tools to Energize Young Students’ Math Learning”

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April 4, 2024

EdNC: “State Board hears update on district ESSER spending, literacy data, and Restart schools”

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March 22, 2024

Thomas B Fordham Institute: “Five takeaways from Ohio’s baseline survey of elementary reading curricula”

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March 15, 2024

The 74: “New Data: Despite K-2 Reading Gains, Students Face a ‘Much Harder Journey’ Ahead”

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March 5, 2024

The 74: “Case Study: How One Texas School District Is Repurposing Staff Development Time to Embrace the Science of Reading”

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February 21, 2024

Times Record News: “UPDATED: Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath likes what he sees at local school”

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February 19, 2024

Chalkbeat: “Chicago Public Schools recover from pandemic declines more than other districts, study shows”

Read Full Article

February 7, 2024

The 74: “Building Oral Language Skills and Equity Through High-Quality Reading Curriculum”

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2023

December 19, 2023

The 74: “Best Education Articles of 2023: Our 23 Most Important Stories About Students, Schools & Learning Recovery ”

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December 8, 2023

Education Week: “Aligned Science Curriculum, Better Scores? Research Finds a Connection”

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December 6, 2023

WRAL News: “Reading readiness rises in NC’s K-3 classrooms, new data shows”

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November 27, 2023

The Dallas Morning News: “Dallas’ new lessons aim to keep kids on track, but some worry about limiting teachers”

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November 2, 2023

Fort Worth Report: “Black students in Fort Worth ISD still struggle to read at grade level”

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October 31, 2023

Chicago Tribune: “Lake Forest-area schools take stock of state grades; ‘While we celebrate our successes, we acknowledge that the journey … is ongoing’”

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October 19, 2023

Chalkbeat: “NYC eyes middle and high school literacy overhaul. It’s asking families to weigh in.”

Read Full Article

October 16, 2023

The 74: “As Virginia Rolls Out Ambitious Statewide High-Dosage Tutoring Effort This Week, 3 Keys to Success”

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October 6, 2023

Language Magazine: “Embracing Bilingual Assessment”

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September 18, 2023

Tech & Learning: “Best for Back to School 2023”

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September 18, 2023

Chalkbeat: “Chicago Public Schools hired hundreds of tutors with federal COVID money. Can they keep them?”

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September 7, 2023

EdNC: “Perspective | Union County Public Schools empowers educators, elevates readers”

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August 14, 2023

Chicago Parent: “Common Core Math: How to Help Your Kids”

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August 6, 2023

The News & Observer: “NC sees big increase in reading skills among K-3 students. Is the state back on track?”

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August 4, 2023

The 74: “Slow Literacy Gains, Long COVID in Kids: 7 Insights into Pandemic Recovery and Aftermath in U.S. Schools”

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August 3, 2023

EdNC: “State Board of Education: New reading data, parental leave, and a call to support public schools”

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July 28, 2023

Houston Public Media: “New literacy curriculum is among the many changes coming to HISD”

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July 17, 2023

Houston Chronicle: “Mike Miles says HISD schools will teach the ‘science of reading.’ Here’s what that means.”

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July 11, 2023

The 74: “‘Education’s Long COVID’: New Data Shows Recovery Stalled for Most Students”

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July 6, 2023

Houston Chronicle: “HISD superintendent gives voluntary schools one last chance to back out of New Education System”

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June 29, 2023

The Report Card: “Larry Berger on Curriculum”

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June 2, 2023

EdWeek Market Brief:”K-12 Dealmaking: Substitute Teaching Startup Secures $38M; Amplify Raises Undisclosed Series C”

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May 25, 2023

The 74: “Expanding Access to Tutors: Nonprofit Grants $6 Million to 32 Learning Organizations Across 20 States to Help More Students”

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April 21, 2023

The 74: “The ‘Transformation is Real’ as Science of Reading Takes Hold in N.C. Schools”

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April 18, 2023

The 74: “Louisiana District Ravaged by Hurricane & COVID is Bouncing Back with Science”

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April 5, 2023

WFAE: “NC midyear reading data shows gains, but third-grade goals remain elusive”

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April 5, 2023

EdNC: “K-3 students show growth in literacy skills, mid-year DPI data show”

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March 24, 2023

The 74: “COVID & School Recovery: Critics Warn Washington Bill Would Reduce Classroom Learning Time By 4 Hours a Week”

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March 24, 2023

Edutopia: “Using Collective Leadership to Make a Major Shift in Your District”

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March 15, 2023

K-12 Dive: “California at center of latest push for science-based reading approaches”

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March 7, 2023

District Administration: “ESSER pressure: How one district intends to spend wisely as deadline looms”

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March 3, 2023

The 74: “‘The Other Long COVID’ Affecting Kids: Missed Opportunities”

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March 2, 2023

3 WTKR: “More students on track to learn to read in 2022-2023 school year since start of pandemic, researchers say”

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March 2, 2023

ABC 7: “Reading skills rebounding for young students following pandemic disruptions”

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March 1, 2023

K-12 Dive: “By The Numbers: DIBELS testing shows improved reading progress over last two years”

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February 27, 2023

The 74: “Exclusive: Despite K-2 Reading Gains, Results Flat for 3rd Grade ‘COVID Kids’”

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February 27, 2023

Education Week: “Students’ Early Literacy Skills Are Rebounding. See What the Data Show”

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February 7, 2023

The 74: “Using High-Quality Curriculum Doesn’t Mean You Can’t Still Have Fun Learning”

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January 13, 2023

NPR: “Can a middle school class help scientists create a cooler place to play?”

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January 6, 2023

News & Record: “After a numbing low, NC students now heading in ‘right direction’ in reading, math”

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January 5, 2023

CBS17.com: “K-3 students in NC make significant strides on literacy exams, DPI says”

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2022

December 20, 2022

District Administration: “Literacy Under the Lights: 10 ways to bring the community back together”

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December 14, 2022

The 74: “14 Charts This Year That Helped Us Better Understand Covid’s Impact On Students Teachers and Schools”

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December 14, 2022

The 74: “Learning Loss Is Worse than NAEP Showed. Middle School Math Must Be the Priority”

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November 21, 2022

Voicebot.ai: “SoapBox Labs Brings Child-Centered Voice AI to Dyslexia Detection Assessment”

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October 24, 2022

Education Week: “Two Decades of Progress, Nearly Gone: National Math, Reading Scores Hit Historic Lows”

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October 20, 2022

The 74: “Exclusive Literacy Data: Small Gains Since Last Fall, But No Reading Rebound”

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August 30, 2022

The 74: “Test English Learners in the Languages They Speak at School and at Home”

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August 29, 2022

WTKR TV NC: “News 3 investigates childhood literacy rates, raising money to give books to local kids for new school year”

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August 28, 2022

EdNC: “Elementary students made growth last year in skills that lead to reading proficiency, new data show”

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August 18, 2022

SHRM Blog: “The Great Resignation Skipped Us. Here’s why.”

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August 16, 2022

Forbes: “Curious About Knowledge-Building Curricula? Check Out This Website”

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July 20, 2022

District Administration: “Out-of-school STEM learning is much more powerful when it’s inclusive”

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July 19, 2022

Chalkbeat: “The state of learning loss: 7 takeaways from the latest data”

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June 28, 2022

The Preschool Podcast: “Early literacy strategies that stick with Darryl from Run-DMC and Makeda from Nickelodeon [Podcast]”

Listen To The Podcast

May 24, 2022

Forbes: “States That Want To Boost Literacy Should Keep An Eye On Texas”

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April 24, 2022

Business Ecosystem Alliance: “Ecosystems in Education–Collaborating to Efficiently Serve the End User”

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April 18, 2022

KQED Mind Shift: “Weighing the best strategies for reading intervention”

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April 15, 2022

Fordham Institute: “Assessing a standards-aligned physical science curriculum”

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March 23, 2022

The Baltimore Sun: “National test scores show student gains from in-person learning in all but a critical group: new and pre-readers | COMMENTARY”

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March 15, 2022

NPR: “Two years ago schools shut down around the world. These are the biggest impacts”

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March 11, 2022

The Hub – Dallas ISD: “Students at Greiner and Anson Jones Elementary find success in reading and writing with a new program”

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March 10, 2022

NY Daily News: “Read it and weep: The new reading instruction emergency”

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March 10, 2022

WISH TV Indianapolis: “Study shows student performance plummeted during pandemic”

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March 9, 2022

New York Post: “Young students have suffered ‘alarming’ drops in reading skills during pandemic”

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March 9, 2022

The Daily Caller: “Childhood Literacy Plummeted Following Pandemic Shutdowns, Studies Show”

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March 8, 2022

The New York Times: “It’s ‘Alarming’: Children Are Severely Behind in Reading”

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March 7, 2022

Education Next: “The Education Exchange: Pandemic Hurt Younger Students’ Learning Worse, Amplify Data Suggest”

Listen to the Podcast

February 28, 2022

The 74: “Our 12 Best Education Articles in February: Reflections on 700 Days of COVID Chaos, Setting a Bar for Unmasking in Schools, Burying Schools in Record Requests & More”

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February 24, 2022

The Daily Advertiser: “Reading scores improve slightly, but pre-COVID reading levels are ‘the wrong goal’”

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February 24, 2022

Wall Street Journal: “The School Shutdowns and Lost Literacy”

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February 23, 2022

K-12 Dive: “DIBELS data illustrates pandemic reading setbacks”

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February 22, 2022

ABC 7 Buffalo: “Children falling behind in reading”

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February 18, 2022

The Carolina Journal: “Report: Elementary students lag in literacy due to pandemic”

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February 16, 2022

The 74: “‘We Have First-Graders Who Can’t Sing the Alphabet Song’: Pandemic Continues to Push Young Readers Off Track, New Data Shows”

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February 16, 2022

Education Week: “More Than 1 in 3 Children Who Started School in the Pandemic Need ‘Intensive’ Reading Help”

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February 4, 2022

Literary Hub: “EXCLUSIVE: Watch Joshua Bennett Discuss A.R. Ammons’s poem “Cascadilla Falls”

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January 26, 2022

The Ross Kaminsky Show: “Susan Lambert and the Literacy Gap”

Listen to the podcast

January 19, 2022

K-12 Dive: “Report: Colorado reading law update boosts quality of literacy curriculum”

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2021

December 15, 2021

Chalkbeat: “How Denver plans to address a drop in early elementary reading scores”

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December 8, 2021

The SHRM Blog: “What’s the Best Work Perk of All? Contributing to the Social Good”

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November 13, 2021

Hechinger Report: ‘The Reading Year’: First grade is critical for reading skills, but kids coming from disrupted kindergarten experiences are way behind”

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October 20, 2021

Hechinger Report: “OPINION: Younger students were among those most hurt during the pandemic”

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September 2, 2021

EdSurge: “An Edtech User’s Glossary to Speech Recognition and AI in the Classroom”

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September, 2021

SIIA Education: “ED TECH SUCCESS STORIES”

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August 23, 2021

CNN: “Irish tech firm helps kids’ voices be heard”

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August 18, 2021

SoapBox Labs: “Can Speech Recognition Help Children Learn to Read?”

Read full article

August 12, 2021

FOX Chicago Broadcast Interview: “Pandemic widens literacy gap for students”

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August 3, 2021

T.H.E Journal: “More Students of Color at Risk in Reading After Pandemic”

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July 28, 2021

The 74: “Early Reading Skills See a Rebound From In-Person Learning, But Racial Gaps Have Grown Wider, Tests Show”

Read full article

July 28, 2021

K-12 Dive: “Reports: Math, reading progress slowed during first full school year of pandemic”

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July 20, 2021

EdNC: “The mCLASS reading assessment tool is back in North Carolina classrooms, but it’s going to look different”

Read full article

July 5, 2021

WBAL: “Baltimore students from all socio-economic backgrounds get a chance to ‘Amplify’ their learning skills”

Read full article

June 15, 2021

Language Magazine: “Using Evidence to Overcome Adversity”

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May 7, 2021

The Dallas Morning News: “How can a one-minute kindergarten test help teachers tackle the ‘COVID slide’?”

Read full article

April 20, 2021

Education Week: “How Teachers and Curriculum Will Shape Ed Tech’s Future: A CEO Makes the Case”

Read full article

March 24, 2021

The Hechinger Report: “OPINION: Children will need summer tutors to make up for pandemic learning loss”

Read full article

March 23, 2021

Education Week: “Most States Fail to Measure Teachers’ Knowledge of the ‘Science of Reading,’ Report Says”

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March 17, 2021

Axios: “How online education and tutoring could fight COVID learning loss”

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March 16, 2021

USA Today: “Students are struggling to read behind masks and screens during COVID-19, but ‘expectations are no different’”

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March 16, 2021

The 74: “Schools and COVID, a Year Later: 12 Months After Classrooms Closed, 12 Key Things We’ve Learned About How the Pandemic Disrupted Student Learning”

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February 25, 2021

K–12 Dive: “Reading gaps widen in mid-year data, especially for K-1 students of color”

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February 24, 2021

The 74: “One Year into Pandemic, Far Fewer Young Students are on Target to Learn How to Read, Tests Show”

Read full article

February 17, 2021

NBC Los Angeles: “Local Students Design Rovers in Mission to Mars Student Challenge”

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February 5, 2021

District Administration: “To save literacy, focus first on high-quality core instruction”

Read full article

February 4, 2021

The Hechinger Report: “5 ways schools hope to fight Covid-19 learning loss”

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January 5, 2021

The 74: “Science Matters Now More than Ever. The Time to Start Teaching It Is in Elementary School”

Read full article

2020

December 15, 2020

Education Week: “Students’ Reading Losses Could Strain Schools’ Capacity to Help Them Catch Up”

Read full article

December 9, 2020

Education Post: “How to Help Beginning Readers During the Pandemic”

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December 3, 2020

American Consortium for Equity in Education: “The Importance of Quality Curriculum With Industry Voice”

Read full article

September 29, 2020

The 74: “Beyond the Scantron: Ed Tech CEO Larry Berger on Why the Pandemic Is No Excuse to Abscond Accountability and ‘Disruptions Are Great Opportunities to Try Something New’”

Read full article

May 25, 2020

The 74: “Class Disrupted Podcast Episode 2: Why Is My Child Doing So Many Worksheets Right Now?”

Read full article

February 5, 2020

Getting Smart Podcast: “Larry Berger on EdTech Past and Future”

Read full article

Amplify Science resources for Richmond Public Schools

Welcome! This site contains supporting resources designed for the Richmond Public Schools adoption of Amplify Science.

Authored by UC Berkeley’s Lawrence Hall of Science, Amplify Science is a comprehensive program that blends literacy-rich activities, hands-on investigations, and engaging digital experiences to empower Richmond students to think, read, write, and argue like 21st-century scientists and engineers.

Click here to visit Richmond Public Schools’ Science Department page.

Welcome!

This site contains supporting resources designed for the Richmond Public Schools adoption of Amplify Science for grades 3–8. Here are some resources to get you started, but make sure to check back for exciting updates!

Program-wide resources

Click the button below to explore the Amplify Science  Program Guide. You can access the full digital Teacher’s Guide from the Program Guide to explore the program.

Onboarding videos

To start using Amplify Science quickly in your classroom, check out the following onboarding videos. They cover what you need to know to get started fast, from unpacking materials to logging in and navigating the digital Teacher’s Guide.

Getting Started: K-5

This section allows you to become familiar with the program and to guide you through initial preparation for implementing Amplify in your classrooms. here you will find look-for-tools, pacing/planning guides, and editable documents to support unpacking the unit lessons.

The following materials lists and videos give you a quick look into our Amplify Science classroom kits. For each grade level, we have a video for the first unit in the scope and sequence, and we show you how to unpack the kits for all the units.

NOTE: These materials kits are not specific to the Richmond unit progression. Please reference these Richmond unit progression docs for 3–5 and 6–8 so you’ll know which kits to look for in each grade.

Materials lists

Unpacking videos

Getting Started: 6-8

This section allows you to become familiar with the program and to guide you through initial preparation for implementing Amplify in your classrooms. here you will find look-for-tools, pacing/planning guides, and editable documents to support unpacking the unit lessons.

The following materials lists and videos give you a quick look into our Amplify Science classroom kits. For each grade level, we have a video for the first unit in the scope and sequence, and we show you how to unpack the kits for all the units.

NOTE: These materials kits are not specific to the Richmond unit progression. Please reference these Richmond unit progression docs for 3–5 and 6–8 so you’ll know which kits to look for in each grade.

Materials lists

Unpacking videos

6th grade Integrated

7th grade Integrated/Physical science

Additional units

Getting Started: Admin

Admin resources

Getting Started Checklist

Administrator Reports support

K-5 Frequently-Asked Questions

6-8 Frequently-Asked Questions

Professional learning opportunities

Check back for a list of upcoming sessions!

Frequently asked questions

We get it…pacing your instruction, especially with a new program, can be really challenging. In Amplify Science, students internalize concepts through repeated exposures over multiple days with different modalities. We say students get multiple “at-bats” with each concept. As you move through the lessons, avoid looking for concept mastery each day. Instead, try to move through the lesson according to the timing guidelines, maintaining a quick pace.

In classroom discussion activities in particular, you may be tempted to keep the conversation going to ensure that your students fully master the content in that class period. We recommend, though, if the lesson overview says discuss for 10 minutes, cut it off at 10 minutes.

Every Amplify Science unit includes hands-on investigations. But, just as scientists gather evidence from many types of sources, so do students in Amplify Science. Like scientists, students using Amplify Science also gather evidence from physical models, digital models, texts, videos, photographs, maps, and data sets. Doing so requires using the full range of the practices in multi-dimensional learning. It also offers students different ways of acquiring knowledge and experience, multiple means of expressing their understanding, and a variety of resources through which to engage with the content.

Often, students enjoy hands-on investigations, but don’t sufficiently learn key concepts from those experiences. The Amplify Science investigations are designed for efficiency and effectiveness. For teachers who wish to supplement the lessons with more hands-on activities, optional hands-on “flextension” activities are included in many units. Instructional guidance, student sheets, and other supporting resources for them are included as downloadable PDF files and materials needed are either included in the unit kit or easily sourced.

First, take a breath, and know that you will gradually internalize the program routines and overall flow. Also, remember that your students are experiencing the program for the first time with you. Together, you’ll be peeling the onion one layer at a time.

It can be intimidating to begin the school year with a brand-new curriculum: where do you start? The Richmond Resources Site will help you navigate the different supports and resources we have for new Amplify Science teachers. 

The Program Hub is also a great place to direct your own, independent learning about Amplify Science instruction. Once you log into the platform, click on the directory on the top left side. Click into the Program Hub, then Professional Learning, and Getting Started. This will give you access to prioritized resources that will help you plan for your Amplify Science instruction. Additionally, the Amplify Science Help center (also accessible from the Global Navigation menu) is great for short videos about specific topics like supporting EL students, using Classwork, etc.

The variety of multimodal activities that are included in Amplify Science provides students with the opportunity to dive deeply into understanding science ideas, make science exciting to students, and allow for all students to have the benefit of multiple opportunities to access rich science content. Think about how many times you’ve taught a concept and then discovered your students had minimal recall at the end of the week. The truth is, students need multiple, varied exposures to key concepts.

In the program, we make sure that students have the opportunity to DO, TALK, READ, WRITE, and VISUALIZE every important idea. We think of this as providing students with multiple at bats— each encounter with the idea provides students with additional evidence, and the opportunity to develop deeper understanding. Students have multiple opportunities to construct their understanding of the same idea.

This multimodality may feel repetitive, but it is purposeful and impactful. Sometimes the repetition is for 1) hitting other Science and Engineering Practices, and/or 2) giving students multiple and varied opportunities to express their understanding. Many students can easily parrot back what they read and one may think they know it — but ask them to draw a model, and one might see that their understanding is only so deep.  Ultimately we believe that this approach not only serves a broader range of students but will also result in more retention in the long run.

Looking for help?

Technical or pedagogical support

Amplify provides a unique kind of free support you won’t find from other publishers. Technical and pedagogical support teams are available from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. ET, Monday through Friday.

For your most urgent questions:

  • Use our live chat within your program
  • Call our toll-free number: (800) 823-1969

For less urgent questions, send us an email!

  • Technical support: help@amplify.com
  • Pedagogical support: edsupport@amplify.comWhat is pedagogical support? We have developed an educational support team of former teachers and administrators who provide pedagogical support for every Amplify curriculum, assessment, and intervention program. This service is completely free for all educators who are using our programs and includes:
    • Guidance for developing lesson plans and intervention plans
    • Information on where to locate standards and other planning materials
    • Recommendations and tips for day-to-day teaching with Amplify programs
    • Support with administering and interpreting assessment data and more

Order exceptions

If you need to arrange for the return or exchange of items, contact help@amplify.com and be sure to identify yourself as a Richmond Public Schools teacher.

S2-02: Developing your own teaching style: Tips from a veteran teacher.

Poster for "Science Connections" podcast with an image of Marilyn Dieppa, featuring a logo of an atom and text promoting season 2, episode 2 about veteran teaching styles.

In this episode, Eric Cross sits down with veteran educator and former Miami-Dade County Public Schools (M-DCPS) Middle School Science Teacher of the Year, Marilyn Dieppa. During the show, Marilyn shares tips for new teachers, ways to inspire students, and how she utilizes her journalism background to develop literacy skills within her science classroom. She also shares her experiences developing a robotics academy, and the VEX IQ World’s Competition. Explore more from Science Connections by visiting our main page.

Download Transcript

Marilyn Dieppa (00:01):
I think my favorite thing is their success. Whether it’s robotics, whether it’s in the classroom, that they pass a test for the first time, those are my moments of success. And that’s what makes me happy.

Eric Cross (00:15):
Marilyn Dieppa is a veteran middle-school science educator at Miami-Dade County public schools. Dieppa launched her school’s STEM Academy in 2016 and developed professional development through the STEM Transformation Institute of Florida International University. Dieppa’s coached numerous new teachers and was the 2018 Miami-Dade County public schools’ middle-school Science Teacher of the Year. In this episode, we discussed her transition from a career in journalism to the science classroom and the value of personal and professional support systems for teacher longevity. And now, please enjoy my conversation with Marilyn Dieppa.

Marilyn Dieppa (00:52):
Nice to meet you, Eric.

Eric Cross (00:53):
Nice to meet you too. Thank you for being willing to come on the podcast.

Marilyn Dieppa (00:58):
Not a problem.

Eric Cross (00:59):
So you’re out in, you’re out in Florida. In Dade County. I’m out here in San Diego. So I’m like literally on the other side of the country. Have you—were you born and raised in Florida?

Marilyn Dieppa (01:09):
I’ve been here for 40 years, so I’ve been here most of my life. Yeah. I’m Puerto Rican, but I was, you know, my young childhood, I was in New Jersey. And then when I was 15, I came down.

Eric Cross (01:23):
I looked at like your—some of your accolades, which are really impressive. The things that you’ve done for students with robotics, and all the education, or, kind of like teacher enrichment, a lot of mentoring and coaching that you do now.

Marilyn Dieppa (01:35):
I am part of leadership team for the district. I do a lot of training. I work on curriculum. I help with pacing guides to make sure that everything is based on what the state wants, what the district wants. I have done a lot for the district in the last, probably 20 years.

Eric Cross (01:52):
What got you into teaching initially? What was your…like, why middle school science? We’re like a unique group.

Marilyn Dieppa (01:57):
This is the second career choice for me. So I’ve only been doing this for 24 years. I was a journalism major and then I got married and then I had my child and I wanted to do something. My thing was that I wanted to go to Iraq. I wanted to cover the news. I have a minor in Middle Eastern culture. so there was a lot of things that were in my mind when I was young, pre-married. and after, you know, you have children, priorities kind of change. So I totally changed, pretty much had to start from scratch, with my degree, because nothing kind of transferred over from journalism to teaching. So before I actually did that, I started subbing just to see if I liked it. And I fell in love with teaching right away. And that’s how I got into it. So my degree is really in elementary.

Eric Cross (02:45):
Now, when you were subbing, you were doing elementary school.

Marilyn Dieppa (02:47):
Yes. Pretty much elementary.

Eric Cross (02:48):
How did you go from there to like, middle-school science?

Marilyn Dieppa (02:50):
My thing was writing, not necessarily math and science. But I ended up with my cooperating teacher, my CT, she was a math and science teacher. So I was put with her, and who knew that I liked science and I liked math? So I ended up with that and I infused a lot of labs. So in elementary you tend to—I think teachers are a little bit afraid of the labs, so I infused a lot of literature with my labs. I infused all my—I did it like a whole-group type thing, everything I did with my labs, I incorporated the math. I incorporated the science. I incorporated, you know, the reading with it. And from there, I just—you know, they ended up putting me in a lot of leadership roles with science. And then my principal was opening up the school where I’m at now, my former principal. And she, you know, she took me with her. And so her dissertation was in looping, on how following your students, did that really make a difference in test scores? So I was part of her like test study, and I had students that I followed for two years in a row. And she would look at data and that was part of her dissertation. So that really made a difference. So I ended up moving with my students and my first group of middle-school students, I had them for four years.

Eric Cross (04:10):
Oh, wow.

Marilyn Dieppa (04:10):
And that was—those were my children. I, like, boohooed when they left. And I ended up, you know, literally following them from fourth grade all the way to more than four years. Because it was all the way until they left eighth grade.

Eric Cross (04:21):
What did you think of that model of looping with students?

Marilyn Dieppa (04:24):
I think it’s a great model, depending on the kids that you have. I love, you know, the school that I’m at. I’m very blessed, because it’s a great school. It’s really a wonderful school. I’ve had really good relationships with students. They always come back, and they always come back when they wanna tell me that they’re in something in science, right? They’re an engineer or they’re a nurse, or they’re, you know, doctors at this point. So I’ve seen a little bit of everything with my students. And it’s very rewarding.

Eric Cross (04:52):
That’s super-exciting, right? When they come back and they’re either telling you about their college major or what career they’re in. And I like to recruit them at that point and ask them to come talk to my students. Because Google photos gives you unlimited storage, if you have a teacher account, I actually have photos of students from like 10 years ago.

Marilyn Dieppa (05:09):
Oh, wow.

Eric Cross (05:10):
And I’ll put their middle school picture next to their—and then their current picture.

Marilyn Dieppa (05:14):
Oh, that’s awesome. I’ve never done that.

Eric Cross (05:17):
Yeah. You could see, like, they could see the younger version of them.

Marilyn Dieppa (05:19):
And it’s funny because even with the STEM Academy, which I have now, I have the same group of kids for three years. So I’ve had already few groups that have gone by, and those kids come back to me, they come back to our competitions, they help out, you know, they’re very integrated with the robotics. So I’m getting those students back as well. So I’ve maintained that relationship with them as well.

Eric Cross (05:46):
How do you develop your own classroom management style? How did you figure out where your—where you fit and what works for you? What was your process like for that?

Marilyn Dieppa (05:55):
You know what I think, just by teaching, teaching them to respect. And one thing that I’ve developed that—I don’t scream in my classroom; I just talk to the kids. I have very good one-on-one communication with them. I show them respect. I treat them as an equal.

Eric Cross (06:12):
And what grade are you teaching currently?

Marilyn Dieppa (06:14):
Eighth grade. So I do science. I teach high school science. I teach comprehensive, which is like our regular students. I have kids who are inclusion. I have kids that are ESL. So I teach all, you know, dynamics of students. And then I have the academy, which is something separate. But I infuse a lot of physics and of course that they need in order for them to be competitive.

Eric Cross (06:38):
So tell me about that. What is the STEM Academy?

Marilyn Dieppa (06:40):
It is an enrichment program. So it is an advanced enrichment program, because they do follow like the math enrichment. so they have to be really good at math in order for them to be accepted into the program. So, one day we got like a grant, and we got a little robot, the VEX. I don’t know if you’re familiar with VEX. I know it’s big in California. So I was told, “Here, this is for you. See what you can do with it.” So I started with an after-school club, the following year. It kind of hit off. We went to our first little competition. The kids did really well. And then the following year, they told me, “Hey, we need an academy, make it happen.” So it’s not like I had a curriculum. I kind of do my own thing. But we do a lot of different types of things. Our big portion is the VEX, but I also do sec me, we do Future City. We do a whole bunch of competitions within the district. You know, Math Bowl. So I get my kids prepared for anything that really has to do competitive-based. I do that with those students.

Eric Cross (07:38):
What age range or which grade range?

Marilyn Dieppa (07:40):
Sixth to eighth. We have kids who stay the three years and then we have kids that after, you know, sometimes it’s more the parents that want them to be part of the engineering. but sometimes we lose kids after the first year and you know, that’s fine because we wanna really have kids who really wanna be there and are, you know, committed to it. Because there’s a lot of commitments to that program.

Eric Cross (08:01):
Those types of programs, there’s so many like outside-of-the-classroom things that you need to take care of. If you’re going to competitions, and weekends, and all those types of things. Is there a team of teachers that are doing this or is it just you?

Marilyn Dieppa (08:10):
Team of one! .

Eric Cross (08:11):
A team of one! Right? Like, yeah. And how long have you been running this yourself?

Marilyn Dieppa (08:16):
This is probably like my sixth year.

Eric Cross (08:19):
OK.

Marilyn Dieppa (08:20):
So we’ve been very successful. That program is totally inquiry. It’s totally on them. I don’t know how to use a little, you know, remote control. I don’t know how to do anything. I’m there for troubleshoot and to make sure that they’re on task, but they have been very successful because I do put everything on them. And I go, “It’s not my robot. This is your robot.” So they build everything

Eric Cross (08:40):
And that seems to be the theme, especially with, a lot of times, with science teachers. And encouraging them to say, “You don’t have to be the expert in everything.” Teachers tend to be more like risk-taking and innovative when they’re willing to like, not have to be—I don’t have to know everything in order to do something.

Marilyn Dieppa (08:54):
Exactly. So we’ve been very successful. Very proud of my students because you know, we’ve, gone to Worlds twice. We’ve qualified three times in the six years. Actually, I had two teams that went last year.

Eric Cross (09:07):
What is, what is Worlds? That sounds like a big deal.

Marilyn Dieppa (09:10):
It’s a huge thing. And it’s teams from all over the world. You can actually look it up online. It’s—from this year, there were teams, although they said China was not gonna be in there, there were actually some teams from China. There were teams from New Zealand. There were teams from South Africa, the UK, a lot of teams from, from Europe. And then there are teams from here. We are the host country. We’ve been the host country for a while. But it’s amazing. The first time we went, the first team that we were paired up with was a Russian team. So, you know, there was Google Translate and the kids—and it’s, they didn’t need to know the same language because they communicated with the robots. So it was really amazing. They work collaboratively. So it’s not like a battle box. So they work two teams together and whatever, they both get together, they both earn the same points. So it teaches leadership, and there’s so much more to it than just a robot. They have to know how to communicate, because they do get interviewed. They do online challenges. It’s so many things. It’s just—I think it’s one of the best things that our district has really invested in, because these kids are so into it, and they love it so much. For the last year and this year I have the same kids that are in the robotics. I’m also gonna be teaching them physical science. So I have to teach them that separation between what we’re doing in our science classes versus what they’re doing in the class. So there has to be a separation. So they see one side of me in this class where it’s very laid back. It’s very chill. No, no, you, you guys do it. There’s no sitting down. It’s like organized chaos, I call it all the time. But then in the classroom, it has to be a little bit more organized.

Eric Cross (10:53):
Is that something that, as far as getting the parts—like people do, like, GoFundMes and donations and Donors Choose. Can you—

Marilyn Dieppa (11:00):
We get grant money, grant money from the town of Miami Lakes, the town that I work in. So the town actually sponsors us. Without them, we could not do that. It is a very expensive activity to do. If you go online and you look up the prices, you’ll be, “Oh my gosh, goodness, it’s very expensive.” You know? But the smiles on their faces when they come back and they have those little certificates, it means nothing, you know, it’s a little piece of paper. But that, to me, to them, it means the world.

Eric Cross (11:27):
Well, teachers, if you’re looking for ways to get that stuff funded, be fearless on behalf of asking for free things for your kids. Find a local business that somewhat connects to even robotics and say, “Hey, look, I’ve got 50 kids that really want to get after it. And we need X amount of dollars so we can buy those robotics kits. We’ll put your banner up somewhere. We’ll do all these other things. But come support our students. Come to the competition. Donate whatever you can for our students.” And many organizations will say, will say yes. Many just aren’t asked.

Marilyn Dieppa (11:57):
Right. And a lot of towns do have, like, education advisory boards. You wanna reach out to those people. ‘Cause those are the communities where they have money set aside in order to assist things like this.

Eric Cross (12:09):
Do you notice any carryover between the students that do get involved with these extracurriculars into the regular science classroom?

Marilyn Dieppa (12:16):
For sure. They’re more, they’re more disciplined. They tend to care more about the sciences because they see that link in the science. I mean, my kids are talking about gear ratios. They’re talking about, you know, mass accelerations. They had—they infuse all these things. And when they see it in the science class, they’re making that connection, which is really wonderful.

Eric Cross (12:41):
It seems like there’s a high level of engagement because this is an authentic thing. It’s almost, this should be science.

Marilyn Dieppa (12:46):
Yes. And not only that, the writing skills that have to be interpreted because part of the program is that they, they don’t necessarily have to have it, but in order for them to go far and make it to Worlds, they have to have an engineering notebook. So our strength sometimes is not the robot, but the engineering notebook.

Eric Cross (13:02):
his is where the journalism major shines.

Marilyn Dieppa (13:05):
Yes. And I go, “Guys, this is your Ikea manual. You have to explain what you’re doing, what pieces you’re using, what’s going right.” You know, and then they have to interpret and see what didn’t work. How can they fix it? So there’s so much problem-solving. It’s real life, it’s what they’re doing there. More so than sitting and learning rote, you know, vocabulary or whatever the case might be, ’cause they’re actually applying what they’re learning.

Eric Cross (13:31):
Yeah. And that’s, that’s so critical, the communication piece. Because seems like now in society, more than ever, even just being able to communicate something with bad science is convincing to people. Versus if you have great science, but you can’t communicate it, you’re not gonna be able to get it out into the public. It’s so great to see a program that exactly brings together this literacy aspect, in addition to kind of this content and skills aspect of doing the science.

Marilyn Dieppa (13:57):
And that’s what really, you know, since I started, that’s pretty much what I’ve done. My strength, believe it or not, when I was growing up, was not the science. I think I didn’t really have a really good science background. But I remember reflecting and saying, “I don’t want my students to feel like I felt when I was a child.” I wanna make sure that I give them everything, you know, give them the hands-on experience. I think I had one teacher when I was growing up and I still remember him. He was my second-grade teacher and he was just so amazing with the science. And it was just like the only really good experience I had. And I think that always stayed in the back of my mind. And when I started teaching and I go, “I wanna give these kids these experiences.” You know, sometimes I see kids in eighth grade and I go, how sad! They see water boiling and they’re just, like, in a lab room. And they’re just like, in awe, because there’s water boiling. And I go, “You guys haven’t seen water boil before?” And he goes, “No, no, no, not like this!” And I go, oh wow.

Eric Cross (14:58):
Even if it’s simple, everyday phenomena, everyday things that people deal with in a science classroom, or when you’re a teacher in that setting, it’s just—it just hits different, right? Like you, you know, you drop dye into water and watch it diffuse. And it’s like, whoa! Because they’re looking at it through that different lens. And that’s why one of the reasons why—I’m super-biased, but as science teachers, we get to do the coolest stuff.

Marilyn Dieppa (15:21):
Yeah, we do.

Eric Cross (15:22):
We just do. It’s so much fun. And basically anything that happens, that’s cool, like in, innovation and things like that, we can figure out ways to incorporate into our classroom. Now, as a coach and as a mentor, you’ve had multiple student teachers in your classroom. And we have, you know, huge need for new teachers. I teach teachers who are getting their CR, getting their credential. And the landscape of education is, is constantly shifting. You’ve watched it shift over the years. What are your biggest tips that you give to new teachers?

Marilyn Dieppa (15:49):
Well, I just had an intern last semester. I’ve had a few interns where, you know, not only are they doing this, but they’re also learning robotics too. So they’re really getting aspect in how to incorporate that. You don’t have to have everything separate. You can include everything together. But I think, I think it just comes from the foundation where they’re not exposed. Even me, when I went to college, I don’t remember doing so many labs as I should have. And I think it’s just a fear of them trying new things and failing. And I go, you know what? I, sometimes my first class is my guinea pig class, because I always change my labs. I don’t like to do the same thing over and over again. If I see something online, I go, “Oh wow. You know what, I’m gonna try it.” And I go, “Hey guys, this is the first time; we’re gonna do this together.” And it’s really—it’s just for them not to be fearful. And I think especially for science teachers or like even elementary, to give the kids the foundation that they need, they’re afraid. They’re afraid of failing and not trying something new, and say, “Hey, it’s OK. There’s other ways of doing this.” You know? So I always say, “My first class is always my guinea pig class, ’cause that’s the class I’m gonna try this on.” And then, you know, when you have to tweak, reflect, then we do that.

Eric Cross (17:06):
What are some of the things that you’ve seen or encouragements that you give to teachers who are teaching, kind of, in this kind of newer landscape, where as teachers, you become more than just a science teacher. I mean, you’re a mentor. You’re an encourager. Sometimes you’re a counselor for students. And then there, there are things that happen externally that impact teachers as well. It’s a tough job.

Marilyn Dieppa (17:24):
So I always say, you know, when you have a child, we have to be very aware of what’s happening with our children. Especially after these two years of the pandemic. That was kind of crazy. Last year was a really tough year, I think, for most educators that were back in the classroom. But I always tell ’em, you have to be really aware of what’s going on with these kids outside. When you see somebody who’s not doing anything and then you have the parents are there supporting. There’s something going—I mean, there has to be something going on. Kids are not just going to be so, so defiant. You’re gonna have very few that will be like that. But most of them it’s just gotta see and read those kids and see what’s going on, and don’t be afraid to—and I always say, I’m not there to really be your friend, but I’m there to help you. And you gotta tell ’em, you know, if you need to talk, come talk to me. Have an open-door policy with those kids.

Eric Cross (18:16):
What’s been your favorite part of the job? Something you really enjoy about the job? Especially having been teaching for as long as you have.

Marilyn Dieppa (18:23):
I think my favorite thing is their success. Whether they have struggled all the year and they’ve had that one piece of success or they don’t realize what they got out of middle school until they get to high school and they come back to you and they tell you it’s, you know, seeing my kids, whether it’s robotics, whether it’s in the classroom, that they pass a test for the first time, those are my moments of success. And that’s what makes me happy.

Eric Cross (18:52):
So you get those ahas, you get those wins, those turnarounds. And it’s like, “Ah, this keeps me going. This is so good!” But there’s something that I say to myself when I do get challenges in the classroom is teaching seventh grade, I say, “They’re 12. They’re 13. They’ve been on earth for 13 years. And for the first five or six, like, you know, they’re just kind of coming online at that point. And they’re going through all these changes.” And it grounds me in the fact that ’cause sometimes the things that you experience can be really, really challenging kind of interpersonally. And I remind myself, “Well, it’s like—you’re not 28 years old. Like, you’re, 12 and 13, and you need me to not be Mr. Cross, the science teacher. You need me to be, you know, Mr. Cross, the mentor, or Mr. Cross, the coach.” Like you were saying, open door. Keeping that open door, keeping that relationship. Because so much of what we’re doing is like life coaching in addition—and that connects to their success in the classroom. There’s a direct relationship.

Marilyn Dieppa (19:45):
Yes, yes, yes, absolutely.

Eric Cross (19:46):
Now what gets you back each fall? Because at the end, you know, every school year it’s like, “That was a tough one!” Especially with the last couple years. Right? So what’s been something, what gets you back in the classroom every fall, so that you’re ready for your students?

Marilyn Dieppa (20:02):
I think the support I get at home. I have a husband who is the most supportive person ever. He always tells me, “Your kids are grown up.” You know, my kids are adults now. “Enjoy these kids, what they’re doing. You don’t know how much they need you.” So he does tell me that. He goes, “And don’t complain! You love it!” And also my administration, they back me up. And that’s what I think what keeps you coming back. I love my administration. Whatever I ask for, they don’t tell me no. They tell me I’m crazy, but they don’t tell me no. You know, we have these huge competitions once a year at our school, administration has to be involved ’cause they have to be there, and they go, “We do this because we love you! But you know, you’re crazy!”

Eric Cross (20:48):
It’s interesting, ’cause both of these things, they involve human connection. And one is your support system at home, which is incredibly valuable. Shout out to your husband; I don’t know if he’s around. And then the culture, like, feeling supported. Teachers, you know—and it’s not just in education, but people, I’ve experienced—will work harder, longer, be more committed, when they have that intangible. When they feel like they’re connected to something bigger than them. Or on a team, not in a silo. And one person can really create or break whether that happens. And just like us in the classroom as a teacher, right? Like, “What makes you like this teacher’s class?” “Well, I feel connected. I feel safe. I feel it’s fun. It’s the culture!” I like to end with asking this question and you kind of alluded to an answer earlier, but who is one, or it could be multiple teachers, that you’ve had in your own life as a kid growing up or young person in kindergarten through 12th grade, could even be college, that has inspired you? Or made a difference in your life one way or another? Like, who pops out? I feel like we all have somebody.

Marilyn Dieppa (21:58):
One was my second grade teacher, as I mentioned before. Mr. Fernandez, never forget him. And my other teacher was my high school teacher, Mr. Velazquez. It was in New Jersey as well. And he was the one that really got me into the love of writing. He was my Spanish teacher, actually. He wasn’t even, you know—he was like an elective teacher. But he just made me believe like, “Wow, you’re like a really good writer!” To me, those two gentlemen really stood out. Very fond memories of being in school and really enjoying what I was doing.

Eric Cross (22:33):
There are so many teachers that we all have been impacted by. And many of us now who are teachers, we sit in that same seat. We fill those same shoes. And going back to what you had said earlier, one of the most rewarding things is when those kids come back to you. And I’m thinking about all the work that you’ve done, all the students you’ve poured into, all the competitions you’ve done. The ones that have come back to you are a small fragment of the ones that you’ve impacted.

Marilyn Dieppa (22:59):
Mm-hmm, yeah.

Eric Cross (23:00):
‘Cause we think about our own story, right? Like you’ve gone on and paid dividends for that one teacher in second grade. You know, Mr. Fernandez or Mr. Velasquez like, they went and they just gave you exposure to something or helped you fall in love with something. And you went on this trajectory. And if we could see the timeline of, like, this teacher created Marilyn, and Marilyn went and did this, and then what do all those students do? And that, I don’t know, there’s so many jobs that are gonna be hard work and that are gonna be challenging and stressful. But that is the thing that I think fills me when I listen to your story. I just think about like all the students throughout Florida that you have—you probably will never hear from, but have gone on to do amazing things or become great people who would go back and talk about you and say you were an inspiration for them. Marilyn, thank you for taking the time out to be on the podcast and for not only teaching students, but inspiring and coaching younger teachers and new teachers. It’s so critical. And for being willing to spend so much of your time beyond the classroom to create these opportunities for students to do this awesome, fun, engaging science, and go to Worlds. I wish you a great school year.

Marilyn Dieppa (24:11):
Thank you. You too.

Eric Cross (24:12):
We hope you make it to Worlds again and crush, in a competitive, collaborative type of environment. We’ll be checking out—I’m sure other teachers will check out Vex Robotics. Thanks for being on the podcast.

Marilyn Dieppa (24:23):
Thank you. You too, Eric.

Eric Cross (24:26):
Thanks so much for listening. Now we want to hear more about you. Do you have any educators who inspire you? You can nominate them as a future guest on Science Connections by emailing STEM@amplify.com. That’s S T E M at amplifycom.wpengine.com. Make sure to click subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts. And join our Facebook group, Science Connections: The Community. Until next time.

Stay connected!

Join our community and get new episodes every other Tuesday!

We’ll also share new and exciting free resources for your classroom every month.

What Marilyn Dieppa says about science

“I think as science teachers, we’re afraid of failing and not trying something new, and I say, ‘Hey, it’s okay!’ You have to tweak, reflect.”

– Marilyn Dieppa

STEM Academy Coach/Teacher, 2018 Miami-Dade County Public Schools (M-DCPS) Middle School Science Teacher of the Year

Meet the guest

Marilyn Dieppa is a long-time educator and STEM Academy coach at Miami Dade County Public Schools. Currently in her 24th year, Marilyn teaches 8th grade science and coaches the STEM Academy at Bob Graham Education Center. She launched the Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) Academy during the 2016-2017 school year, and the teams compete in VEX IQ World’s Competition representing both the district and the state. She has been the middle school department chairperson since 2003, attends the district department meetings and Instructional Capacity-building Academy (ICAD), and trains her science department.

Dieppa holds a bachelor of science in Elementary Education and a master of science in reading education. She is also a Nationally Board-Certified Teacher in Science.

Smiling woman with long dark hair wearing a patterned top, photographed against a plain white background inside a circular frame.

About Science Connections

Welcome to Science Connections! Science is changing before our eyes, now more than ever. So…how do we help kids figure that out? We will bring on educators, scientists, and more to discuss the importance of high-quality science instruction. In this episode, hear from our host Eric Cross about his work engaging students as a K-8 science teacher. Listen here!

Elementary

Watch how Amplify Science integrates hands-on learning, classroom discussions, digital modeling tools, and more.

Classroom discussions


As part of Amplify Science’s Weather and Climate unit, students take on the role of meteorologists to determine which of three fictional islands has weather most like that of orangutans’ existing habitats, Borneo and Sumatra. In this video featuring Lesson 3.7, third-grade students from Chicago Public Schools are discussing the data they collected, as well as which Science and Engineering Practices they used during the lesson.

Simulations and modeling tools

 

As part of Amplify Science’s Earth’s Features unit, students take on the role of geologists to investigate how a mysterious fossil formed and when it came to be in its current location. In this video, fourth-grade students from Chicago Public Schools are using digital modeling tools to investigate how fossils and rocks can be used to make inferences about past environments.

A week in the life

What does a week in the life of an Amplify Science teacher look like? We asked Keneisha Charleston, a second-grade teacher from Chicago Public Schools, to talk through an example of what one week of using Amplify Science is like in her classroom.

From the classroom

Hear from teachers, administrators, and students across the country who are using Amplify Science in their classrooms right now.

Middle School

Watch how Amplify Science integrates hands-on learning, literacy, digital modeling tools, and more.

Literacy integration

 

As part of Amplify Science’s Matter and Energy in Ecosystems unit, students take on the role of ecologists to figure out what caused the collapse of the biodome ecosystem. In this video, sixth-grade students from Denver Public Schools are reading science articles, and then using writing prompts to create arguments using evidence.

Classroom discussions

 

As part of Amplify Science’s Matter and Energy in Ecosystems unit, students take on the role of ecologists to figure out what caused the collapse of the biodome ecosystem. In this video, sixth-grade students from Denver Public Schools are using evidence to support their claims as part of a classroom discussion.

A week in the life

What does a week in the life of an Amplify Science teacher look like? We asked Amy Trujillo, a sixth-grade teacher from Denver Public Schools, to talk through an example of what one week of using Amplify Science is like in her classroom.

From the classroom

Hear from teachers, administrators, and students across the country who are using Amplify Science in their classrooms right now.

Access a free sample

Ready to take a closer look at Amplify Science? No problem. Just complete the form for instant digital access to two sample units.

Inspiring future scientists: Amplify Science success stories

You have the next generation of scientists in your classroom—and we’re here to help! Science students across the country are using Amplify Science to think, read, write, investigate, and argue like scientists.

Why Amplify Science? Educators like you will activate curiosity by asking science students to solve real-world problems. Hear from educators across the country about the benefits of Amplify’s phenomena-based science curriculum.

You’re changing learning outcomes and helping to inspire the next generation of scientists today.

District spotlights

Big Lake, Minnesota

“Teachers really hit the ground running” with Amplify Science, setting off significant improvements for students.

Learn more

Yukon Public Schools, Oklahoma

Students in Yukon Public Schools make strong progress in mastering critical science content with Amplify Science.

Learn More

Lafourche Parish School District, Louisana

Students in Lafourche Parish School District achieve academic success with Amplify Science after prolonged devastation.

Learn More

Grand Island, Nebraska

Grand Island Public Schools made significant gains in science and literacy after implementing Amplify Science.

Learn More

The power of phenomena: Portland, Maine

Discover how students in Portland Public Schools use hands-on investigations to solve real-world problems.

Learn more about Amplify Science’s approach

A week in the life: Denver, Colorado

Learn how middle school educators in Denver Public Schools take on a week of lessons in Amplify Science.

Take a deep dive into an Amplify Science unit

What educators say about Amplify Science

Second-grade teacher

Read more on X

Instructional coach

Read more on X

Instructional lead

Read more on X

School district

Read more on X

Program efficacy

Explore the research behind Amplify Science.

“I would recommend Amplify Science to any district looking for a curriculum that is going to engage their students and their teachers in a compelling phenomena-based curriculum.”

—Brooke Teller

STEM Director, Portland Public Schools

Unlock classroom success with Amplify webinars.

Watch one of our on-demand webinars to learn how educators like you can use Amplify Science in your classroom.

Website Privacy Policy

Last Modified:  February 2026

Update: February 2, 2026: This Privacy Policy has been updated to address additional rights for individuals in the European Union/UK.

Below is the Website Privacy Policy for the amplify.com site (“Privacy Policy”). For purposes of clarity and as further outlined below, this Privacy Policy does not apply to student data. You can visit this page to read about the principles and policy governing student data collected and maintained on behalf of our school customers.

We advise you to read this Privacy Policy in its entirety, including the jurisdiction-specific provisions in the appendix. Our Notice at Collection for California Residents is available in the Notice for our California Customers.

Who We Are / What This Privacy Policy Covers

Amplify Education, Inc. (“Amplify”) recognizes the importance of protecting the privacy and security of your personal information. This Privacy Policy describes our practices in connection with information that we may collect through your use of this website (the “Site”).

This Privacy Policy does not apply to Amplify’s handling of:

  • student data or other information collected from users of Amplify’s products that support classroom instruction and learning, which are governed by our Customer Privacy Policy.
  • staff or applicant data that we process in accordance with our staff or applicant privacy notice, respectively.

If you have any question as to what legal agreement or privacy policy controls the collection and use of your information, please contact us using information below in the Contact Us section.

This Privacy Policy is incorporated into and is subject to our Website Terms of Use, which governs your use of the Site.

Our Role: We are the controller of all personal information (as defined below) that we receive through our Site and can be reached by email at privacy@amplify.com or by mail at Amplify Education, Inc., 55 Washington St.#800, Brooklyn, NY, 11201.

1. What personal information do we collect?

When you visit and / or interact with our Site, we may collect the following information about you that, alone or in combination, could be used to identify you or your device (“personal information”):

  • Contact Information, such as name, district / school name, professional affiliation, title / role, email address, shipping address, address and phone number.
  • Account Information, such as customer user login and password. 
  • Demographic Information, such as age and gender.
  • Information You Submit, such as information voluntarily provided on message boards, feedback sections, and other public areas of the Site.
  • Site Activity Information, which is collected when you access and interact with the Site, we and our Service Providers (as defined below) may collect certain information about those visits. For example, we or our Service Providers may receive and record information about your computer and browser, including your IP address, browser type, and other software or hardware information. If you access the Site from a mobile or other device, we may collect a unique device identifier assigned to that device, or other characteristics of the device hardware, operating system and configurations for that device. On certain pages of the Site, we may use third party tools to help us look at mouse movements, clicks, keystrokes, data or text entered, and the pages you visit.
  • Location Information, such as state, country and / or zip code, which we use to help us customize your experience, as well as to help us facilitate your privacy rights.
  • Audio, electronic, visual, or similar information: such as customer service interactions, call recordings, chat transcripts, files you attach, and email, text, or other correspondence.

If you make a purchase through our online store, you may provide payment and other information directly to our third party e-commerce platform to complete your purchase.

We ask that you not send us, and you not disclose, any government identifiers (such as social security numbers) or information related to racial or ethnic origin, health, or criminal background on or through the Site or otherwise.

2. Where/How do we collect personal information?

Amplify may collect personal information directly from you at various points, including the following:

  • Product Information and Newsletters. When you submit a request to obtain information about our products, services or other informational material or subscribe to one of our newsletters, you may be asked to submit information such as name, professional affiliation, email address, company name, address and phone and details on your query or interests in our products and services. This information is collected to help us process your request.
  • Customer Support. When you submit a form to contact our customer service, you may be asked to submit information such as name, e-mail, district, customer user login and password and details on your query. In addition, some features of our Site, such as our customer live chat functionality or other customer service systems may allow you to voluntarily provide personal information to us. This information is collected to help us process your request. Please only provide what is needed to facilitate the support request.
  • Product Orders. If you use e-commerce areas of our Site to order our products, we request information from you on our order form. To purchase products through the Site, you must provide contact information (such as name and shipping address) and financial information (such as credit card number). This information is used for billing purposes and to fill your orders. We will also use this information to contact you to confirm your order or to inform you of any issues or delays.
  • Registration. You may be asked to submit information to use certain parts of the Site (such as posting comments on certain areas of the Site), register for an event or webinar, or view restricted content that may be available on the Site. For instance, you may be asked to provide your name, email address and event or webinar-related preferences to help us process your registration or content request.
  • Public Areas and Discussion Forums. Any information you share in public areas, such as message boards or feedback sections, becomes public. Please be careful about what you disclose and do not post any personal information that you expect to keep private.
  • Contests and Sweepstakes. When we run a contest or sweepstakes relating to the Site or Amplify, it will be accompanied by a set of rules. The rules for each contest/sweepstakes will specify how the information gathered from you for your entry will be used and disclosed.

As you visit or use our Site, we may collect Site activity information through cookies and similar technologies.

  • Cookies, Pixels, and Other Tracking Technologies. Cookies and other tracking technologies (such as pixels, beacons, and Adobe Flash technology) are small data files that are placed on your computer or mobile device when you visit a website. They allow the website or mobile app to remember your actions and preferences over a period of time. We use the following types of cookies:
    • Strictly necessary cookies – These are cookies that are required for the operation of our Site. They include, for example, cookies that enable you to log into secure areas of our Site. These cookies are not generally stored beyond the browser session and are less likely to include personal information. This category of cookies cannot be disabled.
    • Functionality Cookies – We use these cookies so that we recognize you on our Site and remember your previously selected preferences. These cookies are stored on your device between browsing sessions but expire after a pre-defined period. These cookies enable our Site to “recognize” you when you use our Site, including your preferences such as your preferred language , time, and location. A mix of first party (placed by us) and third-party cookies (placed by third parties) are used.
    • Analytics Cookies – These cookies help us and our Service Providers compile statistics and analytics about users of the Site, including Site Activity Information. For example, we use Google Analytics to help us understand how users interact with the Platform. Google Analytics uses cookies to track your interactions with the Site, then collects that information and reports it to us. This information helps us improve the Site so that we can better serve you. To learn more about Google Analytics, visit https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/6004245?hl=en. If you wish, you can opt-out of Google Analytics by installing the Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on, available on https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout.
    • Advertising Cookies – We use these cookies to collect information about your visit to our Site, the content you viewed, the links you followed and information about your browser, device, and your IP address. We sometimes share some limited aspects of this data with third parties for advertising purposes. We may also share Site Activity Information collected through cookies with our advertising partners. This means that when you visit another website, you may be shown advertising based on your browsing patterns on our Site.

For information on how to opt-out of these technologies, please see What Choices Do You Have? below.

  • Social Plugins. Certain areas of our Site permit you to utilize social media functionality, such as the Facebook “Like” or Google “+1” buttons (“Social Plugins”). To use a Social Plugin, you must authorize the third-party provider of that Social Plugin, e.g. Facebook or Google, to access, collect, and/or disclose your information related to your use of that Social Plugin, subject to that company’s privacy policies, which may differ from this Privacy Policy. In addition, such providers may be able to collect information about you, including your activity on the Site, and they may notify your connections on their social networking platform about your use of the Site. Such services may also employ unique identifiers that allow your activity to be monitored across multiple websites for purposes of delivering more targeted advertising to you.

Amplify also receives information from other sources.

  • Information from Other Sources. We may supplement any information we collect via this Site with information from publicly or commercially available sources.

3. How do we use personal information?

We may use any personal information and other information we collect from and about you for the following purposes and as described elsewhere in this Privacy Policy:

  • To provide and manage the Site. We use the personal information we collect from and about you to provide the Site and features to you, including to measure and improve its services and features, to personalize your experience by delivering relevant content, to deliver marketing messages, to allow you to comment on content, to provide you with customer support, and to respond to inquiries. We may also use and disclose aggregate or anonymous data about your use of and activity on the Site to assist us in this regard and for any other purpose.
  • To contact you. Amplify may periodically send promotional materials (e.g., newsletters) or notifications related to the Site and to Amplify’s business to the contact information you provided to us at registration.
  • To improve our products and services. We may use your personal information for our business purposes, such as data analysis, audits, developing new products and services, enhancing the Site, improving our services, identifying usage trends, and determining the effectiveness of our promotional campaigns.
  • For marketing and advertising. We may use your personal information to help us market our products to you or your school district.

4. To whom do we disclose personal information?

We may disclose any personal information and other information we collect from and about you for the following purposes and as described elsewhere in this Privacy Policy:

  • To share with our affiliated education companies. Amplify may share your personal information with Amplify’s affiliated education companies for the purposes described in this Privacy Policy.
  • To allow service providers to assist us. We may engage third party service providers, agents and partners (“Service Providers”) to perform functions on our behalf, such as analytics, credit card processing, shipping or stocking orders and providing customer service. We may disclose your personal information to such Service Providers to enable them to assist us in these efforts.
  • To allow our marketing and advertising partners to assist us. We may engage marketing and advertising partners to help us market and advertise our products and services, including via digital ads sent in connection with your visit to the Site. We may disclose Site Activity information, as well as contact information and other aggregate insights to such partners to enable them to assist us in these efforts.
  • To protect the rights of Amplify and our users. There may be instances when Amplify may disclose your personal information, in situations where Amplify has a good faith belief that such disclosure is necessary or appropriate in order to: (i) protect, enforce, or defend the legal rights, privacy, safety, operations, or property of Amplify, our parents, subsidiaries or affiliates or our or their employees, agents and contractors (including enforcement of our agreements, including our terms of use); (ii) protect the rights, safety, privacy, security or property of users of the Site or others; (iii) protect against fraud or for risk management purposes; (iv) comply with the law or legal process, including laws outside your country of residence; (v) respond to requests from public and government authorities, including those outside your country of residence; or (vi) allow us to pursue available remedies or limit the damages that we may sustain.
  • To complete a merger or sale of assets. If Amplify sells all or part of its business or makes a sale or transfer of its assets or is otherwise involved in a merger, transfer or other disposition of all or part of its business, assets or stock (including in connection with any bankruptcy or similar proceedings), Amplify may transfer your personal information to the party or parties involved in the transaction.

5. What rights and choices do you have?

Opt-out of Marketing Communications. If you want to stop receiving promotional materials from Amplify, you can follow the unsubscribe instructions at the bottom of each email. There are certain service notification emails that you may not opt-out of, such as notifications of changes to the Site or policies. If you have additional questions, please contact us using information below in the Contact Us section.

Opt-of Cookies and Similar Tracking Technologies. There are a few ways to opt out or delete cookies.

  • On Your Browser. Most browsers are initially set to accept cookies, but your browser may permit you to change your settings to notify you of a cookie being set or updated, or to block cookies altogether. Please consult the “Help” section of your browser for more information. Please note that by blocking any or all cookies you may not have access to certain features, content or personalization that may be available through the Site. Please also note that you must opt out separately on each device (including each web browser on each device) that you use to access our Site if you wish to opt out, and if you clear your cookies or if you use a different browser or device, you will need to renew your opt-out preferences.
  • Interest-Based Advertising. Some advertisers and marketing companies participate in the self-regulatory programs of the Digital Advertising Alliance (“DAA”) and European Interactive Digital Advertising Alliance (“eDAA”) in connection with online interest-based advertising. DAA and eDAA provide consumers with the ability to opt out of receiving interest-based advertising from their program participants at the following links:

What Rights Do You Have?

6. Security

Amplify uses commercially reasonable administrative, technical, personnel and physical measures to safeguard personal information in its possession against loss, theft and unauthorized use, disclosure or modification.

7. Data retention / Deletion

We will retain your personal information for the period necessary to fulfill the purposes outlined in this Privacy Policy unless a longer retention period is required or allowed by law. Even after we have deleted your personal information from our systems, copies of some information from your account may remain viewable in some circumstances – where, for example, you have shared information with social media platforms and other unaffiliated services. We may also retain backup information related to your account on our servers for some time after cancellation for fraud detection or to comply with applicable law or our internal security policies. Because of the nature of caching technology, your account may not be instantly inaccessible to others, and there may be a delay in the removal of the content from elsewhere on the Internet and from search engines.

8. Data Storage and Transfers

We are a United States Company, and our servers are hosted, managed, and controlled by us in the United States. If you are outside of the United States, we use industry standards to protect your data when it leaves your country of residence and your data will always be protected in accordance with this Privacy Policy, Applicable Laws and our Agreement regardless of the storage location.

Additionally, where we transfer your personal information to service providers outside of the United Kingdom (UK), European Economic Area (EEA), or other region that offers similar protections, we use specific appropriate safeguards to contractually obligate such service providers to protect personal information in accordance with Amplify’s commitment to privacy and security and applicable data protection laws.

If you have questions or wish to obtain more information about the international transfer of your personal information or the implemented safeguards, please contact us using the contact information below.

9. External third-party services

The Site may be linked to sites operated by unaffiliated companies, and may carry advertisements or offer content, functionality, games, newsletters, contests or sweepstakes, or applications developed and maintained by unaffiliated companies. Amplify is not responsible for the privacy practices of unaffiliated companies, and once you leave the Site via a link or enable an unaffiliated service, you are subject to the applicable privacy policy of the unaffiliated service.

10. Updates to this policy

Amplify may modify this Privacy Policy. Please look at the Last Revised Date at the top of this Privacy Policy to see when this Privacy Policy was last revised. Any changes to this Privacy Policy will become effective when we post the revised Privacy Policy on the Site. If you do not wish to be bound by the terms of the revised Privacy Policy, you must discontinue your use of the Site.

11. Contact us

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy, please contact us at:

Email: privacy@amplify.com
Mail: Amplify Education, Inc.
55 Washington St.#800
Brooklyn, NY, 11201
Phone: (800) 823-1969
Attn: General Counsel

Appendix – Supplemental Disclosures

1. Notice for our California Customers

We retain your personal information for as long as you are an active user of our Site or continue to have an account with us, and in accordance with our legal obligations (which may require us to hold information to provide financial and other reporting and to defend against potential claims). If you are a California resident, please see below for information about your rights pursuant to California law.

Personal Information We Collect
How We Use Personal Information
Contact Information
  • To provide you with customer support and respond to inquiries.
  • To contact you with promotional emails (e.g. newsletters) or notifications related to the Site
  • To help us verify the identity of our user
  • As otherwise required or permitted by law, or as we may notify you at the time of collection
Account Information
  • To provide and manage the Site
  • To improve our products and services
  • As otherwise required or permitted by law, or as we may notify you at the time of collection
Payment Information
  • To complete your payment of purchases made through the Site
  • For internal operations (e.g. to improve and update our products)
  • For security and fraud prevention
  • As otherwise required or permitted by law, or as we may notify you at the time of collection
Information You Submit
  • To provide the Site and features to you, including to allow you to comment
  • To improve our products and services
  • As otherwise required or permitted by law, or as we may notify you at the time of collection.
Site Activity Information
  • We sell or share information about your Site activity with third parties for targeted advertisements on and off of Amplify. We also use this information to:
    • To provide and manage the Site
    • To improve our products and services
    • For internal operations (e.g. to improve and update our products)
    • For security, safety, and due diligence purposes
    • As otherwise required or permitted by law, or as we may notify you at the time of collection
Location Information
  • We use location information , such as state, country and / or zip code, which we use to help us customize your experience, as well as to help us facilitate your privacy rights.
Inferences
  • We may make inferences about your interests and personal preferences (such as the content you like to consume). We also use this information to:
    • To personalize your experience on the Site
    • For internal operations (e.g. to improve and update our products)
    • As otherwise required or permitted by law, or as we may notify you at the time of collection

Some of the information described above may be considered “sensitive” under the laws of certain jurisdictions (including payment information and account login credentials (“Sensitive Information”). Whether information is Sensitive Information will depend on the laws of your jurisdiction. We only use Sensitive Information, such as payment information and account credentials for necessary or reasonably expected purposes – specifically, to provide you with our Services (i.e., fulfill purchases and to allow account logins).

Shine the Light

California’s Shine the Light law (Civil Code § 1798.83) permits California residents to request certain information regarding our disclosure of certain categories of personal information to third parties for their own direct marketing purposes in the preceding calendar year. We do not share personal information, as defined by California’s Shine the Light law, with third parties for their own direct marketing purposes.

Notice of Financial Incentive 

 As part of our services, there may be opportunities for you to complete surveys and questionnaires. As an incentive for completing the survey or questionnaire, you can voluntarily provide your personal information, which in turn enters you into a raffle drawing or enables us to provide you with other benefits, discounts, offers, or deals that may constitute a financial incentive under California law (“Financial Incentive”). The categories of personal information required for us to provide the Financial Incentives include: contact information and any other information that you choose to provide when you complete the survey.

Participation is voluntary and you can opt out at any time before your survey is complete.

The value of the personal information we collect in connection with our Financial Incentives is equivalent to the value of the benefit offered.

2. Additional U.S. State Privacy Law Rights

Residents of certain U.S. states have the following rights, regarding your personal information (each of which are subject to various exceptions and limitations):

  • Access. You have the right to request, up to two times every 12 months, that we disclose to you the categories of personal information collected about you, the categories of sources from which the personal information is collected, the categories of personal information sold or shared, the business or commercial purpose for collecting, selling, or sharing the personal information, the categories of third parties with whom personal information was shared, and the specific pieces of personal information collected about you.
  • Correct. You have the right to request that we correct inaccurate personal information collected from you. 
  • Deletion. You can request that we delete your personal information that we maintain about you.
  • Opt-out (Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information). Under several U.S. state privacy laws, consumers have the right to opt-out of the “sale” of their personal information (defined very broadly to include situations where we provide personal information to partners who provide advertising services to us) and the “sharing” of personal information in connection with the display of targeted advertising across third party websites. While we do not sell your personal information, we do share it in connection with our advertising efforts. Please also note that we do not knowingly sell or share the Personal Information of minors under 16 years of age.

We also honor the Global Privacy Control, a browser-based opt-out signal. We do not respond to other browser-based signals that do not meet applicable state law requirements, which may include older Do Not Track signals.

  • No Discrimination. You have the right not to be discriminated against for exercising these rights.
  • Appeals. You have a right to appeal decisions concerning your ability to exercise your consumer rights. 
  • Submission of Requests. You may exercise the above rights by emailing us at privacy@amplify.com. Note that we may deny certain requests, or fulfill a request only in part, based on our legal rights and obligations. For example, we may retain personal information as permitted by law, such as for tax or other record keeping purposes, to maintain an active account, and to process transactions and facilitate customer requests.
  • Authorized Agent. You may designate an authorized agent to make a request on your behalf. When submitting the request, please ensure the authorized agent identifies himself/herself/itself as an authorized agent and can show written permission from you to represent you. We may contact you directly to confirm that you have authorized the agent to act on your behalf or confirm your identity.
  • Verification. Whether you submit a request directly on your own behalf, or through an authorized agent, we will take reasonable steps to verify your identity prior to responding to your requests. The verification steps will vary depending on the sensitivity of the personal information and whether you have an account with us.
3. Notice for European Economic Area and United Kingdom Customers

As detailed at the beginning of our Privacy Policy (under the section titled “Our Role”), Amplify acts as a controller with respect to personal information collected as you interact with our Site.

Lawful Basis for Processing

We rely on the following lawful bases for our processing activities:

  • Consent;
    • We obtain your consent to collect and process device and usage data via cookies on our Site to understand how individuals use our Site and to help us measure the effectiveness of our advertising and marketing campaigns.
  • Pursuant to a contract with the user of our Site;
    • We process all categories of personal information that we collect to provide and manage our Site, including payment processing, where this is required in order for us to perform our obligations under our contract with you.
  • To comply with our legal obligations;
    • We process all categories of personal information that we collect to ensure the safety and security of our Site where we are complying with security requirements under data protection and cyber and information security law.
    • We process all categories of personal information that we collect to comply with our legal obligations which includes, for example, to access, retain or share certain personal information where we receive a valid request from a government body, law enforcement body, judicial body regulator or similar, to deal with legal claims and prospective legal claims, and to ensure we are complying with applicable laws.
  • When we have a legitimate interest in doing so, which is not outweighed by the risks to the individual. We rely on our legitimate interest to process all categories of personal information:
    • to provide, manage, and improve the Site where such activities are not strictly required under our contract, including personalizing your experience on the Site.
    • to ensure the safety and security of our Site where this is important but not required under the data protection law or cyber and information security laws.
    • to respond to queries or otherwise communicate with you in relation to our Site and the operation of our business where this is not strictly required under a contract with you.
    • internal research and certain marketing purposes (e.g. to periodically send newsletters and other promotional materials), which will not be based on Student Data or directed to K–12 students.

Your Data Subject Rights

If you are located in the EEA/UK, you have the following rights, subject to certain exceptions:

  • Right of access: You have the right to ask us for confirmation on whether we are processing your personal information and access to that personal information.
  • Right to correction: You have the right to have your personal information corrected.
  • Right to erasure: You have the right to ask us to delete your personal information.
  • Right to withdraw consent: You have the right to withdraw consent that you have provided.
  • Right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority: You have the right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority.
  • Right to restriction of processing: You have the right to request the limiting of our processing under limited circumstances.
  • Right to data portability: You have the right to receive the personal information that you have provided to us, in a structured, commonly used, and machine-readable format, and you have the right to transmit that information to another controller, including to have it transmitted directly, where technically feasible.
  • Right to object: You have the right to object to our processing of your personal information

To exercise any of these rights, contact us as set forth in the section entitled “Contact Us” above and specify which European privacy right you intend to exercise. We may require additional information from you to allow us to confirm your identity. Please note that we store information as necessary to fulfill the purposes for which it was collected, and may continue to retain and use the information even after a data subject request for purposes of our legitimate interests, including to comply with our legal obligations, resolve disputes, prevent fraud, and enforce our agreements.

Complaints

If you have any issues with our compliance, you have the right to lodge a complaint with an EEA or UK supervisory authority. We would, however, appreciate the opportunity to address your concerns before you approach a data protection regulator, and would welcome you directing an inquiry first to us. To do so, please contact us by email at privacy@amplify.com or by mail at Amplify Education, Inc., 55 Washington St.#800, Brooklyn, NY, 11201.

Acceptable Use Policy

Amplify Education, Inc. (“Amplify”) products support classroom instruction and learning and include Amplify CKLA, Amplify ELA, Amplify Science, Amplify Desmos Math, Desmos Math, Boost Reading, Boost Math, mCLASS, Mathigon, services at classroom.amplify.com (for creating and assigning activities) and student.amplify.com (for use of the activities or curricula as directed by an instructor), and any other product or service that links to this Acceptable Use Policy (together, the “Products”). This Acceptable Use Policy (the “AUP”) provides the general terms and conditions applicable to your use of the Products. By accessing, downloading, or using the Products, you agree to be bound by the terms of this AUP. 

Notwithstanding the foregoing, nothing in this AUP supersedes or limits your rights under the terms of any other agreement you or your institution have entered into with Amplify regarding the use of Products. In the event of any conflict between the AUP and the terms and conditions of an applicable agreement that you or your institution have entered into with Amplify, the terms and conditions of such agreement shall control.

Our Products are geared towards K–12 students, educators, and staff who use the Products as authorized by their School District or State Agency (each as defined in the Privacy Policy (defined below), and together, “School”) (“Authorized School Users”). Student Data (defined below) is owned and controlled by the School, and Amplify receives Student Data as a “school official” under Section 99.31 of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (“FERPA”) for the purpose of providing the Products hereunder. In addition, we rely on the School acknowledging that it is acting as the parent’s agent and consenting on the parent’s behalf to process personal information of students under the age of 13 (“Child Users”) in accordance with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (“COPPA”). 

Schools may provide authorization in two ways: 

(1) by the School agreeing to our Customer Terms and Conditions located at amplify.com/customer-terms or another agreement between Amplify and the School, as applicable; or 

(2) by an educator, staff member, or agent of a School (“Educator”) agreeing to this AUP. If you are an Educator and wish to use the Products in your classroom, you represent and warrant that the use of the Products in your classroom has been authorized by your School, and that you are authorized to accept this AUP on behalf of the School.

In each case, we provide these Products solely for the benefit of the School and for no other commercial purpose. We require all Schools to review our Privacy Policy, available at amplify.com/customer-privacy (“Privacy Policy”), and to make a copy of the Privacy Policy available to the parents or guardians of Child Users.

We also provide limited opportunities for individual users to sign up for a restricted account for at-home use of our Products (together, with Authorized School Users, “Authorized Users”). Please see Additional terms for Mathigon and Amplify Classroom accounts (Section 18) for additional information.

1. License

Subject to compliance with this AUP, you are granted a non-transferable, non-exclusive, non-sublicensable license to access and use the Products. You understand that your use of the Products does not confer to you any intellectual property rights held by Amplify or its licensors. Unless otherwise indicated, any future release, update, or other addition to functionality or content of the Products will be subject to this AUP. 

2. Restrictions

You may access and use the Products solely for non-commercial instructional and administrative purposes. Guidelines for such purposes may be set forth at http://amplify.com/amplify-program-usage-guidelines and additional guidelines may be detailed in materials associated with the Product You are accessing. Further, You may not, except as expressly authorized by Amplify: (a) copy, modify, translate, distribute, disclose, or create derivative works based on the contents of, sell, or otherwise exploit, the Products, or any part thereof; (b) decompile, disassemble, reverse engineer the Products, or otherwise use the Products to develop functionally similar products or services; (c) modify, alter, or delete any of the copyright, trademark, or other proprietary notices in or on the Products; (d) rent, lease, or lend the Products or use the Products for the benefit of any third party; (e) avoid, circumvent, or disable any security or digital rights management device, procedure, protocol, or mechanism in the Products; (f) use any content from the Products, including but not limited to text, images, videos, assessments, lesson plans, or code, as input or training material for any machine learning or artificial intelligence system, including large language models, neural networks, or other algorithmic models, for any purposes, commercial or non-commercial; or (g) permit any Authorized User or third party to do any of the foregoing. You also agree that any works created in violation of this section are derivative works, and, as such, You agree to assign, and hereby assign, all right, title, and interest in such works to Amplify. The Products and derivatives thereof may be subject to export control laws, restrictions, regulations, and orders of the U.S. and other jurisdictions (together, “Export Laws”). You agree to comply with all applicable Export Laws, and will not, and will not permit Authorized Users to, export, or transfer for the purpose of re-export, any Product to any prohibited or embargoed country in violation of any U.S. export law or regulation. Further, You represent that You are not located in a country that is subject to a U.S. Government embargo, subject to sanctions by the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control, or included on any restricted party list maintained by the U.S. Bureau of Industry and Security. The software and associated documentation portions of the Products are “commercial items” (as defined at 48 CFR 2.101), comprising “commercial computer software” and “commercial computer software documentation,” as those terms are used in 48 CFR 12.212. Accordingly, if You are associated with the U.S. Government or its contractor, You will receive only those rights set forth in this Agreement in accordance with 48 CFR 227.7201-227.7204 (for Department of Defense and their contractors) or 48 CFR 12.212 (for other U.S. Government licensees and their contractors).

3. Use of the products

In connection with your access to and use of the Products, you agree not to: (a) post, upload, or otherwise transmit or link to content that is: unlawful; threatening; harmful; abusive; pornographic or includes nudity; offensive; harassing; excessively violent; tortious; defamatory; false or misleading; obscene; vulgar; libelous; hateful; or discriminatory; (b) violate the rights of others, including patent, trademark, trade secret, copyright, privacy, publicity, contract, or other proprietary rights; (c) harass or harm another person; (d) exploit or endanger a minor; (e) impersonate any person or entity; (f) introduce or engage in activity that involves the use of viruses, bots, worms, Trojan horses, time bombs, spyware, or any other computer code, files, or programs that interrupt, destroy, or limit the functionality of any computer software or hardware or telecommunications equipment, or otherwise permit the unauthorized access to or use of a computer or a computer network; (g) interfere with, damage, disable, disrupt, impair, create an undue burden on, or gain unauthorized access to the Products or any account (as defined below), or Amplify’s servers or networks; (h) restrict or inhibit any other person from using the Products (including by hacking or defacing the Products); (i) remove, disable, block, or obscure any portion of the Products; (j) use technology or any automated system, such as scripts or bots, to collect user names, passwords, email addresses, or any other data from or through the Products, or to circumvent or modify any security technology or software that is part of the Products; (k) send or cause to send (directly or indirectly) unsolicited bulk messages or other unsolicited bulk communications of any kind through the Products; (l) solicit, collect, or request any information for commercial or unlawful purposes; (m) post, upload, or otherwise transmit an image, audio recording, or video of another person without that person’s consent; (n) use the Products to advertise, promote, or engage in any commercial activity (including engaging in advertising, sales, contests, sweepstakes, or other promotions) without Amplify’s prior written consent; (o) frame or mirror the Products without Amplify’s express prior written consent; (p) use the Products in a manner inconsistent with any applicable law, rule, or regulation; (q) use any robot, spider, search/retrieval application, or other manual or automatic device to retrieve, index, “scrape,” “data mine,” or in any way gather content of the Products or reproduce or circumvent the navigational structure or presentation of the Products; (r) attempt, facilitate, or encourage others to do any of the foregoing. In addition to the foregoing restrictions, your use of the Products may also be subject to an additional acceptable use policy provided to you by your School, as applicable. You are responsible for meeting the hardware, software, telecommunications, and other requirements listed at amplify.com/customer-requirements.

4. Intellectual property

The Products and any Product logo, and certain other of the names, logos, and materials displayed in the Products, may constitute trademarks, trade names, or service marks (“Marks”) of Amplify or other entities. You are not authorized to use any such Marks. Ownership of all such Marks and the goodwill associated therewith remains with Amplify or those other entities. The content provided to you in the Products, including the software, graphs, text, and graphics, is protected under copyright laws, is subject to other intellectual property and proprietary rights and laws, and is owned by Amplify or its licensors. Your access to the Products does not transfer to you or any third party any rights, title, or interest in or to such intellectual property rights. You may not use the content of the Products, in whole or in part, to train or fine-tune any machine learning or artificial intelligence model or system, including for research, product development, commercial services, or any other purpose, commercial or non-commercial. Such use constitutes unauthorized derivative work and a violation of Amplify’s intellectual property rights. Your rights to make use of the Products are limited to those provided under this AUP, any additional terms as may be agreed upon between your School and Amplify, and any available exceptions under applicable intellectual property laws. Amplify Products are protected by patents (see amplify.com/virtual-patent-marking).

5. Account information

Your authentication to enable your access and use of these Products is based in part upon information supplied by you. You are required to (a) provide accurate information to Amplify and promptly report any changes to such information, (b) not share or allow others to use your account, (c) maintain the confidentiality and security of your account information, and (d) use the Products solely via such authorized accounts. You may not share your credentials (i.e., username and password) to access the Products with anyone except the person for whom that account was created. You agree to notify Amplify immediately of any unauthorized use of your account or related authentication information. Amplify will not be responsible for any losses arising out of the unauthorized use of your account.

6. Student data

The parties acknowledge and agree that in the course of providing the Products, Amplify may collect, receive, or generate information that directly relates to an identifiable current or former student of a School (“Student Data”). Student Data may include personal information from a student’s “educational records,” as defined by FERPA. Student Data is owned and controlled by the School and Amplify receives Student Data as a “school official” under Section 99.31 of FERPA for the purpose of providing the Products hereunder. Individually and collectively, Amplify and School agree to uphold our obligations, as applicable, under FERPA, COPPA, the Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment (“PPRA”), and applicable state laws relating to Student Data privacy. Amplify’s Privacy Policy governs the collection, use, and disclosure of Student Data collected or stored on behalf of the School under this AUP. The School is responsible for providing notice or obtaining appropriate consents under applicable laws to authorize Authorized School Users’ use of the Products, including making a copy of the Privacy Policy available to the parents or guardians of Child Users. Please see Additional Terms for Mathigon and Amplify Classroom accounts (Section 18) for additional information.

7. Confidentiality

You acknowledge that in connection with these terms, Amplify may provide you with certain sensitive or proprietary information (“Confidential Information”), including software, source code, assessment instruments, research, designs, methods, processes, customer lists, training materials, product documentation, know-how, or trade secrets, in whatever form. You agree (a) not to use Confidential Information for any purpose other than use of the Products in accordance with the AUP, and (b) to take all steps reasonably necessary to maintain and protect the Confidential Information of Amplify in strict confidence. Confidential Information shall not include information that, as evidenced by your contemporaneous written records: (i) is or becomes publicly available through no fault of your own; (ii) is rightfully known to you prior to the time of its disclosure; (iii) has been independently developed by you without any use of the Confidential Information; or (iv) is subsequently learned from a third party not under any confidentiality obligation.  

8. User materials

You represent, warrant, and covenant that you have all the necessary rights, including consents and intellectual property rights, in connection with any data, information, content, and other materials provided to or collected by Amplify from you or on your behalf in connection with your use of the Products, including materials and content that you post, upload, transmit, email, or otherwise make available on, through, or in connection with the Products (“User Materials”), and that except as otherwise agreed by your School and Amplify, you retain any ownership rights that you have in your User Materials. You hereby grant to Amplify and its affiliates, licensees, and authorized users, a perpetual, non-exclusive, fully paid-up, royalty-free, sublicensable (through multiple tiers), transferable (in whole or in part), worldwide license to use, modify, excerpt, adapt, create derivative works and compilations based upon, publicly perform, publicly display, reproduce, and distribute such User Materials in connection with the Products, subject to Amplify’s Privacy Policy. You and your School are responsible for the accuracy, integrity, completeness, quality, legality, and safety of such User Materials. You further represent and warrant that the posting of such User Materials through or in connection with the Products does not violate the privacy rights, publicity rights, copyrights, contract rights, or any other rights of any person or entity. Amplify and your School reserve the right (but have no obligation) to monitor the Products, including for inappropriate content or conduct, and to remove any content in their discretion without liability to you or any third party. Further, Amplify reserves the right to investigate and take appropriate legal action against anyone who, in Amplify’s discretion, violates this AUP or attempts to do so, including terminating or suspending a user’s account or access to or use of the Products, or reporting any content or conduct to law enforcement authorities. You are solely responsible for creating and maintaining your own backup copies of your User Materials. Amplify is not responsible for any loss, theft, or damage of any kind to any User Materials. 

9. Feedback

If you provide us with any ideas, proposals, or suggestions related to the Products (“Feedback”), you hereby acknowledge and agree that your provision of any Feedback is gratuitous, unsolicited, and without restriction, and does not place Amplify under any fiduciary or other obligation. You hereby grant to Amplify a worldwide, royalty-free, fully paid-up, exclusive, perpetual, irrevocable, transferable, and fully sublicensable (through multiple tiers) license to reproduce, distribute, perform and/or display (publicly or otherwise), adapt, modify, and otherwise use such Feedback, in any format or media now known or hereafter developed, and you hereby represent and warrant that you have all necessary rights to grant the foregoing license.

10. Third party links and services

The Products may make available, or third parties may provide, links to websites, software, applications, resources, advertisements, content, or other products or services created, hosted, or made available by third parties (“Third Party Services”). When you access or use a Third-Party Service, you are interacting with the applicable third party, not with Amplify, and you do so at your own risk. Inclusion of any Third-Party Service or a link thereto within the Products does not imply approval or endorsement of such Third-Party Service. Amplify does not control any content that is not Amplify content, and as such, you may be exposed to offensive, indecent, inaccurate, or otherwise objectionable content in the course of accessing or using such Third-Party Services linked from the Products. You are solely responsible for your interactions with other users of the Products, providers of Third-Party Services, and any other third parties with whom you interact on, through, or in connection with the Products. AMPLIFY IS NEITHER RESPONSIBLE NOR LIABLE FOR ANY THIRD-PARTY SERVICES, INCLUDING THE ACCURACY, INTEGRITY, COMPLETENESS, QUALITY, LEGALITY, USEFULNESS, OR SAFETY OF, OR INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS RELATING TO, SUCH THIRD-PARTY SERVICES. ANY ACCESS TO OR USE OF SUCH THIRD-PARTY SERVICES MAY BE SUBJECT TO THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS AND INFORMATION COLLECTION, USAGE, AND DISCLOSURE PRACTICES OF THIRD PARTIES. THIS AUP DOES NOT CREATE ANY RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN YOU AND ANY PROVIDER OF THIRD-PARTY SERVICES, AND NOTHING IN THIS AUP WILL BE DEEMED TO BE A REPRESENTATION OR WARRANTY BY AMPLIFY WITH RESPECT TO ANY THIRD-PARTY SERVICE.

11. Digital Millennium Copyright Act

The Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998 (“DMCA”) provides recourse for copyright owners who believe that material appearing on the Internet infringes their rights under U.S. copyright law. If you believe that any material residing on or linked to from the Products infringes your copyright, please send (or have your agent send) to Amplify’s Copyright Agent, by email, fax, or regular mail, a written notification of claimed infringement with all of the following information: (a) identification of the copyrighted work claimed to have been infringed, or, if multiple copyrighted works are covered by a single notification, a representative list of such works; (b) identification of the claimed infringing material and information reasonably sufficient to permit us to locate the material on the Products (such as the URL(s) of the claimed infringing material); (c) information reasonably sufficient to permit us to contact you, such as an address, telephone number, and, if available, an e-mail address; (d) a statement by you that you have a good-faith belief that the disputed use is not authorized by the copyright owner, the copyright owner’s agent or the law; (e) a statement by you that the above information in your notification is accurate, and a statement by you, made under penalty of perjury, that you are the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed, or that you are authorized to act on such owner’s behalf; and (f) your physical or electronic signature. Amplify’s Copyright Agent for notification of claimed infringement can be reached as follows: Amplify Education, Inc., 55 Washington Street #800, Brooklyn NY 11201; Attn: Copyright Agent. Amplify’s Copyright Agent for notification of claimed infringement can also be reached electronically at legal@amplify.com. Amplify reserves the right to terminate infringers’ and suspected infringers’ accounts or their access to or use of the Products.

12. Changes to the products

Amplify may, without prior notice, change any Product or stop providing any features of any Product. We may permanently or temporarily terminate or suspend your access to any Product features without notice for any reason, including if in our sole determination you violate any provision of this AUP. Upon termination, you continue to be bound by this AUP.

13. Warranty disclaimer

PRODUCTS ARE PROVIDED “AS IS” AND WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND BY AMPLIFY. AMPLIFY EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING ANY WARRANTY AS TO TITLE, NON-INFRINGEMENT, MERCHANTABILITY, OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE OR USE. YOU ASSUME RESPONSIBILITY FOR SELECTING THE PRODUCTS TO ACHIEVE YOUR INTENDED RESULTS AND FOR THE ACCESS AND USE OF THE PRODUCTS, INCLUDING THE RESULTS OBTAINED FROM THE PRODUCTS. WITHOUT LIMITING THE FOREGOING, AMPLIFY MAKES NO WARRANTY THAT THE PRODUCTS WILL BE ERROR-FREE OR FREE FROM INTERRUPTIONS OR OTHER FAILURES OR WILL MEET YOUR REQUIREMENTS. AMPLIFY IS NEITHER RESPONSIBLE NOR LIABLE FOR ANY THIRD-PARTY CONTENT OR SOFTWARE INCLUDED IN PRODUCTS, INCLUDING THE ACCURACY, INTEGRITY, COMPLETENESS, QUALITY, LEGALITY, USEFULNESS, OR SAFETY OF, OR IP RIGHTS RELATING TO, SUCH THIRD-PARTY CONTENT AND SOFTWARE. ANY ACCESS TO OR USE OF SUCH THIRD-PARTY CONTENT AND SOFTWARE MAY BE SUBJECT TO THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS AND INFORMATION COLLECTION, USAGE, AND DISCLOSURE PRACTICES OF THIRD PARTIES.

14. Limitation of liability

IN NO EVENT WILL AMPLIFY BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR ANY INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE, RELIANCE, OR COVER DAMAGES, DAMAGES FOR LOST PROFITS, LOST DATA, LOST BUSINESS, OR ANY OTHER INDIRECT DAMAGES, EVEN IF AMPLIFY HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, AMPLIFY’S ENTIRE LIABILITY TO YOU ARISING OUT OF PERFORMANCE OR NONPERFORMANCE BY AMPLIFY OR IN ANY WAY RELATED TO THE SUBJECT MATTER OF THIS AUP, REGARDLESS OF WHETHER THE CLAIM FOR SUCH DAMAGES IS BASED IN CONTRACT, TORT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR OTHERWISE, WILL NOT EXCEED $100 IN AGGREGATE. UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES WILL AMPLIFY BE LIABLE FOR ANY CONSEQUENCES OF ANY UNAUTHORIZED USE OF THE PRODUCTS THAT VIOLATES THIS AUP OR ANY APPLICABLE LAW OR REGULATION.

15. Termination

Amplify may terminate or suspend your access to the Products at any time for any reason, including if Amplify believes that you have violated the AUP or have engaged in conduct that violates applicable law or is otherwise harmful to the interests of Amplify, any other Amplify user, or any third party. Upon termination, you will: cease using the Products and return, purge, or destroy all copies of any Products and, if so requested, certify to Amplify in writing that such surrender or destruction has occurred. Sections 3–13, 16, and 17 will survive the termination of this Agreement.

16. Governing Law

This Agreement will be governed by and construed and enforced in accordance with the laws of the U.S., state of New York, without giving effect to the choice of law rules thereof.

17. Additional terms for iOS apps

By downloading any Products through Apple, Inc.’s App Store (“iOS Products”), you agree that the following additional terms apply to your use of our iOS Products:

  1. This AUP is not a legal agreement with Apple, Inc. (“Apple”). As between Amplify and Apple, Amplify (not Apple) is responsible for the iOS Products and the contents thereof.
  2. The license to use the iOS Products under Section 3 above is limited to use (i) on iOS devices that you or your School owns or controls, separate from and in addition to any specific technical requirements for any iOS Product, and (ii) as permitted by the Usage Rules set forth in Apple Media Services Terms and Conditions.
  3. You must comply with applicable third-party terms of agreement when using the Products.
  4. Without limiting Section 13 above and solely as between Amplify and Apple, you acknowledge that: (i) Apple has no obligation whatsoever to furnish any maintenance and support services with respect to the iOS Products; (ii) Amplify (not Apple) is responsible for addressing any claims of yours or of any third party relating to the iOS Products or your possession and/or use of the iOS products, including but not limited to (1) product liability claims, (2) any claim that the iOS Products fail to conform to any applicable legal or regulatory requirement, and (3) claims arising under consumer protection, privacy, or similar legislation; (iii) in the event of any failure of the iOS Products to conform to any applicable warranty, you may notify Apple, and Apple will refund the purchase price for the iOS Products to you; to the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, Apple will have no other warranty obligation whatsoever with respect to the iOS Products, and any other claims, losses, liabilities, damages, costs, or expenses attributable to any failure to conform to any warranty will be Amplify’s sole responsibility; and (iv) in the event of any third-party claim that the iOS Products or your possession and use of the iOS Products infringes that third party’s intellectual property rights, Amplify (not Apple) will be responsible for any investigation, defense, settlement, and discharge of any such intellectual property infringement claim.
  5. You represent and warrant that: (i) you are not located in a country that is subject to a U.S. Government embargo, or that has been designated by the U.S. Government as a “terrorist supporting” country; and (ii) you are not listed on any U.S. Government list of prohibited or restricted parties.
  6. Apple and Apple’s subsidiaries are third-party beneficiaries of these Terms, and upon your acceptance of these Terms, Apple will have the right (and will be deemed to have accepted the right) to enforce these Terms against you as a third-party beneficiary thereof.
  7.  Any questions, complaints, or claims with respect to the Products should be directed to: 

Email: privacy@amplify.comMail: Amplify Education, Inc., 55 Washington St. #800, Brooklyn, NY, 11201

18. Additional terms for Mathigon and Amplify Classroom accounts.

a. Mathigon updates: Amplify no longer offers accounts for Child Users, but we will continue to allow Child Users to access their active legacy Mathigon accounts where verifiable parental consent was obtained. We will continue to protect personal information in accordance with the Privacy Policy and applicable law.

b. Mathigon and Amplify Classroom:

i. School Use:

  1. Educators: If you are an Educator, you can create a Mathigon or an Amplify Classroom account using any existing email or through an existing third-party account (e.g. Google, Microsoft). Go to https://mathigon.org/signup#teacher  to sign up for Mathigon. Go to classroom.amplify.com to sign up for Amplify Classroom.
  2. Students can also sign up using a unique class code provided by an Educator. Educators are responsible for gaining appropriate authorization or permission from their School to use the Products with students, including Child Users, before providing their unique class code or linking the Products to a third-party service like Google Classroom. For such use in the school context, we do not request additional consent from parents in accordance with the “school official” exception under FERPA and relevant COPPA guidance. For more information, visit our Privacy Policy, which describes how we collect, use, and disclose personal information and data through the provision of our Products in schools. 

ii. Outside of School Use: If you are an individual user using the Products at home or otherwise outside of the school context, you are prohibited from collecting or providing any personal information from students or minors. You are permitted to access the platform for instructional purposes, but you may not enroll or roster minors, create accounts for minors, or input any personal information of minors into the Product.

19. Updates to this policy

We may change this Acceptable Use Policy in the future. For example, we may update it to address changes in our product offerings, or to address changes in the law or best practices. If we make changes that materially impact your legal rights or use of our products, we will provide prominent notification to you (e.g. via the Site or by email).  Otherwise, we will post any updates to the policy with an updated “Last Revised Date” and all changes will become effective immediately. Please check the Last Revised Date to confirm if the policy has been revised.

Last Modified: February 2, 2026

Meet the 2025 Science of Reading Star Awards finalists

Three ribbons on a blue background: a yellow ribbon with paper symbolizing personalized learning, a blue ribbon with a rocket representing MTSS strategies, and an orange ribbon with a star.

Celebrating the 2025 Science of Reading Star Awards finalists

Every day, teachers and education leaders across the country are guiding students toward a future lit up by literacy.

It’s not always easy—especially when they’re the ones championing and implementing shifts toward literacy programs grounded in the Science of Reading.

That’s why we’re thrilled to celebrate the finalists of the 2025 Science of Reading Star Awards!

These awards recognize the educators who go above and beyond to make evidence-based reading instruction a reality for students learning in their schools and districts. Whether they’re rolling out new district-wide literacy programs, coaching fellow educators, or introducing innovative teaching practices, these education leaders are making a real difference for students.

And just like the light from distant stars, the impact of their efforts reaches far and wide, shaping futures for years to come.

Empowering students through literacy

The Science of Reading Star Awards aim a beacon on the champions of literacy—teachers, administrators, and education leaders who are putting the best literacy research into action.

Studies show that systematic phonics instruction—one of the key components of the Science of Reading—leads to significantly higher reading achievement than alternative methods, particularly for struggling readers. Literacy instruction grounded in the Science of Reading strengthens critical thinking by systematically building the language comprehension skills—like vocabulary, syntax, and background knowledge—that students need to make meaning, draw inferences, and evaluate ideas in complex texts. And when you teach knowledge in tandem with literacy, you inspire students to become confident readers, writers, and thinkers.

But shifting to instruction aligned to the Science of Reading isn’t just about swapping one program for another or bringing innovative teaching methods into one classroom—it’s about leading change, engaging stakeholders, and being an inspiration to others.

These awards celebrate the educators, schools, and districts whose innovative approach to literacy is doing just that. Here’s a look at this year’s categories and finalists:

  • District: The District Captain For the leaders bringing Science of Reading practices to life across entire districts
    • Puyallup School District, WA
    • Celina City Schools, OH
    • Waukegan CUSD #60, IL
    • Madison County School District, MS
  • School: The Literacy Legend For the school that has seen significant reading gains among their students school-wide when using the Science of Reading
    • Angie Grant Elementary School, Benton School District, AR
    • Bataan Memorial Primary School, Port Clinton City School District, OH
    • Bruin Point Elementary School, Carbon School District, UT
  • Individual: The Changemaker For showcasing exemplary Science of Reading routines and practices, and serving as an inspiration to others on the journey
    • Stephanie Wilcox, District Elementary School Improvement Specialist, Redmond School District, OR
    • Emily Tessalone Garcia, Grade 8 Teacher, Passaic City Public School District, NJ
    • Reena Mathew, Literacy Coach, Suffern Central School District, NY
  • Individual: The Language Luminary For outstanding success in developing the skills and strengths of multilingual/English learners
    • Johanna Quinde, Teacher, The Nancy DeBenedittis School, NY
    • Dayana Orozco Rojas, Kindergarten Dual Language Teacher, Kannapolis City School District, NC
    • Eimy Maria Galindo Medina, Grade 2 DLI Teacher, Denver Public Schools, CO
  • Individual: The Background Knowledge Builder For showing the world that the Science of Reading empowers students with knowledge, context, and vocabulary from elementary through middle school
    • Ann Ingham, Grade 3 Teacher, Cedarburg School District, WI
    • Katie Chappell. Grade 5 Teacher, Rome City School District, GA
    • Demi Grosely, Teacher, Clarkston School District, WA
  • Individual: The MTSS Maestro For implementing a data-driven Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS) framework that creates a thriving and robust literacy ecosystem
    • Samantha Umali, Special Education Teacher and Elementary K–4 General Education Teacher, Bering Strait School District, AK
    • Kylie Altier, Grade 1 Teacher, East Baton Rouge Parish School System, LA
    • Erin Custadio, Elementary Literacy Manager, Falmouth Public School District, MA
    • Victoria Green, Reading Specialist, Roswell Independent School District, NM
  • Individual: The Science of Reading Rookie For a teacher in their first year already making strides with the Science of Reading
    • Miracle Austin, Kindergarten Teacher, Guilford Preparatory Academy, NC
    • Pei-Ching Peng, Instructional Apprentice, Uplift Elevate Preparatory, TX
    • Todd Payne, Elementary Teacher, Renaissance School, WI
  • Individual: The Cross-Disciplinarian For skilled weaving of literacy practices across subject areas in the classroom
    • Katie Kirkpatrick, Teacher, Graham Dustin Public Schools, OK
    • Laura Horvath, K–12 Science & Social Studies Curriculum Coordinator, Harrison School District 2, CO
    • Christina Miller, Lower Elementary Teacher, South Bend Community School Corporation, IN
  • Individual: The Writing Whiz For integrating writing instruction with the Science of Reading and cultivating articulate and confident writers through innovative and effective practices
    • Michelle Luebbering, Grade 5 Teacher, Jefferson City School District, MO
    • Jennifer Dove, Grade 3 Teacher, Rockingham County Public School District, VA
    • Daphne Long, Teacher, St. Clair County School District, AL

From districts undergoing transformations to educators supporting professional development on the ground, these finalists are proving that with the right approach—and the right support—every child can become a strong reader.

Congratulations, finalists! We know the long hours, extra effort, and deep belief in your students that fuels your work. You’re making the future brighter, one reader at a time!

Learn more on our Science of Reading Star Awards page.

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S3-03: Instructional strategies for integrating science and literacy

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We’re continuing our investigations around science and literacy with Doug Fisher, Ph.D., professor and chair of educational leadership at San Diego State University. We talk about the importance of integrating science and literacy, as well as practical guidance for teachers who want to unite the two disciplines in their own classrooms.

Listen as we discuss how science and literacy can be powerful allies and specific strategy areas to focus on when integrating the two disciplines. And don’t forget to grab your Science Connections study guide to track your learning and find additional resources!

We hope you enjoy this episode and explore more from Science Connections by visiting our main page!

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Douglas Fisher (00:00):

It’s not that you have to become a reading specialist to integrate literacy into science. It’s how our brains work.

Eric Cross (00:10):

Welcome to Science Connections. I’m your host, Eric Cross. This season, we’re making the case for our favorite underdog, which of course is science. Each episode we’re showing how science can be better utilized in the classroom, and making the case for why it’s so important to do so. In our last episode, we examined the evidence showing that science and English instruction can support each other. And now on this episode, we want to give you some more strategies for really making that a reality in your own home or classroom or community. So to help me, I’m joined on this episode by Dr. Douglas Fisher, Professor and Chair of Educational Leadership at San Diego State University. Dr. Fisher is actually someone who has conducted literacy training at my own school, so I’m excited to be able to share some of his wisdom with all of you. Oh, and just a heads up, Dr. Fisher dropped some gems about the ways teachers can integrate literacy and science in their classrooms. So you may want to have a notepad. Ready. And now here’s my conversation with Dr. Douglas Fisher.

Eric Cross (01:12):

Well, Doug, thank you for your time and for being willing to come and talk about literacy and science. I know you’re busy, all over the place, and so I was super-excited that we were able to lock you in and talk about this. And, on this episode, we’re gonna talk about the ways that science and literacy can support each other. And one of the reasons why I’m really excited for you is because you said some really key things for me as a science teacher, when you talked about literacy and supporting students. That just resonated so deeply in me. And I was like, “I need more Doug!” Because we’re on that same frequency. And I know it’s a subject that you’ve spent a lot of time writing about. So can you tell us a little bit about how this became an area of interest or a passion for you? Just literacy, and all of the work that you’ve put into it?

Douglas Fisher (01:54):

Yeah. So I’ve wanted to be a teacher for a really long time. And I went to San Diego State as an undergraduate, and I was taking English class and we were assigned topics. You know, like, you’ll do an assignment, you’ll write a paper for this English class. And I got the topic “illiteracy,” and I was a freshman at San Diego State reading all of these things about adults who don’t read very well or not at all. And I ended up writing my very first college essay on illiteracy — at the time, you know, called illiteracy, at the time. And so I got super interested in this. And so as I moved through college and into my teaching career, literacy became a really important thing for me to think about, because it’s the gatekeeper. You know, you can be taken advantage of, if you’re not very literate. People can use vocabulary against you, if you’re not very literate. We know that people who have higher levels of literacy have better health outcomes. They have better lifespans, longer lifespans. I mean, there’s just — literacy impacts so much more than “Are you reading your fourth-grade textbook?” It really has lifelong implications.

Eric Cross (03:01):

That part that you said about being taken advantage of … I just got a flyer in the mail yesterday. It was one of these mailers that looked like it was an authentic debt-reduction type of thing, but it was really just like a marketing email. If you read the fine print at the very bottom, it had all of this jargon about “This is a paid, you know, for-profit company.” But when you look at it, it had official stamps all over it. And I could imagine if someone’s receiving that, that probably fools a lot of people. Is that kinda like what you’re talking about, like being taken advantage of?

Douglas Fisher (03:28):

Yes. I had a student turn 18, got a letter from a “credit card company” that was offering her daily compounding interest. And if you don’t know what that means — at 23 percent! — if you dunno what that means, you are gonna be a victim. Literacy really influences a lot of our life. It’s also how our brain works. We have a language-based system in our brain. We read, write, speak, listen, and view. And the things we learn, we learn through speaking, reading, writing, listening, and viewing. From what we know, we are the only species that has an external storage mechanism. Like, we have the ability to store complex information outside of our body, in the form of notes. We can type them. We can write them. And we can then go back and retrieve that information, that complex orthographic information later. And it means the same thing. We can say we have a storage system and we’ve been doing this for a really long time. Way back to, you know, hieroglyphics and messages on cave walls. And throughout the ages of humans learning, how to store information that they can re-access again later. That’s become a super-complicated system. It’s how computers operate. And we send messages to each other and we text each other and we write things down, and we’re really good at putting ideas, information out there. Now, if it’s just speaking and listening, then we can forget it. We can say, “No, you said this,” or “I said that.” But when it’s written, and it’s print literacy, you know, it’s the orthographics there, you can go back to the same message and over and over again. Now, you might change the interpretation of it, but the message is still there.

Eric Cross (05:16):

Right. And that is such a key element, at least of modern education, is this written element of it. It’s what many schools live and die by. They’re quantitatively and qualitatively analyzed by it. It’s public. They can see it. And so there’s this heavy emphasis. And why do you think science and literacy can be powerful allies together?

Douglas Fisher (05:38):

Awesome. Well, it’s hard to learn science if you’re not literate.

Eric Cross (05:42):

This is true.

Douglas Fisher (05:42):

But that’s a one-way direction. And yes, science teachers and scientists do a lot of reading, writing, speaking, and listening and viewing. They use the five literacy processes all the time. When we interview scientists, they spend a lot of their time reading the work of other scientists and writing their findings, writing grant proposals, presenting at conferences, you know. So a huge part of the work of a scientist is not just at a bench conducting experiments. But even if you’re conducting experiments, you’re using your literacy processes to think about what you’re seeing in your experiment. So that’s a one-way direction. And I do think literacy has an influence on science. But since science goes the other way, it influences literacy. As you learn more and you understand more about the world, your background knowledge grows, your vocabulary grows, you become more literate in those different areas. And how you think. So if I’m learning about life science; I’m learning how the world works in a more, biologic physical world. And that knowledge helps me think about when I’m reading a novel, and there’s an appeal to some science knowledge or a concept that gets played with, you know, perhaps time-space continuums … well, if I don’t have the science knowledge of how I think the world works, it’s hard for me to understand what this author is doing. So it does go both ways. They feed each other. And the more literate we become, the more complex science information we can understand. ‘Cause our background knowledge and our vocabulary influence how much we understand about what we read. And as we access more complex science information, it starts to change the way we think about other things in our world.

Eric Cross (07:23):

There was a couple of things that you said in that, but one of the first things that kind of perked my ears is when you said grant proposals. Because I have friends that are scientists — and this is one of the things that when I was in school, they don’t talk about — but how much of their research is reliant upon getting funding —

Douglas Fisher (07:37):

Mm-hmm. <affirmative>,

Eric Cross (07:38):

— which you don’t think about if you’re becoming a chemist or a physicist or a biologist or working in the field, is that that funding, coming from the NSF or anywhere else. And sometimes students ask in class like, “Why am I writing so much? Like, I want to go into science!” Or “I wanna do this!” And this is a real-life example of how the writing could actually apply, in addition to all of the things of collecting data and conclusions and results. But that grant proposal thing just really perked my ears, yeah.

Douglas Fisher (08:01):

And if you can’t write a grant proposal, your ideas and experiments are not gonna get funded. And if you can’t write a strong proposal, that compellingly convinces your readers to fund you, you’re not gonna get funded. But then once you get the grant, you have to write publications. You have to share your work with other people. Make PowerPoint presentations and write journal articles or books or whatever. So it’s a cycle that literacy influences the things we do, including the things we do in science.

Eric Cross (08:31):

Now to get in maybe some data, if you were trying to convince someone that like this happy marriage can exist, what would be like your number one piece of evidence to support this, this back and forth of supporting each other?

Douglas Fisher (08:44):

Awesome. So the quote I’ll often say — and this is from studies from more than two decades ago now — but in general, in high school science, students are introduced to 3000 unfamiliar words, 3000. Each year! Because there are words that are used in a scientific way that are used commonly in other places. And there are discipline-specific words. So 3000 words a year in high school science. The Spanish 1 textbook only has 1500 words in it. So science teachers have double the academic-language vocabulary demand that a typical introductory world-language class has. So just the vocabulary alone should say to us, literacy is gonna be important if you’re gonna learn science. And if you don’t understand these technical words, and you don’t understand the way science uses this particular word in this particular way… . When you say the word “process,” it means something very specific In science. “Division” — cellular division is not the way we think about it in mathematics; there’s a similar concept, but cellular division is different than dividing numbers. And those are words that get used in multiple areas. Then you have all these technical terms that you have to be able to use, to understand the concepts. To share the concepts. To talk to other people. Whether you’re in, you know, fifth grade and talking science, or you’re a university professor, there’s a shared language, appropriate for our grade level, that we have shared meanings of.

Eric Cross (10:22):

And we’re essentially … what I’m hearing you say is … most of the people that are listening to this are science teachers. We’re we’re also language teachers. In a sense.

Douglas Fisher (10:29):

So my frustration is when people say, “Every teacher’s a teacher of reading.” And I don’t like that. I’ve written against that phrase. I don’t think all teachers are teachers of reading, any more than all teachers are teachers of chemistry. Or all teachers are teachers of algebra. But what I will say is the human brain learns through language. And all of us — every teacher that I’ve ever met understands that language is important in my class. If my students don’t have strong listening skills and speaking skills; reading, writing, and viewing skills; I’m gonna have a hard time getting them to learn things. If I can help them grow their speaking, listening, reading, writing, and viewing in my content area, I’m gonna do a service for my learning of my subject and also their more broad literacy development.

Eric Cross (11:16):

  1. So, at a high level, what does it look like to integrate science and literacy? We’ve done education for the last, what, hundred years?

Douglas Fisher (11:24):

Mm-hmm. <affirmative>

Eric Cross (11:25):

—kind of pretty similarly, right? Kind of siloed way. What does this look like at the 30,000-foot level? You’re a professor, department chair. Run schools. Speak everywhere. Like, when you think about this from that high level, what does it look like?

Douglas Fisher (11:39):

A high level? Every time I meet with students in a science class, you know, biology or fifth grade or whatever? They should be reading, they should be writing, they should be speaking and listening. Every class. So what print do you want them to access? And it can be a primary source document, it can be an article, it can be from a textbook. Are they reading something? Are they writing to you? Because writing is thinking. If they are writing, they are thinking. As soon as their brain goes somewhere else, they stop writing. The pen won’t move or the fingers don’t type. And then speaking and listening, of course, is the dynamic of our classes. So every day we should see some amount of reading, writing, speaking, and listening, viewing in our classes. That’s at a high level. There are some generic things that seem to work across the literacy. So, learning how to take notes. Focusing on vocabulary. Using graphic organizers. These are generic things that as educators we can use in our classes. Then there’s more specialized things. So, scientists and science teachers think differently than historians and literary critics and art critics. So scientists, if you look at the disciplinary literacy work, there’s a whole body of research where they interview and study high-end experts in their field: chemistry, physics, biology, et cetera. And there are some characteristics that were more disciplined, specific. Scientists like cause and effect relationships. They look for them when they’re reading. They like sourcing information. “Where this come from?” “What’s the history of this idea?” Scientists have a long view in terms of time. Historians have a shorter view of time. English teachers have even shorter view of time. Scientists tend to think in long periods of time. And so all of that influences how a scientist reads and how we should apprentice young people after they get past the generic “I know how to take notes. I know how to study my vocabulary. I know how to do summary writing for my teacher in my notebooks and things,” there’s some generic tools. Once we get past those, we need to be looking at specifically how do people in science use literacy.

Eric Cross (13:52):

I’ve never had my thought process of reading deconstructed just now, but we just described how scientists read. I was like, “Yeah, that’s pretty much how I read, right there.” I also like how you said how we should apprentice young people. And I feel like you as the literacy guy, you chose that word very specifically, as far as apprenticing young people. That is a view, I think, that’s really important to hold. ‘Cause that’s what we’re doing essentially … is, if we’re doing what we should be doing, we are apprenticing these young people.

Douglas Fisher (14:18):

Yes.

Eric Cross (14:18):

And helping them develop. Now, let’s imagine there’s a listener out there and they’re interested in getting better at integrating science and literacy instruction. They want to start somewhere. Before we dive in, do you have any initial words of encouragement for the person who’s like, “Everything is like a priority right now,” in their classroom or in their world?

Douglas Fisher (14:37):

Yeah. So I’ll talk about elementary for just a moment. When we’re reading informational texts in our literacy block, we should be reading information that is aligned to what kids need to learn in science and history in, in that grade level. Why are we reading things that are gonna be in conflict with what they’re gonna learn in science later that day in fourth grade, for example? So when we look at our standards, our expectations, what is it that third graders need to know in history, science, mathematics, language arts? And when we’re reading text and we’re learning to apply our reading strategies during our literacy block, why aren’t we reading topics that build our background knowledge for our science time? So we’re seeing some synergy there. We should be looking at life cycles in grades that are appropriate for life cycles and knowing there’s more to life cycles than the frog and the plant or the seed. There are all kinds of life cycles. And we call ’em life cycles for a reason. That’s a general concept. Now in science, we’re looking at this particular lifecycle right now. And so that’s a high level. If we could get more connection to the content standards during our literacy blocks, it would be very good. When we talk about the time at which we call “science” in the day, in more of the K–8 continuum, the science needs to include some primary source documents. Some real things that students are reading. Read about a scientist; read about a scientist’s discovery; read about what they discovered. So that we’re building our background knowledge. So when we go to do things, activities, labs, simulations, we have background knowledge and we understand what we’re experiencing. It can’t be like—I watched this awesome lesson on lenses and the teacher had all these different lenses in the room and the students came in and they were brand new. They don’t know anything. They were picking ’em up. They’re exploring them. They’re trying to figure out, and they’re trying to come up with theories about what this is and how it works. And then the teacher gave them a reading, a short reading, on refraction of light. And they read this thing. And the clarity that they had about what these lenses must do, well! All of a sudden they’re putting them up to the lights! They’re asking if they can go get the lights out of the storage unit! ‘Cause there’s — and they’re shining different lights through the lenses to see what happens to the light. Because that little bit of reading turned some focus on for the students. And it allowed them to take what I’m thinking about, what I’m trying to figure out, how this thing works in another direction. That’s the power of using literacy in our classes.

Eric Cross (17:20):

And what I’m hearing essentially is transfer across disciplines, across content areas, ultimately. And in an elementary school classroom, would it be fair to say, probably the teacher has more autonomy to be able to do that, since they’re teaching all the subjects? But secondary, logistically, planning and those types of things … from what you’ve seen, is it fair to say this kind of needs to be like a top-down, full vertical alignment, to teach like this?

Douglas Fisher (17:45):

I think that would be awesome to do that. But if I’m a sixth grade English Language Arts teacher and I’m working with my sixth grade science teacher, the conversation should be, “What units are you teaching?” Because I’m choosing informational text. My job is to teach them how to find central ideas. My job is to teach them how to find the details in the text. My job is to have them make a claim and support that claim with evidence. The stuff I use is generic. Yes, we do read some literature and some narratives, but we also read about 50% of the text in English around informational text. So if I can help you and accomplish my standards as well, fantastic. So let’s have this conversation and say, “Oh, this is what you’re teaching in science in the next three weeks? I’m gonna choose some texts and we’re gonna analyze ’em for central idea. We’re gonna analyze ’em for details. We’re gonna, for mood or tone or whatever that we’re teaching. And by the way, I’m building background knowledge. So when they come to you, they know some stuff about what you’re going to be teaching next.” So I don’t think it’s impossible to say teams of teachers could come together and say, “What do we believe that our students need to know and learn and be able to do? And then how do we choose things that are gonna help them accomplish exactly that?”

Eric Cross (19:01):

And that’s empowering. Because that’s one thing that we can control maybe is this East-West, peer-to-peer, different content areas. A system may not be able to change as quickly, but I can definitely go talk to my English team or math team and check in and kind of see, “Hey, where do we have overlap in that?” And I know the times that I’ve accidentally had overlap with the teams, it’s super-exciting. And the students have been more bought in! Because it’s like, we’ve done something on the human microbiome and we’ve talked about genetics and all these different things, and then when they read The Giver, or they read some book about genetics, they have all this knowledge. And they’re excited. And they talk about colorblindness or they come to my class and they’re like, “Hey, we read about this!” It’s almost like they saw a magic trick, the fact that these things linked up. And the engagement has been so much higher when it’s the same content in different classes, but through different lenses. At least, that’s what I’ve seen in my years of teaching.

Douglas Fisher (19:54):

I saw a lesson on space junk that was so cool. Middle-school students learning space junk. And the history teacher had a part of it, science teacher had a part of it, English Language Arts teacher had a part of it. And these students, I mean, you watch them look up all the time, ’cause there’s space junk up there. Where’d it come from? Why is it there? What are the politics of this? How do we clean it up? I mean, it was just so interesting to watch them when the teachers came together. And the teachers met their standards in this couple-week-long space-junk exploration. Investigation was met. Politics was met. All these different things. Economy. You know, how much does it cost to clean up this problem? So there’s really cool opportunities when teachers come together and realize we can work together and improve the literacy and learning of our students.

Eric Cross (20:50):

Absolutely. So before this recording, we picked your brain a bit. And I know that there were three specific strategy areas that you wanted to touch on. And one of those — which is kind of coming back to the 3000-words language teachers — was vocabulary. So what are the opportunities that you see, as far as the way of educators to approach vocabulary? Because, you know, there’s a lot. We got a lot of it. The 3000 words.

Douglas Fisher (21:14):

Yeah. There’s a lot of it. So the worry is, we make a vocabulary list and have students look up the words in definitional kinds of things. That’s not really gonna help. Students need to be using the words. They need to be using the words in their conversations, in their writing, in how they think about your content in science. So vocabulary is a huge predictor of whether or not you understand things. Vocabulary is also a pretty good predictor if you can read on grade level. So when we think about vocabulary, there’s something called word solving. You show students a piece of text and you’re reading it, you’re sharing your thinking, and you say, “Oh, here’s a context clue!” Or “I know this prefix or suffix or root!” And in science, a lot of the words are prefixed, suffixed, or root words. We tend to add things together with a lot of prefixes and suffixes and have roots and bases in science. So we can help students think about, “Oh, what does geo- mean? We already know what geo- means here. It means the same thing in this word. Let’s apply that knowledge.” So word solving is part of it, showing students how we think about words that we might not know. The second is more direct instruction of vocabulary. As students encounter the words, we work on what it means, how we say it. We practice it a few times. The process is called orthographic mapping. It’s kind of a scientific idea here. But you have the sound and the recognition of by-the-word, by sight, and what it means. And your brain starts to automatically recognize that word in the future. So I don’t have to slow down, disrupt my fluency, and try to figure out what the word is saying. ‘Cause I’ve seen it enough. I’ve heard it pronounced enough, I’ve pronounced it enough, and I know what it means. So teachers should be saying, “What words in sixth grade science, what words in third grade science, do my students really need to know?” And I’m gonna have them encounter those words over and over. I’m gonna have them use the words. I’m gonna have them see the words. I’m gonna have them say the words. I’m gonna say the word and we’re gonna be over and over with these terms, so that students incorporate them into their normal view of, “These are the things I know about the world.” By the way, when they go to read that next thing, and they understand “geology,” you know, for sixth graders, for example, they know how to say it. They don’t stumble on it. And it activates a whole bunch of memories in their brains. “This is what geology is.” There are branches of geology, there’s physical geology, there’s all this thinking that activates as they read.

Eric Cross (23:35):

There was a practice that I participated in and am trying to incorporate — I don’t know what the name of it is. But essentially what happened was we were dissecting a flower. And the instructor had us name parts of the flower. But we got to come up with our own names for it.

Douglas Fisher (23:49):

Ah.

Eric Cross (23:50):

So, for instance, the stamen we call “the fuzzy Cheeto.” And we all used our own words and then everything was legitimized. And so we went through and learned the whole activity using our own vocab words. But then, in the end, after we presented and talked about it, then the words, the actual academic language was attached to our word. And we were able to say, “OK, the fuzzy Cheeto is the stamen,” and this, this, this, and this. But it was such an interesting practice, because it kind of legitimized all of our definitions. But we weren’t stumbling on these long Latin terms and things like that. Is there a name for that? Or. … ?

Douglas Fisher (24:29):

Yes. I don’t know the name for that. I think it’s really smart. So here’s what I would say about that, is: we don’t learn words, we learn concepts. Words are labels for our concepts. So what that teacher did for you was allow you to develop concept, a concept knowledge. “There’s a part of this plant, it goes like this, we’re gonna call it fuzzy Cheeto. Now I have this concept. And look, it occurred in all these plants. And those people called it that and that other group called it that. We called it a fuzzy Cheeto. Here’s the part of it.” And then the concept is in your brains. And the teacher said, “It’s really called stamen.” And it’s an instant transfer, because you already had the concept. What we often see is students are trying to learn a really hard academic word and the concept for the word at the same time. And so it slows down the whole process. And there’s higher levels of forgetting. Because human beings, we don’t learn words; we learn concepts. If you don’t have the concept, if I gave you a word out of the blue that you’ve never seen, never heard, and a week from now I asked you to remember it, you probably would not, because it didn’t register. It wasn’t part of your schema. You didn’t have a way to organize the information. You don’t have a concept. So that teacher? It’s a great idea. Got you to develop concept knowledge. And then said, “Here’s a real label for it: What some other people called it when they had the chance to come up with their own names.”

Eric Cross (25:50):

Shout out to my teacher, who was—

Douglas Fisher (25:51):

Right.

Eric Cross (25:52):

It was learned then. It was a great practice. And the fact that you’re right, like, I just mean from my own personal experience, I agree that learning concepts versus complicated words. And it’s interesting that you said higher levels of forgetfulness, you know. And you often hear that complaint about it: “Students forget! Students forget!” But this complex topic and this complex word that’s new to me, and I have to remember both of those things.

Douglas Fisher (26:12):

That’s right.

Eric Cross (26:13):

And the other neat thing that it did, is it actually honored the background and like the founts of knowledge of all the different groups in the classroom. You just said something about “this group called it this and this group called it this,” and so by letting different groups share all of those names, now we’re starting to build these kind of interesting connections. That’s at least what I remember experiencing. And so this, even this practice of this approach is very layered, beyond just kind of generating new knowledge of things. So I appreciate that aspect of it. Now another area that you mentioned was complex text.

Douglas Fisher (26:41):

Yeah.

Eric Cross (26:42):

And how we can get students into complex text. So what can we do there?

Douglas Fisher (26:46):

I think science is an ideal place to get students reading things that are hard for them. And I do believe that some parts of school should be a struggle. Not all day, every day. But there should be doses of struggle, which are good for our brains. And these complex pieces of texts that don’t give up their meanings easily allow students to go back and reread the text and maybe mark the text and talk to peers about the text and answer questions with their groups. And the whole point of complex text is to say, “We persevere through it. We may not understand it fully on our first read. But we go back and we might underline, we might highlight. We might write some margin notes. Our teacher might say, ‘What did this author mean here?’ And we go back and look at that part and we take it apart. What do we think about that? And we talk to each other. It’s showing that when we read things, we work to understand. We work through our thinking, often in the presence of other people. And our understanding grows as we go into the text over and over and over again.” So I said geology earlier. There’s about a two-page article on “what is geology” that sixth graders often read. And some kids find it super boring. It’s a once-read, “OK, geology, I don’t really understand it. There’s a bunch of words in here that I don’t understand.” But if you go back to it a few times and you start taking apart, “What are the branches of geology? Oh, I’m gonna go reread that.” How are these two branches related to each other?” “What are the subtypes of each branch of geology?” “How do geologists do their work?” You start asking questions where students are going back into the text. You spend a little bit of time. Now, the introduction to geology, the students know so much more. So whatever you do next— video experiments, whatever—they have a frame of reference, because of that deep, complex read. It’s probably better than simply telling them, “Here’s the information.”

Eric Cross (28:45):

Right. And I even feel like as an educator, when I reflect on my own learning in the classroom, and then looking at it through the perspective of an educator <laugh>, you find this difference between how you were taught and then what the data says good teaching is.

Douglas Fisher (28:59):

Mm-hmm. <affirmative> mm-hmm. <affirmative>.

Eric Cross (29:00):

It’s so easy to slide back into how you were taught!

Douglas Fisher (29:02):

Yeah.

Eric Cross (29:02):

Even though, you know, you mentally assent to, “This is the best way. This is the data shows.” And you find yourself kind of sliding back at times.

Douglas Fisher (29:10):

Yep. And there’s good evidence to support what you just said, that most people teach the way they experienced school. And it is very hard to change that. And people have studied this. And it’s very hard to change that. Because it worked for us. And we have an n of 1, and it worked for us. Now, remember, there were a whole bunch of other kids in the class that it may not have worked for. And we chose to be in school the rest of our lives, and some of your peers did not choose to be in school the rest of their lives. In fact, some of them hated school and found no redeeming qualities of their experience. So just because it worked for us in a case of one, n of 1, doesn’t mean it worked for all of the kids, or even the majority of them.

Eric Cross (29:57):

Very well said. It’s that, what is that, the survivor bias? Survivorship bias? Where you were the one that made it. But you don’t think about all the other folks. ‘Cause we’re thinking about ourselves.

Douglas Fisher (30:05):

That’s right.

Eric Cross (30:06):

Great case for empathy too, is thinking about the people left and right. Because my friends are like, “I hated science.” And I say, “Who hurt you? Like, what did they do? It’s so amazing, so much fun!”

Douglas Fisher (30:16):

“What happened to you? Science is the coolest. Right? It’s so amazing!”

Eric Cross (30:21):

But I also had a unique experience in seventh grade with my teacher who did some of these things, and made it accessible for so many of us, in opening opportunities that I wouldn’t have had otherwise. But you’re absolutely right. That was my story. That wasn’t the story of everybody that was around me. And I think that’s really important. Now, I know this is also a big one for you, but I wanna talk about writing. What are the opportunities that you see in terms of writing specifically?

Douglas Fisher (30:51):

So would love it if science teachers had short and longer writing tasks in the science time. Of course, you can integrate some of the science writing, the longer ones, in the English language arts time, especially if you’re the elementary teacher and you can have control of the whole day. But I said this earlier; I’ll say it again. Writing is thinking. While you are writing, there’s nothing else you can do but think about what you are writing. Your brain cannot do something else. So if a science teacher wants to know, do their students really understand the concepts? Have them write. Now some of the shorter ones, I like something called “given word” or “generative sentences”: “I’m gonna give you a word: CELL. C-e-l-l. We’re in science. I want you to write the word ‘cell,’ c-e-l-l, in the third position of a sentence. So it’s gonna go word, word, cell, and then more words.” You could also say, “I want the sentence longer than seven words,” or whatever. But the key is, I’m telling you where I want the word. You will know instantly if your students have a sense of what the word “cell” means in the context of science. If they write “my cell phone,” they don’t get it. If they write about spreadsheet cells or jail cells or whatever, they didn’t get it. But if they talk to you about plant cells and animal cells and the components of those cells, and then once they have that sentence down, you can say to them, “Now write three or four more sentences that connect to that sentence.” It’s super simple. So whatever concepts you’re teaching, put ’em in a specific position. Now you don’t have to only put it in the third position. You can say the first position, the fifth position, the fourth position. But it forces them to think about what they know about the word and then how to construct a sentence for you. That’s a very simple way to get some writing from your students that helps you think about what they understand. Other kinds of writing, you can have quick writes, you can have exit-slip writes. There’s something in the research space called the muddiest part, where halfway through the lesson you have them write so far what has been the least understood or the most confusing part of this lesson. And they do a quick write, right there, at the muddiest part. And as a teacher, you flip through these and you start to say, “Oh, these are the points that are confusing to my students.” So if 80% of them all have the same thing, I gotta reteach that. If these five got, “This is the muddiest part,” If these five thought, “This is the muddiest part,” these seven, “I thought this was the muddiest part,” what do I need to do? Because it’s gonna be hard to move forward if this is their area of confusion. There are also all kinds of writing prompts that have a little bit longer. My favorite one is RAFT. What’s your Role? Who’s your Audience? What’s the Format? And what’s the Topic we’re writing about? Super flexible writing prompt. When you teach something, we don’t want students to only think they write to their teacher. So your role is an atom. You are writing to the other atoms. What do you wanna write about? What’s the topic? What’s the format of it? Is it a love letter? Is it a text message? Is it … so we, we mix it up with students in saying, how do they show some knowledge through a prompt that we give them? And then of course, longer pieces as they get older. More opinion pieces through fifth grade. More claims and arguments starting in sixth grade. So that they’re starting to see, “I have to use the evidence from things I’ve learned, read, listened to, watched, and construct something: an opinion, an argument where I back it up with reasons or evidence.” And those longer pieces, you know, less frequently. The shorter pieces, pretty regularly. So the teacher sees the thinking of the students.

Eric Cross (34:29):

When you were speaking about these really creative writing prompts, there were specific students coming into mind, that were coming into mind … they’re, they’re great science students, but they also have this really strong artsy side drawing, creative writing, and things like that. And when you said something about atoms talking to each other, it elicited, in my brain, certain students that would really love this aspect of creativity in the sciences. And it’s not how we’re typically trained as science teachers, to kind of incorporate this, like you said. A book of props. But I’m imagining, like, as a science teacher, if I took this, this would be a great way to reach more students to be able to show what they know, in a way that might resonate with their own intrinsic “Oh, I get to write creatively!” So I was kind of writing furiously as you were sharing all that information there.

Douglas Fisher (35:12):

So here, I’ll give you another example for elementary people. Again, with RAFT. There’s a book called Water Dance. It’s a pretty popular book for elementary teachers. It’s really about the life cycle of water. For example, you are a single drop of water. You are writing to the land. The format is a letter. And you’re explaining your journey. Now, if they can do this, they’re essentially explaining to you the cycle of water. But you got it in a way that people are now, “Oh, I’m a drop of water. So it’s me. My perspective. Where do I go from? Where do I start?” Because you can start anywhere in the cycle, right? My drop could have started in the clouds. My drop could have started in the ground. My drop could have started in the lake. But it has to show you the journey. So there are many ways of showing you the right answers.

Eric Cross (36:02):

And that’s using the RAFT protocol.

Douglas Fisher (36:04):

That’s RAFT: Role, Audience, Format, Topic. It’s been around 20 or 30 years.

Eric Cross (36:09):

You just gave the name to something a teacher shared in our podcast community, Science Connections: The Community, on Facebook. Teacher shared a Google slide deck and on it were just three slides. And the role that the student had to have is they had to show, then tell, the story of a journey of a piece of salmon being eaten, a piece of starch from pasta being eaten, and then an air molecule in a child’s bedroom. And they had to give the path of travel and the experience from the mouth and then breaking down into protein and all those kinds of things. And this teacher shared it and I wish I knew the teacher’s name because I wanna give ’em credit, but they shared it. And so I used it with my students and then had ’em read aloud their stories and dramatize it. And they were so into it!

Douglas Fisher (36:49):

So cool.

Eric Cross (36:50):

But through it, I was able to see that they understood different parts of the body. They understood cell respiration. The whole thing. And it was fun! To watch them get so into this creative writing. And now I know the name of it. That’s been 30 years they were using RAFT. So you just talked a bit about complex texts and writing. And before we go, I wanted to circle back to something that you said, because I think it’s important, and if you could elaborate on it a little bit, about the value of struggle. Can you talk more about that?

Douglas Fisher (37:21):

Sure. I do believe in a lot of the U.S. we’re in an anti-struggle era of education. And it predates Covid. I think it made it worse during Covid. We front load too much. We pre-teach too much. We reduce struggle. We quote, “over-differentiate” for students. And there’s value in struggle. The phrase, “productive struggle” — if you haven’t heard it, Google productive struggle — it’s an interesting concept, that we actually learn more when we engage in this productive struggle. Now, productive struggle originally came from the math world, and it was this idea that it’s worth struggling through things to learn from it, that you’re likely to get it wrong, and then there was productive success. And there are times when we want students to experience success and we make sure we put things in place for productive success. But there are times where we want them to struggle through a concept. ‘Cause it feels pretty amazing when you get on the other side, when you know you struggled and you get to the other side. If you think about the things, listeners, think about the things in your life where you struggled through it and you are most proud of what you accomplished. I want students to have that. I don’t wanna eliminate scaffolding, eliminate differentiation. But I do want some regular doses of struggle. So if you look at the scaffolding, we have a couple choices. We have front-end scaffolds, distributed scaffolds, and back-end scaffolds. Right now we mostly use front-end scaffolds: We pre-teach, we tell students words in advance, that kind of stuff. But what if we refrained from only using front-end scaffolds, and we use more distributed scaffolds, when they encounter. So there’s a difference between “just in case” and “just in time” support for students. So we tend to plan on the “in advance, here are all the things we’re gonna do to remove the struggle before students encounter the struggle.” What if instead we said, “Let them encounter some struggle. Here’s the supports we’re gonna provide. We’re gonna watch; we’re gonna remove those scaffolds, and allow them to have an experience of success, where they realize, ‘I did it. I got it.’” Every science teacher I’ve ever worked with, when they do an experiment or a lab or simulation, they are looking for productive struggle. They don’t tell the answers in advance. They don’t tell if the answers are right. That’s your data. What does your data tell you? I mean, this is what you do. But then the other part of your day when you move into, like, reading, you don’t do that. You fall into the trap of removing struggle. And so allow them to grapple with ideas. Allow them to wonder what words mean. Allow them to say, “I’m not getting this, teacher! It’s really frustrating!” And you say, “Yeah, this is really hard. This is why we’re doing it at school. ‘Cause it’s really hard. If it was easy, I’d have you do it at home. But we’re doing it here, ’cause it’s really hard and it’s OK not to get it at first.” And create a place where errors are seen as opportunities to learn, and struggling through ideas and clarifying your own thinking and arguing with other people to reach an agreement or reach a place where we agree to disagree is part of the power of learning.

Eric Cross (40:38):

There’s a teacher, who I took this from. My master teacher when I was student teaching. And she said that there’s no such thing as failure in science, just data. And I took that same mantra. And I resonate with what you said about how science teachers, all of us, hold onto that productive struggle, because it’s part of being a scientist. It’s part of the experiments. That genuine “aha” moment. Or it didn’t work out? That’s great! That’s totally fine! Let’s write about it and let’s take photos and let’s publish it and let’s be scientists. That’s totally true. As we wrap up, Dr. Fisher, is there any final message that you have to listeners about bringing science and literacy together? I know you speak everywhere, but for everyone that’s listening, if you can put out your encouragement or message or suggestion … you’ve given so many great tips and practical applications. But, any final thoughts on the subject?

Douglas Fisher (41:32):

I think many science teachers are intimidated because they think they have to be reading teachers. And there’s a knowledge base to reading. And some teachers are reading teachers and science teachers, and I don’t wanna dismiss that. But it’s not that you have to become a reading specialist to integrate literacy into science. It’s how our brains work. And so as you think about the way in which you are learning and the ways in which you want your students to learn, what role does language play? What role does speaking, listening, reading, writing, viewing, play in your class? And then provide opportunities for students to do those five things each time you meet with them.

Eric Cross (42:12):

Dr. Fisher, thank you so much for being here and for your encouragement, and sharing your wisdom and experience. And then personally serving my city, here in San Diego, and my students, when they make it to your high school and ultimately the alma mater of San Diego State University.

Douglas Fisher (42:30):

That’s right.

Eric Cross (42:31):

Yeah. We really, really appreciate you in serving all kids and lifting the bar and making things more equitable for all students. And encouraging teachers. So thank you.

Douglas Fisher (42:39):

Thank you very much.

Eric Cross (42:42):

Thanks so much for listening to my conversation with Dr. Douglas Fisher, Professor and Chair of Educational Leadership at San Diego State University. Check out the show notes for links to some of Doug’s work, including the book he co-authored titled Reading and Writing in Science: Tools to Develop Disciplinary Literacy. Please remember to subscribe to Science Connections so that you can catch every episode in this exciting third season. And while you’re there, we’d really appreciate it if you can leave us a review. It’ll help more listeners to find the show. Also, if you haven’t already, please be sure to join our Facebook group, Science Connections: The Community. Next time on the show, we’re going to continue exploring the happy marriage between science and literacy instruction.

Speaker  (43:26):

I had this moment of realization I felt a few months ago: I’m like, if I don’t teach them how to use the AI as a tool, as a collaborator, then they’re gonna graduate into a world where they lose out to people who do know how to do that.

Eric Cross (43:39):

That’s next time on Science Connections. Thanks so much for listening.

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What Dr. Douglas Fisher says about science

“There are really cool opportunities when teachers come together and realize we can work together to improve the literacy and learning of all our students.”

– Dr. Doug Fisher

Professor and Chair of Educational Leadership, San Diego State University

Meet the guest

Douglas Fisher, Ph.D., is professor and chair of Educational Leadership at San Diego State University and a leader at Health Sciences High & Middle College having been an early intervention teacher and elementary school educator. He is the recipient of an International Reading Association William S. Grey citation of merit, an Exemplary Leader award from the Conference on English Leadership of NCTE, as well as a Christa McAuliffe award for excellence in teacher education. He has published numerous articles on reading and literacy, differentiated instruction, and curriculum design as well as books, such as The Restorative Practices PlaybookPLC+: Better Decisions and Greater Impact by DesignBuilding Equity, and Better Learning Through Structured Teaching.

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About Science Connections

Welcome to Science Connections! Science is changing before our eyes, now more than ever. So…how do we help kids figure that out? We will bring on educators, scientists, and more to discuss the importance of high-quality science instruction. In this episode, hear from our host Eric Cross about his work engaging students as a K-8 science teacher. 

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Amplify launches educational leadership award, honors North Carolina Superintendent of Public Instruction Catherine Truitt as first recipient

BROOKLYN, NY (December 6, 2024) – Amplify, a publisher of next-generation curriculum and assessment programs, today awarded North Carolina Superintendent of Public Instruction Catherine Truitt its inaugural Leader in Education Award. This Award honors and recognizes policymakers who have shown dedication, creativity, and leadership to improve the education system and enhance learning opportunities for all students.

Since taking office in January 2021, Superintendent Truitt has implemented innovative education policies, practices, and initiatives, raising the bar for student achievement and performance. North Carolina’s third-grade students have outperformed the national average on end-of-year literacy assessments for three years in a row. In the 2023 – 2024 school year alone, over 80,000 more students met or exceeded benchmarks. More broadly, North Carolina’s K-3 students consistently surpass the national average for students on track.

A driving force behind North Carolina’s success has been Truitt’s adoption of the Science of Reading, a research-based approach to literacy instruction that emphasizes the importance of explicit and systemic foundational skills instruction and knowledge-building to support reading comprehension. She actively championed the approach and worked diligently to make it the standard. 

“It is such an honor to receive this distinction,” said Truitt. “I’m so proud of the work we’ve done for North Carolina students, and I owe so much of that to our schools and teachers, who worked tirelessly with me to implement the science of reading.”

Just two years after implementing the Science of Reading, the state’s K-3 students are outpacing peers in other states in reading proficiency and rate of improvement, despite recent national decreases in literacy proficiency and understanding.

“One of the most important jobs of the school system is to teach children to read by third grade,” said Amplify Chief Executive Officer Larry Berger. “Superintendent Truitt has achieved remarkable outcomes through her laser focus on comprehensively implementing the Science of Reading in North Carolina.  Her policies serve as a model for other superintendents, and her impact on K-3 literacy will be felt across the state for years to come.”

Truitt was honored earlier today in Brooklyn, New York.

About Amplify

A pioneer in K–12 education since 2000, Amplify is leading the way in next-generation curriculum and assessment. Our core and supplemental programs in ELA, math and science engage all students in rigorous learning and inspire them to think deeply, creatively and for themselves. Our formative assessment products help teachers identify the targeted instruction students need to build a strong foundation in early reading and math. All of our programs and services provide educators with powerful tools that help them understand and respond to the needs of every student. Today, Amplify serves more than 15 million students in all 50 states and on six continents. For more information, visit Amplify.com.

Media Contact: Kristine Frech; media@amplify.com

Texas Public Reviewers: Welcome to Amplify Texas ELAR/SLAR 2nd Edition!

Thank you for taking the time to review Amplify Texas ELAR 2nd Edition and Amplify Texas SLAR 2nd Edition. This site provides the login steps and tools you need to review the programs.

After you’ve followed the steps below to log in, watch the short orientation videos to help you navigate the Amplify Texas ELAR/SLAR 2nd Edition platform.  

The helpful Navigation Guides with live links and other documents to guide your review can be found below as well.  

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Login credentials:

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Go to learning.amplify.com and select Log in with Amplify.

Enter the username and password:

Username: elar_slar_2e_public@tryamplify.com
Password: AmplifyNumber1

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Select TX ELAR Submission (English) or TX SLAR Submission (Spanish) under Your Programs.

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Step 3

Select ELAR Second Edition or SLAR segunda edición to access the program you will be reviewing.

Step 4

Once you’re in the program, select a grade level to explore the digital curriculum.

Screenshot of the Amplify Texas ELAR Second Edition interface, part of the Amplify Texas elementary literacy program, showing grade level options: Kindergarten, Grade 1, Grade 2, and Grade 3. An orange number 4 is highlighted on the left.

Orientation videos

View these short introductory videos to help you navigate the Amplify Texas ELAR/SLAR 2nd edition platform.

ELAR Navigation Guides

Tip: Be sure you’re logged into the Amplify Texas ELAR/SLAR platform (steps above) before clicking on the links in these documents.

SLAR Navigation Guides

Tip: Be sure you’re logged into the Amplify Texas ELAR/SLAR platform (steps above) before clicking on the links in these documents.

ELAR Component Lists

Access the full list of components for Amplify Texas ELAR 2nd Edition by clicking the links below.

SLAR Component Lists

Access the full list of components for Amplify Texas SLAR segunda edición clicking the links below.

S4 – 02. Bethany and Dan share their math biographies

Promotional graphic for "math teacher lounge," season 4 episode 2, featuring photos and names of math teaching guests Bethany Lockhart and Dan Meyer.

In this episode, co-hosts Bethany Lockhart Johnson and Dan Meyer get personal and share their “math bios”—their early experiences with math and how those experiences turned them into the educators they are today.

Explore more from Math Teacher Lounge by visiting our main page

Download Transcript

Dan Meyer (00:00):

We’re recording. What’s up, everybody. This is Dan Meyer with Math Teacher Lounge.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (00:08):

And I’m Bethany Lockhart Johnson. We are so excited to be back. Season Four, Episode Two. Hi, Dan.

Dan Meyer (00:16):

Hey, Bethany, how are you doing today?

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (00:18):

I’m so excited to be talking with you! You know, as we record this, our reunion at NCTM is getting closer and closer.

Dan Meyer (00:28):

The NCTM live show is gonna be bonkers. I don’t think people are ready for it. You think you know what we’re about on MTL from listening to us, but the live show is gonna be outta control. You cannot imagine how many clowns and elephants Bethany wants to have at the live show. We’re still—we’re trying to talk her down from like three to one, but we’ll see.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (00:44):

All I want is the t-shirt cannon. Because I used to go to these baseball games and they would have a t-shirt cannon. And I thought, I wanna operate a t-shirt cannon! So like, if I could be standing on stage aiming t-shirts at people who are jumping up and down requesting a t-shirt? I don’t know. Doesn’t that sound fun?

Dan Meyer (01:01):

Sounds awesome. High point of my college education was catching a t-shirt. No, it was—it was a burrito. It was a burrito cannon. But I think it was just a t-shirt cannon, but it was a burrito cannon. And I caught a burrito at a game and it was probably the most memorable moment of all of college education for me.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (01:16):

Was the burrito still warm?

Dan Meyer (01:18):

Oh yeah. I think it got—like, I think it might’ve been warm at one point and then it got warmed back up through the muzzle velocity of the cannon. So it was a pretty great system they had going on there. <Laugh> Yeah. <Laugh> Anyway, I’m off topic, but, we’re thrilled to—I’m thrilled to chat with you and we’re thrilled to be listened to by you folks out there in MTL land. In the lounge itself. We got a fun show today.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (01:40):

So if you listen to Episode One—which if you haven’t, hope you go back and listen to it—if you listen to Season Four, Episode One, you’re gonna hear—we asked Huon, KT, who is this delight of a joyful teacher. We asked her to talk to us about what’s her math bio. And we want to ask all of our guests—like, I wanna go back and ask every single guest we’ve ever had to tell us their math bio.

Dan Meyer (02:06):

Yep.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (02:06):

Because, while seemingly simple in nature, our students enter our math classroom already having had this relationship with math and these notions about their role in math or what they think about math. And it impacts our school year with them if we’re a teacher. And it impacts our relationship with math as we move through our education and beyond. Right? And I I’m so excited about this question, ’cause I think it also ties into this theme for Season Four, which is joyful math, and diving into “When has math felt joyful? When has it not? Does it feel like—how do we think about how our math bio, our relationship with math, has evolved into a joyful or less joyful place?”

Dan Meyer (02:54):

I get it. And what’s really key here, I think, is that teaching more than other professions is a generational profession. You know what I’m saying? Like, no one is like, “Well, you know, I sold insurance to you and now you’re selling insurance to, you know, my grandkids; that’s amazing!” But people are always posting photos when, like, you teach someone who then becomes a teacher later. Teaching is a generational sort of thing. So the kinds of joyful experiences that we offer or don’t offer students now affect the experiences that students who haven’t even been born yet will have, you know, some 20, 30 years later. That, to me, is a trip. And well-worth exploring, you know, how we got here, mathematically speaking.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (03:39):

I remember a friend had sent me this image of an assignment that her son got that was asking for their Mathography. They wanted to know about their history of mathematics. And this was their first assignment. And this teacher, I would like to imagine, read them all and used it to inform conversations about students’ relationship with math. And, you know, some of the questions they asked were thinking about whether you consider yourself, quote, unquote, “good at math.” Like “what kind of experiences have you had? What do you like or dislike about math? What is, you know—what do you expect to learn in math this year?” Just asking students to actually pause and examine and reflect on their relationship and then also looking forward to, like, what kind of a classroom community do we wanna create? And I loved that assignment. And yeah, so today’s episode Dan, guess what?

Dan Meyer (04:32):

What’s going on? What’s happening?

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (04:33):

I figured we should ask each other about our math bio.

Dan Meyer (04:39):

I think the people out there would love to know this about us. ‘Cause you know, we’re both awesome. But also what’s really cool here is that like, I don’t know this about you. Like not, not a lot. You know, the folks at Amplify, they kind of assembled me and Bethany together in the same way that record labels assembled pop boy bands, girl bands, that kind of thing, back in the day. You know, grabbing some stars from screen or film and just like throwing ’em together and saying, “All right, now you’re here to perform together.” And so it’s just a really good moment for us to, like, settle back and just know who we’ve been working with for the last three seasons and change here. I love it.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (05:15):

Well, I don’t know. I don’t actually agree with that, Dan. Because don’t you remember? We knew each other beforehand. And while I would like to think of us as…oh, I’ll say One Direction—well, no, One Direction is now defunct. Who’s another band that got formed by one of those shows and is still together and still—

Dan Meyer (05:33):

BTS! K-Pop, you know! Let’s go!

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (05:35):

K-pop. BTS.

Dan Meyer (05:38):

Let’s go, Bethany <laugh>.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (05:39):

So can we incorporate some K-pop into the NCTM Math Teacher Lounge live episode? Don’t answer now. Don’t answer now. OK. So not only are we gonna share our math bios, but we want to encourage you listeners to share your math bio with somebody in your life. It could be a child in your life, maybe talking to your kiddo about what was it like. What was math like for you? It could be a student that you have. It could be a partner, a friend, a parent. I mean, the sky’s the limit. Share your math bio. And most of all, share with us. We wanna hear about your math bio and you can share it with us at Twitter, at MTLShow, or in our Facebook group, Math Teacher Lounge.

Dan Meyer (06:26):

Stop on by, please. All right. I’m gonna just share like, just a couple of quick, signposts. Not the full bio. Gotta leave them wondering about something here. But here’s a few quick highlights and lowlights of my math bio and how, maybe, it made me the teacher that I was and the educator I am. Is that cool?

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (06:44):

Wait, I didn’t even, I didn’t ask you yet.

Dan Meyer (06:46):

Ask me what?

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (06:47):

Hey, Dan!

Dan Meyer (06:49):

Is there like a magical word? Like, what’s your math bio? <Laugh> Oh, go for it. No, no, that’s right. They won’t know what I’m talking about. Why is he talking about his math bio? Bethany—

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (06:57):

That whole lead-in that we just gave? They might not know.

Dan Meyer (07:00):

Yeah. We just talked about math bios for the last 20 minutes. But yeah, they might not know what we’re—

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (07:04):

<laugh> So Dan, why don’t you go first? ‘Cause I know you were gonna ask me to go first, but why don’t you go first? Dan? What’s your math bio?

Dan Meyer (07:12):

Oh, wow. Well, thank you for the formal invitation to share my math bio, Bethany Lockhart Johnson. So, I’ll just share—I just wanna share a couple items here, not the full history. Gotta leave ’em—leave a little mystery in there, you know what I’m saying? But here’s a few highlights and lowlights, and I think what it means for me as an educator. So, I was homeschooled for eight years. That was big—did a lot of math learning on my own. Couple of lowlights from that, a lot of highlights, in terms of just like being able to, like, learn at my own rate and just jump on ahead and pursue different wacky things. But I tried to switch into public school in fourth grade and I lasted, um, four hours. I didn’t even go to class. I enrolled and then it was like, boom, I was out of there. Because we went to the school; we met the teacher, saw the room, very nice person and place. But I got the homework assignment and the homework assignment was gibberish. I had no idea what to do and such was this feeling of just, like, despair and hopelessness, I was like, I cannot be a part of this. I remember the assignment. It was about identifying scalene, isosceles, and equilateral triangles. I’ll tell you this: I am quite good at that now. But at the time, like, I didn’t know what those words meant. And you know, at that moment we had Encyclopedia Britannica, could not Google this or even Ask Jeeves or AltaVista this so well back then. It just—it was an entry moment of failure and realizing that so much of math is like a, kind of a social kind of construct. And if you’re not part of that social circle, what can you do? So that was a bummer. Another bummer was eighth-grade math, learned it all by way of videotape. You know, put in the tape and watch—not gonna say the person’s name and not this person’s fault—but it was just like watching someone work on a whiteboard. Kind of a precursor to Khan Academy, kind of a drag. Went to high school—

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (09:02):

Wait, wait, wait, wait. We were—I’m not ready to jump to high school. Wait. Can you pause for just a second?

Dan Meyer (09:06):

Yeah. Rock on.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (09:07):

I just need you to go back to the triangle thing. So in that moment, what did that mean for you that you had had all these experiences with math and then you encounter math in a completely different sphere, a public school, and it did not have a connection or meaning to you because prior to that, it sounds like it was pretty positive. Right? Explore these things you’re curious about; there’s not, like, a level you need to stick with…

Dan Meyer (09:33):

Yep, yep. Yeah. I think that’s right. Maybe it was a little bit of a classic, like, “Oh, I didn’t have a growth mindset; my mindset was like, ‘Oh, I’m good at math because I am, you know, born that way,’” and all of a sudden, that identity was, you know, thrown into question. And, you know, my foundation was all of a sudden quite shaky. And yeah, that’s—you know, I think I taught a lesson recently where I was like, “Hey, this whole thing with a less-than or equal-to sign and a greater-than or equal-to sign, like what those signs are: it’s just, it’s language. And if it’s confusing to you, it’s not because you’re bad at math; it’s ’cause language is oftentimes confusing ’cause people have to agree on it.” So I dunno, that sort of thing is kind of filtered in, filtered back in periodically, some sympathy for like how a lot of math is like just socially agreed upon ways of working with, you know, numbers, shapes, patterns, that kind of thing.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (10:20):

OK.

Dan Meyer (10:21):

Anyway.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (10:21):

  1. And in this home school—I have a lot of questions about that, but I’ll stick to one—were you in a community of people that you talked about these math ideas with? Were you homeschooled solo? You have a sibling, so I think you were together, right?

Dan Meyer (10:39):

Yeah. Yeah. I’ve got a twin sister. So we were, you know, like, right on with each other the whole way through there. And yeah, so we had—but it wasn’t, it wasn’t like a—it was a lot of individual work, with my flavor of homeschooling.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (10:54):

  1. Got it. And the tapes—wait, before you go to high school, the tapes, the VHS tapes, which I’m just loving this image—

Dan Meyer (11:02):

Yeah.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (11:02):

Was that a positive experience? Was that because that was an area of math that whoever was homeschooling you wasn’t that comfortable with? Why was it that route for the tapes, and what was that? Was that joyful for you?

Dan Meyer (11:15):

Yeah, definitely not joyful. Yeah, it was like, if you had questions, you couldn’t really ask them of the VHS tape. It didn’t work out so well in that way. And it was a lot of operational-type math. It was, you know—there was no give and take; it was all kind of take. From the video teacher. And yeah, I was doing that because my homeschool teacher, my mom, who is very smart in lots of areas, did not have the math knowledge or confidence, especially to help with math at eighth grade. And that was a big reason why, flash-forward to the next year, went to high school.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (11:48):

Nice segue. OK.

Dan Meyer (11:50):

<laugh> You caught up to high school…I encountered just like four years of just crazy-good, just bonkers-good math teachers who just really changed a lot for me. Especially, Mr. Bishop and Mr. Cavender, very cool folks who did a lot. And especially, I think Mr. Bishop and Cavender both modeled for me what curiosity from a knowledgeable adult looks like. Like someone who, you know, now I can say to myself, “Oh, they were kind of like putting on an act of being very curious about answers they were hearing for the 2000th time from a student,” let’s say, but what a powerful experience that was for me to feel like, “Oh, wow, my thoughts are interesting to someone besides myself.” I got like, maybe it’s two real highlights that I’ll just point to, from my math bio that made me the math teacher and person that I am. Let’s see here. Maybe three, if you you’ll indulge me. One is just like the idea that you could do math wherever you have your brain, a pencil and a paper. And so I remember like in high school, I was in church with my family and kind of a little bit bored of whatever’s going on. And I just had the Bolton and I like drew a pentagon, a regular one, then a hexagon, a regular one, and kept on drawing, like adding sides to the shape. And it was like, it was becoming a circle. And, you know, I was able to take the area of each of those shapes and say, you know, “What happens as you send the number of sides to infinity?” And watch as the formula for area of a circle, Pi R squared, popped out. And it was kind of a literal religious experience, in that moment, just like, “Wow, like my brain’s so cool and math is so cool and paper and pencil’s so cool.” And so there’s that. Just that kind of experience was pretty awesome. And then I would just say like, I’ve had some really fantastic experiences with math in the world itself. Stuff like—let’s see, this is gonna invite more questions from Bethany, probably, maybe I should avoid—I got, I have a Guinness—I have a Guinness world record that’s almost 20 years old. This Guinness world record is—it’s old enough to drive basically at this point. And almost old enough to drink. But like it was—it was a record for chaining the longest paper clip chain together in 24 hours. And the only way I was able to break that record was through mathematics. Where, like, I would be finishing a box of clips. And I would say to my buddy who was there, “I just finished a box of clips.” And that person would type in the number of clips that I had just done. And then a mathematical formula that I had created would tell me how many—how long the chain was at that point. It was being rolled around a spool. And like, it’s just like, wow. So math just made this possible. You know, math revealed that the record I was trying to beat was beatable, because I did the math on it. It was, like, thousands of feet long in 24 hours. And other folks might be like, “Oh, like, that’s that’s huge!” But me, I was like, “All right, let’s divide this out. You know, divide by 24 hours in a day, divide by 60 minutes an hour, 60 seconds in a minute. Oh, that’s like one clip every four seconds. That’s really slow.” You know, think about that <counts aloud>, “Clip, two, three, four. Clip two, three…” It was just slow. So math helped me, you know, wreck that record. Which to my knowledge still still stands. Don’t get any ideas, Math Teacher Lounge Folks! Is this news to you, Bethany? You haven’t blinked in the last, like, five minutes. I’m curious if this is new.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (15:20):

It is news to me. And I have so many questions. Because OK, if four seconds was slow, so then what was your like—so then I’m assuming a hundred clips per box? Like, what was the rate, you know, per box? How long did it take you to complete a box? What did this friend like? Did this friend stick with you for the whole 24 hours? Did you really do it for 24 hours? Or once you beat the record, did you rest? How did you account for biological function? Like, needs? Like a restroom?

Dan Meyer (15:51):

<Interrupting> Like what?

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (15:51):

Eating.

Dan Meyer (15:51):

Like what, Bethany? OK.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (15:52):

Um, Sleep.

Dan Meyer (15:55):

So yeah, maybe we dive into some of the specifics in a different time.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (15:59):

Just tell me one of ’em. Tell me one.

Dan Meyer (15:59):

I’ll just say. So as to discourage other Math Teacher Lounge listeners from taking this on—back off of the record, folks!—this was back in college, so I was a little more limber back then. But I did one—I think it was 1.8 seconds per clip. For an entire 24 hours. Just like, so just like think about it, would you? If you’re gonna step to me on this one, just think about that, OK? And then, and then, you know, make an informed decision.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (16:28):

Wait. Wait, wait, I just wanna tell you one thing. I’m picturing somebody with a straw, and like, giving you water as you keep clipping. I’m picturing, like, music, I…

Dan Meyer (16:37):

That’s not far. That’s not far. That’s not far from—yeah.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (16:40):

So many questions! OK. Go on. Sorry, sorry, sorry. Go on. This is your bio.

Dan Meyer (16:44):

We gotta, I gotta wrap this up. I wanna hear your bio. But, like, I would just say like this move to this sense that math is actually a thing that’s useful for more than just a grade; it’s useful for more than just, you know, the societal, you know, adulation that comes from being a math nerd. That kind of thing. And so that, I think that affected a lot of math teaching for me. And, if I gotta, like, summarize math teaching itself in a journey, it went from like, “Hey kids, aren’t I awesome?” to, “Hey kids, isn’t math awesome?” to “Hey kids, aren’t you awesome?” And like that journey was facilitated by lots and lots of people, you know, a lot of personal growth, but at this point, at one point I was like, “Hey, math can help you get records and whatnot. It’s really useful.” And now I’m like, “Wow, your brain’s just doing just really interesting things. I can help you understand how interesting those things are, and maybe make them more interesting, or interesting in a different way, with some help here.” Let’s put a pin in that. That’s the math bio.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (17:50):

  1. So I have no doubt that if you ask someone in your life, listeners, for their math bio, that you will discover things about them that you never knew. Literally the questions that I have…I have so many question. And Dan is very good at, you know, bringing me back. Bring me back, like, come on, come on. But I just wanna say, overall, your journey seems pretty joyful. It seems pretty joyful. It seems pretty full of confidence. I don’t wanna say “ego” in a negative way, but I wanna say you were buoyed by these experiences that allowed you to feel like math was a place for you to thrive.

Dan Meyer (18:36):

Right.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (18:36):

Where you could try out things. You could try it out and just, “I could do that!” Right? Like…your relationship just felt very, like…you felt like you had autonomy, agency, perhaps much like you, you operate in this world. Dan, is that, is that right <laugh>?

Dan Meyer (18:54):

Yeah, I think it’s fair to say. And without telling too much of her story, my twin sister with whom I share most things, including genetics, you know—she had a very different experience in math early on. She’s brilliant. She’s a doctor. And not, you know, the book kind of doctor that I am, but like a real, you know, medical doctor. She’s brilliant. But we were—we encountered different messages about who math was made for, early on in, you know, in our entire math learning. And she—we both digested the messages that we were sent, and took, you know, different, different paths because of them, for sure.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (19:31):

Funny how that works. I thank you, Dan. I do. For in all sincerity, I appreciate you sharing that. And I think that it’s exciting to hear how it influenced your teaching. It feels like you want to cultivate those experiences for your students. And I’ve been in the room when you’ve presented; I was in a room where you taught a class live. It felt like you were making space for the students to have these aha moments. And it feels like in your work at Desmos, and now Amplify, you’re trying to create these products that allow folks to recreate these amazing math moments. Right? And that it’s for everyone and that it’s accessible and it can be very positive. I feel like I have this new perspective on kind of the energy you bring to your teaching. So thank you for sharing that.

Dan Meyer (20:24):

Yeah. Been a pleasure. Thanks for your questions here, Bethany. And it’s been—it’s been fun to reflect on it. And I do—I do feel very lucky in lots of ways. Privileged. Lucky. I know, like—I think the world has been set up for my success in lots of ways, as who I am. But I do just…yeah, I feel—I want more people to experience what it’s like when you walk into a math classroom and it’s like, “Hey, this place is for you. You have interesting thoughts about this. Let’s get ’em out.” So that’s awesome. I would love to hear about you and how you…I mean, we have taught different kinds of kids. You know, I taught kids who I think were somewhat set in, they’re a little bit more solid at secondary in who they are as a math learner. Like “I know who math is and who I am with math.” And I’m really excited to hear what your math bio allowed you to do with students who were perhaps open to the idea that they are very mathematical or at least not yet closed off to those possibilities. So, yeah. What are some of the high, the, you know, the high and low water marks of the making of Bethany Lockhart Johnson, math teacher? <Laugh>

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (21:24):

Thanks for asking, Dan. <Laugh> I’ve shared aspects of my math bio because I think it really informs the way that I talk to people about math and think about math. And I like to share it because I want folks to consider their own journey with math, as we like engage with problem-solving and sense-making and thinking about the students in our classroom. My dad is a math and computer science major. So he had a computer very early on. I wish he had invested in Apple early on when he had like one of the first Apple computers ever. And, sorry, dad, but it’s true. I do wish you had done that.

Dan Meyer (22:10):

I’m sure he does too.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (22:11):

Oh, he does. So math and computers and conversations about counting, you know, it felt like it was kind of just normal. Like it was around me. And I went to Montessori, which is a private school that—oh, they have some public Montessori—but it’s very self-directed. And so we would have these kind of charts, these goals for the day that you explored. And so we would explore math in very, I don’t know, very organic ways, with these natural materials. And I feel like I excelled at math, but it wasn’t something that I was conscious of. It was just like, “Oh, well, yeah. Math, it’s, you know, something we do.” And then when I went to—when I left Montessori in fourth grade, I remember that year being a lot of like repetition. I was like, well, we did this. We covered this. And except for the mission project that we hadn’t done, that was all new. And that’s it. For another time I’ll share about that. But <laugh> then, they actually, I was moved with a group of students to the fifth grade math class, ’cause we had already done the work that we were doing. And so, it wasn’t that it felt like it came easily, but it did make sense. What we were doing made sense. And then it all kind of changed. There was a lot of change in my family. There was, like, missed school time. And we moved and I went to a new middle school and I was in this environment with students who—it was like an accelerated program. And so I was in this environment with students who were pretty competitive with each other. And I remember going—and I was not from of a competitive environment; like Montessori is not competitive. It’s not about that.

Dan Meyer (24:02):

Right. Right.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (24:02):

It’s—it was very strange to me that I would be competing against anyone, even competing against myself. And I, you know, knew how to set goals. But it was a different level of energy. And I felt like, because I wasn’t competitive in that nature, I felt like that kind—I felt on the outside of a lot of the energy. Besides the regular, like, middle-school feeling outside of things. And I remember the first friend that I made. Hi, Susan! She had said to me, this was like maybe our second week of school, she’s like, “Oh, at lunchtime, come with me to math club.” And I was like, “OK.” And I remember walking into that room and I had no idea what was going on. And so that was one of the first times where I was just like, “Whoa, I have absolutely no concept of what they’re talking about or what.” These are my peers. I felt very—it was very—it was strange. It was strange. I was like, “This doesn’t feel like a space for me at all.” When I think ordinarily I was kind of excited about the idea of going to math club at lunch, you know? And over middle school, I kind of just got progressively more and more behind. It started with missing some work and then missing more and then checking out. And, you know, the problem was that I really made it about myself. That, like, it wasn’t something that I was then good at or could do. When really it was that well, pre-algebra, I was having a really hard time in like the rest of my life. And so I wasn’t real present in that class. And so when I got to algebra, it didn’t make a whole lot of sense. And then if I missed Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, well, Thursday is gonna be hard, you know? And, it just got progressively harder and harder. So I had this great idea that between eighth grade and ninth grade, I was going to take this accelerated geometry class. ‘Cause that was the ninth grade class, it was geometry. And I would take it. It was like geometry in three weeks or something. So then when I entered high school, I would’ve gotten this like jumpstart. But I wish I had said, “Oh, I’ll take this, and then in ninth grade I’ll take geometry.” So like I’ve already kind of gotten a preview of the material. But instead I went to the 10th grade math, which was like intermediate algebra, trigonometry. I had absolutely no clue what was going on. And I had a very, very difficult time and I wasn’t ready for that class. But it was exacerbated by the fact that this teacher felt very free to let the freshmen in that class know that they shouldn’t be in that class. That this class was for 10th graders.

Dan Meyer (26:49):

Oh wow. Oh, wow.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (26:51):

And we had a rather contentious relationship. And I will never forget that we were in the hallway, and he says to me, “You don’t belong here.” And I’ve talked to—I’ve talked to a girlfriend of mine about her experiences with this teacher and she has the fondest memories.

Dan Meyer (27:13):

Wow.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (27:14):

She—in fact, almost everyone I’ve spoken with, you know, if we are talking about past teachers or, “Oh, what was that class like?” I mean, they just have these wonderful memories! And for me, my sense of like belonging was already so on a tight rope anyway, that to have this adult, this teacher, tell me, “You do not belong here,” just crushed me. And in hindsight, I think he was saying like, “This class is too hard for you.” I mean, maybe. <Laugh> But all I heard was “You don’t belong here.” And I extrapolated it to connect to math and to anything having to do with math in general. And it just got worse and worse through high school in the world of math. My next math class was even—I had to repeat that class, and still didn’t understand what was going on, and felt more out of place, and, you know, it’s one of those things that I just kind of had started to accept that, I guess, math isn’t for me. I guess I’m just not a math person. Or whatever these stories are that I started to create and build and find evidence for around me that was informing that this wasn’t for me. And I had always done well in school. I was in, you know, accelerated classes. I felt like I was capable of problem solving. And yet in math, I just felt like I had all of this evidence saying that I didn’t belong there. And so when I went to college, I took whatever two math classes were—you know, I was in performing arts and then I did ethnic studies as well. And I remember you had to take two math classes that were GEs. There were these classes that if you don’t wanna deal with math, you go take those classes. And I was like, “Oh yeah, I’ll take that. I’ll take that.” The gulf widened, you know? <Laugh> And I didn’t feel like anxiety when I had to do things like balance my checkbook or navigate math in everyday spaces. It was just, it would never occur to me that I would like seek out opportunities to engage with math or think about it or talk about it.

Dan Meyer (29:35):

That is—yeah, that’s just so wild, how, I don’t know, like it’s often, from the student’s perspective, it is them in a vacuum with math, and the two of them interact and decide if, you know, if they’re right for each other. But from the grown-up perspective, it’s just, you know, it’s a little bit clearer that your story with math was not just you in math, but you with, you know, various external things happening. With family, various teachers playing their different roles—sometimes, you know, really tragic and horrible roles—and then like the compounding mathematical debt that it feels like you were kind of building up, as challenges in one year didn’t get resolved and moved into the next year and so on. And all that makes me wonder—it makes me, like really, really scared, first of all, because I would bet that your teacher might not even remember that moment, that for you is part of just a pivotal moment in your math story, and how many kids have I played—have I been a part of their story in that way and wouldn’t even recall? You know what I’m saying? So that’s a scary part. And then also I’m just wondering, like, how can we, how can we help kids who are in those moments recognize that, “Oh, this kid is like absent a bunch,” and give them more resources to be successful rather than say, “Well, you just gotta try harder now.” Those are things I’m wondering, hearing your story. Thank you for sharing that. I’d love to know more about how you then became a teacher and what all that did for you as you helped students.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (31:06):

Well, but to answer what you were saying, it wasn’t that I wasn’t—I was always absent physically, but at least like mentally at that point, because it had become so difficult. It didn’t make sense to me. So I was just really checked out in math class, you know? So in hindsight, you know, as a teacher, for sure I can look back, and especially hearing these stories and these experiences my friend had with this teacher and just like chalks up as one of like her most favorite teachers ever! And you know, he clearly did a great job for so many students. But for me, and I think for some people, they would’ve taken those challenges and, you know, it would have fortified them in a different way or something. But for me, I took it upon myself to mean certain things about myself and about my ability and what I was capable of. And so I think, I think in some ways, you know, yeah, it’s all, it’s all interconnected. You know, when your students walk in the door, they’re not this—the things that are impacting them in their life are coming into the room with them. And I don’t think we can take that for granted and think, “Well, if they just focus hard enough…”

Dan Meyer (32:21):

Yeah.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (32:23):

So let’s go back to my love of Oprah. You know, Oprah talks about living your best life. And something I really appreciate about Oprah is that she encourages you to examine, like, sticking points, right? Like she doesn’t just say, “Well, this…just pretend nothing ever happened, and everything’s fine!” You know, she really talks about making time for reflection. And I kind of got mad that anytime I thought about math, or math schooling came up. Or, you know, whatever, any time that came up that I just felt UGH about it. And I felt like a failure. And I’m like, “You know what, what if I took a math class? And I’m an adult at this point. I’ve graduated. I have—I’ve left college. I have my degrees. But I said, “What if I took a math class?” So I went down to, the city college and I found out that you have to take this exam, like a placement exam. And I went and took the placement exam. And I remember it’s one of the responsive tests where if you get it right, the next question’s a little harder. And so I’m taking it, panicking, because it’s getting more like…I just, you know. And I remember it placed me in like, whatever, Algebra Something, this class that was far more advanced than I thought I should be in. And I was like, there’s been a mistake! You know, and I went to the counselor and said, you know, “I got these results, but I couldn’t answer a lot of the questions on the test.” She’s like, “No, no, no, that’s how it works.” So I go take this class and the class was hard. And I decided that I was just gonna keep showing up. And every day before class, I kid you not, they had a little math…it was like a math center where you could go in and they had a bunch of tables and you’d sit at the table and you could sit and do your work or whatever. If you had a question, you walked up and put your name on a clipboard and then somebody would come and help you. So I did that, every single—like before every single class I would go in. I’d sit there. I’d do the work. I’d go. And I’d get help. Like somebody would walk over and you know, some kid for whom they’re like this…you know, they’re math—it might be you, Dan! It could be you! It could have been you! You know, would walk over and be like—

Dan Meyer (34:38):

Yeah, I was in Help like that. Naw, it’s awesome. Love, love those people. Yeah.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (34:42):

And you know, I did it. And I did so well in the class. I did exceedingly well in the class. And I said—

Dan Meyer (34:50):

Take that! Take that, everything! Every other math experience!

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (34:53):

I said, what?

Dan Meyer (34:55):

Yeah!

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (34:55):

Wait a second.

Dan Meyer (34:56):

Yeah.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (34:57):

And it was that I was present. I was not afraid to look at what didn’t make sense. And if something didn’t make sense, it didn’t mean there was something wrong with me. Whaaaaat?

Dan Meyer (35:10):

Yeah. Yeah.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (35:10):

So I was just in such a different space. And then I took another math class and that class was even harder. And I did the same thing where I went to the little lab and, you know, and it just buoyed me. And it made me realize that, like, this story, that my experience with it was very powerful and that was a real lived experience, but that it didn’t have to define my relationship with math. But then! I decided I wanted to go back to school to become a classroom teacher. And I totally—this was a couple years after that math class experience. So now, you know, I’m healing my relationship with math through basic positive experiences, da, da, da, you know, doing other work. But fast-forward, for a whole number of reasons, decided to become a classroom teacher. And I freaked out. All of my—like, I’m studying for the GRE and the CSET and all the things you have to the hoops you have to jump through to apply to the masters program and the credential program. And I freaked out. I was so close to quitting, Dan. Because I was convinced that the reason I couldn’t be a classroom teacher is because I wasn’t capable in math. Like I was—it was all that resurfaced. And even though I now had evidence to say something different, to the contrary, it was still so visceral. And I was so scared. But I passed that Math CSET.

Dan Meyer (36:47):

Get it.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (36:47):

I did well enough on the GRE—

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (36:50):

Yes!

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (36:50):

You know, I finished my credential. I worked really, really hard. I had to work so hard in my student placement, when I was student teaching for a fifth-grade class, ’cause I felt like, “Oh my God!” I mean, now I could do the mathematics, but I couldn’t TEACH it to someone, you know? But I had amazing professors at UCI, and my math professors really like just—and my mentor teacher! shout out to Jennifer! shout out to Phil!—these amazing mentor teachers who just loved teaching and who loved—like you said, you have these teachers in your life who you got to see the way that they listened to students. They taught me about that love of listening to students. And then I fell in love with, you know, CGI, cognitively guided instruction, and started learning all about all of these educators who just wanna learn from students’ thinking. And it was just so powerful. And I realize as a kindergarten teacher that I have this really special role in helping to create space for a positive school experience. Like we get to talk about—I talk about my students as mathematicians; they’re writers; they’re thinkers; they’re problem-solvers. And I also want to make space for parents. Some of them, this is their first kid in kindergarten, and they brought all of their experiences, a lot of it negative, that they had had with mathematics. So I felt like it was such an exciting opportunity to help show parents how they could have conversations about math with their students. That also, I hope helped heal their own anxiety with mathematics.

Dan Meyer (38:41):

Right, right.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (38:42):

Like, I’ve not even scratched the surface of math learning. But I just have such a changed perspective and relationship with math. And I just fell in love with the sense-making. And I fell in love with the journey of it. I still experience math anxiety about a wide variety of things, but I do love it. And I feel like there’s a space for me in relationship with math. And that really excites me.

Dan Meyer (39:09):

Yeah. Wow. Listen to that folks. We, we don’t deserve her! Bethany Lockhart Johnson! She got some math game and could have gone off there and, you know, become an accountant or something. And she chose to hang with kids and their parents. That’s so wild that you’re like rehabbing parents and their self-conception about mathematics at the same time. I think that is so cool.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (39:32):

Well, thanks Dan Meyer. I gotta tell you, I don’t know when or if I’ve ever shared that much of my math story. So there is a certain amount of vulnerability there. But thanks for listening. And I’m glad that, you know—I think there’s space for us to talk about these things that we care deeply about, but that can be really complicated.

Dan Meyer (39:56):

Yes. Yes. And I love how you you’ve really sharpened the point on what I feel like I know in my brain, but not my body all the time: That individual teachers are huge. Like, individual teachers, and individual moments of teaching, are just not something to play with. You know, like that kid that’s in fifth grade having a tough time, like there could be a month or a day-long period where all of a sudden, like, you’re just like, “Oh yeah, I’m back in the mix; like, me and math are still buddies.” And there’s also like moments that you had, where like one casual word from a teacher can just really put a huge wedge between you and a discipline that needs and wants you and your intellect in it.That’s a really powerful testimonial. Not just for math, but for teaching, your teaching bio.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (40:43):

I agree with you. And I also, I also…you know, I think we can’t put this—we are human. Teachers are human. And so I’m sure there’s things I’ve said to students. Twenty-second story: a student stapled his finger in my class. <Laugh> And I remember holding his hand and saying, “Why did you do that?” And I wasn’t yelling at him, but it was like, I am sure the panic in my face…like, that’s what he’s gonna remember about kindergarten. Right? <Laugh>.

Dan Meyer (41:19):

Yeah.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (41:20):

That. He will remember that. He won’t remember the really cool city project we did. He’s gonna remember his teacher holding his hand, in his face: “Why did you do that?”

Dan Meyer (41:30):

Yeah. Yeah.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (41:30):

You know, so we’re human. And yes, it was awful that that teacher said that to me. There were a thousand other ways that he could have said whatever it was he was thinking. And that did deeply wound me. But despite his influence—because teachers do have a lot of power and I think they need to examine that power, ongoing—it still doesn’t have to define us. So I don’t wanna put this pressure, like—

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (41:55):

Sure.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (41:56):

“So never ever say anything negative!” You know, we’re human.

Dan Meyer (42:00):

I feel like that kid is currently on some office-supply podcast talking about “your office-supply bio” and saying, “Let me tell you how I first got really freaked out by staples. Here’s the deal: I only use paper clips. And here’s why.”

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (42:15):

“Here’s why.” But then—callback!—he’s going to stumble upon THIS podcast and think, “And because I’m so adept with paper clips, I can beat that record!”

Dan Meyer (42:30):

Though—aaay! whoa! Settle down!

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (42:31):

BOOM.

Dan Meyer (42:31):

Don’t get any ideas, kid. No way. Uh-uh. I don’t like that at all. That’s not what—that’s not what I want to have happen here. No, thank you.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (42:41):

Well, I’m spent, Dan. I need a nap.

Dan Meyer (42:45):

Yeah. I need a box of Kleenex. I need a nap. I need a—yeah, for sure, a baba. Uh-huh. Definitely. Hey, so look, I’m not expecting you folks out there in the lounge to kind of give us the same depth or breadth. You know, we are here, of course, for your entertainment. Feast on our stories and dramas. But I would love to know at some point, like, what are a few, a few moments that really came to define you mathematically? Came to influence you as a teacher? I think we would do really well for each other to understand that about all of our processes. So yeah, I would just toss in a plug in for Twitter, @MTLShow, or Facebook, Math Teacher Lounge; it would be fantastic to hear from you.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (43:24):

Thanks so much for listening.

Dan Meyer (43:25):

Thanks, folks. Bye now.

Stay connected!

Join our community and get new episodes every other Tuesday!

We’ll also share new and exciting free resources for your classroom every month.

What Dan Meyer says about math teaching

“Teaching, more than other professions, is a generational profession. The kinds of joyful experiences we offer, or don’t offer, now affect the experiences students that haven’t even been born yet will have years later.”

– Dan Meyer

Meet the guests

Dan Meyer

Dan Meyer taught high school math to students who didn’t like high school math. He has advocated for better math instruction on CNN, Good Morning America, Everyday With Rachel Ray, and TED.com. He earned his doctorate from Stanford University in math education and is currently the Dean of Research at Desmos, where he explores the future of math, technology, and learning. Dan has worked with teachers internationally and in all 50 United States and was named one of Tech & Learning’s 30 Leaders of the Future.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson

Bethany Lockhart Johnson is an elementary school educator and author. Prior to serving as a multiple-subject teacher, she taught theater and dance and now loves incorporating movement and creative play into her classroom. Bethany is committed to helping students find joy in discovering their identities as mathematicians. In addition to her role as a full-time classroom teacher, Bethany is a Student Achievement Partners California Core Advocate and is active in national and local mathematics organizations. Bethany is a member of the Illustrative Mathematics Elementary Curriculum Steering Committee and serves as a consultant, creating materials to support families during distance learning.

A woman with curly hair and glasses smiles outdoors; a man with short dark hair smiles indoors in front of a blurred math teacher lounge, highlighting valuable math teacher resources.
A graphic with the text "Math Teacher Lounge with Bethany Lockhart Johnson and Dan Meyer" on colored overlapping circles.

About Math Teacher Lounge: The podcast

Math Teacher Lounge is a biweekly podcast created specifically for K–12 math educators. In each episode co-hosts Bethany Lockhart Johnson (@lockhartedu) and Dan Meyer (@ddmeyer) chat with guests, taking a deep dive into the math and educational topics you care about.

Join the Math Teacher Lounge Facebook group to continue the conversation, view exclusive content, interact with fellow educators, participate in giveaways, and more!

Welcome, Seattle Public Schools, to the next chapter in the Science of Reading, with Amplify CKLA 3rd Edition!

Amplify Core Knowledge Language Arts (CKLA) helps implement the Washington State K–12 Learning Standards for English Language Arts (Common Core State Standards) by translating the Science of Reading into manageable, engaging, and effective classroom practices. For more than a decade, Amplify CKLA has transformed classrooms nationwide with its intentional knowledge building and systematic skills instruction.

Scroll down to learn how Amplify CKLA is uniquely designed to help all your students make learning leaps in literacy.

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Our approach

Improve outcomes with a program that’s built on a decade of research and meets the strongest Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) Tier I criteria.

Diagram illustrating the Simple View of Reading model. It shows that skilled reading results from increasingly strategic language comprehension and increasingly automatic word recognition.

Grounded in the Science of Reading

As the original Science of Reading program, Amplify CKLA puts research into action with explicit, systematic foundational skills instruction and a proven knowledge-building sequence. In collaboration with education experts and practitioners, we provide powerful resources that deliver real results.

Background knowledge drives results.

Amplify CKLA follows the Core Knowledge Sequence, a content-specific, cumulative, and coherent approach to knowledge building. This approach improves reading scores and closes achievement gaps by establishing a robust knowledge base that strengthens comprehension.

In Amplify CKLA 3rd Edition, we’ve enriched our Knowledge Sequence with a wider range of perspectives and high-quality texts in new and enhanced units.

An illustrated person in a yellow shirt looks at a colorful map of Puerto Rico. Above them are two educational posters about world geography and animals, integrating elements from the k–5 literacy curriculum to enhance learning experiences.
An infographic showing the steps to pronounce

Build foundational skills for long-term success.

Students progress from simple to complex skill development starting with phonological and phonemic awareness. Instruction in Grades K–2 explicitly teaches the 150 spellings for the 44 sounds of English, following an intentional progression to ensure student success.

In our 3rd Edition, we’ve added dedicated Grade 3 foundational skills instruction that can either support core lessons or function as an intervention, based on student needs.

Daily writing deepens learning.

Grounded in the Science of Writing—the research on how kids learn to write—instruction is explicit, daily, and woven into the curriculum’s rich content. It covers both transcription (handwriting and spelling) and composition (organizing ideas into narratives) with high-impact activities like sentence-level combining and expanding, and pre-writing exercises. Writing and reading instruction are integrated so students simultaneously strengthen their communication skills, comprehension, and confidence.

A child in a green shirt smiles while writing in a notebook at a classroom desk, engaged in their k–5 literacy curriculum, with another student visible in the background.
An open laptop displaying a children's story titled

High-quality, diverse texts

Amplify CKLA students are immersed in a variety of texts—complex read-alouds, decodable chapter books, trade books, and content-rich readers—that reflect varied experiences and connect to learning goals.

Readers are 100% decodable for Grades K–2, empowering students to directly apply what they’ve learned. Novel Study units for Grades 3–5 offer a mix of contemporary and classic literature, and Culminating Research Units in every grade include a set of authentic texts and trade books.

Reach all learners with differentiated support.

Scaffolds and challenges, developed in collaboration with education experts, make content accessible to every student, including multilingual and English learners. With strategies embedded right in the curriculum, teachers can deliver in-the-moment, individualized instruction to meet diverse student needs.

For a dedicated English language development program aligned to Amplify CKLA, explore Language Studio.

Children sit on the floor in a classroom, some raising their hands, smiling and engaged. The lively atmosphere reflects the effectiveness of the k–5 literacy curriculum being implemented.

What’s included with Amplify CKLA

The comprehensive resources in Amplify CKLA 3rd Edition support effective literacy instruction in every classroom.

Download Amplify CKLA Components Guide

Download Amplify CKLA Writing Brochure

Image of a laptop displaying an assessment report, surrounded by books about astronomy, an illustration of the moon, and a
Various educational materials, including textbooks, workbooks, a picture book, documents, and a laptop displaying a slide titled

Easy-to-use teacher materials

Amplify CKLA teachers are empowered to deliver effective instruction with the following print and digital resources:

  • Teacher Guides (K–5)
  • Assessment Guides (K–5)
  • Authentic texts and trade books (K–5)
  • Knowledge Image Cards (K–2)
  • Knowledge Flip Books (K–2, digital)
  • Ready-made and customizable Presentation Screens (K–5, digital)
  • Remediation and intervention resources (K–5)
  • On-demand professional development (K–5, digital)

Immersive Amplify CKLA student resources

Amplify CKLA students stay engaged with the following print and digital resources:

  • Decodable readers (K–2)
  • Student Readers and novels (3–5)
  • Student Activity Books (K–5)
  • Poet’s Journal (3–5)
  • eReaders (K–5, digital)
  • Sound Library featuring articulation videos and songs (K–2, digital)
  • Skill-building practice games (K–5)
An open laptop displaying a poem and a person, alongside two educational booklets and a green butterfly, depicts the essence of a rich core knowledge language arts curriculum. The background includes simple graphic elements enhancing the scene.
A collection of six book covers including

Rich literary experiences

The array of high-quality, varied texts in Amplify CKLA connect to the curriculum, sparking students’ curiosity and empowering them to learn to read with confidence.

  • Trade Book Collections (K–5) inspire student research in each grade’s Culminating Research Unit.
  • Classic and contemporary literature (3–5) delight students in Novel Study Units.
  • Increasingly complex Student Readers (K–5) develop students’ literacy across grades.

Hands-on phonics materials

Multisensory phonics and foundational skills resources engage students with fun, varied approaches that promote mastery and build independence.

  • Chaining Folders and Small Letter Cards (K)
  • Read-Aloud Big Books (K–1)
  • Large Letter Cards (K–2)
  • Sound Cards (K–2)
  • Image Cards (K–3)
  • Blending Picture Cards (K)
  • Consonant and Vowel Code Posters and Spelling Cards (1–2)
  • Sound Library (K–2, digital)
Image includes various vowel sounds and combinations on flashcards and worksheets, along with a playful illustrated mammal, all part of a comprehensive literacy curriculum for elementary students.
A laptop displays a student screen showing a quiz question about word usage, part of a literacy curriculum for elementary students. Behind it, a computer monitor shows an assessment report interface. Abstract decorative elements are in the background.

All-in-one digital platform

Our comprehensive platform simplifies your day-to-day tasks and makes it easier to plan and deliver lessons.

  • Ready-made and customizable Presentation Screens
  • Auto-scored digital assessments
  • Standards-based reporting
  • Assignable skill-building games
  • Sound Library
  • eReaders

Professional development (PD)

Move beyond traditional program training with Amplify’s digital PD Library, designed to fully support your shift to the Science of Reading and Amplify CKLA. Deepen your understanding with:

  • Program and planning resources.
  • Model lesson videos from real classrooms.
  • Guidance on using Amplify’s literacy suite to provide multi-tiered support.
Two women are seated at a table with papers and a laptop. One woman is working on the literacy curriculum for elementary grades, while the other is smiling.
“Teachers love the ease of implementing the program, and students have fun while learning. Growth is evident in our data, and we have the support of Amplify experts who are available to answer questions and provide top-notch professional development.”

Bridget Vaughan, District K–8 Coordinator of ELA and Literacy

Quincy Public Schools, Massachusetts

Language Studio: Multilingual and English language learner support

Language Studio is Amplify CKLA’s dedicated K–5 program for multilingual and English language learners. Through daily 30-minute lessons, it strengthens reading, writing, speaking, and listening skills while reinforcing core instruction. This tailored support empowers students to confidently access grade-level content as they develop academic English.

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Amplify Caminos program overview

¡El futuro es bilingüe! | The future is bilingual!

Amplify Caminos is a research-based core curriculum essential for Spanish literacy and grounded in the Science of Reading.

View our Amplify Caminos Program Guide to learn our approach to foundational skills by year, view skills practice with student readers and writing, and understand how the program supports teachers in meeting the needs of all students with embedded differentiation.

Amplify Caminos offers a robust and authentic elementary Spanish language arts program for grades K–5 that promotes
biliteracy and helps teachers inspire students as they become confident readers, writers, and thinkers in Spanish.

Using the program’s two strands, Caminos Conocimiento and Caminos Lectoescritura, teachers develop student
comprehension in Spanish through a program rich in background knowledge and foundational skills activities. The texts students encounter include authentic Spanish literary works that honor Spanish language development and build deep content knowledge in social studies, science, literature, and the arts.

Amplify Caminos is designed to support a variety of bilingual and dual language instructional models to meet every student’s biliteracy needs. Combined with its English language partner, Amplify Core Knowledge Language Arts (CKLA), Amplify Caminos provides a comprehensive biliteracy solution.

A girl runs joyfully surrounded by a turtle, a soccer ball, an open book, and tropical scenery with a toucan and ancient ruins, with "¡Hola!" written above.
Illustration of the amplify caminos language comprehension model, featuring step-by-step progression from simple word recognition to skilled reading, with educational graphics and text excerpts.

Amplify Caminos delivers rich, authentic experiences.

With a robust digital experience and an expanding library of online materials, Amplify Caminos provides everything needed to support, challenge, and engage your students. From digital Teacher Guides to lesson projectables, the program includes all the tools needed to successfully deliver every lesson.

How Amplify Caminos works with Amplify CKLA

Through direct instruction, both Amplify Caminos and Amplify CKLA develop reading, writing, speaking, and listening skills in their respective languages. Together, the programs empower educators to effectively foster biliteracy with:

  • Intentional knowledge building that connects topics throughout the program.
  • Increased metalinguistic awareness from students exploring the similarities and differences in each language while strengthening their knowledge across both.
  • Instruction with high-quality Spanish and English decodable readers that provide every student with opportunities to apply skills learned and grow competency in reading.
“There were other programs that claimed to be [based on the] Science of Reading, but no other vendor provided the suite of products together. We did not want to be picking from here, picking from there. [Amplify’s literacy suite] met our needs, because it aligned and provided us the best suite of products, hands down.”

Nicole Peterson, Principal, Midway Middle School

Sampson County Schools, North Carolina

Demo access

Explore the Amplify CKLA teacher digital resources.

First, watch the quick navigation video to the right. Then, follow the directions below.

  • Go to: learning.amplify.com or click the Access CKLA Teacher Digital button below.
  • Select Log in with Amplify.
  • Enter the following information:
    • Teacher username: t1.seattle_sd_ckla@demo.tryamplify.net
    • Teacher password: Amplify1-seattle_sd_ckla
    • Student username: s1.seattle_sd_ckla@demo.tryamplify.net
    • Student password: Amplify1-seattle_sd_ckla
  • Please note, these demo accounts expire on: February 26, 2026
  • Click the CKLA button.
  • Select your desired grade level from the Program drop down.

Follow the directions below to access the Student Resource Site:

  • Go to: learning.amplify.com or click the Access CKLA Student Digital button below.
  • Select Log in with Amplify.
  • Enter the following information:
    • Teacher username: t1.seattle_sd_ckla@demo.tryamplify.net
    • Teacher password: Amplify1-seattle_sd_ckla
    • Student username: s1.seattle_sd_ckla@demo.tryamplify.net
    • Student password: Amplify1-seattle_sd_ckla
  • Please note, these demo accounts expire on: February 26, 2026
  • From the main page, click the backpack in the top right corner.
  • Click on the grade level to select your desired grade.

Inspiring the next generation of Rochester scientists, engineers, and curious scholars

Dear Rochester educator,

We’re extremely excited to be part of your science review process.

Built from the ground up for three-dimensional, phenomena-based learning, Amplify Science helps your Rochester scholars go from learning about to figuring out scientific concepts.

Explore the sections below and learn how Amplify creates rigorous, relevant learning experiences for the next generation of scientists, engineers, and curious citizens.

—Jennifer Fosegan, Rochester Senior Account Executive

Standards-based and grounded in research

Amplify Science is an engaging new core curriculum designed for three-dimensional, phenomena-based learning. Developed by the science education experts at UC Berkeley’s Lawrence Hall of Science and the digital learning team at Amplify, our program is used by hundreds of schools across the country, including New York City Public Schools, Chicago Public Schools, and Denver Public Schools.

Amplify Science was designed from the ground up to meet the Next Generation Science Standards. To ensure alignment to the New York State Science Learning Standards (NYSSLS), our partners at the New York City Department of Education created additional resources that can be made available for RCSD to implement.

Instructional model

The Amplify Science program is rooted in the proven, research-based pedagogy of Do, Talk, Read, Write, Visualize. Here’s how each element works:

Phenomena-based approach

In each Amplify Science unit, students take on the roles of scientists or engineers in order to investigate a real-world problem. Students work to define the problem and collect and make sense of evidence. Once the context is clear, students collect evidence from multiple sources and through a variety of modalities.

At the end of the unit, students are presented with a brand-new problem, giving them an opportunity to apply what they’ve learned over the course of the unit to a new context. This represents a shift from asking students to learn about science to supporting students in figuring out the science.

Resources to support your review

What’s included

COMPONENT

FORMAT

Teacher’s Guides and digital experience

Available digitally and in print, the Teacher’s Guides contain all of the information teachers need to facilitate classroom instruction, including detailed lesson plans, classroom slides, high-level overview documentation, differentiation strategies, standards alignments, materials and preparation steps, teacher support strategies, and in-context professional development, possible student responses, and more.

Print and digital

Hands-on materials kits

Hands-on learning is integrated into every unit of Amplify Science. Each hands-on activity is supported through clear instructions for the teacher, as well as easily accessible materials in unit-specific kits. Each kit contains hands-on materials, both consumable and nonconsumable, and various print materials (e.g., Vocabulary and Key Concept cards). With Amplify Science, students can actively participate in science: gathering evidence, thinking critically, making observations, and communicating their claims

Kit

COMPONENT

FORMAT

Student Investigation Notebooks

Available for every unit, the Student Investigation Notebooks contain instructions for activities and space for students to record data, reflect on ideas from texts and investigations, and construct explanations and arguments.

Print and digital

Student books

The age-appropriate Student Books in Amplify Science allow students to engage with content-rich text, obtain evidence, develop research and close reading skills, and construct arguments and explanations about the ideas they are learning in class.

Print and digital

Student digital experience

Students can easily engage with the student digital experience, so effective learning can occur in every type of classroom environment.

In grades 4–5, students are introduced to digital simulations. Developed exclusively for Amplify Science, these digital tools serve as venues of exploration and data collection, allowing students to discover and construct their understanding of science concepts and phenomena.

Digital

Spanish parity

Amplify Science is committed to providing support to meet the needs of all learners. For Spanish-speaking students, greater access to rich science content is achieved with Amplify Science through the use of a pedagogical approach that offers multiple points of entry. In addition, Spanish language supports are available across the curriculum, including Spanish kits that offer Spanish versions of all student-facing print materials, as well as Spanish digital licenses for teachers. Learn more about the Spanish components available across Amplify Science.

The same rigor in terms of scientific accuracy, literacy development, and the use of rich content and language in the creation of the Amplify Science Spanish materials. To ensure equity, all Spanish materials were carefully translated using academic Spanish, paying particular attention to consistency and the use of grade-level-appropriate language in order to support language development.

Review online

Ready to explore on your own? Follow the instructions below to access your demo account.

First, watch this navigation video. Then, click the orange button “Log in to Amplify Science” to log in.

  • Select Log in with Amplify.
  • Enter username and password:
    • Teacher username: t1.rcsdtrial@demo.tryamplify.net
    • Student username: s1.rcsdtrial@demo.tryamplify.net
    • Password (both teacher and student): Amplify1-rcsdtrial

Disciplinary Core Ideas (DCI) review
Each Amplify Science unit is designed around a unit-specific learning progression that aligns with NGSS disciplinary core ideas (DCI) and crosscutting concepts. The levels that comprise the unit’s learning progression are cumulative. As students progress through the unit, they are able to integrate prior understandings with new insights, and there are continuing opportunities for students to master conceptual understanding of early unit content in subsequent chapters of the unit.

This means that standards are often addressed across entire units instead of in one particular activity or lesson. Thus, the lessons noted below are examples of where the concept represented in the listed DCI is addressed, but this list should not be considered exhaustive. Instead, students have frequent opportunities to engage with these ideas throughout the unit, the grade, and the grade band. 

To view the specified lessons, explore our RCSD Digital Review Guide or select a grade level below.

DCI ESS2.D: Weather and Climate
Before you begin reviewing these lessons, make sure to locate the following Student Books from your Unit Kit: What is the Weather Like Today? and Tornado! Predicting Severe Weather

Select the Sunlight and Weather unit, click Chapter 1, and locate the lessons below:

Lesson 1.1

  • Activities 2 and 3, Step-by-step tab
  • Student bookWhat is the Weather Like Today? (note: located in your Unit Kit)

Lesson 1.2

  • Activities 1 and 3, Step-by-step tab

Lesson 1.3

  • Activities 1 and 2, Step-by-step tab

Lesson 1.4

  • Lesson Brief, Digital Resources, “Playground Weather Calendars and Playground Weather Graphs (Completed)”
  • Activity 1, Step-by-step tab (especially steps 5, 9, and 10) and Teacher Support tab (“Assessment, Assessment Opportunity: Assessing Students’ Understanding of Types of Weather”)

Lesson 5.1

  • Activity 1, Step-by-step tab (especially steps 6–7) and Teacher Support, Assessment tab (“Assessment Opportunity: Assessing Students’ Understanding of Weather and Why We Measure It”)
  • Student book, Tornado! Predicting Severe Weather (note: located in your Unit Kit), pages 6–9

DCI PS4.A: Wave Properties
Before you begin reviewing these lessons, make sure to locate the following materials from your Unit Kit: Light and Sound Student Investigation Notebook; Student Book: What Vibrates?

Select the Light and Sound unit, click Chapter 4, and locate the lessons below:

Lesson 4.1

  • Lesson Brief, Digital Resources, “Assessment Guide”
  • Activity 3, Step-by-step tab (especially steps 1–12)
  • Light and Sound Student Investigation Notebook, page 24 (note: located in your Unit Kit)

Lesson 4.2

  • Activity 2, Step-by-step tab and On-the-Fly Assessment (hummingbird icon)
  • Activity 3, Step-by-step tab and On-the-Fly Assessment (hummingbird icon)
  • Activity 4, Instructional Guide
  • Student bookWhat Vibrates? (note: located in your Unit Kit)
  • Light and Sound Student Investigation Notebook, page 25 (note: located in your Unit Kit)

Lesson 4.3

  • Lesson Brief, Digital Resources, “I Hear a Sound. What Vibrates? Mini-Book copymaster”
  • Activity 1, Step-by-step tab (especially steps 5–11, 13), and Teacher Support tab (“Instructional Suggestion, Going Further: Sound Can Cause Vibrations”)
  • Activity 3, Step-by-step tab
  • Activity 4, Step-by-step tab and On-the-Fly Assessment (hummingbird icon)

DCI LS2.A: Interdependent Relationships in Ecosystems
Before you begin reviewing these lessons, make sure to locate the following materials from your Unit Kit: Plant and Animal Relationships Student Investigation Notebook; Student book A Plant is a System.

Select the Plant and Animal Relationships unit, click Chapter 1, and locate the lessons below:

Lesson 1.6

  • Activities 2–4, Step-by-step tab
  • Plant and Animal Relationships Student Investigation Notebook (note: located in your Unit Kit), pages 15–19

Lesson 1.7

  • Activity 2, Step-by-step tab, Possible Responses tab, and Critical Juncture Assessment (hummingbird icon)
  • Activity 3, Step-by-step tab

Lesson 2.2

  • Activity 2, Step-by-step tab (especially steps 4–12) and Possible Responses tab
  • Student bookA Plant is a System (note: located in your Unit Kit)

DCI ESS2.D: Weather and Climates
Before you begin reviewing these lessons, make sure to locate the following materials from your Unit Kit: Weather and Climate Student Investigation Notebook; Student Books Dangerous Weather Ahead and Sky Notebook.

Select the Weather and Climate unit, click Chapter 4, and locate the lessons below:

Lesson 1.4

  • Activity 2, Step-by-step tab 
  • Student bookSky Notebook (note: located in your Unit Kit)

Lesson 2.3

  • Activity 3, Step-by-step tab and Possible Responses tab
  • Weather and Climate Student Investigation Notebook, page 28 (note: located in your Unit Kit)

Lesson 3.2

  • Lesson Brief, Digital Resources, “Anchorage, Queenstown, and Saint Petersburg Graphs copymaster”
  • Activities 2 and 3, Step-by-step tab

Lesson 3.3,

  • Activity 2, Step-by-step tab, Possible Responses tab, and On-the-Fly Assessment (hummingbird icon)

Lesson 3.6

  • Activity 1, Step-by-step tab (especially steps 3–5) and On-the-Fly Assessment (hummingbird icon)

Lesson 3.7

  • Lesson Brief,  Digital Resources, “End-of-Unit Writing: Arguing About Future Island Weather Version A copymaster” and “Assessment Guide”
  • Activity 3, Step-by-step tab (especially steps 3–7)

Lesson 4.2

  • Activity 2, Step-by-step tab, Possible Responses tab, and On-the-Fly Assessment (hummingbird icon)
  • Student book, Dangerous Weather Ahead (note: located in your Unit Kit)

DCI PS4.A: Wave Properties
Before you begin reviewing these lessons, make sure to locate the following materials from your Unit Kit: Student books Warning: Tsunami! and Patterns in Communication.

Select the Waves, Energy, and Information unit, click Chapters 1 and 3, and locate the lessons below:

Chapter 1

Lesson 1.4

  • Activity 1, Step-by-step tab (especially steps 1, and 4)
  • Student bookWarning: Tsunami! (note: located in your Unit Kit)
  • Activity 2, Step-by-step tab, On-the-Fly Assessment (hummingbird icon), and Teacher Support tab (“Instructional Suggestion, Providing More Experience: Waves in Water”)

Chapter 3

Lesson 3.1

  • Activity 2, Step-by-step tab (especially steps 4–8) and On-the-Fly Assessment (hummingbird icon)
  • Activity 3, Step-by-step tab and Waves, Energy, and Information Simulation

Lesson 3.2

  • Activity 3, Step-by-step tab, On-the-Fly Assessment (hummingbird icon), and Waves, Energy, and Information Simulation 

Lesson 3.3

  • Activity 4, Step-by-step tab and On-the-Fly Assessment (hummingbird icon)
  • Student bookPatterns in Communication (note: located in your Unit Kit), pages 6–7

DCI LS2.A: Interdependent Relationships in Ecosystems
Before you begin reviewing these lessons, make sure to take out the following materials from your Unit Kit: Student books Restoration Case Studies and Walk in the Woods; Organism Print Name Cards: Set 1.

Select the Ecosystem Restoration unit, click Chapters 1, 2, and 3, and locate the lessons below:

Lesson 1.6

  • Activity 2, Step-by-step tab, Possible Responses tab, and Ecosystem Modeling Tool (Box 2 on student apps page, “1.6 Healthy Ecosystem Model”)
  • Activity 3, Step-by-step tab (especially steps 2 and 3), Possible Responses tab, and Critical Juncture Assessment (hummingbird icon)

Lesson 1.7

  • Activity 2, Step-by-step tab
  • Activity 3, Step-by-step tab (especially steps 3–7) and On-the-Fly Assessment (hummingbird icon)
  • Printable Resources, Print Materials (8.5” x 11”), Organism Name Cards: Set 1, pages 12–17 (note: located in your Unit Kit)

Lesson 1.8

  • Activity 3, Step-by-step tab (especially steps 6–8) and Possible Responses tab

Lesson 2.3

  • Activity 3, Step-by-step tab (especially steps 1–4), Possible Responses tab, and Ecosystem Modeling Tool (Box 3 on student apps page, “2.3 Plant Needs Model”)

Lesson 2.5

  • Activity 3, Step-by-step tab
  • Student bookRestoration Case Studies (note: located in your Unit Kit)

Lesson 3.2

  • Activity 2, Step-by-step tab
  • Student bookWalk in the Woods (note: located in your Unit Kit), pages 6–10

Lesson 3.3

  • Activity 4, Step-by-step tab and Ecosystem Restoration Simulation

Lesson 3.4

  •  Activity 2, Step-by-step tab, Possible Responses tab, On-the-Fly Assessment (hummingbird icon), and Ecosystem Restoration Simulation

Lesson 3.5

  • Activity 2, Step-by-step tab and Teacher Support tab (“Instructional Suggestion, Going Further: Balance and Interdependence of Ecosystems: Impacts of Invasive Species”)
  • Student bookRestoration Case Studies (note: located in your Unit Kit), pages 11, 31, and 47

Lesson 3.6

  • Activity 2, Step-by-step tab (especially steps 4–5), Possible Responses tab, and Critical Juncture Assessment (hummingbird icon)

Lesson 3.7

  • Activity 1, Step-by-step tab, Possible Responses tab, and Ecosystem Modeling Tool (Box 5 on student apps page, “3.7 No Decomposers Model”)

Looking for help?

Contact your Rochester Account Executive:

Jennifer Fosegan
(585) 590-4200
jfosegan@amplify.com

Welcome to Amplify!

A powerful partnership

Amplify Science was developed by the science education experts at UC Berkeley’s Lawrence Hall of Science and the digital learning team at Amplify.

The word "Amplify" is written in orange bold letters with a period at the end against a white background.
The logo for The Lawrence Hall of Science, University of California, Berkeley, features blue text on a light background and is recognized by educators using Amplify Science for middle school science programs.

Remote learning resources

Click the link below to access our remote learning resources. Content includes: Lesson Guides, Student Investigation notebook pages, unit-specific books and articles, Classroom Slides, home investigations, and video recordings of teachers teaching the lessons for every grade level!

For FCPS modeled lessons, videos, and content click here.

Fayette Navigator site

Click the orange button below to access the Fayette County Public Schools Navigator site which includes all district specific information on K–8 curriculum.

Administrator resources

Resources for grades K–5

Click the button below for elementary school resources for grades K–5.

Resources for grades 6–8

Click the button below for middle school resources for grades 6–8.

Professional learning support

Learn more about professional learning support in Lexington from Patti Works, Amplify’s Professional Learning Partner.

Caregiver resources

Click the button below to visit our brand-new Caregiver Resources Site, with overview information for families about the Next Generation Science Standards and Amplify Science, as well as resources to support back-to-school nights at your school.

Spanish resources

Student facing materials available in Spanish include the Student Books (K–5) and the Student Investigation Notebooks (K–8), as well as printed classroom materials and assessments (K–8).

Click here for more information on K–5 Spanish resources.

Click here for more information on 6–8 Spanish resources.

Tech requirements

To ensure that your hardware and network meet the minimum technical requirements for optimal performance and support of your digital curriculum products, please see Amplify’s customer requirements page.

To ensure access to Amplify Science, add the URLs on this page to the corresponding district or school-level filters.

Help

Our technical and program support is included and available from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. ET, Monday through Friday, through a variety of channels, including a live chat program that enables teachers to get immediate help in the middle of the school day.

For your most urgent questions:

  • Use our live chat within your program
  • Call our toll-free number: (800) 823-1969

For questions regarding ongoing support, professional learning, partnerships and implementation:

Contact: 

Chrissy Affleck , Senior Educational Partnerships Manager, caffleck@amplify.com

Patricia Works, Professional Learning Specialist, pworks@amplify.com

For less urgent questions:

ELD Review for Denver Public Schools

Welcome, Denver Public Schools, to Amplify CKLA’s English Language Development (ELD) program, Language Studio! Language Studio works in tandem with Amplify CKLA, your core ELA program, to help English language learners build proficiency in English while ensuring that every ELD lesson is connected to the core to extend students’ knowledge.

Below you will find information on Language Studio and additional information on Amplify CKLA in case it is a useful refresher. In the “Access demo” section, you will find digital access credentials and directions. We hope you find this information helpful in your review. Please don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any questions. Thank you!

Illustration featuring diverse cultural and historical elements like an african woman, an egyptian sphinx, a space rocket, and urban and natural landscapes under a starry sky.

Language Studio

Amplify CKLA’s English Language Development (ELD) program—Language Studio— helps English language learners (ELLs) preview and revisit key content within core instruction, building a foundation of academic vocabulary and background knowledge. Core instruction lessons include point-of-use supports for ELLs, and Support and Challenge strategies for all learners. Click here for an overview of Language Studio and its components.

Supported by the latest ELD and WIDA Prime V2 standards, Language Studio follows the CKLA Knowledge domains, previewing and reinforcing skills and content from core instruction using instruction specifically built for students learning English. The program is also designed around frequent formative assessment, including assessment of language proficiency, giving you effective ways to guide and support your ELLs.

Young boy with his hands over his mouth, looking up in wonder, beside a diagram labeled "language studio" with educational elements.

Language Studio supports teachers and English language learners through the following:

  • 30 minutes of instruction with lesson segments are carefully designed around Content Knowledge, Meaning Making, Language Development, Effective Expression, and Foundational Skills.
  • Every Language Studio lesson accompanies a core lesson, helping ELLs deepen domain and academic vocabulary that will help them access core content.
  • Culminating tasks support core projects and target the same skills as primary instruction.

To access Language Studio grade-level program guides, please click the links below:

Program Guide: Grade K

Program Guide: Grade 1

Program Guide: Grade 2

Program Guide: Grades 3-5

Recognized Quality

Amplify CKLA is one of only a few high-quality, knowledge-building literacy curricula recognized by the Knowledge Matters campaign. Our shared message: Background knowledge is essential to literacy and learning.

Diagram displaying the "knowledge matters campaign" with connections between "core knowledge language arts comprehension," "skills word recognition," and "amplify ckla skilled reading.

Independently and rigorously reviewed

Amplify CKLA not only received an all-green rating from the rigorous evaluators at EdReports, but it was also recently recognized by the Knowledge Matters Campaign as a literacy program that excels in building knowledge.

Intentional knowledge-building

Watching students learn to read: magic. Knowing how they get there: science. The Science of Reading reveals knowledge as an essential pillar of reading comprehension and lifelong literacy. Hear from author Natalie Wexler and CKLA customers on edWebinar about the importance of knowledge-building in reading instruction.

Program Overview

Amplify CKLA is a core ELA program for grades K–5 that delivers:

  • A unique research-based approach truly built on the Science of Reading.
  • A combination of explicit foundational skills with meaningful knowledge building.
  • Embedded support and differentiation that gets all students reading grade-level texts together.
  • Opportunities for students to see the strengths and experiences that all people share while also celebrating each others’ unique identities and experiences.
  • Equitable and authentic Spanish language arts instruction with Amplify Caminos.

Amplify CKLA for Grades K–2

After watching the K–2 video below, scroll down to learn even more, download resources, and access a demo.

Amplify CKLA for Grades 3–5

After watching the 3–5 video below, scroll down to learn even more, download resources, and access a demo.

How it works

Amplify CKLA teaches both foundational skills and background knowledge in K–2 and combines them in 3–5, as required by the science of reading.

  • In grades K–2, students complete one full lesson that builds foundational reading skills, as well as one full lesson that builds background knowledge.
  • In grades 3–5, student complete one integrated lesson that combines skills and knowledge with increasingly complex texts, close reading, and a greater writing emphasis.
Colorful, curved lines intersect and converge on a black background, forming an abstract pattern with blue, yellow, orange and red hues.

Rich topics

Amplify CKLA builds knowledge coherently across subjects and grades.

Students make connections from year-to-year by exploring grade-appropriate subject-area knowledge and vocabulary in history, science, literature, and the arts while learning to read, write, and think creatively and for themselves.

Illustration showing diverse cultural representations: two native american figures, a bear in a forest, and a medieval european woman, all set against colorful abstract backgrounds.

Diverse text

Amplify CKLA puts a variety of texts in the hands of students every day to build and strengthen background knowledge and vocabulary, listening and reading comprehension, and decoding and fluency skills.

More than that, we ensure the texts students read represent the world around them. With a diverse range of authors, topics, and characters, all students have ample access to both windows and mirrors. Our texts include:

  • authentic books.
  • authentic text passages.
  • student readers.
  • novel guides (grades 3–5).
A collage of six diverse children's book covers featuring themes of nature, science, history, and biographies.

Universal access

We believe we have a responsibility to provide literacy instruction that gives every student the same opportunity to succeed and excel.

We know that early reading affects achievement throughout school and beyond—well into college and career. Yet most literacy programs continue to fall short of supporting early literacy success. That’s why we’re so proud that CKLA is helping close the reading gap between students within diverse communities.

A young boy with glasses reading a book, surrounded by illustrations of a telescope, a grasshopper, and a pirate flag on a pear.

Complete curriculum

A strong literacy program is not just about a reading program or an assessment tool: it brings together curriculum, instruction, regular practice, intervention, and assessments.

Amplify has brought these components together in our early literacy suite of curriculum, ensure that you have what you need for multi-tiered support.

Access demo

Ready to explore on your own? Follow the instructions below to access your demo account.

Explore Language Studio

Language Studio resources are on the CKLA site, making it easy for teachers to find and utilize them. Here are the directions to access them:

  • Click the CKLA Teacher Digital Site button
  • Select Log in with Amplify.
  • Enter this username: t1.dpseld@demo.tryamplify.net
  • Enter this password: Amplify1-dpseld
  • Once logged in, click CKLA on the left hand side
  • In the “Program” drop down at the top of the page, select “Language Studio Resources” at the bottom of the drop down
  • Choose your desired grade level

Contact Us

If you have any questions or need more information, please contact:

Senior Account Executive

719-964-4501

mlammers@amplify.com

Amplify Classroom and Polypad free and commercial use guidelines

If you’d like to use Amplify’s tools or content in your work, please review these guidelines to determine if your specific use is allowed and whether you need to submit a request for approval.

Overview

Amplify Classroom offers free prebuilt interactive and print-based lessons, interactive lesson-building tools, and Polypad virtual manipulatives. See amplify.com/classroom and polypad.amplify.com for more information.

Amplify Classroom features:

  • Activity Builder (labeled “Custom Activities” in the platform): This content-creating and publishing tool enables educators to create their own interactive lessons and edit existing lessons.
  • Polypad virtual manipulatives: These virtual manipulatives allow teachers and students to explore concepts, express their creativity, and visualize their thinking. Polypad virtual manipulatives can be embedded directly into lessons via Activity Builder or used as a stand-alone, dynamic workspace.
  • Computation Layer: This feature enables educators to further customize lessons created with Activity Builder. Computation Layer is the code that allows components within the lessons to “talk” to one another, enabling users to connect representations; customize content; and provide dynamic, interpretive feedback. Computation Layer is accessible through Activity Builder.

Amplify Classroom includes activities and lessons across many subjects, created by the thousands of educators on our platform. Content created by Amplify is tagged “By Amplify,” “By Amplify Classroom,” or “By Desmos Classroom.”

Amplify also publishes paid core curriculum programs, including Amplify Desmos MathAmplify ScienceAmplify CKLAAmplify Caminos, and Amplify ELA. These products can be reviewed and purchased by schools or districts interested in comprehensive resources aligned to standards and designed to motivate students. Some of the lessons that are free to use on Amplify Classroom (labeled Try It! lessons) are also part of these paid products. Learn more about our products and request a sample.

Amplify Classroom tools and content (other than paid products) are free for personal, educational, and non-commercial use, subject to our Acceptable Use Policy and Usage Guidelines. These guidelines also permit certain commercial uses. You generally don’t need to submit a request to use our free tools and resources for the permitted purposes covered in these guidelines. As long as you are following our Acceptable Use Policy and Usage Guidelines, as well as making appropriate Attributions and Disclaimers, you are permitted to move forward with your project. To make sure your use is permitted, please read these guidelines thoroughly and in their entirety. If you would like to explore a license for a use not permitted here, please submit this form.

Amplify does not own but partners with Desmos Studio, the maker of a suite of free math tools, including a graphing calculator used by over 75 million people around the world. (See desmos.com for more information.) Please contact Desmos Studio for information on using their content or tools.

Usage guidelines

Please adhere to the following guidelines for using Amplify Classroom tools and content in each of the scenarios set out below. You are required to follow our General Guidelines and Attribution requirements below when making permitted uses. You are responsible for clearing any third party marks and content you use in your applications or publications.

Uses labeled “PERMITTED USES” do not require permission, and you do not need to tell us about them—but we do appreciate hearing from you! Feel free to fill out this form to tell us about how you are using our tools and materials, and the ways in which you are finding them useful.

Uses labeled “CONTACT US” do require permission. If you are interested in such use, please submit this form, and someone from our team will endeavor to follow up with you as soon as possible.

Teaching and education services

This section provides guidelines on using Amplify Classroom for teaching and education services.

PERMITTED USES A green checkmark symbol on a light background. Educators creating, modifying (where permitted), and using Amplify Classroom content for classroom teaching in a school
  A green checkmark symbol on a light background. Public school districts, charter schools, and networks creating, modifying (where permitted) and using Amplify Classroom content for classroom teaching
  A green checkmark symbol on a light background. Private tutors creating or using Amplify Classroom content in 1:1 or small-group tutoring sessions
CONTACT US A large red "X" symbol on a light gray background. For-profit school or network of schools implementing Amplify Classroom for the school or network
  A large red "X" symbol on a light gray background. Education publishers and EdTech organizations (whether for profit or non-profit) using or linking to Amplify Classroom content and tools
  A large red "X" symbol on a light gray background. Any organizations or individuals embedding the teaching and learning experience from the Amplify Classroom lessons in their websites or applications (except API/iFrames Polypad integrations permitted below)
  A large red "X" symbol on a light gray background. Educators or other individuals authoring lessons for commercial purposes (e.g., to sell on Teachers Pay Teachers and similar websites)
  A large red "X" symbol on a light gray background. School districts, states, education publishers or technology providers, educators or any other individual or organization (whether for profit or non-profit) using Amplify Classroom content or platform to create paid curricula, educational courses, assessments, or any materials or curricula for submission for a state adoption list; or for offering, marketing, or sale to any schools or educational agencies or organizations, in or outside of the U.S.
  A large red "X" symbol on a light gray background. Instructional/tutoring organizations (whether for profit or non-profit), seeking to use Amplify Classroom for its tutors or instructors

Print and presentations

This section provides guidelines on including content from Amplify Classroom, such as portions of free lessons or images generated using our tools, in printed materials or presentations.

PERMITTED USES A green checkmark symbol on a light background. Books, including textbooks, up to two thousand copies
  A green checkmark symbol on a light background. Periodicals (newspapers, magazines, journals, etc.)
  A green checkmark symbol on a light background. Business documents such as company reports, proposals, presentations, etc.
  A green checkmark symbol on a light background. Academic publications, research papers, Ph.D. theses, and portfolios
  A green checkmark symbol on a light background. Conferences, presentations and accompanying slides
CONTACT US A large red "X" symbol on a light gray background. Books, more than two thousand copies, or as cover art for a book
  A large red "X" symbol on a light gray background. As content within platforms, mobile and tablet applications, PDFs, ebooks, multimedia materials, or other digital resources or products
  A large red "X" symbol on a light gray background. Consumer and retail goods or packaging (e.g., shirts, beach towels, shower curtains, mugs, posters, stationery)

Web and apps

This section provides guidelines for embedding Amplify Classroom tools into your platform.

PERMITTED USESA green checkmark symbol on a light background.Individuals and schools embedding Polypad in their materials for instructional use are permitted to do so; for integration options, see below.
 A green checkmark symbol on a light background.Organizations (whether for profit or non-profit) offering paid services embedding Polypad with <10k requests per year
CONTACT USA large red "X" symbol on a light gray background.Organizations (whether for profit or non-profit) offering paid services embedding Polypad with >10k requests per year
 A large red "X" symbol on a light gray background.Individuals or organizations looking to embed Activity Builder/Computation Layer in their applications
 A large red "X" symbol on a light gray background.Individuals or organizations looking to embed Amplify Classroom tools in larger applications, more complex integrations, white-labeling, or hosting Amplify’s JS files on their own infrastructure
 A large red "X" symbol on a light gray background.Polypad links, screenshots, iFrames, or API uses behind a paywall

Polypad integration options

There are two integration options for using Polypad within your own applications, including:

  • Using iFrames hosted by Amplify.
  • As a white-labeled JavaScript API that can be self-hosted and embedded in other websites or apps.

Developers can customize the features and behavior through numerous options and event listeners, and interact with the canvas programmatically to build custom functionality.

Visit the Polypad API page to learn more about Polypad API license terms and to generate API Key.

General guidelines

Copyright fair use

Your use of our content may be acceptable under principles of fair use (or other similar concepts in other countries). Under the fair use doctrine of the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, it is permissible to use limited portions of a work for purposes such as commentary, criticism, news reporting, research, and scholarly reports.

Whether a particular use qualifies as fair use depends on a number of factors. For more information see resources from the U.S. Copyright Office, Circular 21Reproductions of Copyrighted Works by Educators and Librarians, and Fair Use Index. Amplify can’t tell you if your use of this content would be fair use, so you may wish to obtain your own legal advice.

Use of trademarks

Our trademarks are valuable assets of Amplify and its licensors, and we want to ensure our users and partners use them correctly. These trademarks include the Amplify word mark and logo, Polypad word mark, Core Knowledge Foundation word mark and logo, the Lawrence Hall of Science word mark and logo, and the Desmos and Amplify Classroom word marks and logos.

Logos

Our logos can only be used if you have an existing partnership, and you’ve reached out to your Amplify contact to secure formal approval from Amplify’s brand team.

Logos must never be used in a way that implies an endorsement or affiliation with Amplify where such a relationship does not exist.

Please contact media@amplify.com if you need to use an Amplify or Amplify Classroom logo.

Please contact Desmos Studio for Desmos Studio branding guidelines and licensing.

Use of product names and features

If making a use permitted under these guidelines or approved by Amplify, you may use the Amplify name or one of our product names or features in plain text to indicate that your product or service integrates with, or relates to, an Amplify product or service.

However, all references must be honest and accurate, and you can’t incorporate these names into your own name or imply an endorsement by Amplify or any of its licensors.

REQUIREDA green checkmark symbol on a light background.Use the complete name “Amplify Classroom” when referencing the platform.
 A green checkmark symbol on a light background.Use “Amplify Classroom lessons” when talking about specific lessons authored in the Amplify Classroom platform.
 A green checkmark symbol on a light background.Use “Teacher-created Amplify Classroom lessons” or “[Company name]-authored Amplify Classroom lessons” when talking about a lesson that has been authored by anyone other than Amplify personnel.
 A green checkmark symbol on a light background.Include required attribution and disclaimers.
PROHIBITEDA large red "X" symbol on a light gray background.Do not imply an endorsement or affiliation with Amplify where such a relationship does not exist.

Attribution and disclaimers

You are required to include a link to the homepage of Amplify Classroom (amplify.com/classroom) and a prominent disclaimer of affiliation when making permissible uses described above in at least one place in your materials, preferably the cover page or landing page.

Visit Amplify Classroom for free lessons, lesson-building tools, and Polypad virtual manipulatives at amplify.com/classroom. This content is not affiliated with, sponsored by, or endorsed by Amplify or any of its licensors. Amplify®, Amplify Classroom, and related trademarks are the property of Amplify Education, Inc.

If your current attribution language refers to Desmos Classroom, please update the attribution to “Amplify Classroom” instead of “Desmos Classroom.”

Contact us

Amplify Classroom and Polypad usage inquiry form for uses labeled “Contact Us”

Thank you for your interest in using Amplify Classroom and/or Polypad. If your intended use falls into one of the categories labeled “Contact us,” please fill out this form, so we can determine the appropriate permissions or licenses:

Country(Required)
Agreement and Next Steps(Required)

Amplify Classroom and Polypad usage inquiry form for uses labeled “Permitted”

Thank you for your interest in using Amplify Classroom and/or Polypad. If your intended use falls under the “Permitted” categories outlined in our use guidelines, please let us know by filling out the form below. This helps us understand how our tools are being used.

Note: If your intended use falls under one of the “CONTACT US” categories outlined in our use guidelines, please fill out this form.

Amplify Classroom and Polypad Permitted Use Form

Amplify Science

Amplify Science is Chicago Public Schools’ recommended K–8 core science instructional material. Looking for support ordering? Contact ScienceCPS@amplify.com or (855) 559-5757.

A powerful partnership

Amplify Science was developed by the science education experts at UC Berkeley’s Lawrence Hall of Science and the digital learning team at Amplify.

Learn more about the Lawrence Hall of Science.

Looking for pricing or ordering support? Email scienceCPS@amplify.com or call (855) 559-5757.

What sets Amplify Science apart?

  • Authored by the industry-leading science curriculum team at U.C. Berkeley’s Lawrence Hall of Science, who have 50 years of experience in K–12 science education and who will continue to enhance and update the program for years to come
  • New curriculum built to meet 100% of the Next Generation Science Standards
  • State-of-the-art, highly engaging curriculum that invites students to take on the role of a scientist or engineer in every unit to solve relevant real-world problems
  • Flexible, truly blended program that combines comprehensive print components and compelling online content with hands-on learning in every unit
  • Robust teacher support for ease of use by a wide range of teachers in diverse classroom contexts, with carefully crafted lessons, standards alignment, differentiation strategies, and ELL supports throughout the program
  • Embedded assessments throughout the program, including both formative and summative assessments for every grade level

Grades K–5 overview

Each unit focuses on a specific learning goal in the form of an overarching unit question. Rather than following linear steps in an experiment, the program leaves room for students to make connections across concepts and make their own discoveries. In this way, Amplify Science replicates the realities and ambiguities of scientific research and thinking.

Learn more about the program structure
Download the K–5 unit sequence
NGSS correlations
Hear from K–5 teachers

Amplify Science blends physical materials with a suite of digital tools, presenting students with the resources they need to investigate real-world problems, and empowering and supporting teachers as they lead instruction and gain insight into student growth and progress.

  • Student Investigation Notebooks for every unit allow students to interact with content while taking notes, answering questions, and conducting investigations. Review a sample from the Grade 2 Plant and Animal Relationships unit.
  • Student Books enhance science topics and allow students to practice reading within the science content area.
  • Instructional materials for teachers. The Amplify Science curriculum website hosts all lesson content, media, digital simulations, and more, and is the primary tool “open” for teachers during class time. You can view complete unit samples by accessing the curriculum at the bottom of this page.
  • Robust digital simulations (grades 4–5) and digital applications, developed exclusively for the Amplify Science program. Supported devices include: iPad 3+, Chromebook, Windows PC, and MacBook.
  • Unit kits for each unit in the program including consumable and nonconsumable hands-on materials, printed classroom display materials, and the students books.
  • Embedded formative and summative assessments are meant to support and guide student instruction.

View an on-demand webinar.

Grades 6–8 overview

Each unit focuses on a specific learning goal in the form of an overarching unit question. Rather than following linear steps in an experiment, the program leaves room for students to make connections across concepts and make their own discoveries. In this way, Amplify Science replicates the realities and ambiguities of scientific research and thinking.

Beginning in school year 2018-19, Chicago Public Schools recommends that schools follow the integrated scope and sequence for middle school science. The decision to shift from discipline-specific to integrated science was informed by a group of 30 CPS middle school science teachers who served on an Advisory Team during school year 2017-18 as well as guidance from other state and national committees with expertise in implementing the Next Generation Science Standards. Amplify’s 6–8 curriculum and CPS’ 2018-19 REACH Performance Tasks align to the integrated scope and sequence.

Learn about the program structure
Download the 6–8 unit sequence
NGSS correlations
Learn about the flexible, blended program

Amplify Science blends physical materials with a suite of digital tools, presenting students with the resources they need to investigate real-world problems, and empowering and supporting teachers as they lead instruction and gain insight into student growth and progress.

  • Student Investigation Notebooks for every unit allow students to interact with content while taking notes, answering questions, and conducting investigations. Review a sample from Metabolism.
  • Instructional materials for teachers. The Amplify Science curriculum website hosts all lesson content, media, digital simulations, and more, and is the primary tool “open” for teachers during class time. You can view complete unit samples by accessing the curriculum at the bottom of this page.
  • Robust digital simulations and digital applications, developed exclusively for the Amplify Science program. Supported devices include: iPad 3+, Chromebook, Windows PC, and MacBook.
  • Unit kits for each unit in the program including consumable and nonconsumable hands-on materials, and printed classroom display materials.
  • Embedded formative and summative assessments are meant to support and guide student instruction.

View an on-demand webinar.

Science and literacy

The Amplify Science program capitalizes on the wealth of opportunities provided by science to learn about the world via reading and writing, and on the strong link between science and literacy practices. It is a core science program designed for three-dimensional learning and can also be considered a supplementary literacy program because it addresses the Common Core Standards for English Language Arts (ELA) related to disciplinary literacy.

Through its integration of literacy practices authentic to science, Amplify Science addresses the ELA Anchor Standards as well as the standards for Reading Informational Text, Writing, Listening/Speaking, and Language that are related to acquiring and using academic vocabulary. (Less discipline-specific reading standards, such as the “Reading: Foundational Skills” and “Reading: Literature,” fall outside the purview of the Amplify Science program. Please see each unit’s Overview of Standards and Goals for a list of which Common Core ELA standards are addressed in the program.)

The focus of literacy instruction in Amplify Science is on increasing students’ facility with reading informational text, engaging in scientific discussions, and writing scientific explanations and arguments. The program takes into account the specific needs of young students as they are learning to read, write, and discuss science concepts, but does not take full responsibility for teaching basic skills such as phonemic awareness, phonics, reading fluency, or writing mechanics.

Learn more

Access and equity

Diversity in the science and engineering classroom is an asset. It offers countless opportunities for creativity and innovation and opens the door to multiple perspectives and cross-cultural understanding. Historically, however, certain groups of students — including ethnically diverse students, English learners, standard English learners, students with disabilities, girls and young women, foster children and youth, and students experiencing poverty — have not had equitable opportunities for intellectually stimulating, language-rich, and culturally relevant science and engineering education. The vision of the new standards is “all standards, all students.” Amplify Science is designed to fulfill this vision by providing quality and supportive materials for teachers so that every student — regardless of their background, where they live, the language they speak at home, or their learning characteristics — has access to and benefits from deep and engaging science and engineering learning opportunities. Two overarching conceptual frameworks informed Amplify Science’s approach to ensuring access and equity for all students: Universal Design for Learning and Culturally and Linguistically Responsive Teaching.

Learn more

Start your review

Amplify Science is not a textbook. Each lesson in the program consists of a sequence of activities that engage students with a variety of materials, including scientific texts, hands-on materials, digital simulations, engaging media, formative and summative assessments, and so much more. Learn more about the grades K–8 program by reviewing the following pages:

Looking for support ordering?
ScienceCPS@amplify.com
(855) 559-5757

Winter Professional Learning Schedule for Chicago Public Schools

Ready to look inside Amplify Science?

Advice for next year—for teachers, from teachers

It’s that time of the year again—when the trees are blooming, summer is coming, and already teachers are peeking ahead to next fall!

It’s also a strategic time for educational leaders, who are already beginning to set professional development goals for teachers for the coming school year.

There are lots of excellent educational resources for teachers and leaders to access at this time—including, of course, other teachers and leaders!

That’s why we took this moment to ask Amplify AmbassadorsWhat advice would you offer to educators just starting their journey with Amplify?

Here’s what they had to say, both about Amplify products and about teaching in general.

Teacher-to-teacher advice about Amplify products

—Darcey Linton, Teacher, Student Support, Wissahickon School District, Pennsylvania

“Approach Amplify with the same wonder and enthusiasm as the children in your classroom! Take advantage of the fact that everything is new to all of you, and explore and adventure through each lesson together. One of our best resources is a working document we share that is filled with ‘notes for next year,’ something that we add ideas, links, and lab ideas to each year to make them easier to retrieve and implement the next time through.”
—Kim Eich, 6th-Grade Teacher, Anoka Hennepin ISD #11, Minnesota

Amplify ELA: “Don’t skip the Quests! Especially in 7th grade, I love doing the Poe Quest and Perception Academy in [the] Brain Science [unit].”
—Christine Wallace, Teacher/Reading Specialist, North Lakeland School District, Wisconsin

“Gather read-alouds about the CKLA knowledge domain topic. The recommended trade books listed on the Family Take Home page are a great way to start. I’ve borrowed them from our school library, and asked for donations. I display the books for students to see. Students are able to grab them and read them throughout the day. Having themed, content-rich books readily available to students allows them to build on their knowledge in a meaningful way.”
—Alyssa Villalobos, 2nd-Grade Teacher, Riverside Unified School District, California

“I encouraged teachers to walk through both levels of the demo account offered in order to preview the student experience in Boost. This allowed them to see the progression of skills and expectations to know the base of what is being developed, and what they are working toward in the more advanced components.”
—Elizabeth Sillies, District Literacy Coach and Title I Supervisor, Three Rivers Local School District, Ohio

Try it with fidelity first to see what works best for your teaching style and student needs. Once you have a grasp of the curriculum, then you can better supplement or modify it for you and your students’ needs.

—Ashley Carter, Science Teacher, Indian River School District, Delaware

Amplify CKLA: “When pre-teaching vocabulary words before the Read-Aloud, come up with a simple hand motion or facial expression for each word, [for example] hugging your body for the word ‘embrace.’ Have the kids do the motions along with you and then listen for the words as you read. When they hear one of the vocabulary words, they should do the motion with you. The physical response helps cement language acquisition, especially for the majority of my students who are learning English, and listening for the words and motions keeps all students engaged. Plus, it adds a micro-movement break.”
—Kathe McCormick-Evans, 1st-Grade Teacher, Arlington Public Schools, Virginia

“For Amplify CKLA, read the Intro section of each unit!! These are so full of professional development for the teachers. It will help you understand the why behind each theme and also explain some of the phonics rules you will be teaching to the students.”
—Allie Appeal, Instructional Coach, School District of Arcadia, Wisconsin

“Don’t rush through the program to get it done. You won’t love it and your kids won’t love it. Take your time and enjoy the journey! The kids and you will appreciate [it] so much more!”
—Stephanie Schuettpelz, Teacher, Marion School District, Wisconsin

mCLASS® DIBELS® 8th Edition: “Try to progress monitor as often as possible. Weekly or every two weeks would be a great time frame based on the needs of the students.”
—Shennoy Barnett-Bell, Teacher, Johnston County Public Schools, North Carolina

Teacher-to-teacher advice about teaching (and more)

—Melba Jordan, Teacher, Richmond County School System, Georgia

“Trust the process, especially in the upper grades when you cannot yet see the end result.”
—Maria Fadden, PreK–8 Literacy Coach, Belle Plaine Public Schools, Minnesota

“Set a timer every time you allow students to work independently or in groups. This allows them to start to use and understand time management. It makes everyone work with purpose and work quietly. I also play relaxing music as a white noise in the background.”
—Kerri Lintl, Teacher, Merrimac Community School, Wisconsin

Make it fun! Your interest gets the students more involved than any fun activity you plan.

—Jadyn Kramp, 4th-Grade Teacher, Wayne County School District, Kentucky


Amplify CKLA:
 “Don’t be afraid to read word by word. You don’t have to memorize the script.”
—Denise Sandoval, Literacy Coach, Catch Up & Read partnered with Dallas ISD, Texas

“Enthusiasm and positivity are contagious!”
—Stacey Smart, Reading Specialist, Romeo Community Schools, Michigan

Amplify Desmos Math for NYC Public Schools

Welcome! This site contains supporting resources for New York City Public Schools Amplify Desmos Math implementation.

What’s new?

  • Gearing up for the 2026-2027 School Year: Check out our Getting Started section on this page for support — including login support, materials lists, program overviews and more!
  • Check out the new Admin Reports views coming in SY 2026-2027 for district and school leaders! Click here to learn more.
  • Have a question about Amplify Desmos Math? This FAQ doc answers top questions about access, implementation, and features.
  • Need help? Check here for who can help! Our dedicated phone number, just for NYC, has team members ready to help! 1-888-960-0380
amplify math middle schoolers in classroom

About the program

Amplify Desmos Math New York is a core K-12 mathematics curriculum designed specifically for NYC Public Schools. It combines problem-based learning with Desmos Classroom technology to build conceptual understanding and align directly with the New York State Next Generation Mathematics Learning Standards. With beautiful print resources, and robust practice, differentiation supports, assessment and reporting, Amplify Desmos Math has received all-green ratings from EdReports. Read the review on EdReports.

Amplify Desmos Math is built on four core tenets:

  • Math can motivate students.
  • A structured approach to problem-based learning can best tend to all aspects of rigor.
  • Student thinking is valuable and visible.
  • Students can catch up while keeping up with grade-level math.
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Powerful digital lessons

Amplify Desmos Math lessons are powerful in their ability to elicit student thinking and spark interesting, productive discussions. The lessons pose problems that invite a variety of approaches with their dynamic and interactive learning experiences on devices, as well as experiences on paper that are flexible, creative, and engaging.

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Engaging student experience

Relevant content and interactive math tools create an intuitive and engaging student experience. Plus, working together in real time allows students to see that communicating their ideas and learning from each other are important parts of math class.

A digital activity interface showing hexagonal mosaics, a "Scale Factor = 3" label, and students' text responses about scaling and color patterns in the mosaic shapes.

Visibility into student thinking

Imagine having more visibility into your students’ mathematical thinking. Now imagine that students have access to this same information. With our collaborative lesson interface and teacher dashboard, students have awareness their own thinking and that of their peers—exposing them to a wider variety of approaches to solving the same problem.

A computer screen displays a math lesson about baking pizzas at 600°F, showing four uncooked pizzas and student response boxes below the question.

Ready-to-teach lessons

Each grade level includes 150 ready-to-teach lessons, complete with slides, step-by-step teaching notes, suggested student and teacher responses, tips for incorporating instructional routines, support for developing mathematical language, and links to useful resources. Teachers can manage what slides students see, controlling the pace of the lesson to suit the needs of the class.

Planning for instruction

Amplify Desmos Math is customized specifically to meet the New York State Next Generation Math Learning Standards. Within each document below, you’ll find direct links to lessons and activities where each individual standard is addressed.

The program is also aligned with the expectations outlined in the New York City Department of Education Definition of Culturally Responsive-Sustaining Education and the New York State Culturally Responsive-Sustaining Education Framework. 

Scope and sequence

Ready to plan for the 2026-27 school year? These pacing guides (coming soon!) are designed to provide structure, not rigid mandates and resources for NYC.     

Multilingual learner supports

Implementation resources

A digital screen displays a rocket graphing activity, and an open textbook shows diagrams, charts, and text on building quadratics in factored form.

Lesson Sampler

Amplify Desmos Math delivers the instructional power of student-centered learning packaged in a lesson format that’s teacher-friendly and manageable.

With easy-to-follow instructional support, implementing a problem-based program becomes more effective and enjoyable for both you and your students. Paired with the Desmos Classroom digital experience, math class is suddenly fun and dynamic, with plenty of opportunities for students to talk through their reasoning, work with their peers, and gain new understanding.

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Grade 6 Lesson Sampler

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Three people stand next to a large thermometer in a snowy landscape with mountains and penguins; cover page reads "Grade 7 Sample lesson" for Amplify Desmos Math.

Grade 7 Lesson Sampler

learn more

Three people and several penguins stand on ice near a large thermometer, with snowy mountains in the background. The thermometer shows temperatures from -30°C to 50°C.

Grade 8 Lesson Sampler

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Universal design

Every student is brilliant, and every student has brilliant mathematical ideas worth sharing and cultivating. Incorporating principles of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) into lessons brings students’ brilliance to the forefront. UDL is a research-based framework designed to ensure that all learners can access and participate in meaningful, challenging learning opportunities.

A feedback form with two questions, "How well did you understand the math in this lesson?" and "How did you feel about learning math in this lesson?" with corresponding emoji options for responses, perfectly complements the New York Math curriculum.

Diversity and representation

Helping students develop strong, healthy, and flexible math identities is a cornerstone of our program. Throughout the curriculum, students are taught that they themselves are mathematicians, that today’s math has been shaped by a diverse range of mathematicians who deserve to be celebrated, and that learning is never finished.

Illustration of a laptop displaying various colorful icons and graphics representing diverse professions and historical figures on its screen, emphasizing illustrative mathematics and desmos math concepts through its displayed content.

Assessments

Less exciting, but essential for learning: assessments. Amplify Desmos Math features a robust variety of formative and summative assessments, including readiness checks, exit tickets, quizzes, end-of-unit tests, and benchmarks aligned with New York State Next Generation Mathematics Learning Standards.

A laptop screen displays a math question with a scatter plot about staff and wait times; a worksheet with a similar graph is shown in the background.

Reporting

Not only do our reports reveal progress toward standard mastery, but they also include details on how students performed against the standard in the past and how many encounters are yet to come. This feature alone helps teachers prioritize instruction and intervene with additional resources when necessary.

A digital dashboard displays student names and their performance levels in a grid, with a score distribution summary for assessment items shown in an overlay—ideal for tracking progress within the core curriculum or Desmos Math programs.

NYC webinar series

Figuring out how to implement a problem-based learning approach to mathematics can be fun—and challenging. Rest assured that you won’t be alone on this journey; Amplify will be by your side every step of the way. Our back-to-school math webinar series for K–8 administrators and teachers:

  • Introduces the new NYC Solves initiative.
  • Establishes the foundation for all educators to effectively understand and implement the NYCPS Shifts in Mathematics in their classrooms.
  • Provides an overview of Amplify Desmos Math, the pre-approved NYCPS curriculum chosen to ensure that every school can successfully implement these math shifts and is supported with high-level, tailored professional development and coaching throughout the process.

Please see the specific webinars and the recordings below to learn more!

Two Amplify Desmos Math teacher edition books are shown next to a laptop displaying a digital math activity with shapes and a prompt about ordering by lightest weight.

On-demand webinar 1

Would you like to learn more about the NYCPS Shifts in Mathematics and enhance your understanding of each of the five shifts?

Explore how the NYCPS math shifts are transforming mathematics education from a procedural approach to a more engaging, discoverable, and connected learning experience.

Listen to the Understanding the NYCPS Shifts in Mathematics session recording.

On-demand webinar 2

Let’s unpack the why, what, and how to unlock every student’s mathematical mind and build math proficiency for life! In this webinar, we discuss the power of teaching our children to be skilled mathematicians through a structured approach to problem-solving.

Listen to the Unlocking Mathematical Minds: A Structured Approach to Problem-Based Learning session recording.

On-demand webinar 3

For some educators, transitioning to problem-based learning might seem daunting. There’s often concern that the open-ended nature of the approach could derail students from achieving mathematical goals. However, by finding the right balance between open-ended opportunities and structured classroom activities, teachers can encourage students to share their thinking while meeting key learning targets. Uncover simple shifts that educators can implement to foster the perfect balance of open-ended student thinking and focus on mathematical instructional goals.

Listen to the Making the Shift to Problem-Based Learning session recording.

On-demand webinar 4

Amplify Desmos Math New York K–A1 is math that motivates! During this session recording, you’ll experience a grade 6 lesson that captures the essence of NYC Solves.

Listen to the Learn More and Experience Amplify Desmos Math LIVE, an NYCPS-Approved Math Curriculum session recording.

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Looking for help?

Support is always within reach. Our team is dedicated to supporting you throughout your review. You can be reached at any time by emailing or calling us directly.

  • Support pathways for NYC Core Orders
  • Chat: Click the orange icon while logged in to get immediate help.
  • Support Portal: Fill out this form, and we will get back to you as soon as possible.
  • Phone: Call our toll-free NYC Support number: (888) 960-0380.
  • Email: Send an email to AmplifyNYC@amplify.com.

Welcome, Jefferson County, to Amplify Science!

Thank you for taking the time to review Amplify’s K–8 science programs for Jefferson County Public Schools. This site will allow your committees to easily access grade-level teacher and student resources digitally, and experience all that our high-quality instructional materials have to offer.

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Contact us

Want to speak to your Amplify representative for Jefferson County Public Schools?  Please contact…

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Monty Lammers

Senior Account Executive

(719) 964-4501

mlammers@amplify.com

S1-04: Connecting with students and caregivers in the science classroom: Ryan Rudkin

Promotional graphic for "science connections", season 1, episode 4, featuring a smiling woman named Ryan Rudkin, themed with science illustrations like atoms and a globe, highlighting how to engage students

In this special episode, our host Eric Cross sits down with veteran middle school teacher Ryan Rudkin. Ryan shares her expertise after almost two decades in the classroom, discussing ways to incorporate aspects of problem-based learning into the K–8 science classroom. Eric and Ryan talk about how to increase parent engagement, involve community members, and add excitement to lessons.

Explore more from Science Connections by visiting our main page.

Download Transcript

Ryan Renee Rudkin (00:00):

I know there’s other goals in mind, you know, standards and test scores. But at the end of the day, I wanna come back and I want them to come back.

Eric Cross (00:35):

My name’s Eric Cross, host of our science podcast, and I am with Ryan Rudkin, middle-school teacher out here in California just to the north up near Sacramento? El Dorado Hills?

Ryan Renee Rudkin (00:46):

Yeah. 20 miles east of Sacramento.

Eric Cross (00:49):

Nice. And I am down here in San Diego. And so Ryan, to start off, what I wanna do is ask you about your origin story, like a superhero. So how did you become a middle-school science teacher to become part of this elite profession of science folks that get to do awesome things with kids?

Ryan Renee Rudkin (01:08):

I would agree with you that it is definitely an elite profession. I got my credential and I thought I was gonna teach third or fourth grade elementary school. And the second day I got called for a sub job for middle school. And I just thought, “We’ll take it,” you know? And by second period, I knew: This is where I belong. The kids, middle school, students are just a species of their own. And you have to appreciate them. And if you do appreciate them, then you’re in the right spot. And I quickly looked at my coursework and I was able to get authorizations in science, history, and English, and I love science. So I chose science. And the rest is history. It’s been a wild ride and I wouldn’t have changed or asked for anything different. I love it.

Eric Cross (02:02):

I definitely agree with you. So, your history—you’ve been in various middle-school classrooms. Can you tell us a little bit about that? What classrooms have you been in? What disciplines of science have you taught or are currently teaching?

Ryan Renee Rudkin (02:14):

I was hired for seventh grade life science, and then I did that for a few years and then I got moved into eighth physical science, and I was there for 12 years. Love eighth grade science. I love eighth graders. Chemistry and physics are my favorite. There’s just so much opportunity for just awesome labs, great conversations, student discourse, all of that. And then the past three years I’ve been in sixth grade and now we’re integrated. So,a sixth grade integrated science and I also teach social studies and a technology design class.

Eric Cross (02:52):

Oh, nice. What do you do in your technology design class? That sounds cool.

Ryan Renee Rudkin (02:56):

Right now it’s mostly internet media and we use WeVideo, it’s an editing-video program, and we produce and put on our school weekly news bulletin. And then we weave in other projects. We do some interdisciplinary projects. Right now my students are working on a mythology God, Goddess, and Monster project that relates to our social studies curriculum. And we’re learning about Greece. So yeah, we just try to give them added projects and they’re using the WeVideo platform. By sixth grade, they’re coming to us now with wonderful skills with all the tech. I mean, if I need help, I ask them like, “How do you do something on Google Docs?” Or, “How do you do something on Drive?” The kids are definitely tech-savvy.

Eric Cross (03:49):

They must love being the teacher in the classroom. They get to—it kind of switches power roles, where they get to teach the teacher something.

Ryan Renee Rudkin (03:56):

Yes. And especially WeVideo, sometimes we’ve had some hiccups, and the kids show everybody, and that’s part of the design class. They’re trying to solve—we’re teaching them how to solve their own problems. So if there’s any kind of issue with anything with the technology, honestly, I usually tell them, “Go ask a friend,” or we kind of shout out, “Hey, who knows how to troubleshoot this?” And the kids are eager to help each other, which is nice.

Eric Cross (04:21):

And they have this authentic experience where they’re actually doing real problem-solving, as opposed to something that we manufactured. Like, those are real things that we have to deal with in life. And that’s exactly like how we solve it, right? We just go ask people! We look it up, and the ahas are genuine too. Throughout!

Ryan Renee Rudkin (04:36):

Yes, especially thinking on the fly. Especially yesterday, I was in the middle of teaching and my laptop froze, and it’s like, “OK, everybodytake a couple minutes, you know, work on this, this, or that while I switch out laptops!” And so I’m modeling, too, how to solve my own problems. And I think it teaches the kids how to do that too.

Eric Cross (04:59):

I’ve always thought it was interesting that when teachers get to teach in real time, how do we handle stress and frustration when it’s really happening? And I think the tech—at times, failure is the real one where you feel this chill or this sweat that kind of comes over you and you’re trying to present or cast or the video won’t play and things like that. I think I’ve done enough times in my years of teaching where now my students know what to do, or they want to come up and help, and we’re good with it. But I remember in the beginning when those things would kind of glitch or go wrong or the wifi goes down, and you’re like, OK, what do we need now?

Ryan Renee Rudkin (05:33):

I think it’s honestly, after the fact, when I think in the moment, I’m not thinking of feeling stressed, but just afterwards, then I’m like, “Oh my gosh, this has just been a wild day.” But yeah, you just have to kind of go with it. And that’s just the beast of middle school. I just added to the list of why we love it.

Eric Cross (05:53):

You said something about interdisciplinary work, and I wanna kind of ask about that. Because it sounds like you’ve had your hand in several different areas of science and grade levels. Working, doing design courses, working with tech. Are there certain lessons that are your favorites to teach? The ones that you really enjoy, or that no matter what, you’re like, “We need to do this; this is such a rich experience for students”?

Ryan Renee Rudkin (06:17):

Yeah. I definitely try to do lessons or activities along the way. I like to do projects at the end of my units. When I taught physics, we did a project and it was mainly an assessment tool called the Wheeling and Dealing. The kids, they would all get a different car. And then they to sell their car. And so they had to pretend to be a car salesman, and they did that with their knowledge of the physics unit. So everything we did on forces and speed and motion. So I like doing culminating projects like that. And you’re kind of tricking them into assessing them.

Eric Cross (06:57):

When I think about your car salesman project, I’m thinking of a bunch of students, but they’re like on Shark Tank, but they’re just littler versions. And they’re doing these sales pitches, but they’re speaking in scientific terms as they’re trying to do it. Do you record these or do they just exist in the classroom?

Ryan Renee Rudkin (07:12):

No…And that was a long time ago, when I taught eighth grade. I wish I had; I wish I had recorded. That was definitely—it was fun, ’cause the kids, they would get their little piece of paper and they—some of ’em didn’t know what car it was. And so they’re like “A Boo… A Boo-gatti? What’s a Boo-gatti?” And then someone from across the room would be like, “Ooh, I want it! Here, I’ll trade you my Ford Focus!” And <laugh> so they would kind of wheel-and-deal which car they would…and then once they got their choice, then they would do the project.

Eric Cross (07:44):

So they’re really embodying this persona of a car salesman. The wheeling and doing back-and-forth and trying to trade a Bugatti for a Ford Focus. <Laugh>

Ryan Renee Rudkin (07:53):

I know. <Laugh> I like to make my class, my learning environment, enjoyable. You know, I gotta be there; they gotta be there. So I know there’s other goals in mind—you know, standards and test scores—but at the end of the day, I wanna come back, and I want them to come back. And I just have that as a priority.

Eric Cross (08:18):

Well, based on the projects that you’re doing and the way that you approach education with students, I can see why middle-school students would want to come back, even if they had the option not to. Just because of the cool things that you’re doing. Now we’re on this—hopefully, fingers crossed—tail end of COVID in the classroom and schools, and I know it’s impacted all of us differently. Has student engagement changed since COVID and if so, how, and what have you done in these last two years to maybe adjust your approach, to continue that engagement and that richness that you provide for your kids?

Ryan Renee Rudkin (08:57):

I definitely—I think for me, I recognize that when the students are in my classroom, I want them to, I dunno, for lack of a better word, just escape the noise at home. And I know we’ve always had students that are going through divorce situations or their dog died, other things, but I think with COVID, it’s definitely been compounded. And just creating a safe place for the kids to want to be and…it’s hard. We’ve had a lot of students that have been out, absent, for various reasons and on quarantine. And they’re struggling with doing work from home, ’cause their parents are stressed and their parents are dealing with their work issues. And so I think just having grace for the kids and just keeping…I don’t know, I guess like I said, I’ve always had student engagement as top of my list.

Eric Cross (10:06):

It sounds like—the things I hear you say really have to do with who these students are as people.

Ryan Renee Rudkin (10:12):

Yeah.

Eric Cross (10:13):

And then as a second, who they are as students. How do relationships fit into your engagement? ‘Cause I’m hearing this connection that you seem to be making with kids as you’re talking about things that are beyond academics: their home life, how they’re impacted.

Ryan Renee Rudkin (10:28):

Yes.

Eric Cross (10:28):

Is there anything that you do to build these relationships, or to connect with your students, to make them feel wanted or feel connected to the classroom or to you?

Ryan Renee Rudkin (10:37):

Yeah, I do. I do a few things to build those connections. And again, this timeframe in their life is so out of their control, their peer relationships, relationships with their parents. And when they’re in my classroom, I want them to feel loved and appreciated. Something I do it’s called Phone Fridays. And in one of the social media groups, someone posted about it, and I’ve been doing it for over a year now, actually. So on Fridays I call parents and give good news. And so I’ll pick maybe one or two students. And it could be academic reasons. It could be behavior, I’ve seen a slight improvement of behavior. Maybe a role model in the classroom. And my goal is to get everybody every trimester. So everybody gets a phone call by the end of the trimester. And it’s funny ’cause sometimes the parents are a little like “Uh-oh”! When they pick up, they see the caller ID, and their school’s calling. ‘Cause Some kids don’t get good calls. So it’s a really—I would say every single parent that I’ve called, I usually get a follow-up email, either to me or my admin, just saying it’s such a cool idea I do this; thank you so much. And yeah, I just call and give good news and just put ’em on the spot. And usually the kids are a little embarrassed, but you can tell, even though they’re kind of—I think they’re faking it, that they’re embarrassed! ‘Cause You know that they got the Phone Friday, and everybody’s like, “Who’s gonna get the phone Friday?!” And so it’s a very big deal in my class.

Eric Cross (12:07):

What a great way to—I mean, it seems like that hits on so many levels. You’re making these positive calls home. You’re praising publicly, which a lot of times can happen where students can get criticized or redirected publicly and then praised privately, which is a lot of times the reverse what we should be doing. But here you are praising them publicly. And then you’re not only building a relationship with yourself, but you’re also connecting them with their parent or whoever is caring for them, because now when they go home, there’s this, “Hey, your teacher called; you’re doing awesome!” So it’s this kind of triangle that’s forming there. I think that’s super-cool and a great thing for teachers to do.

Ryan Renee Rudkin (12:45):

It takes, you know, the last five minutes of my class. I do it every class. And then I have a system. Like I said, I keep track of all the kids. That way, by the end of the trimester I’ve gotten everybody. Sometimes I let the students, whoever I call first, then I let them pick a peer and I tell them, “OK, we have to have a solid reason. Why are we calling?” And a couple times they’ll have a student, like one of my energized ones, they’ll raise their hand. “How About me? How about me?” And I and the kids kind of laugh a little and I said, “Well, how about this? Let’s make a goal. How about next week we’re gonna make a goal and we’re gonna have a reason to call home.” So just working on the kids that need a little push in the right direction. That’s other reasoning to it. But yeah, it’s fun. I love it.

Eric Cross (13:33):

And you have the community. You have this goal setting. We were talking a little earlier about this transition—so you’re becoming this…your school’s going through the IB process, is that right?

Ryan Renee Rudkin (13:44):

Yes.

Eric Cross (13:44):

And we were talking about the ATL skills and one of them is goal-setting management. You already kind of organically do this in your classroom, which is really neat. I know being an IB teacher, a lot of times I find the things that I’ve already been doing and find, “Oh, this is actually an approach to learning!” or “This is something that has a title!” I just thought it was just being helpful! Ah…So the kids are connected. You have this process where you’re calling parents; it’s working; students are involved, so it’s building this community. Now you’re engaging students. Do you have any favorite student engagement tools that you use in your classroom or when you’re teaching that you feel like you get a lot of bang for your buck? There’s so many things out there these days. And so many approaches, tools, web apps. Do you have any favorites that you use?

Ryan Renee Rudkin (14:40):

No. Nothing comes up top of my mind right now. Mostly just projects, like I said. And being excited. I think having my students see me excited about something…and I’m honest when we’re doing something that’s not quite my favorite, then I’m honest about that too. But just having my—like, we just started thermal energy this week and I told my students, I said, “OK guys, I’m gonna weave in some chemistry in there. I’m gonna weave in some particle motion,” and they’re like, “Oh! That’s when you taught eighth grade, huh!” Cause I talk a lot about when I taught eighth grade before. I don’t know, just showing my own enthusiasm, I think, is a good payoff to me. That’s a bang for your buck. Other things…I try to give ’em cool videos and Mark Grober, he’s definitely a favorite of mine I like to show my students. I like to bring in guest speakers from our community. When I taught eighth grade for physics, I always brought in a local CHP officer and they would bring in the radar and lidar guns and the kids would mark off the parking lot and they would calculate their speed. And then they would verify it with the radar gun. Two years ago when I taught math, I brought in a local landscaper company, a father-and-son outfit, and they showed the kids how they would do bids on jobs. And so, relate it to our chapter on volume and area. So just making that connection with real life. Plus it’s just a nice opportunity, too, for the community to come in. With our design class, put on our newscast. And then one of our units in our sixth grade curriculum is weather. And so I brought in a local weatheruh, chief meteorologist. And he actually talked to the students about his job as a meteorologist and then also being on the news and putting on a newscast. So we got him on our green screen and did a little like Mark Finan, you know, little cameo on our newscast for the week for school. So that was kind of cool.

Eric Cross (16:45):

They must have been excited.

Ryan Renee Rudkin (16:47):

Yeah. They’re pretty starstruck by him. So that was pretty fun.

Eric Cross (16:51):

This person was on their local news? So they would know him?

Ryan Renee Rudkin (16:56):

Yeah, he’s on Channel 3 out of Sacramento. Yeah. KCRA Channel 3, Mark Finan.

Eric Cross (17:00):

So all these guest speakers that you have…how do you reach out to these people? And you sound like you get a lot of success. Do you ever get nos? Like if I’m sitting here listening and that inspires me, but you’re getting celebrities and you see a few people…like, how do you reach out to them? And does everybody say yes? How does it go?

Ryan Renee Rudkin (17:21):

Well, usually at my back-to-school night, I always ask the parents if they have a career or hobby that could lend itself to the curriculum. And so sometimes I’ll hear about—students will talk about, like, “My mom’s a doctor.” And so I’ll reach out to parents and just say, “Hey, you know, your kiddo said, you’re a doctor. May I ask what type?” And most of the time the nos that I’ve received are just because of schedule conflicts. You just have to get creative! Look in your community and see what you have. People want to come and talk to kids. I’ve had some presentations that the person is so intelligent and amazing, but they just, weren’t very kid-friendly. I mean, that happens. Butsomeone knows someone. And just ask! I mean, it doesn’t hurt to ask to have ’em come out, come hang out for the day, with my students. Andone time I had a nurse practitioner she was in the cardiac unit. And so she brought in hearts and led a heart dissection with my students. And we did a station set-up. I’ve had elaborate ones like that, or just a mom come in to tell my students about her job as a nutritionist and relate it to our unit on metabolism. And so just did like a little 15-minute Q&A with the kids on nutrition. And I would just say, look at your community and/or post on social media. I always do that. Post in your school’s PTA groups. So the parents know someone, that’s for sure. Or someone’s retired. One time I had—I think he was a grandfather of one of the kids—he was into rocks. And he had a bunch of meteorites <laugh> and brought in his meteorites.

Eric Cross (19:15):

Bring in your rocks!

Ryan Renee Rudkin (19:15):

I know! Right? And he <laugh> just brought in his meteorite collection! I was like, sure, come on in!

Eric Cross (19:23):

That’s one of the things I love about being a middle-school teacher is that my students have such varied interests and I’ll get the Rock Kid every once in a while and he’ll come in and he’ll have all these rocks and crystals. And a lot of times there’s a grandfather that’s responsible for this inherited geologic treasure that they have.

Ryan Renee Rudkin (19:45):

Yeah, something like that—I mean rocks are not my favorites, but I don’t really tell the kids that. I was like, “Sure, yeah, come on in! We can have a whole-day lesson on rocks!”

Eric Cross (19:55):

<Weakly> “This is great!”

Ryan Renee Rudkin (19:58):

Just utilizing your resources. That’s all it’s about.

Eric Cross (20:02):

Well, I think the back-to-school night was really helpful. That’s something that’s super doable. You have a bunch of parents and you just simply ask, “Who do you know? What do you do?” And then just collecting that and then just asking people to come in. I’ve I’ve been reluctant to do it more often than I’ve wanted to, because I haven’t figured out—and maybe you can help me with this—I have three class periods a day plus other class periods that are not necessarily science. And I don’t want to dominate a person’s schedule. Do they tend to be willing to stay all day? Or do you do, one class gets it, and you record it? Like, how do you balance out the speakers with your school schedule?

Ryan Renee Rudkin (20:39):

Mostly they’ll they’ll just come for the whole day. When I taught eighth grade, I had five classes, so that was easy. That was an all-day thing. And then usually I’ll offer to call lunch, have lunch delivered, or snacks during the day. I mean—

Eric Cross (20:53):

Feeding them is key.

Ryan Renee Rudkin (20:54):

Yeah. Just something kind of nice. Donuts in the morning. I mean, you’d be very surprised. Most people that are in the field or retired, like I said, they’re more than willing to come. And even if they have to wait an hour, while you teach another class that doesn’t pertain to it, then they’ll either leave or come back or just hang out in the back and pretend to be a student during that history class that you have.

Eric Cross (21:20):

It’s my own limiting belief where I feel guilty. I don’t think about it. I need to think about it through the perspective that you do, that these people WANT to talk. I just assume everybody’s so busy. But I do know, the times I’ve had speakers come out, at the end of the day, they’re so energized or they’re so happy or they’re so grateful. ‘Cause They’re like, “This is what it’s like to teach every day?” I’m like, “Yeah, this is what it’s like.”

Ryan Renee Rudkin (21:42):

I think too, a lot of parents…usually being being in the stops at elementary. A Lot of parents don’t get the opportunity to come help out in the classroom, because the middle school kids, you know, it’s not very cool or it’s just not needed like in the elementary classes. So a lot of times, like I said, you’d be surprised. A lot of the parents they’re more than happy to come and hang out. And again, some students, they don’t want their mom or dad to be there, but then I talk it up. I’m like, “Everyone’s gonna be so like impressed that your dad’s a doctor,” or “your mom’s a doctor” or —so then I kind of like downplay it. Like, “Oh, whatever, you’re you’re faking it. It’ll be fine. Don’t be embarrassed.” Leading up to their parent coming into the classroom.

Eric Cross (22:36):

Right. Kind of redirect that energy toward something positive. With guest speakers, projects, pacing, all these awesome things that you have going on, how do you find balance as a teacher, as a person? And what encouragement would you give to new or aspiring teachers? We work in a profession that will take as much as you give it. And you fall asleep at night worrying about other people’s kids and we love it. And teachers by personality can just give and give and give and give. But in order for us to last—I’m thinking about those new teachers who are going into it, who are gonna go in and be there before the sun gets up and stay after the sun gets down. How do you maintain balance, taking care of yourself? You’ve been in education for—how long have you been teaching for?

Ryan Renee Rudkin (23:29):

Sixteen. This is my 16th year.

Eric Cross (23:31):

Enough to be that veteran. So how do you find balance? And then, what encouragement would you give to new or aspiring teachers?

Ryan Renee Rudkin (23:39):

I would say each year, pick one or two things to add on. You can’t add on 10 things, even though you’re gonna find 10 things that are awesome. But just make a little list, put ’em in a file, and every year, just get good at what you do and then just add on one or two things. And reflect on what’s not going well that you can get rid of to make room to add something else. Try to be patient with yourself. And don’t reinvent the wheel. There’s so many things out there that you can borrow and make it your own. Again, I think that’s a time-saver, just leaning on your colleagues. And take lots of notes, because then when you do it again next year, you can refresh yourself and, “Oh yeah, this lesson, wasn’t the best…” What can you add in to make it a little bit better? And yeah, I would say just take on one or two things each year. And then by the time you get to, you know, being a veteran, you can do all these awesome things and it’ll feel natural ’cause you’ve been practicing and just adding in one thing at a time. I coached Science Olympiad a bunch of years ago, and Science Olympiad is so rewarding. It’s just so amazing.

Eric Cross (24:59):

What is Science Olympiad, for the people who’ve never heard of it?

Ryan Renee Rudkin (25:03):

Oh, Science Olympiad is so awesome. Google it. I think it’s just ScienceOlympiad.org. It’s 23 different events across all disciplines of science, different topics. And then you have a team of 15 students. And so your 15 students have to cover the 23 events. So for example, if the student’s on the anatomy team, usually there’s a team of two kids they’re gonna study and learn. They provide all the rules and the guidelines. So the students learn and study whatever the parameters are for that year. And then they take a test. And then they compete against other schools. And there’s build events, the engineering events, they can build things like trebuchets matchbox cars or mousetrap cars. Oh gosh, there’s all kinds of things. There’s like a Rube Goldberg device. It changes every year. And it’s so rewarding to see the kids; they pick their area of science that they love. And sometimes you have to put them on an event that they don’t know, and then they end up loving it. It’s so rewarding as a teacher to see these kids that are just on fire and you know that one day they’re gonna go off and do amazing things. They just commit. They commit to their event. And then they blow it outta the water and they win medals and just the recognition…it’s super, it’s just an amazing program.

Eric Cross (26:42):

One of the competitions that’s really low-tech that I’ve taken into my classroom is Write It, Do It. Have you done that one before?

Ryan Renee Rudkin (26:50):

Oh, yes. Yeah. That’s one. Yep.

Eric Cross (26:52):

It’s such a low-tech, simple one to do, but it teaches such great skills. And for those people who haven’t heard of the Write It, Do It project, you create kinda some abstract art out of random crafts. That’s very difficult to describe. You have pipe cleaners and foam and balls and you know, all these different things. And you make it. And then one person on the team is the writer, and they look at it and they write the procedures, and then their teammate, who’s in a different room and doesn’t get to see it, gets all the materials to build it and the procedures, and they have to rebuild it as closely as possible to the actual original. Even though they don’t get to see the original. So they have to rely on their partner’s ability to write procedures step-by-step. And it was fun to watch my students become teammates in that. And they learned how to communicate in a really fun competition. So I expanded it to do it with all of my students as an activity, just to teach them how write descriptively, to write procedurally, to be technical writers. And it’s, it’s fun! It’s fun to see what they build based on what the students say. <Laugh> And it’s also fun to watch them interact with each other, which for seventh graders, usually it’s conflict. <Laugh> But, like, playful conflict. <Laugh> It’s pretty funny to see what they build.

Ryan Renee Rudkin (28:11):

They’re like, “Man, what are you talking about? That doesn’t mean this; it means this!”

Eric Cross (28:16):

<Laugh> I know part of me feels guilty, but not enough to stop the project. ‘Cause I know for some of ’em, it’s gonna be a really trial by fire being able to practice their skills with writing procedures.

Ryan Renee Rudkin (28:27):

But they’re learning among themselves how to provide more details and to be more thorough with their writing and and their thoughts, put their thoughts onto paper. So yeah, that’s a funny event. Definitely.

Eric Cross (28:41):

Earlier you had mentioned something about connecting your kids with kids and students outside of your classroom. What is it that you do with that? Because I thought that was a really cool project. Can you speak to that a little bit?

Ryan Renee Rudkin (28:57):

Yes, I’ve done—they haven’t had it in a few years, but there’s something called the Pringles Challenge. And if you Google that, I’m sure it’s on the Internet still. So you sign your class up, or your classes, and you get partnered with another school somewhere in the U.S., someplace else. And you decide individually teams, whatever they build. And they make a package to ship a single Pringle chip through the mail. And then you actually mail a Pringle chip through the mail. And then your partner team or partner school, they send their chips to you and then you open everything and then you can take pictures and video. And then there was a whole scoring process where you would score when you receive the chips. And then you input all the data on the website so you can see like how your—and most schools would trade pictures, so that the kids found out how their chip survived. March Mammal Madness is so much fun. Again, Google that.

Eric Cross (30:01):

Did you say March Mammal Madness?

Ryan Renee Rudkin (30:02):

Yes.

Eric Cross (30:03):

Like March Madness, with mammals?

Ryan Renee Rudkin (30:05):

Yes.

Eric Cross (30:05):

  1. What is this?

Ryan Renee Rudkin (30:06):

It starts up in March. And you can sign your students up. And that one—it’s not too interactive with other schools, but this is opportunity to get the kids interacting within your site or within your district. Or if you have teacher friends at other schools. There’s like 60…I think it’s 64 animals? And they have this massive bracket that they post. And then you can have the students, I did it—it would be very time-consuming to have the kids individually research each animal. So I just gave one animal per student and so as a class we researched all the animals and then, I think it’s every three days or so, they have these bouts. And it’s all posted on YouTube. Google it. It’s kind of fun.

Eric Cross (30:56):

I’ve already got the website up, ready to go! Folks, everybody who needs to Google this: <articulates carefully> March Mammal Madness. And is it Arizona State University? Is that the main site, ASU?

Ryan Renee Rudkin (31:04):

Yes.

Eric Cross (31:04):

So people, listen to this. Check it out. March Mammal Madness. Look, I’m doing this! I’m already,—you’ve already sold me on this.

Ryan Renee Rudkin (31:14):

It is so much fun, oh my gosh. And then, then the kids—each round, they pick their pick, just like basketball. They do their picks and then you wait for the video. And they do it live on—I think it’s live on Instagram, or the next day on YouTube. And then the kids get all excited. And then usually the kids, whatever animal they got as their research animal, they’re rooting for that one to win, the whole thing.

Eric Cross (31:42):

But we still have time; we still have time to—

Ryan Renee Rudkin (31:45):

You can jump in anytime. Even if it’s already started, you can jump into it. It usually lasts—I believe it’s a two-week from beginning to end. When they do the first round, the wild card, and then all the way to the winner, I believe it’s a two-week process. Oh, maybe three, actually.

Eric Cross (31:59):

I’m already seeing this lead-up to the video being watched in class to see…I’m already thinking about like, “How do I prevent my students from finding the video?” Or like, “When does it go live so that I could be the one to show them so they didn’t go find it early?”

Ryan Renee Rudkin (32:13):

It takes time out of the class, but I believe it’s one of those things where you have to just…it takes 10 minutes out of the class, but it’s important. So when they each round and then the next day, they release the YouTube video. Last year, when it got down to the final round, we were on spring break. And so I told my students, “You guys, let’s do some optional Zooms. And so I had a bunch of kids log on and we all watched the videos together. So that was kind of fun. And then this year, the other thing, the first time I’ve ever done this and it’s going really well is—on social media, I was talking with one of the teachers from Ohio who teaches science and she and I decided we’re gonna do penpals for our students this year. Paper-And-Pen penpals. So that’s been a lot of fun. We just partnered up all the students, her students and my students, and once a month we send and receive the letters to each other. So that’s been a really cool experience.

Eric Cross (33:14):

If you keep doing that, and you need more teachers to be involved, can my students be penpals with your students?

Ryan Renee Rudkin (33:20):

Yeah!

Eric Cross (33:20):

If you open it up to more people? I think that, to get a letter, old-school? Letter in the mail? It would be so exciting.

Ryan Renee Rudkin (33:28):

It is. We mail them, the teacher and I, we just put them all together in one package. But yeah, it’s an actual handwritten letter.

Eric Cross (33:37):

The only letters I feel like I get in the mail now are bills.

Ryan Renee Rudkin (33:42):

Right? Exactly.

Eric Cross (33:42):

But I feel like the digital version of that is if someone calls me, it’s probably bad news. I don’t know if I’m the only one that’s like that, but I’m like, “Who’s calling me? Why aren’t you texting me? What’s going on? Text me first, then call! I need to know who’s going on, and if you’re unknown, you’re going to voicemail.

Ryan Renee Rudkin (34:00):

Exactly. The penpals has been a lot of fun.

Eric Cross (34:03):

You’ve been in education for a while. You’re on the other side of what it’s like to be a student in the classroom. Which can be surreal in itself, when we think about our own experiences as being a student. Is there a teacher or a learning experience that’s had an impact on you while you were a student in school that really stands out to you? And you can interpret the question however you want. But is there someone that’s memorable or an experience that’s memorable that you still carry with you today?

Ryan Renee Rudkin (34:32):

Definitely. My favorite teacher, and we actually still keep in contact on social media is Mrs. Sheldon. She was my fifth and sixth grade teacher. I had the pleasure when I was in elementary school, I was in an all-day contained GATE class—Gifted and Talented Education class. I vividly remember doing so many amazing projects. We built this big, giant—she brought in a big ol’, like, TV box. It was big, big, big. And you could stick like three kids inside there, standing up shoulder-to-shoulder. And we built this big dragon. The head, and we had the whole rest of the class in a big sheet behind us, and we would do a little parade around the school. And she had that thing for years after. They had to repair it every year, and they would do the little parade around school. She did a lot of traveling and when we would go on vacation and then come back, that was always the big deal: “Where did Mrs Sheldon go?” And she had sand from Egypt and pictures from the rainforest. And later when I became a teacher and then I looked her up and we reconnected I did ask her, “Did you go to those places? Or did you, like, lie about it? <Laugh> To get us engaged?

Eric Cross (35:52):

You went for the real questions!

Ryan Renee Rudkin (35:54):

I did. And she laughed and thought that was funny. And she did travel for real. But yeah, she’s an amazing woman. We still keep in contact. And I remember, you know, little things…like we would be out there doing our PE time and she’d have her long skirt, you know, dress on, with her tennies, and she’s out there playing kickball with us. Just a very kindhearted, smart, amazing woman. I’m very fortunate and I’m grateful that we are able to keep in contact. Love social media for that reason. So.

Eric Cross (36:33):

Yeah. And that’s Miss Sheldon?

Ryan Renee Rudkin (36:35):

Mrs. Sheldon. Marlene Sheldon. Yeah.

Eric Cross (36:37):

Shout-Out to Marlene Sheldon influencing the next generation of teachers, with engagement with your world travels and all those different things.

Eric Cross (37:04):

Ryan, thank you so much for one, serving our students. And in the classroom, our middle-school students who need us. I think that middle school especially, elementary school, those years are when students are really starting to decide, “What am I good at?” And the experiences that we create for our students really shape what they believe they can do. These really cool, engaging experiences, these projects that you’re giving them, whether they’re doing these car sales, Shark Tanks, or they’re doing penpals, or you have guest speakers, or they’re designing planets. These are things that students don’t forget. And then when they move on to higher grades, they remember more than anything, I think, how they felt about something. And it sounds like you’re crafting these awesome experiences. And so I just wanna thank you for your time. I know as a teacher it’s very short. And I thank you for being on the podcast with us.

Ryan Renee Rudkin (38:04):

Thank you. This has been a great experience. I just—I really enjoy my students. And I feel very, very grateful and very blessed for finding where I belong.

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What Ryan Rudkin says about science

“I like to make my class and my learning environment enjoyable. I know there’s other goals in mind… but at the end of the day, I want to come back and I want [students] to come back. It’s so rewarding as a teacher to see these kids that are just on fire… and you know that one day they’re going to go off and do amazing things. ”

– Ryan Renee Rudkin

Middle school science teacher

Meet the guest

Ryan Rudkin is a middle school science educator near Sacremento, California. Although she originally thought she would teach elementary students, Ryan connected with middle school and never looked back. Now in her 16th year in the classroom, Ryan also supports teachers in her district with professional development. Ryan’s favorite part of teaching science is seeing students grapple with concepts and explore phenomena.

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About Science Connections: The podcast

Welcome to Science Connections: The Podcast! Science is changing before our eyes, now more than ever. So…how do we help kids figure that out? We will bring on educators, scientists, and more to discuss the importance of high-quality science instruction. In this episode, hear from our host Eric Cross about his work engaging students as a K-8 science teacher.

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Amplify Tutoring engages students and drives measurable academic gains. We partner with districts to ensure that children become confident, proficient readers and mathematical thinkers.

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About Amplify Tutoring

Grounded in evidence-based practices and taught by caring, consistent tutors, our high-impact tutoring programs use high-quality instructional materials and data-driven mCLASS® products to support and engage students.

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Amplify Literacy Tutoring supports K–6 readers through engaging, systematic instruction aligned to the Science of Reading and driven by mCLASS DIBELS® data.

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More than a program: a true partner

Hear directly from district leaders and educators who’ve experienced the Amplify Tutoring difference. In these candid conversations, they share how we partner to deliver solutions for schools, gains for students, and support for teachers.

What district leaders and teachers are saying

“Students’ enthusiasm for Amplify Tutoring is evident! From the moment they sit down for their session, you can see how motivated and engaged they are while working with their tutor and peers. … It is very helpful that the tutors provide real-time feedback to students, and it has allowed them to be more confident and committed to their own learning paths.”

—Jennifer Quartano, Teacher, NYC Public Schools

What district leaders and teachers are saying

“There has been an increase in many students’ scores. The students are always excited to participate and the small group instruction truly is making a difference … I am passionate about reaching students who require support. This initiative was very much needed in our school. Thank you, Amplify Tutoring!”

—Denise Bishop, Assistant Principal, Prince George’s County Public Schools

What district leaders and teachers are saying

“I appreciate the support and quick response we have received from Amplify Tutoring this year. We have seen lots of growth with our fourth graders with phonics, decoding, vocabulary, and comprehension that we likely would not have seen without the program!”

—Heather Wasburn, Instructional Coach, Springfield City Schools

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Bar chart showing percent correct in performing multi-digit arithmetic for Grades 3, 4, and 5 before and after Amplify Math Tutoring; scores improved in Grades 4 and 5 after tutoring.

Our impact

Amplify Tutoring accelerates learning for students who need it most. Students in Amplify Tutoring are more likely to achieve outsized academic gains than similarly at-risk peers in the same schools who are not enrolled in the program.

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Reliable, easy-to-read data

With valid and reliable mCLASS assessments and real-time reporting always within reach, everyone involved in a child’s learning journey—from teachers and tutors to school leaders and families—can support student growth.

  • Teachers have visibility into students’ data and all tutoring lesson content.
  • School and district administrators receive regular tutoring attendance and progress-monitoring reports.
  • Caregivers receive Home Connect letters and activities to help their child practice foundational skills at home.
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High-quality instructional materials that power Amplify Literacy Tutoring

Amplify Literacy Tutoring includes high-quality resources to support students’ growth.

Targeted lessons generated by precise data

mCLASS Intervention is a research-backed, ESSA rated program that targets instruction based on students’ mCLASS DIBELS 8th Edition assessment results. With engaging lessons aligned to the Science of Reading that adapt based on students’ progress monitoring results, mCLASS Intervention streamlines time-consuming data analysis for teachers and makes sure that tutoring focuses on the literacy skills students need.

A line graph displays students' letter-sound fluency scores from June to May, showing progress toward a custom goal of 90, with benchmark and performance data points.
A screenshot of the mCLASS Reading assessment dashboard showing student scores, benchmarks, and assessment categories for Bolton Grade 1.

Transparency into student performance

mCLASS DIBELS 8th Edition is our nationally normed benchmarking and progress monitoring assessment tool to measure students’ foundational literacy skills. Students take the benchmark assessment three times a year and progress monitoring occurs every 7–10 lessons in between.

Proven impact for students who need it most

Boost Reading delivers targeted, adaptive practice that meets students where they are, while teachers get simple and meaningful insights into student progress. The program consistently moves students toward grade-level proficiency with just 30 minutes of use per week. Students can continue learning through Boost Reading between tutoring sessions or at home.

High-quality instructional materials that power Amplify Math Tutoring

Amplify Math Tutoring includes high-quality resources to support students’ growth.

Intervention Mini-Lessons aligned to core instruction

Amplify Desmos Math Mini-Lessons provide targeted intervention for students who require additional support or need more time. These lessons are aligned to the most critical topics throughout a unit; they enhance conceptual understanding while improving procedural fluency and application.

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Valuable insights into student mathematical thinking

mCLASS Math is our benchmarking and progress monitoring assessment tool. Students take the benchmark assessment three times a year; progress monitoring occurs every 7–10 lessons in between.

Personalized practice—anytime and at home

Fact fluency practice provides students with regular practice beyond rote memorization. The program is used during tutoring sessions and is available on non-tutoring days. Students also have access to Boost Math’s independent learning activities, to continue practicing between tutoring sessions or at home.

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Consultation and collaboration

Amplify Tutoring tailors our support for educators, schools, districts, caregivers, and state-level leaders, helping to realize the promise of high-impact tutoring programs. Through collaborative partnerships at every level, Amplify Tutoring engages communities in driving academic improvement and boosting attendance.

Our services can include:

Program design consultation: Amplify Tutoring offers expert program design consultation services to help schools and districts create effective and scalable high-impact tutoring programs.

Tailored onboarding: We provide customized training sessions for school, district, and state leaders, ensuring that Amplify Tutoring services are integrated smoothly into existing systems.

Ongoing professional development and coaching: Our program management includes continuous training, coaching support, and office hours with pedagogical experts to fortify the program’s success and adaptability.

Caregiver engagement: We offer resources and support for families and caregivers, including tips for at-home support, helping them stay informed and involved in their child’s progress.

Seamless communication and support: We provide transparent communication and engage all stakeholders—district and school leaders, teachers, caregivers, and students—to keep everyone aligned and informed.

Data reporting: We provide detailed reports and analytics to district and school leaders, giving them the power to monitor progress, make data-driven decisions, and celebrate successes.

Amplify Tutoring is part of a connected early literacy and math suite.

Our literacy and math suite programs are designed to support and complement each other in a Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS). Learn more about our related programs.

S4 – 03: LIVE from NCTM with Bethany and Dan

Hosts Bethany and Dan, both smiling, in a promotional image for the "Math Teacher Lounge" podcast, Season 4 Episode 3, titled "Live from NCTM!" with an

In this episode, co-hosts Bethany Lockhart Johnson and Dan Meyer are LIVE with more than one hundred Math Teacher Lounge listeners at the recent National Council of Teachers of Mathematics conference. Listen in as they answer the pressing question: Who is the best teacher in film or television?

Explore more from Math Teacher Lounge by visiting our main page

Download Transcript

Presenter (00:00):
Ladies and gentlemen, from Math Teacher Lounge, we have Bethany Lockhart Johnson and Dan Meyer! <cheering>

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (00:08):
Doesn’t go well that the door was locked. Like, I could not get in! <Laugh>

Dan Meyer (00:12):
Yeah. Gotcha. All right. We’re gonna sit a little bit. Let’s see how that works—

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (00:16):
Hi!

Dan Meyer (00:16):
Yeah. I think we’ll stand up? Or whaddaya think, sit…?

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (00:19):
Should we stand? Hi.

Dan Meyer (00:22):
Hello. Great to see you folks. Yeah, I can hear you.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (00:25):
Can you hear me? That’s—I know YOU can me. Can you hear me OK? OK! We’re here. Hello. Thank you for like, lining up and coming out and being here. Thank you!

Dan Meyer (00:35):
Means so much to me that you could be here for me, on my show, with Bethany Lockhart Johnson, my co-host. <Audience laughs>

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (00:40):
The hour has just started.

Dan Meyer (00:42):
We’re just getting going. Yeah. If you folks have heard the podcast, you don’t know how much gets cut out. And it’s like, mostly me just having, you know, anxious nerves and saying something silly and then we cut it out and we can’t do that here today. So it should be real fun for all of us, I think. Yeah.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (00:55):
It’s not true. It’s mostly dancing. “Bethany, can you stop talking? Bethany?” Cause it’s mostly—

Dan Meyer (00:59):
“It’s my turn. It’s my turn! Bethany <laugh>! I haven’t been heard for a while.”

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (01:02):
Dan. We’re at an in-person conference.

Dan Meyer (01:05):
In-person BIG conference, I would say. I’d say a big conference. Yeah.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (01:08):
And have you been to the Amplify booth?

Dan Meyer (01:11):
I have! Have these people? There’s a claw machine with free socks.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (01:16):
Yeah. You’re saving me socks, right? That’s what you’re saying. <Laugh> I mean, it’s exciting. How has your conference been so far?

Dan Meyer (01:21):
So far it’s been a blast. I feel fed. I feel like the community’s been awesome. How are you feeling about it?

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (01:29):
OK. Let’s talk about me for just a second.

Dan Meyer (01:31):
Yeah. Talk about you.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (01:31):
Last night, Dan, was the very first night that I was away from my toddler. <Audience: Aw!>

Dan Meyer (01:38):
Big commitment being here. Thank you.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (01:40):
I got super-emotional walking back to the hotel after dinner, and then I got in my room, <laugh> I put on pajamas, and I turned on music. I slept so good!

Dan Meyer (01:50):
Yeah. <Audience laughs> Give it up for no kids! <Audience laughs> Hey!

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (01:55):
I love him so much. But I slept all the way through the night. Oh, by the way, I ordered room service in the morning.

Dan Meyer (02:01):
On Amplify.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (02:01):
That bill’s coming. But it’s been a great conference and I’m so delighted to be here in person and to get to share energy…and hopefully that’s all we’re sharing today. Y’all got your tests, right? Yep. Sharing energy and community today. Because we know it’s been hard. Hardness. Hard.

Dan Meyer (02:25):
Yeah.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (02:26):
Years. Hard. And to be in person, I know conferences reinvigorate me and I go back into my educational spaces feeling revitalized with new connections and new ideas to try. So yeah, I’ve been excited to be here. And thank you all for being here.

Dan Meyer (02:40):
Yep. I don’t care if I get six different strains of Covid here. I’m just thrilled to be here. <Audience laughs> I don’t know if you’ve had the same feeling, though, Bethany, you folks…I’m a little bit confused to some degree about what we’re doing. I just wanna be really transparent. This is my sarcastic voice but I’m being sincere here. It kind of feels like we’re in a little bit of a time capsule. Like we all got in a time capsule in 2019 and, you know, you open it back up and it’s like, OK, so we’re still, you know, talking about X, Y, or Z protocol for establishing classroom routines or whatever. And I’m like, OK! Like, I loved that in 2019! But I do admit, I’m still trying to figure out a little bit like, what are we doing now? What’s our relationship to the world out there? Things are very different. I have had some great sessions that I’ve enjoyed. I’m also like, still waiting for a session to draw a little blood. Do you know what I mean? Like there’s been sessions…no? OK. You’ve been in these sessions where it’s like, “Oh, ow.” Like, and you look down and there’s and there’s blood there. It’s like, I thought I knew what we were up to. Like, I thought I knew what teaching was and how we relate to the world. I dunno, like in any Danny Martin session in 2019, “Take a Knee” was one, where I was like, “Oh, OK. Like, I’m not as hot as I think I am here. Like, I’m part of a system.” That kind of thing for me draws blood. And I haven’t been in one of those yet. Been some great sessions. I’m a little hopeful that today we draw a little blood and think about what we’re doing here, is my hope here, if that’s OK. So Bethany’s gonna moderate that impulse and she’ll be the fun one and I’ll be the blood-drawing one.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (04:05):
No, I don’t…that metaphor doesn’t speak to me personally. But what I will say is, I get what you’re saying about really wanting to be in that room where there’s like this synergy happening. No promises about that today other than—

Dan Meyer (04:18):
I promise. <Audience laughs> Go on.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (04:20):
Other than I get what you’re saying. I’ll find my own metaphor that does not involve bloodshed, but.

Dan Meyer (04:25):
Sure. There’s a lot of ways we we could go about this today. And the one that I’m excited about is, you know, we could like, you know, analyze some results from students, and talk about what went into that. Look at classroom video. Lots of possibilities. But here’s what we’re up to today. Hope you’re into it. Which is, we are here in the heart of the entertainment industry. You know, Tinseltown! Um, the Big Apple! Uh…

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (04:47):
No!

Dan Meyer (04:47):
Come on. What do you got here? Um…

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (04:51):
It was daytime at night. Like the lights were so bright.

Dan Meyer (04:54):
The City of Lights.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (04:55):
There was a movie premiere outside my hotel room, which I was not invited to, unfortunately. But so what are we doing today?

Dan Meyer (05:01):
So here’s what we’re doing. We are gonna settle, once and for all, a question you have not asked yourself yet, perhaps, but will want to know the answer to in a moment. Which is: Who is the best teacher in all of film or television? OK? We’re gonna do that. It’ll be fun. But I hope that in debating this a little bit with a special guest we’ll bring up in a moment, that we will start to uncover some truths about what makes good teaching. How that’s different from teaching as we see it in movies and tv. Why middle-class America wants teachers to look a certain way in movies and tv. What all that means. And it’ll be awesome. I think. I’m hopeful it’ll be awesome. So what we did here is we’ve invited eight people. Eight folks you people may have known. You’ve been in their sessions today, in this conference, perhaps. And asked them: Who’s your fave? Like, we might have our favorites, but we wanted to democratize it a bit. So asked some cool people who you folks like, who are very smart and thoughtful about teaching: Who’s your favorite teacher?

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (05:58):
A few of whom are in this room. Thank you for your submission.

Dan Meyer (06:00):
Thank so much. Yeah. We’ll see what happens here. <laugh>

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (06:03):
As they shrink down.

Dan Meyer (06:03):
Yeah. Might draw some blood that I don’t mean to right now. We’ll see. OK.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (06:06):
That metaphor, what IS that??

Dan Meyer (06:07):
Yeah. Yeah. I love it. I’m still going with it. <laugh> And you folks will be a huge part of this. THE part of this, really. So what will happen is I’ll share with you our first nominees. A few of us will make a case for our favorites, or least favorites, as the case may be sometimes. And then by applause, by acclamation, you folks will decide who wins and advances to the next round. Start with eight, move to four. You folks know math.You know where this goes. OK.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (06:34):
No, keep going. Keep going.

Dan Meyer (06:36):
Two, then one.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (06:36):
Yeah. Got it.

Dan Meyer (06:37):
Then a half of it. No?

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (06:38):
He had to school me on the making of brackets. But we got it. Yeah.

Dan Meyer (06:41):
How brackets work.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (06:41):
But we got it. March Madness, what?

Dan Meyer (06:44):
Yeah, in order to do this right, we had to bring up—all the folks that you’ll see are also former Math Teacher Lounge guests, or like, just fan favorites. And we’re also bringing up a former Math Teacher Lounge guest to help us decide this and debate this in a respectful manner.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (06:59):
New dad.

Dan Meyer (07:00):
New dad.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (07:01):
You see where my brain’s still at? I miss him. <Laughs>

Dan Meyer (07:03):
Friend from San Diego. Really cool teacher.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (07:06):
Incredible teacher.

Dan Meyer (07:06):
Works at Desmos and Amplify. And I just want you to welcome up your friend and mine. Chris Nho!

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (07:11):
Chris Nho!

Dan Meyer (07:13):
Come up, Chris. Let’s go, buddy. We didn’t talk about it, but did you want to do the cornball stuff too?

Chris Nho (07:22):
Wow. Would I love to do—

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (07:23):
And then the door could be locked! And then you have to wait and like, just—

Chris Nho (07:27):
Yeah, I’ll skip that part.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (07:28):
Hi. Welcome. You’re here. We’re here in person.

Chris Nho (07:30):
Very glad to be here. Thank you all for having me.

Dan Meyer (07:33):
Tell me who you are.

Chris Nho (07:34):
My name is Chris Nho. I live in San Diego. I’m a new dad. A three month old, just had. Yeah, she’s actually here at the conference with us in the hotel room. And I promise you she is not by herself. She is with…come on. I was like, “Hey, just gimme one hour. I’ll be right back. I have to do very important work.” But yeah, I think I got invited here because I have opinions and I’m willing to draw…some…blood.

Dan Meyer (08:02):
There we go! Two outta three! We’re good on the metaphor now.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (08:06):
We’re so glad you’re here. If you haven’t listened to the episode where Chris and Molly and some other public math folks share their ideas and ideas of how to take math out into the world, please listen, because we had a blast.

Dan Meyer (08:19):
Inspiring work. Really inspiring work. Very cool. Cool. OK. Right on. OK.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (08:23):
Let’s do this!

Dan Meyer (08:24):
Let’s get started here. Yeah! <Audience cheers> Yeah. And we might ask you who your favorite teacher is, who’s missing from our list of eight? We might have forgotten some people. Anyway. All right. So here’s our first two. Our first two are nominated by way of, let’s see, um, Mandy Jansen is a professor at the University of Delaware. Got some awesome talks here this week, a Shadow Con talk last night. She’ll be nominating one. And also, um, Lani Horn is a professor at Vanderbilt, also extremely cool, prolific author and speaker, just all-around great human and friend of teachers everywhere. And she’ll nominate another in this bracket, which is the Northeastern Comedy bracket, Northeastern comedy bracket.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (09:06):
It just worked out that way.

Dan Meyer (09:07):
Yeah. Here it is. Here is Tina Fey in Mean Girls.

Tina Fey in Mean Girls (09:12):
“OK. Everybody close your eyes. All right. I want you to raise your hand if you have ever had a girl say something bad about you behind your back. Open your eyes. Now close your eyes again. And this time I want you to raise your hand if you have ever said anything about a friend behind her back. Open up. It’s been some girl-on-girl crime here.”

Lani Horn (09:52):
I am nominating Sharon Norbury from Mean Girls as the best movie math teacher. She is an awesome teacher who is always there for her kids. She always sees the best in them. She shows that she can forgive even some pretty bad behavior, if she sees that kids are trying. She’s a strong feminist who makes sure that smart girls don’t dumb themselves down just to impress boys.

Tina Fey in Mean Girls (10:22):
“Katie, I know that having a boyfriend may seem like the most important thing in the world right now, but you don’t have to dumb yourself down to get guys to like you.”

Lani Horn (10:30):
She’s also super hard-working. She works three jobs. She’s always there for the kids. She plays piano in the talent show and takes them to Mathlete competitions. And she’s also socially aware. And when things go really badly among the girls, she does some pretty creative things to try to get them to be kinder to each other.

Dan Meyer (10:54):
OK. That’s one.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (10:55):
Helen Case.

Dan Meyer (10:57):
All right. Settle down. Settle down. Settle down. All right.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (10:59):
Piano too!

Dan Meyer (11:00):
Bethany’s already trying to bias people here. All right. Chill out. Hold on. So next one is Mandy Jansen with Jack Black from School of Rock. Uh-oh. Uh-oh.

Jack Black in School of Rock (11:09):
“What was your name?”

Kid in School of Rock (11:10):
“Katie.”

Jack Black in School of Rock (11:11):
“Katie. What was that thing you were playing today? The big thing.”

Kid in School of Rock (11:14):
“Cello.”

Jack Black in School of Rock (11:15):
“OK. This is a bass guitar and it’s the exact same thing, but instead of playing like this, you tip it on the side. Chellooooo! You’ve got a bass! <Laugh> Try it on.”

Mandy Jansen (11:25):
And I’m nominating for best teacher in a film Jack Black as Dewey Finn playing Mr. Ned Schneebly in the film School of Rock. So why this portrayal? First of all, playing a longterm sub. Those are so hard to find right now. <Audience laughs> Really hard. And then he teaches using class projects. That’s brilliant. Integrated learning. And then love this. He gives students roles and tasks that are differentiated and align to the specific strengths that each student has.

Kid 2 in School of Rock (12:05):
“I can also play clarinet, you know!”

Jack Black in School of Rock (12:06):
“I’ll find something for you when we get back from lunch. I’ll assign the rest of you killer positions.”

Mandy Jansen (12:13):
And the film culminates in a performance of a collaborative song that they all wrote and performed together. And the students experience that collaboration and teamwork and creating something beautiful is much more important than winning first place. And finally, one of the songs that the character sings in the film is “Math is a Wonderful Thing.” Can’t beat that.

Dan Meyer (12:40):
All right. That’s tough. That’s tough. So here’s the deal. What we have right now is just a quick minute—so Bethany, you ranked, we all ranked our own faves here outta the list of eight. And Bethany put Jack Black in School of Rock a bit higher than Tina Fey in Mean Girls.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (12:54):
Missed the piano part though.

Dan Meyer (12:55):
And Chris, vice versa here. So Bethany, would you start us off and just make a quick case here for Jack Black versus Tina Fey?

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (13:01):
OK. So here’s what I’m thinking. There’s been rumor that maybe they’re putting less than credentialed people into classrooms to fill teaching gaps. I mean, just rumor. And so here’s this guy who is a rocker. He is not a substitute. He has no teaching training. And yet he goes in there and it turns out that he has the ability to see students’ potential and to recognize their unique abilities. And like Mandy said, he really tapped into, like, he saw them and said, “No, more is possible for you than what you think is possible.” And there’s like real sub anxiety. When you walk in, you can either be like, happy there’s a sub, but I was usually really nervous. Right? And he goes in and he makes that classroom into a home.

Dan Meyer (13:53):
Wow.

Chris Nho (13:54):
Wow.

Dan Meyer (13:56):
Chris, speak on it. Tina Fey needs you. Chris.

Chris Nho (13:59):
Tina Fey. Here we go. I’m gonna argue here that—when was that movie made?

Dan Meyer (14:03):
T is for terrific. I is for Interesting.

Chris Nho (14:06):
Decades ago. And I’m gonna argue that Tina Fey was very progressive for her time. OK, let’s talk about social emotional learning. Hello. <Audience laughs> Love that. Right? Stand up if, I mean, she’s getting people to talk about their emotions. And there’s a curriculum. But let’s just pause, because that’s not what’s really happening in the classroom right now. So social emotional learning, I think she’s, she’s got that a lot. And then number two, you know, if you remember the plot of Mean Girls a little bit, she gets her name written in that Burn Book. Like she sees what they say about her. Restorative justice. Let’s go. <Audience laughs>.

Dan Meyer (14:38):
Whom amongst us. Yes.

Chris Nho (14:40):
You write Mr. Nho in the Burn Book?? Well, your grade book is gonna look like a Burn Book! OK? <Audience laughs> Tina Fey, Tina Fey, she was like, “No, you know, know what? I’m actually gonna spend more time with you. You’re gonna become a mathlete.” And Lindsay Lohan discovers—she drops the most iconic line in all of math education. “The limit does not exist.” Thank you, Tina Fey, for that. For that gift.

Dan Meyer (15:04):
Bless. Bless you. Tina Fey. Wow.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (15:05):
Oh, man. Wow.

Dan Meyer (15:09):
Let’s see what the people say here. I do wanna just add one quick thing about—it’s interesting to me how often in these movies—just kind of go in a little bit, zoom out just a minute—how often it’s a teacher who has no training as a teacher. <Bethany laughs> I am kind of curious why it is. Like, those are the movies that get hot, that get made. Again, these are all kind of a mirror of the taste of the moviegoing public. You know what I’m saying? Like, these, these are not movies—I wanna believe they are made for me and for us as teachers. But they are not. There’s not enough of us to justify, you know, Jack Black’s, you know, M&M budget or whatever he’s got going on in his trailer or whatever. That needs to be for everybody in middle-class America. So what is it about middle-class America that wants to see teaching as something that anybody can do? Just like, you know, just, just run up there in your van and make it happen.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (15:54):
Magic magically manifests.

Dan Meyer (15:56):
Yeah. Manifest. Yeah. That’s just interesting to me. I just toss that out there as some red meat. Let’s see what the people say here. All right, OK, so you’re ready. Let’s get the bracket going here. The question is Tina Fey versus Jack Black. You had a moment here. Just whisper to someone real fast who you’re going for here real quick. What are you thinking here? <Crowd murmuring> All right. Crowd’s buzzing. Crowd’s buzzing. Would you folks…? All right. Bring it back. Go ahead and make some noise for Tina Fey. <Crowd cheers> OK. OK. Make some noise for Jack Black! <Crowd cheers> Judges say Tina Fey. Tina Fey moves on. All right. All right.

Chris Nho (16:44):
Stunned. I’m stunned. I’m speechless.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (16:46):
Tina Fey moves on. Wow.

Dan Meyer (16:48):
This has exceeded my expectations in terms of having some fun, but also getting deep, getting deep and real about teaching. I’m into this right here. Yeah. What’s up?

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (16:54):
That’s the goal. That’s the goal. OK. You wanted blood? Oooh, this next matchup might just be where that blood comes forth! OK. Stretch. Warm up. Dan Meyer, who’s up next?

Dan Meyer (17:11):
We’ve got the animated/animatronic round here in the Southeast. And repping the two contestants here, who do we have? We have Allison Hintz, professor, author outta Washington, as one of the two nominators. And the other nominator is one of my heroes, though we’ll find out very wrong about this nomination, Jenna Laib, who’s in the crowd, and I’m trying not to make eye contact here. <Laugh> And here are the two nominations. A couple minutes each. And then we’ll chat about it. And one of us will probably die. But we’ll see how it goes.

Allison Hintz (17:50):
A long, long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, MTL, we began learning from the Jedi Master of Teaching. With the Socratic and experiential approach. With unparalleled mindfulness, compassion, and humility. The best teacher in TV and film, Yoda is. <Audience laughs> Yoda lives the values we share as teachers and learners. He humbly comes alongside us as we construct new knowledge.

Yoda (18:29):
“You must unlearn what you have learned.”

Allison Hintz (18:32):
Yoda allows us to struggle and sees mistakes as critical to learning.

Yoda (18:39):
“The greatest teacher, failure is.”

Allison Hintz (18:43):
Yoda values curiosity and reminds us of the beauty and joy of teachers learning from children.

Yoda (18:52):
“Truly wonderful, the mind of a child is.”

Allison Hintz (18:59):
MTL! Join the Resistance! Let the force flow through you in declaring, the best teacher in TV and film, Yoda is.

Dan Meyer (19:18):
Give it up for Allison Hintz! All right! <Audience applauds>

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (19:20):
Alison! And to have that on hand too, which Is kind of perfect.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (19:26):
Just to be clear, the helmet is not a part of a Zoom background.

Dan Meyer (19:29):
You may evaluate the quality of the nomination based on the costumes of the nominator. That is acceptable. That’s acceptable.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (19:35):
That is a REAL HELMET.

Dan Meyer (19:35):
All right. The next nominator here, this one is from Jenna Laib, math coach, all-around stellar human. Here we go. This is Ms. Frizzle.

Ms. Frizzle (19:42):
“Single file, class. Our rotten field trip has only just begun.”

Jenna Laib (19:47):
And I think that the best teacher from TV or movies is Ms .Valerie Frizzle from The Magic School Bus. First and foremost, Ms. Frizzle believes in her students. She encourages them to take an active role in their learning, and also to advocate for change in their local community. For example, there’s an episode where there is a logger who’s gonna cut down a rotting log that would benefit the local ecosystem. And the students figure out a way to convince him to leave the log so that all of the animals and the plant life can benefit. She orchestrates really challenging situations for these students, and she allows them the space to ask questions and engage in problem-solving and puzzle their way out of these really, really difficult scenarios. Ms. Frizzle has unmatched pedagogy. She’s bold, she’s innovative, and she’s a major proponent of experiential learning. So these students are heading straight into a storm to learn about weather systems. <Audience laughs> These students are heading into the human body to learn about digestion and disease. They literally get baked into a cake to learn about some chemistry and reactions.

Children in The Magic School Bus (20:54):
“What’s happening?” <Audience laughs> “Why is it suddenly getting so hot?” “Maybe it’s because the floor is on fire!” <Audience laughs>

Jenna Laib (21:02):
This pedagogy is all led by her outstanding catchphrase, which is:

Ms. Frizzle (21:06):
“Take chances; make mistakes; get messy!”

Jenna Laib (21:14):
From her pedagogy to the classroom community that she creates, Ms. Frizzle is an inspiration, and that is why I think that she is the best teacher from TV or film. <Audience applauds>

Dan Meyer (21:25):
Right on! Give it up for Jenna. Give it up for Jenna. All right. I’m gonna take first pass at this. Chris knows my argument already, so I’m gonna take this here. I see some of you are feeling how I’m feeling on this one. OK, so I don’t have tons to say in favor of Yoda. I think it was all true what Allison said. I think the costume was banging. It was awesome. So there’s all that, but I have more to say against Ms. Frizzle than for Yoda.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (21:48):
No, no, no. Wait a second!

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (21:49):
Let’s let it happen. Bethany, I’ve come prepared.

Dan Meyer (21:54):
I may have made a misstep here, I realize.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (21:56):
I’ve come prepared.

Dan Meyer (21:56):
So I think Jenna is all correct. I think those clips spoke for themselves. I think that what they add up to, to me, is not “great teacher,” but more “someone who should be locked up.” <Audience laughs> Or at the very minimum, “someone who should be kept away from children.” <Audience laughs> Do not let that woman around children. I mean, check it out. Look, I don’t wanna throw down credentials. I’ve been to grad school, though. I know how this works. When your brain is stressed, you get these—all the cortisol happens. Your working memory shrinks up. You cannot learn when you’re stressed. And those kids, like whatever lesson Ms. Frizzle is teaching by sending them into an oven, I repeat, an oven <audience laughs>, like, they’re not gonna learn anything ’cause their brains are freaking out with stress and fear. OK?

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (22:41):
“What’s happening??”

Dan Meyer (22:43):
“What’s happening? Am I on fire? Well…I’m learning lots, though! Sure is magical!” <Audience laughs> It’s like, “No. Get that woman out of a classroom.” That’s my opening and closing argument. Right? There’s all it is.

Chris Nho (23:01):
All right. All right. All right.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (23:02):
Chris knows.

Chris Nho (23:03):
I’ve got, I’ve got lots to say. First off, I think Dan was in charge of the editing of those video clips. So let’s let that be—you know, let the record stand. <Audience laughs>

Dan Meyer (23:11):
Where’s the lie though? Where’s the lie?

Chris Nho (23:14):
And, you know, second, I think, um—this is the guy up here saying, “I wanna see blood.” You know? And then he has a teacher who literally takes the students into a blood cell and, and you get a little scared! You get a little worried for the students, you know? So I just don’t get it, Dan. This or that. OK? I think Ms. Frizzle—so I actually went to a project-based learning school. I taught at a project-based learning school. And the best thing about it is like, your learning, it doesn’t just stay in this box of math lesson or writing lesson, history lesson. And I think with Ms. Frizzle, like you can’t help but learn things because you are getting baked in a cake. <Audience laughs> Yeah, it is a little scary. And I imagine there’s cortisol and things happening, but guess what? Probably the next episode, they go into their own brains and explore what’s happening. That kind of thing. You know?

Dan Meyer (24:07):
The kids that survived, just be clear. <Audience laughs>

Chris Nho (24:10):
Yeah. OK. Would I want Nora, my three-month-old, to be babysat by Ms. Frizzle? Maybe not. <Audience laughs> But what I have to say about Yoda is Yoda maybe wins the best tutor award. Give it up for Yoda’s Best Tutor Award.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (24:24):
Oh, yeah…

Chris Nho (24:25):
That ratio’s looking really nice. I could teach the heck outta Luke Skywalker. OK? But 20 little Luke Skywalkers running around. I’m not sure. OK?

Dan Meyer (24:34):
Luke did survive the training, though. <Audience laughs> So that’s awfully nice to say about it. All right, Great words from Chris here. I’m still not convinced. We’ll see how you’re convinced here. Would you whisper to someone where you’re leaning here? Frizzle or Yoda? <Audience buzzing>

Chris Nho (24:47):
I tried. I tried.

Dan Meyer (24:53):
All right. That’s enough of that. Let’s hear it folks. Give it up for Yoda. <Audience cheers> Give it up. Give it up. You. Give. It. Up.

Chris Nho (25:05):
Hey, next. Next.

Dan Meyer (25:06):
All right. All right, all right. <Mutters> Give it up for Ms. Frizzle. <Audience cheers louder> I dunno, it’s pretty close. Call a tie. Maybe Yoda? Yoda by nose? <Audience laughs> All right. All right. Let’s…let me see who’s it. Let’s get the people advancing here. I’ll keep on moving here.

Chris Nho (25:26):
As you’re doing that. Um, Dan ranked Ms. Frizzle last in his personal ranking. And I ranked Ms. Frizzle very high, so we knew this one would be spicy,

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (25:36):
<laugh> Spicy it was. Are you having a good time so far? <Audience cheers> So while we love seeing these images and we love seeing these video clips, at the core, what are these things about how teachers are portrayed? And how accurate is that to our real lives? I mean, besides the cake part, right? That my chemistry class did often feel like I was on fire. I was so stressed in it. Um, we’re ready?

Dan Meyer (26:05):
Yep. Great. We’re ready, we’re up here. So the next two nominees are coming to you folks from Tracy Zager, who is the editor of my book, forthcoming in 2027 at the earliest and 2032 at the latest. And also your very own Zak Champagne from Florida, here in the room. Hey, Zak. Zak, let’s see who the nominations are. I’m gonna skip past that, didn’t work out so well for me. Here it is. This is Marshall Kane from the TV show Community.

Michael K. Williams in Community (26:32):
“You two complete your case to the class and let them decide your grades.”

Joel McHale in Community (26:37):
“Professor, thank you.”

Michael K. Williams in Community (26:40):
“It’s not a favor, Mr. Winger. Man’s gotta have a code.”

Joel McHale in Community (26:44):
“Awesome.”

Zak Champagne (26:46):
This is a pitch for an underdog. This teacher didn’t stand on desks or encourage his students to follow their musical passions. In fact, this teacher was seen only in a few episodes of my favorite TV show of all time, Community, Community has set at Greendale Community College in Colorado. And in season three, we get to meet Dr. Marshall Kane, a biology professor whose story is an inspiration to anyone who just takes the time to look and listen. Dr. Marshall Kane slowly earned his PhD while in prison, serving a sentence of 25 to life. In his classroom, he inspires students to love biology, question why LEGO has become so complicated, and randomly pairs his students for group projects to ensure no one feels left out. His greatest performance comes when a group of students believe their yam project was intentionally sabotaged. Dr. Kane took this as an opportunity for some trans-disciplinary real-world learning. So yes, at community college, he felt that a middle-school mock trial was the best way to determine who killed the yam. So let’s all pick the underdog and vote for Dr. Marshall Kane. After all, man’s gotta have a code. <Audience goes “oh!” and applauds>

Dan Meyer (27:53):
Thank you, Zak.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (27:54):
I have a code.

Dan Meyer (27:56):
Next up is Tracy Zager, nominating an unusual nomination, not a single person, but an ensemble performance. A bunch of people from a movie called Searching for Bobby Fisher. Here we go.

Rapid-fire movie dialogue (28:11):
“What’s that?” “Schleimann attack.” “Schleimann attack? Where’d you learn that from, a book?” “No, my teacher taught me.” “Aw, your teacher. Well, forget it. Play like you used to, from the gut. Get your pawns rolling on the queen’s side.”

Tracy Zager (28:26):
Hey, Math Teacher Lounge. This is Tracy Zager. I’m excited to share my nominee for the best movie teacher. But I have to admit that when I first got the email, I thought, oh, who am I gonna nominate? Because most movies about teachers are highly problematic. They usually have like a saviorism thing, usually white saviors. And I just felt like I couldn’t suggest any of those. So rather than nominate a movie about a single teacher, I wanted to nominate a movie that taught me something about teaching. And that movie is a deep cut. It’s Searching for Bobby Fischer. It’s a movie about a chess prodigy. And what I love about it is that all of the different adults in the movie are in teacher roles in some way. And the student, Josh, the chess player, is a fully realized character, not an empty pail, who pulls from the strengths of each one of those adults while also dealing with their flaws and humanity. And there’s just beautiful synergy in the way he gets the best out of everybody, but also has to overcome some of the barriers that they put in front of him. So I feel like it’s a much more authentic and humbling, but also inspiring, movie about the power of teaching. So if you haven’t ever seen it, check it out. And I can’t wait to see who the other nominees are. Thanks so much.

Dan Meyer (29:53):
Right on. Thank you, Tracy. Wherever you are. <Applause> We’ll move a little quicker here. I’m curious, Bethany, you put Marshall Kane pretty high. I put Bobby Fischer pretty high. What do you have to say about Marshall Kane for us here?

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (30:04):
Well, I just wanna say two things. One is that, like Zak said, he has this code of conduct that he brings in. And he stays true to it no matter what happens. If you saw him in in Community, you know that he held himself up to such high esteem, but not just himself, his students as well. And he took accountability when he felt he had done wrong, even though, well, that’s controversy. But first—oh, the other thing, rest in peace, Michael K. Williams. Oh my gosh. The actor who plays Marshall K. And the thing that I wanna say most of all about it is that he brings his whole self to the classroom. He was in prison for decades. He brings his whole self and says, “This is who I was. This is who I am today. And this is how we can work together as a community.”

Dan Meyer (30:58):
That’s big. I love your comments about code of conduct too. It makes me wish that Ms. Frizzle had a code of conduct also.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (31:05):
I knew that was coming back!

Chris Nho (31:06):
Two slides ago, Dan. That was two slides ago.

Dan Meyer (31:08):
Can’t let it go. So yeah, I love what you said there. I have no strong beef here either way. Bobby Fischer’s a movie I have loved dearly and can’t be objective about it. I love that the kid in that movie, more than any other movie here, the kid teaches the adults so much through his innocence and how he challenges them and how they’re treating him. Dig all that so much. Will not, will not begrudge anyone any vote either way here. I do begrudge many of you your vote in previous rounds. <Audience laughs> So let’s just, let’s hear. We’re not gonna ask you folks at all to chitchat. We’re gonna move on this one. So would you folks make some noise here for Marshall Kane in Community? OK. OK. And would you make some noise here for Bobby Fischer, the kid in Bobby Fischer, the ensemble? <Audience cheers, applauds>

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (31:56):
Marshall Kane.

Dan Meyer (31:57):
Marshall Kane takes it. All right. Good job, Marshall Kane! All right. Zak’s feeling good. Moving on to the final four here, Zak, right on. OK. Our last—the Northwest Division here is also the large urban district division here. We have a couple different teachers in sets of large urban schools. They’re nominated, they’re advanced by a couple people here. One is past president of NCTM, Robert Berry. And another is Fawn Nguyen, Southern California phenom. Great teacher and friend of lots of us. Um, let’s see who they nominated here. First from Robert Berry, let’s see, who is it here? Janine Teagues from Abbott Elementary.

Abbott Elementary dialogue (32:37):
“Hey, you know what? I’m probably probably gonna be Kenny’s second-grade teacher. Why don’t you just let him get a head start with me today?” “That’d be great.” “Yeah? OK. Hey, Kenny, would you like to be in my group today?” “Not really.” “That’s the spirit.”

Robert Berry (32:54):
My nomination is gonna be Quinta Brunson, the Emmy Award-winning Quinta Brunson from Abbott Elementary. Janine Teagues is the character. She exemplifies care not only from an affect way, but she also exemplifies care in the things that she does for her students. While the scenes in the show are entertaining, they do represent the challenges that teachers experience when they’re trying to meet the needs of her students. So she goes, goes all out for her students and finding resources. She accesses other people to get resources for her students. But the care shows up in the way that she is mindful of their needs. And so, for me, when I think about teachers and teaching, sometimes we can talk about pedagogy, but sometimes we also can talk about those kind of intangibles that makes a teacher a great teacher. It is apparent from her students that she cares about them, she supports them, and she goes all out 100% for her students. Janine Teagues, Quinta Brunson is, I think, is my choice of the best teacher on television because of the realism and the representation that she brings to this character of what teaching is about. <Applause>

Dan Meyer (34:28):
Right on. Right on. OK. OK. Next up, we’ve got, Fawn Nguyen is nominating Erin Gruwell from Freedom Writers. Here we go.

Hilary Swank in Freedom Writers movie (34:39):
“Look, you can either sit in your seats reading those workbooks or you can play a game. Either way, you’re in here till the bell rings. OK? This is called the Line Game. I’m gonna ask you a question. If that question applies to you, you step onto the line and then step back away for the next question. Easy, right? The first question. How many of you have the new Snoop Dog album? <kids move around> OK, back away. Next question. How many of you have seen Boys in the Hood?”

Fawn Nguyen (35:26):
We all learn about Miss G and her 150 students in the movie Freedom Writers starring Hilary Swank. All great teachers share a common set of traits. They care deeply about their students, have high expectations of them, and always believing wholeheartedly that they will succeed. Great teachers go above and beyond, not because they extraordinary—as Anne Gruwell would always refer to herself as an ordinary teacher—but because extraordinary things happen to people when we believe in them, give them hope, help them write their own story with a different ending. So what stood out for me with Miss G is the scope of her reach, the ever-expanding sphere of her humanity. The red tape she had placed on the classroom floor for the line game shows just how much we all have in common despite our differences. Her students didn’t just learn from her; they learned from one another. If you’d like to be part of this expanding sphere to give voice and hope, please check out Freedom Writers Foundation dot org.

Dan Meyer (36:38):
OK. This right here is a tough one for us. Thank you, Fawn. We collectively ranked—that’s our number one seed and number eight seed, which I hasten to say does not have to do with Erin Gruwell, a person, but the portrayal and the movie. So we don’t have like a whole lot of…there’s not a lot of defense we have to offer here of our eighth seed. And I heard like a kind of a little bit of a murmur over the crowd on Erin Gruwell. So I’m more interested than having a defense back and forth. I’d be curious what you, Bethany, think about what, like, what both movies have to say about like, what teaching is, especially teaching urban schools with black and brown kids and lower-class kids, for instance. They both have, I think, very different things to say about them. Do you have thoughts about that?

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (37:19):
Well, it’s interesting because there is some overlap in the sense that the arguments that both Fawn and Robert Berry put out, they both care deeply about their students, right? We’re not gonna argue that. They care deeply. And something that I would say about Miss Teagues is there’s something about the way that she sees not only her classroom, her students, but she sees all of the students in the school as her students. And her idea of resource generation is really helping the teachers to generate resources from their community themselves, and to also realize that the students see themselves reflected in the teachers. And I think that—you know, again, this is not about the real person—but the movie portrayal, and we often see kind of this, for Freedom Writers, we often see this like, Great Last Hope whisked in and her personal sacrifices are what makes these students, these brown and black students’ transformation possible. Because of her sacrifices. Including her marriage. Including, you know, three jobs. And it’s just portrayed in a way that I think really celebrates her sacrifices rather than what the students have already brought—they already come into the room bringing so much as they are, already, without her intervention.

Dan Meyer (38:38):
I love the portrayal of the teacher as part of a community of teachers. Versus in so many of these movies, it’s the teacher as the only person who gets it, you know, oftentimes coming from outside of the world of teaching and everyone’s against them and wants ’em just to fall in line and do the thing we always do, and they’re the outlier. But in Abbott Elementary, it’s like we all rise and we fall together. And teachers are investing in each other’s success, especially with Gregory the longterm sub. We’re all rooting for his, you know, his flourishing. I love that. And yeah. That’s bigtime.

Chris Nho (39:09):
Yeah, I think one interesting thing is that Freedom Writers, when it came out, I think it was like a commercial success.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (39:17):
Oh, big time. Yeah. It was.

Chris Nho (39:18):
It probably influenced a lot of people to try teaching out. So I do wonder what it says about us, right? Like that we want teaching to fit this narrative, and we wanna be those people who could go into a classroom and <puts on “cool voice”> “Y’all listen to Snoop Dog?” and just have that question HIT. <laughter> And you know, I’ve taught in a large urban school district, and I’ve been that person and I’ve seen other people try and be that person. And I think stepping away from it a little bit, just—it’s a reflection of what people want out of teaching and what they think better education looks like.

Dan Meyer (39:57):
Yeah, yeah. This idea that, so I’m a middle-class person, let’s say, and like, there’s this idea, like, “I know what I would do if I was going into circumstances of impoverishment.” Like I have—

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (40:06):
“All they really need is…”

Dan Meyer (40:07):
…for me to give ’em some real talk and tell ’em, you know, pull their pants up or whatever, listen to Snoop Dog, that kind of thing. And that will be the key. And that’s not how it is in, you know, in Jack Black in School of Rock or Tina Fey school, which are, you know, coded as largely like upper-class or largely white schools. And in those movies, it’s interesting, like how it’s about students discovering themselves, oftentimes. And the central figures are often students. And the students need to reject an oppressive parent figure or something and find themselves. But no, in Freedom Writers, it’s like, “You need to become more like the middle-class teachers who are coming in here to give you this wisdom.” It’s just interesting. I do find it—a pet peeve of mine is when movies portray teachers as only successful if you endure, for instance, the failure of your marriage, or even in Stand and Deliver, for instance, like Jaime Escalante, they depict him having a heart attack. And, like, the job oughta be…easier. <Audience laughs>

Chris Nho (41:04):
Truth.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (41:05):
That’s the barometer for how much….

Dan Meyer (41:09):
Like, no heart attacks and no divorces related to the job, that kind of thing. I do love how in Abbott—one last thing and we’ll vote and Abbott will win <audience laughs>—is like how, like there, there is a lot of degradation in Abbott, but it’s not a divorce or a heart attack—it’s the petty indignities of asking a student, “Do you wanna hang with me?” And a student says, “Nah, not really.” And that just spoke to me like how it’s not cinematic, but teaching, successful teaching, is like a collection of developing an immunity to students saying, “You’re not hot.” <Laugh> You know? And so I love that. I do wish that there was more depiction of students in Abbott Elementary. It’s a lot of adult stuff. Whatever. Give it up for Abbott, if you would, please. Let’s just get this done here. All right. That’s plenty. That’s plenty. Not gonna ask folks about Freedom Writers. OK, let’s move on to— all right, let’s hear it for Freedom Writers! Yeah. OK, cool. We go, yep.

Chris Nho (42:05):
Plot twist!

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (42:07):
OK, let’s see our final four. Cut and paste. Real time. Real time.

Audience member (42:12):
Where’s Dolores Umbridge?

Dan Meyer (42:14):
Oh….

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (42:16):
Hey, did you hear that? He said, “Where’s Dolores Umbridge?”

Dan Meyer (42:20):
All right. OK.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (42:20):
See, we missed so many. We could…

Dan Meyer (42:21):
So coming up here, we’ve got in the Eastern Conference, Tina Fey and Ms. Frizzle. Y’all know how I feel about that one. Let’s just get this one done. OK, let’s give it up for Tina Fey. Let’s hear it. <Audience cheers> OK. All right. Yes! Let’s give it up for menace to children everywhere, the terror, the Ms. Frizzle. <Audience cheers> One more time for Tina Fey. Let’s hear it. <Audience cheers> One more time for Ms. Frizzle. Let’s hear it. <Audience cheers>

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (42:59):
Yeah. OK.

Dan Meyer (43:00):
It took ’em one round, but they made the right call in the end. <Laugh>

Chris Nho (43:04):
All it took was 10 minutes of constant Ms. Frizzle-bashing. <Laugh>

Dan Meyer (43:09):
Persevering and problem-solving, that’s my game. Yes. All right. So, do either of you want to influence the audience one way or the other?

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (43:16):
That’s not how I play, Dan.

Dan Meyer (43:18):
Oh, OK. Yeah, that’s true. That’s true. You’re good. On Abbott versus Marshall Kane, should we just let ’em have it? All right. All right. Give it up For Abbott Elementary. Not bad. And for Marshall Kane. OK. OK. I hear Zak and five other people. All right, cool. <laugh> Right on. All right. We got our, we got our finals,

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (43:45):
We did it. We made it to two. And we know: We left out a lot of people. Right? And honestly, I kind of wish we could poll like everyone. I mean, think you put it on Twitter, right? Like, who would you pick? But I would say we had a pretty solid eight there. I’m excited to see who… Look at the little crown he put, you guys. Come on.

Dan Meyer (44:05):
I worked hard for you. For you. <Laugh> Yeah. I liked that it was a good bunch that had a lot of different kinds of qualities…and lack of qualities in some cases. And it allowed us that—I shouldn’t knock her while she’s down, and she IS down, it’s true. <Laugh> And I appreciate the conversation we’ve had, what they have revealed overall about teaching and what the world wants teaching to be versus what it actually is or actually should be. I appreciate that. So let’s settle this here. Give it up, if you would, for Abbott Elementary. <Audience cheers> And give it up for Tina Fey in Mean Girls. <Audience cheers>

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (44:49):
Wow.

Dan Meyer (44:51):
That was close. I almost give that to Tina Fey.

Audience member (44:55):
Yeah, we do!

Dan Meyer (44:55):
I don’t know. That was a bracket-buster for me right there. Yeah. I lost money in the office pool off that right there. Maybe let’s just find out one more time here. One more time.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (45:03):
Last time.

Dan Meyer (45:03):
Time to summon up all your conviction on one or the other here. No half-measures right now. All right.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (45:07):
Emmy Award-winning Quinta Brunson.

Dan Meyer (45:09):
Yeah, you saw Robert Berry on that, right? He was like, “Oh, I got one more card to play. Emmy Award-winning.” That’s admissible. That’s admissible. We’ll take that. All right. So…give it up for Abbott Elementary, one last time. <Audience cheers> OK. All right. All right. And give it up for Tina Fey in Mean Girls. <Audience cheers>

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (45:30):
Drumroll, please!

Chris Nho (45:33):
Best teacher is….

Dan Meyer (45:34):
Tina Fey in Mean Girls! Yeah. Not a bad pick.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (45:39):
I love it. And I think, too, I think we’re gonna have a little bit of a more reflective lens than we thought we did when we see depictions of teachers in film and television. And, you know, hopefully we’ll see some new tropes come in, right?

Dan Meyer (45:55):
Yep. Yeah. Every dollar we spend on movies with lousy teachers is just encouraging these people to make more lousy teacher movies, you know? Awesome. Thank you for being here for a live taping—

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (46:06):
Thank you for being here.

Dan Meyer (46:06):
—of our podcast, Math Teacher Lounge, in a hot room. Appreciate that. Yeah, it’s been fun for us to have you here. Um, super-important, super-important final remark: Bethany loves Oprah and Oprah occasionally, in the show—

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (46:18):
Is she coming?! Is she here?!

Dan Meyer (46:19):
Not here! Not here! Calm down. Calm down. Um, but we do have in Oprah fashion, not something—

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (46:24):
Oh. Oh, OK. Oh, that’s, that’s OK. Sorry. I got, had really excited for a second. As if the Amplify playing cards, The Amplify t-shirts being chucked at you at high speed—I did try to get a t-shirt cannon, and that was quickly ruled out <laugh>. They didn’t know about my rocket arm, right?

Dan Meyer (46:46):
Yeah, you got a cannon. <Laugh>

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (46:47):
Yeah. Oh, that’s a compliment. Oh, is that a compliment? Thank you, Dan. Thank you. Look under your seat because we have five winners. We wanna thank you for being here in person. We wanna thank the folks who are listening. We wanna thank Amplify. Oh my God. Somebody just pulled off the chair tag. You get to take that chair home with you.

Dan Meyer (47:08):
Does anybody have a prize?

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (47:10):
OK, stand up if you…stand up if you…Yes! Stand up if you have one!

Dan Meyer (47:16):
Free set of classroom dry-erase boards, right here. Congratulations.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (47:22):
And for you who pulled off the chair tag, I don’t know. We gotta we gotta find something for you.

Dan Meyer (47:27):
Put that in your backpack.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (47:30):
Thank you again for being here. Thank you. Amplify. Thank you, Desmos. Thank you. Dan Meyer.

Dan Meyer (47:36):
Thank you folks. Chris, thank you buddy.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (47:38):
Chris! Chris Nho, everybody!

Dan Meyer (47:40):
We will be, we will be at—Bethany and I will be at the booth, if you wanna chit-chat and hang out, sign some stuff. Whatever. You wanna have Bethany sign you, she’ll do that. Um, come on down to the Amplify booth and we’ll—

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (47:50):
We’ll talk to you more about Ms. Frizzle.

Dan Meyer (47:52):
Fun and prizes. I will share with my real thoughts about Ms. Frizzle down there. I’d love to see you. Thanks for being here, folks.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (47:57):
Thanks for listening. Bye.

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What Dan Meyer says about math teaching

“Teaching, more than other professions, is a generational profession. The kinds of joyful experiences we offer—or don’t offer—now affect the experiences students that haven’t even been born yet will have years later.”

– Dan Meyer

Meet the guests

Dan Meyer

Dan Meyer taught high school math to students who didn’t like high school math. He has advocated for better math instruction on CNN, Good Morning America, Everyday With Rachel Ray, and TED.com. He earned his doctorate from Stanford University in math education and is currently the Dean of Research at Desmos, where he explores the future of math, technology, and learning. Dan has worked with teachers internationally and in all 50 United States and was named one of Tech & Learning’s 30 Leaders of the Future.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson

Bethany Lockhart Johnson is an elementary school educator and author. Prior to serving as a multiple-subject teacher, she taught theater and dance and now loves incorporating movement and creative play into her classroom. Bethany is committed to helping students find joy in discovering their identities as mathematicians. In addition to her role as a full-time classroom teacher, Bethany is a Student Achievement Partners California Core Advocate and is active in national and local mathematics organizations. Bethany is a member of the Illustrative Mathematics Elementary Curriculum Steering Committee and serves as a consultant, creating materials to support families during distance learning.

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About Math Teacher Lounge: The podcast

Math Teacher Lounge is a biweekly podcast created specifically for K–12 math educators. In each episode co-hosts Bethany Lockhart Johnson (@lockhartedu) and Dan Meyer (@ddmeyer) chat with guests, taking a deep dive into the math and educational topics you care about.

Join the Math Teacher Lounge Facebook group to continue the conversation, view exclusive content, interact with fellow educators, participate in giveaways, and more!

Winter Wrap-Up 01: Problem-solving and facilitating classroom discussions

Promotional graphic for Math Teacher Lounge podcast, episode 1, featuring Fawn Nguyen, Christy Thompson, and Kassia Omohundro Wedekind discussing classroom problem-solving and discussions.

As we prep for an exciting new season of Math Teacher Lounge: The Podcast, hosts Bethany Lockhart Johnson and Dan Meyer are looking back at the amazing speakers and conversations from past episodes and sharing some of their favorites!

First up: A season 2 double feature of the power of problem-solving with Fawn Nguyen and Facilitating Classroom Discussions with authors Christy Hermann Thompson and Kassia Omohundro Wedekind.

Fawn is a specialist on Amplify’s advanced math team and a former math teacher and math coach—so she knows her stuff! You’ll hear about her five criteria for good problem-solving problems, and the power and importance of exposing all students to problem-solving.

Then, we’ll move into Bethany and Dan’s conversation with Christy and Kassia to learn how hands-down conversations allow students to become better listeners and the steps you can take to implement hands-down conversations in your classroom.

Explore more from Math Teacher Lounge by visiting our main page.

Download Transcript

Dan Meyer: (00:01)

Hey folks. Welcome back to Math Teacher Lounge. My name is Dan Meyer.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson: (00:03)

And I’m Bethany Lockhart Johnson. Hello! Happy New Year! Hello, Dan Meyer.

Dan Meyer: (00:09)

HNY, Bethany. HNY to you and to all of the listeners out there in Math Teacher Lounge. HNY is the abbreviation that I use sometimes.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson: (00:18)

Oh, is that what that is? Is that—I wasn’t sure what that was. If on my birthday you send me HBD…no.

Dan Meyer: (00:25)

Yeah.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson: (00:25)

No. Unacceptable.

Dan Meyer: (00:27)

I will. No, you want the full thing. To demonstrate my care for your birthday, I gotta spell the whole thing out. I’m just trying to stay relevant. You know, I’m just trying to stay relevant and youthful. So I’m using The Abreevs.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson: (00:38)

The Brevvies.

Dan Meyer: (00:40)

To the extent of even abbreviating the word “abbreviation.” . So, any New Year’s resolutions you wanna share with the listeners, Bethany? While you think, I’ll just share mine real quick here. This is the year of the perfect Wordle streak for yours truly, Dan Meyer. I’m going the full 365. Watch. Watch me do it, folks. I’m naming it here. Live on air. recorded on air. Perfect Wordle year. What you got for the listeners, Bethany?

Bethany Lockhart Johnson: (01:10)

Let’s see. It’s raining very hard here in Southern California, and my newest resolution is to embrace nature. My child wants nothing more than to go and splash in all the puddles.

Dan Meyer: (01:22)

Nice.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson: (01:23)

And be amongst the mud. And what I’m gonna keep telling myself—and so far, so far, I’ve been doing pretty good with this—thrive, child. Splash. Squish. We can dry you off. You will not melt. So I want to keep finding opportunities. Like, for instance, my response is, “It’s pouring rain. Let’s stay under covers and let’s read this book together!” And his response is like, banging on the windows, like, “Please let me go outside.” So I myself have some rain boots. I’m going to go forth and splash with my child. So hopefully you’ll see me doing that a bit more.

Dan Meyer: (02:08)

Love that.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson: (02:09)

Ask me what I’m doing. I’m outside, splashing in nature.

Dan Meyer: (02:12)

I don’t wanna put words in your mouth, but I have felt a bit like parenting is a means for rounding out aspects of my own personality that I have felt are—or habits or hobbies that are lacking. Like, I’ve never been real outdoorsy or into camping, but I don’t want that to limit my own kids’ aspirations or interests. So let’s do the thing that’s not super natural for me, for their own sake. Which is kind of what I’m hearing a little bit from you, which—that sounds exciting.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson: (02:35)

Do you wanna go camping together? Like, our families?

Dan Meyer: (02:38)

Uhhh. Let’s take this one off the air. I also love something that’s more relevant to a teachers audience that you said, that I think is super interesting, is how there’s ways that we can make the jobs harder for ourselves, that are optional. And what I hear from you is like, “I’m just not gonna freak out. We’re getting wet. We’re getting soggy. And I’m just not gonna freak out.” And I just think that that’s interesting to think about, the things that we take on, you know, that’s optional. Freaking out is optional, sometimes. And there’s other areas, I think, for parenting or for teaching, where it’s like, “Oh, do I really need to choose this particular battle?” And to reconsider that.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson: (03:19)

And in that spirit, our whole Wordle episode that we talked about? Do you remember you talked about how beautiful Wordle mistakes are, and how you keep learning from mistakes? I mean, you obviously want the final correct answer, but just, you know, when you get on a losing streak, Dan, I hope you’ll continue to pat yourself on the back.

Dan Meyer: (03:38)

Well, I will not be taking on a losing streak, or even lose one day. This is what’s gonna happen here. I’m just speaking that and putting it out in the universe.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson: (03:49)

Speak it!

Dan Meyer: (03:50)

But if it happens, I will be taking a long break from all human interaction. And lamenting, as I do.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson: (03:59)

Camping. Dan’s off in the woods, weeping.

Dan Meyer: (04:01)

That’s right. That’s right. Yeah. Well, we wanna share with you folks—an exciting programming note is that we are currently working very hard on producing a special fifth season of this podcast. You thought the other seasons were special? Let me tell you, this fifth season gives new meaning to the word “special.” And we can’t wait to tell you more about that. But in the meantime, Bethany, you wanna tell ’em what we’re up to in the meantime?

Bethany Lockhart Johnson: (04:26)

Well, Dan and I went back and we were having a conversation about some of our most favorite conversations, or the conversations that people bring up to us. Like, when we were at the CMC conference, or NCTM, folks, when we talk about the podcast, they’re like, “Oh, I loved this one.” “Oh, I love this one.” And that, to me, I don’t know, that is exciting. And so, while we’re putting together this new season over these next few weeks, we’re gonna feature a few of our favorite conversations from our first four seasons. Dan, four seasons!

Dan Meyer: (04:59)

We’ve been at this for four seasons! And I do want to just emphasize something you said, Bethany: that all of our conversations are our favorite conversations. They’re all our special children. What we just felt like you, the listeners, did not quite learn enough from some of these, and so we really needed you to hear them again to make sure you got everything that you should get out of them. So, let’s tell ’em who’s up first. And who’s up first is a conversation we had about problem-solving with Fawn Nguyen, who’s an advanced math team specialist here at Amplify. Been a former math coach, math teacher. Just really done the work, is what I’d say about Fawn.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson: (05:38)

If you have been listening to this podcast, you’re like, “Whoa, whoa. Wait, I have not missed an episode. I didn’t hear Fawn’s interview.” That is because we used to be video only, not podcasts. So this conversation with Fawn was from, what, our second season?

Dan Meyer: (05:55)

Yeah.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson: (05:56)

And we were on video. And another thing about it is it was, this is a conversation that, when folks talk about problem-solving, a lot of the responses we’ve gotten are like, “Wait, I’ve never thought of problem-solving this way.” In fact, you’ll hear us say that exact thing . So we really appreciated the time with Fawn. And yeah.

Dan Meyer: (06:17)

Enjoy it, folks. Especially enjoy Fawn’s—I think a four-part?—definition of problem-solving, a word that’s often kind of mushily defined. And Fawn really goes into, I think, precision and depth on it. So hope you folks enjoy it.

Dan Meyer: (06:35)

Give a wave, Fawn, to the camera. Would you? Cool. Fawn has been a teacher for a very long time. She is someone who could have left the classroom at any point and taken any number of jobs in the math-teaching universe. But I’ve always admired that Fawn has taught kids for a very long time, and that has given her, in my view, just a lot of clarity on what is important to her about students. I’ve seen her not get upset or obsessed with certain kinds of small niche issues that a lot of us, like, they get a lot of us down in the classroom, sometimes. And she’s maintained a laser focus on among many other things, problem-solving as a virtue in mathematics classrooms. So, please welcome Fawn to our show. Fawn, thanks so much for being here.

Fawn Nguyen: (07:18)

Hey, thank you so much. Thank you. I am so excited and honored that you guys invited me for this, Bethany and Dan.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson: (07:24)

Thank you for being here.

Fawn Nguyen: (07:26)

I love you, Bethany. Dan, I can tolerate, but I love you.

Dan Meyer: (07:30)

I really worked myself up there on that complimentary opening for you, and that’s how you get me back, here? OK. Problem-solving is fully on the consciousness of math teachers. Every math teacher knows that they need to say, like, “Yeah, oh, problem-solving. Yes. Love it. Do it. I dig it.” But even so, I feel like it’s become kind of a buzzword. Like, it’s not always obvious what that means…or am I doing problem-solving, really? So we’re curious: As someone who is a problem-solving expert, who is asked all over the world to talk about problem-solving: How do I know if I’m doing problem-solving in my classroom?

Fawn Nguyen: (08:12)

This is not my definition of it, but—nor am I an expert, by the way, Dan, thank you! but I try really, really hard and work on it!—my definition—or it’s not my definition, but I like it because it’s short and honest—is “problem-solving is what we do when we don’t know what to do.” And so—

Bethany Lockhart Johnson: (08:32)

Ooh!

Fawn Nguyen: (08:32)

—with that mind-frame, I’m hoping teachers think more about what they task. Because I think it gets mislabeled a lot, as to what is problem-solving. If the kids already know what to do, there’s a solution path. Then it’s not problem-solving.

Dan Meyer: (08:48)

Yeah. So what are examples then? An example of, like, I might call something problem-solving, but it it fails that particular definition that you just proposed there. Very short, very honest definition.

Fawn Nguyen: (08:59)

Just, it needs to have constraint and contradiction to what the kids think naturally. It should come as a surprise. There’s an element of surprise in it. There’s tension.

Dan Meyer: (09:11)

Maybe if there’s harder numbers or, you know, decimals or fractions in the same kind of procedure…I can feel myself thinking, “Yeah, this is hard. This is problem-solving. Problem-solving equals hard. But we already know what to do.”

Fawn Nguyen: (09:27)

Or just word problems. That’s the most common thing. As soon as it just has words attached to the math, it becomes problem-solving. But that’s just coding it to me. That’s just coding it with words, wrapping it around. It doesn’t mean anything until we read through and see if there’s true problem-solving in it.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson: (09:45)

Like, what’s the moment that it becomes problem-solving? In the way that you envision it?

Fawn Nguyen: (09:53)

Well, I think there’s the bigger problem-solving of really bringing a task…I wanna call it left field. It just—we rarely ever, if ever, see it in the regular coursework, but it can also be problem-solving if we just take what we expect the children to do at the end of the unit, how about we front-load that? To me, that’s also problem-solving. And I’m trying to encourage teachers to do that last problem first. The task writers put more thought—not that they don’t do the rest of it!—but you know, this is a special one, because they label it “challenge,” or “enrichment,” or “are you ready for more?” I’ve seen those. And so it is this really special problem. And I would love for us to think about “do that first.” Because my biggest fear is that because it comes at the end, that not all the children are involved. And so that to me is the saddest part. Because we might not get to it, right? In mathematics, we always think, “OK, well, let’s do these problems and then we don’t have time for the rest.” But I think that’s your richest task right there, is at the very end. So why don’t we front-load it, start it, and it’s OK—of course it’s OK!—that we don’t all get it. But the exposure to all students is so important. Talk about, you know, equity. Talk about that, everybody gets the same thing. If everyone dug into that first one with everybody’s collaboration, and we get to share that, and then we leave it, because “Yeah, OK, now we learn more of the other stuff, right? That hopefully support. And then we can go back. And now everybody had a chance to go get into it, and then we can come back to it as, as many problems, we need to go back to it.”

Bethany Lockhart Johnson: (11:37)

And that feels so powerful. Because it feels like—as a teacher, I’m thinking it would also inform my work, how I approach the unit, and how I approach the next steps. Right? Like, what kind of work would we be doing if I let it, if I allow it, to change the way that I approach the unit.

Dan Meyer: (11:58)

Yeah. What you’re describing is so powerful, and really asks a lot of the task designers as well, I think. There are problem-solving tasks that really require, like, abstract knowledge of the way formulas and variables fit together. And what I love about what Amplify is doing with their problem-solving, what you’re helping them do, is that they start with a true low floor that can draw in every student. And they might get stuck at different places; that’s fine. But everyone has a way in. That’s exciting.

Fawn Nguyen: (12:24)

It’s a big deal for me to have this opportunity and this trust, to integrate problem-solving into the curriculum, make it intentional. It’s difficult to implement. It is, to be honest. Because for me, what is a good task? This makes one of my four criteria: One is, it is non-routine. It is simply stated. Simply stated—that’s like your low floor. And then has multiple solutions. And the fourth: This makes it. Because that the teacher enjoys solving it. And so you have to enjoy solving it to bring it. Because so that way I can say to my kids, “This is my gift.” It really is, Because, you know, it has so much fun and joy. And I appreciate the struggle. And I wanna illustrate an example. For example, let’s say Dan and I are classmates. And I know that Dan gets A’s on his tests and the lowest score he ever got was an 89%. I, on the other hand, just sitting right next to him, I average D. I have a D average on everything. While Bethany, our amazing and wonderful teacher, brings in a problem. And when she brings it in, she says, “I worked on this problem. I found this problem; I worked on it; and I struggled with it. And it was amazing. I enjoyed it so much, I’m sharing it with you.” And all of a sudden it’s like, “OK!” And I”m sitting there, right? My teacher loves this problem so much; she’s bringing it in to share with us. And now, all of a sudden, it’s not, you know…and I know she only gives us non-routine. When she talks about problem-solving, it’s non-routine. So it’s not directly tied to the textbook that I’ve been struggling with. So it gives me a chance, it gives me a chance to contribute. To think differently. And now, suddenly I look forward to working with Dan, because in this space, in this problem-solving space, Dan is no longer Mr. Know-It-All. And so that’s what I mean by—I am saying this a hundred times, and I will not stop saying it—problem-solving levels the playing field. Our world is filled with unsolved problems. Are you kidding me? Right? We look around us, we have so many things that are not solvable, or people are working on it, and yet in mathematics, what happens? The bell rings; we start; and we solve everything during that time, and we leave. And that’s…yeah. No! No! We need to wrestle with problems.

Dan Meyer: (15:04)

And that was our conversation with Fawn Nguyen, which we first released way back in November, 2021. You folks can follow Fawn on Twitter at Fawn P Nguyen. Um, that’s @ F A W N P N G U Y E N.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson: (15:18)

So our episode today is a double feature. We are featuring another conversation that we loved from Season Two. This is a conversation with Christy Hermann Thompson and Kassia Omohundro Wedekind. They’re authors of the book, “Hands Down, Speak Out: Listening and Talking Across Literacy and Math.” And I don’t know if you remember, but not only did we have a conversation with them, but we did a whole book study on Facebook, a Facebook Live book study, over the course of several months. And it was one of my most favorite things. And then they did a webinar at the end. So our conversation with them on the podcast for me felt like such a beautiful dive into their book. And you know, I’ve said it before, you think you have something down in the classroom, you’re like, “Oh, hand-raising, I’ve got that down.” You think you have it down, but then somebody says, “OK, but have you ever considered thiiiis?” You know, and it just—

Dan Meyer: (16:17)

NOT that??

Bethany Lockhart Johnson: (16:18)

, Not that? Something totally different? And I loved talking with them. They’re a lot of fun. And I loved the book.

Dan Meyer: (16:23)

Wonderful conversation, great book. Very provocative ideas. Yeah. As someone who’s like, “OK, classroom management, I gotta get the hand-raising going…”. In the classroom before we talked, they offered a really potent challenge to some really standard classroom management ideas. Yeah. Loved it.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson: (16:40)

And this conversation also offers some really practical tips for facilitating student conversations. So we think you’ll enjoy it. Here’s our conversation with Christy and Kassia.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson: (16:53)

So today we are talking about “Hands Down, Speak Out: Listening and Talking Across Literacy and Math, K—5.” And we have the authors here, Kassia Omohundro Wedekind and Christy Hermann Thompson. Before we begin, let’s define what a hands-down conversation is. A hands-down conversation is just another way to structure discourse in your classroom. So in a typical classroom, you might see students raising their hand and waiting on a teacher to call on them before they share their ideas or engage in discussion. But in a hands-down conversation, it’s students’ ideas and voices that are taking the lead, and teachers are stepping back and focusing on listening and facilitating. Hello! Welcome to the Lounge.

Kassia Omohundro Wedekind: (17:44)

Thank you. We’re excited to be here. We’re fans of Season One. So we’re ready to go.

Dan Meyer: (17:50)

I was a secondary teacher but I still found so much to love about the book. I think facilitating conversations is just generally challenging, and perhaps even more so in math, where answers feel so tightly dialed-in, in lots of ways. But I loved it. I would love for you to just explain to our audience, what is a hands-down conversation and how does that contrast with what might be standard practice for some people? For some classes?

Christy Hermann Thompson: (18:13)

We just started using the term hands-down conversation because we wanted to differentiate the fact that there are different times to have different types of dialogue in the math classroom, in the literacy classroom. And we use this as one of our tools. Right? It’s not that every day, all day long, we’re very against hand-raising and should never see that again. We find that having this as one of our tools will be where we make really clear to the students that this is a moment where we’re turning it over to you to negotiate the space and make the decisions about when your voice comes in and who speaks next. You know, carry on kind of like that dinner table or that playground or, you know, whatever is your natural habitat for talk. And bringing that into the classroom and then hoping that it also someday transfers back out of the classroom back into the real world.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson: (19:09)

For the teachers who feel like that’s terrifying to have students just start speaking, and speaking without any sort of control or my little equity sticks, my little popsicle sticks, or my popcorn, or whatever other thing they’re using, what would you say is the first step?

Christy Hermann Thompson: (19:25)

So I think recognizing and naming that fear is part of it. And then saying to yourself, “What’s the worst that could happen here?” You know, I think the worst that could happen is that nobody talks and it’s totally silent. Or on the other hand, everybody talks at the same time. And both of those things will happen! And so what? It’s gonna be messy. And if you just acknowledge that it’s gonna look messy, and that’s part of growing; that every child as they learn—and every adult—is messy as they grow.

Kassia Omohundro Wedekind: (19:59)

And we have to see what kinds of things will happen in a hands-down conversation. Like there’s no prerequisite. You just start and then you see what happens. And those are the signs that tell you, “What can help this community grow as talkers and listeners? If everyone’s talking at the same time, and they’re kind of pushing each other over with their words by saying, “I have something to add!” “I have something to add!” or something like that, that’s a common thing that sometimes happens at the beginning. Then you know that the next step is to do some work about how to hold your thoughts back, how to add, wait for a space in the conversation to talk. And those are all things we need people to know out in the world.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson: (20:41)

So can you give an example of a micro-lesson that…well, first, what do you define as a micro-lesson? And then, what’s an example of one that maybe somebody who wants to dip their toe into the world of hands-down conversations that they could try?

Christy Hermann Thompson: (20:56)

The reason we call them micro-lessons is because we wanted to differentiate from the term mini lesson, which is out there and tends to describe about 10 or 15 minutes that might take place at the beginning of a work period of time. And this is much smaller than that. We usually follow a pretty predictable structure of naming. Here’s this thing that’s so helpful when we’re having conversations, and we love to especially be able to name something that a student had done: “Kaylee did this yesterday and it really helped us.” So what we might call that is, “And then here’s how Kaylee and other people might do that. They might do something like this.” And, you know, having a little anchor chart, so there’s a visual reminder of that skill. “So when we’re having a conversation today, you could try…”. And that’s basically a micro-lesson, just in a nutshell.

Kassia Omohundro Wedekind: (21:51)

When I was doing these hands-down conversations and I had more space for myself to listen as a teacher, I’m like, “Well, look at those kids, like, slumped onto the ground, like, pulling the carpet apart, but they’re having this amazing conversation!” And so I learned that listening is a lot broader. So in this lesson that I’m thinking about, we just talk with kids about what are lots of different ways that listening can look like. Sometimes with younger kids, I’ll take pictures of them listening in different ways and we’ll notice things about them together. And then we invite them to talk with their Turn and Talk partner about like, “How do you like to be listened to?” Or “Tell me about how you listen.” And just kind of broaden that. And really, I like to think that like the micro-lessons are for the kids, but also I’m saying those things to say them for myself. Like, “Remember, you don’t have to insist that kids are staring each other down in the eyes all the time. Like, “It’s OK when they’re doing other things. There’s other ways of listening.” So I think I’ve learned as much from the micro-lessons each time I do them as the kids that I’m trying to help grow as listeners and talkers, as well.

Dan Meyer: (23:00)

You folks have a lot of really eloquent ideals you express, around democratic classrooms and engagement. But you also have just some very tangible, practical…even down to, like, how a teacher positions their body in space and the way they use their eyes to connect. I think it would be really helpful for teachers to hear that it’s not just they’re signing on to a manifesto of sorts, but there’s ways they can act their way into the beliefs that you both expressed here.

Christy Hermann Thompson: (23:26)

When I’m starting hands-down conversation work, if I put myself a little bit outside of the circle and look down, and give myself a clipboard, it, it helps me bite my tongue and it helps me give better wait time and see what the kids are doing before I have that tendency to jump in and teach and do lots of teacher-y things.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson: (23:48)

Kassia and Christy, thank you so much for joining us. We are so excited to have this conversation and to share your work. This is exciting. And I feel like this conversation is just the beginning of a deeper dive into this book.

Kassia Omohundro Wedekind: (24:01)

Thanks for having us.

Christy Hermann Thompson: (24:02)

Thank you.

Dan Meyer: (24:03)

Thank you both.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson: (24:06)

Thanks so much for listening to our conversations with Fawn Nguyen and Christy Hermann Thompson and Kassia Omohundro Wedekind, both of which were released in 2021, part of our second season. And, you know, we hoped you enjoyed listening to it for a first, second, maybe third, fourth time.

Dan Meyer: (24:24)

Let’s be real. There’s some real fans out there.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson: (24:26)

We loved it then. We love it now!

Dan Meyer: (24:28)

Yep, yep, yep. Please keep in touch with the show by following us on Twitter at MTL Show, and join our Facebook group, the Math Teacher Lounge community. We’d love to hear from you there. And please stay tuned for more info on what we’re cooking up here in the Math Teacher Lounge. Thank you folks for listening. Take care, Bethany.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson: (24:47)

Bye now.

Stay connected!

Join our community and get new episodes every other Tuesday!

We’ll also share new and exciting free resources for your classroom every month.

What Fawn Nguyen says about math teaching

“It’s a big deal for me to have the opportunity and this trust to integrate problem-solving into the curriculum.”

– Fawn Nguyen

Specialist, Math Advance Team, Amplify Desmos Math

Meet the guests

Fawn Nguyen

Fawn began her work with Amplify in 2022 as a Math Advance Team Specialist. She was a math coach for a K-8 school district for three years, and a middle school teacher for 30 years before that. Fawn has also received a number of accolades as an educator.

Christy Thompson

Christy Thompson is a Literacy Coach in Fairfax County Public Schools in Virginia. She has spent her teaching and coaching career particularly focused on listening to and learning from the talk of our youngest students.

Kassia Omohundro Wedekind

Kassia Omohundro Wedekind spent many wonderful years as a classroom teacher and math coach in Fairfax County Public Schools in Virginia and now splits her time between being an independent math coach and an editor at Stenhouse Publishers. Her favorite days are spent in classrooms learning from the many ways children talk, listen and negotiate meaning together.

Three women are pictured separately in circular frames, each smiling and facing the camera, against a white background with overlapping pastel shapes—perfect for highlighting math teacher lounge discussions or sharing essential math teacher resources.
A graphic with the text "Math Teacher Lounge with Bethany Lockhart Johnson and Dan Meyer" on colored overlapping circles.

About Math Teacher Lounge: The podcast

Math Teacher Lounge is a biweekly podcast created specifically for K–12 math educators. In each episode co-hosts Bethany Lockhart Johnson (@lockhartedu) and Dan Meyer (@ddmeyer) chat with guests, taking a deep dive into the math and educational topics you care about.

Join the Math Teacher Lounge Facebook group to continue the conversation, view exclusive content, interact with fellow educators, participate in giveaways, and more!

Seattle Public Schools review for grade 6

Amplify ELA is the only ELA curriculum that takes the Science of Reading to the next level.

Truly designed for students entering the middle grades, Amplify ELA engages and empowers learners, and addresses the very specific and unique needs of students in grade 6.

Scroll down to learn how Amplify ELA is uniquely designed to help all your Seattle middle schoolers make learning leaps in literacy.

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Meet Amplify ELA.

Developed specifically for the needs of students entering the middle grades, Amplify ELA is a blended curriculum that promises:

  • A structured, yet flexible approach.
  • Carefully crafted, age-appropriate materials and activities that aren’t too “babyish” or too mature.
  • Complex, content-rich literature and informational texts that ensure ample opportunities for students to encounter both “windows and mirrors.”
  • Highly engaging lessons that keep adolescents plugged in and motivated to learn.
  • An instructional design that levels the playing field for every student.
  • Superior results.

Access and engagement for every student in the classroom

In Amplify ELA, all students read the same text with the help of differentiated supports. In other words, we don’t dumb things down; we bring students up. Our robust collection of varied texts and research-based approach to instruction not only engage students, but build confidence.

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Multilingual and English language learner support

With Amplify ELA’s integrated and designated ELD support, multilingual and English language learners (ML/ELs) are given a chance to shine.

Embedded supports enable students to engage with and participate in discussion of grade-level texts with their grade-level peers.

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Access demo

Ready to explore on your own? Follow the instructions below to access your demo account.

Access the Amplify ELA teacher digital platform.

First, watch the quick navigation video to the right. Then login using the directions below.

  • Click the ELA Teacher Platform button below.
  • Select Log in with Amplify.
  • Enter the following information:
    • Teacher username: t1.seattle_sd_ckla@demo.tryamplify.net
    • Teacher password: Amplify1-seattle_sd_ckla
    • Student username: s1.seattle_sd_ckla@demo.tryamplify.net
    • Student password: Amplify1-seattle_sd_ckla
  • Please note, these demo accounts expire on: February 26, 2026

Access the Amplify ELA student digital platform.

To access the student digital platform, follow the login directions below.

  • Click the ELA Student Platform button below.
  • Select Log in with Amplify.
  • Enter the following information:
    • Teacher username: t1.seattle_sd_ckla@demo.tryamplify.net
    • Teacher password: Amplify1-seattle_sd_ckla
    • Student username: s1.seattle_sd_ckla@demo.tryamplify.net
    • Student password: Amplify1-seattle_sd_ckla
  • Please note, these demo accounts expire on: February 26, 2026

Welcome, Seattle Public Schools ELA Review Committee!

Amplify Core Knowledge Language Arts (CKLA) and Amplify ELA aren’t your traditional core programs. They’re different to make a difference—and the results are undeniable. Truly built on the Science of Reading, our high-quality ELA solutions help teachers bring evidence-based practices to life in the classroom.

This site includes everything you need for your review, including digital access to teacher and student materials and additional review resources.

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Episode 6, Segment 1

Math in public with Molly Daley and Chris Nho

Where is the most unusual place you have seen math in the last year? In this segment of Math Teacher Lounge, Public Math’s Molly Daley (@mdaley15) and Chris Nho (@nhoskee) join Bethany Lockhart and Dan Meyer to discuss all the unique places one can find math, including a laundromat, to elicit and invite math conversations.

Learn more about Public Math by visiting public-math.org.

Meet our hosts: Bethany Lockhart Johnson and Dan Meyer

Bethany Lockhart Johnson is an elementary school educator and author. Prior to serving as a multiple-subject teacher, she taught theater and dance, and now loves incorporating movement and creative play into her classroom. Bethany is committed to helping students find joy in discovering their identities as mathematicians. In addition to her role as a full-time classroom teacher, Bethany is a Student Achievement Partners California Core Advocate and is active in national and local mathematics organizations. Bethany is a member of the Illustrative Mathematics Elementary Curriculum Steering Committee and serves as a consultant, creating materials to support families during distance learning.

Dan Meyer taught high school math to students who didn’t like high school math. He has advocated for better math instruction on CNN, Good Morning America, Everyday With Rachel Ray, and TED.com. He earned his doctorate from Stanford University in math education and is currently the Dean of Research at Desmos, where he explores the future of math, technology, and learning. Dan has worked with teachers internationally and in all 50 United States and was named one of Tech & Learning’s 30 Leaders of the Future.

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Stay connected!

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Episode 6, Segment 2

Math in public with Molly Daley and Chris Nho

Molly Daley and Chris Nho are back in the lounge to answer this question. In this segment they join Bethany and Dan for a mathematizing public places game. Watch the video to join in the game and see how you can spot and make sense of math in public spaces.

Learn more about Public Math by visiting public-math.org.

Meet our hosts: Bethany Lockhart Johnson and Dan Meyer

Bethany Lockhart Johnson is an elementary school educator and author. Prior to serving as a multiple-subject teacher, she taught theater and dance, and now loves incorporating movement and creative play into her classroom. Bethany is committed to helping students find joy in discovering their identities as mathematicians. In addition to her role as a full-time classroom teacher, Bethany is a Student Achievement Partners California Core Advocate and is active in national and local mathematics organizations. Bethany is a member of the Illustrative Mathematics Elementary Curriculum Steering Committee and serves as a consultant, creating materials to support families during distance learning.

Dan Meyer taught high school math to students who didn’t like high school math. He has advocated for better math instruction on CNN, Good Morning America, Everyday With Rachel Ray, and TED.com. He earned his doctorate from Stanford University in math education and is currently the Dean of Research at Desmos, where he explores the future of math, technology, and learning. Dan has worked with teachers internationally and in all 50 United States and was named one of Tech & Learning’s 30 Leaders of the Future.

Two people smiling at the camera, each in a separate circular frame, with geometric shapes decorating the background—perfect for a math teacher lounge or highlighting fresh math teacher resources.

Stay connected!

Three people sit at a table using laptops, with geometric shapes, numbers, and graphs displayed on a whiteboard in the background.

Episode 6, Segment 3

Math in public with Omo Moses

MathTalk’s CEO Omo Moses enters the Math Teacher Lounge to chat with Bethany Lockhart Johnson and Dan Meyer. Watch their conversation to learn about how communities can create positive math experiences for all.

Meet our hosts: Bethany Lockhart Johnson and Dan Meyer

Bethany Lockhart Johnson is an elementary school educator and author. Prior to serving as a multiple-subject teacher, she taught theater and dance, and now loves incorporating movement and creative play into her classroom. Bethany is committed to helping students find joy in discovering their identities as mathematicians. In addition to her role as a full-time classroom teacher, Bethany is a Student Achievement Partners California Core Advocate and is active in national and local mathematics organizations. Bethany is a member of the Illustrative Mathematics Elementary Curriculum Steering Committee and serves as a consultant, creating materials to support families during distance learning.

Dan Meyer taught high school math to students who didn’t like high school math. He has advocated for better math instruction on CNN, Good Morning America, Everyday With Rachel Ray, and TED.com. He earned his doctorate from Stanford University in math education and is currently the Dean of Research at Desmos, where he explores the future of math, technology, and learning. Dan has worked with teachers internationally and in all 50 United States and was named one of Tech & Learning’s 30 Leaders of the Future.

Two people smiling at the camera, each in a separate circular frame, with geometric shapes decorating the background—perfect for a math teacher lounge or highlighting fresh math teacher resources.

Stay connected!

Three people sit at a table using laptops, with geometric shapes, numbers, and graphs displayed on a whiteboard in the background.

Supporting multilingual learners—by supporting their families

Woman smiling in front of a brick wall, surrounded by colorful illustrations of a turtle, toucan, book, and nature, with the word "¡Hola!" at the top left—celebrating technology in the math classroom and boosting the performance of students.

Teachers know that multilingual/English learners (ML/ELs) are an important and fast-growing population in today’s classrooms. In 2021, more than 10% of students enrolled in public schools across the U.S. were identified as English language learners, with some projections suggesting this number could reach 40% by 2030.

But when it comes to partnering with the families of ML/ELs for student success, we’re just beginning to tap into what’s possible.

I’m an ML/EL teacher and former homeroom teacher at a school serving many ML/ELs.

Here’s what I’ve learned about best practices for bridging the school-to-home communication gap and partnering with families (all families!) to ensure their child’s success.

Recognizing the communication gap: Common challenges with multilingual families

In my experience, three common barriers can stand in the way of strong family engagement and student success:

  • Cultural expectations around parent-teacher communication: In many cultures, school is considered the teacher’s domain. Reaching out may be seen as crossing a line—or simply not expected at all.
  • Logistical challenges: Unpredictable schedules may lead to missed messages, delayed responses, or inconsistent availability.
  • Language barriers: If a message isn’t in a language a caregiver understands, it’s unlikely they’ll respond—not because they don’t care, but because they can’t fully engage.

Supporting multilingual learners starts with recognizing these barriers not as signs of disconnection, but as invitations to shift our approach. There are best practices we can adopt to help bridge the gap—and build the trust and relationships our students need to thrive.

Tools and strategies for better parent-teacher communication

If you want to communicate with families who speak a variety of different languages, the first step is finding the method of contact that works best for each of them. My school uses an auto-translating app called ParentSquare for home communications—but not all families I’ve worked with respond to ParentSquare messages. So if a family isn’t responsive to one mode of communication, try another!

It’s a good idea to ask families on Back-to-School Night—or whenever your students first arrive—if they have a preferred mode of communication. I’ve found I get the best response rate by creating a Google Voice number and communicating via text, first translating through an app if needed.

Keep a log of this information so you have it on hand when you need it. In the long run, this will be easier for both you and your students’ caregivers than you chasing them down to get them to download, log into, or check a specific app.

The important thing is to consider making contact essential, and to keep trying until you find the mode that works for both you and the parents of your ML/EL students.

Setting the tone for strong family engagement

If you want to forge a strong family-school partnership (and you should!), you also need to set the tone. When families have a different cultural understanding of school engagement than what you’re used to, I’ve found that it helps to explicitly solicit parent input, explaining how a partnership between caregiver and teacher will help support their child’s success.

Let them know how and why they should get in touch with you, and make it easy by reaching out proactively with brief, positive updates.

What multilingual families really want to know

Perhaps most importantly, ask families what they want to know! I’ve attended many parent-teacher conferences—both for my own students and as an interpreter—and I’m frequently struck by how many multilingual families respond when I ask what questions they have. Many families who haven’t previously reached out are suddenly overflowing with questions.

The most common one I get is how they can support their child’s academic journey at home. Parents also frequently request updates about behavior. Understand that just because a family isn’t asking these questions proactively doesn’t mean they don’t care. When I explicitly ask parents what they need, their responses make it abundantly clear that they are deeply invested in their child’s schooling and success.

I’ve also learned that many families—especially those who speak a language other than English at home—may not know that there are many ways to support their child’s growth, even if classroom instruction is not in their home language.

Think about what tips and resources you can most easily provide: Do your students’ parents know that reading or reciting poems, songs, or chants in their home language helps literacy growth? Could you send home simple board games from the classroom to reinforce key skills? Would signing up for a library card give them access to resources they didn’t know were available? Many caregivers of ML/EL students have told me they lack the tools to get involved—but are eager to engage once given tangible strategies.

How teachers can go the extra mile

In order to give our students and their families the support they need, it’s critical that we challenge our internal biases and assumptions. If we assume parents are uninterested or uninvolved, we avoid an opportunity to think creatively about how to bridge communication gaps and facilitate family involvement. We also cut off a world of possibility for our students and limit their access to the academic success that comes from parent involvement.

Working with the families of ML/ELs may bring added responsibilities—but it’s also a unique privilege, full of new opportunities. In teaching ML/ELs, I’ve found that I get to be a cultural bridge—one of the people providing warmth, stability, and welcome to families navigating a new culture. School can be overwhelming in a new country or different language—but a teacher who goes the extra mile can ensure success for both students and families.

Additional resources

Planning and instructional resources

Using the Amplify NYC Science Benchmarks

Planning and Implementation Guides

NYC Field Trip List

Implementation Rubric for Administrators

6-8 Look-for tool

K-5 Look-for Tool (1 page)

NYSED Investigations and Amplify Alignment

For more guidance on the New York state investigations and suggested pacing, please log in to your NYC account and check out the NYC Public Schools Science Collaborative Website for Elementary and for Intermediate.

NYC Companion resources

6-8 Companion Lessons can be found in the Amplify Science platform!

A screenshot of a digital lesson on harnessing energy with an arrow pointing to a "Companion Lesson" button. The inset shows the companion PDF. The text provides instructions for accessing the lesson.

Grade 6 Lesson guides and Copymasters

  • Companion lesson: Insert after Lesson 2.2
  • Time frame: 60 minutes (can spread across multiple class periods)
  • NYSP–12SLS: PE: MS-PS3-6, DCI: PS3.B
  • Links (click to download):
  • Companion lesson: Insert after Lesson 3.3
  • Time frame: Two 45-minute class periods
  • NYSP–12SLS: PE: MS-PS2-3, MS-PS2-5, DCI: PS2.B
  • Links (click to download):
  • Companion lesson: Insert after Lesson 3.3 and after Investigating Non-Touching Forces
  • Time frame: 60 minutes (first and second reads can be spread across two class periods)
  • NYSP–12SLS: PE: MS-PS2-5, MS-PS2-3, DCI: PS2.B
  • Links (click to download):
  • Companion lesson: Insert after Lesson 2.5
  • Time frame: 105 minutes (can be spread across multiple class periods)
  • NYSP–12SLS: PE: MS-PS1-6, DCI: PS1.B
  • Links (click to download):
  • Companion lesson: Insert after Lesson 3.4
  • Time frame: 60 minutes (first and second reads can be spread across two class periods)
  • NYSP–12SLS: PE: MS-LS2-5, DCI: LS2.C, LS4.D
  • Links (click to download):
  • Companion lesson: Insert after Lesson 1.3
  • Time frame: 60 minutes (first and second reads can be spread across two class periods)
  • NYSP–12SLS: PE: MS-ESS2-4, DCI: ESS2.C
  • Links (click to download):
  • Companion lesson: Insert after Lesson 3.3*
  • Time frame: 90 minutes (can be spread across multiple class periods)
  • NYSP–12SLS: PE: MS-PS1-7, MS-ESS2-6, DCI: PS1.A, ESS2.C
  • Links (click to download):

*Note: The homework assignment for Ocean, Atmosphere, and Climate Lesson 3.3 (reading the article “Deep Ocean Currents: Driven by Density”) should be assigned after the Investigating Deep Ocean Currents companion lesson rather than after Lesson 3.3.

Grade 7 Lesson Guides and Copymasters

  • Companion lesson: Insert after Lesson 3.2
  • Time frame: 60 minutes (first and second reads can be spread across two class periods)
  • NYSP–12SLS: PE: MS-LS1-3, DCI: PS3.D, LS1.A
  • Links (click to download):
  • Companion lesson: Insert after Lesson 3.3 or later
  • Time frame: Three 45-minute class periods, each several days apart
  • NYSP–12SLS: PE: MS-LS1-8, DCI: LS1.D
  • Links (click to download):
  • Companion lesson: Insert after Lesson 3.5
  • Time frame: 60 minutes (first and second reads can be spread across two class periods)
  • NYSP–12SLS: PE: MS-LS1-6, MS-LS1-7, DCI: LS1.C, PS3.D
  • Links (click to download):
  • Companion lesson: Insert after Lesson 2.2
  • Time frame: 60 minutes (first and second reads can be spread across two class periods)
  • NYSP–12SLS: PE: MS-PS1-4, DCI: PS3.A
  • Links (click to download):
  • Companion lesson: Insert after Lesson 1.3
  • Time frame: 60 minutes
  • NYSP–12SLS: PE: MS-PS1-7, DCI: PS1.A
  • Links (click to download):
  • Companion lesson: Insert after Lesson 2.3, 2.4, or 2.5
  • Time frame: Two 45-minute class periods
  • NYSP–PE: MS-PS1-8, MS-PS1-2 DCI: PS1.A, PS1.B
  • Links (click to download):

Grade 8 Lesson Guides and Copymaster

NYC Companion Kits

Materials needed to teach Amplify Science lessons are provided in a kit for each unit. While some materials used in the NYC Companion Lessons are also found in a unit’s kit, materials specific to the companion lessons are provided in NYC Companion Kits. The contents of each kit and any additional materials needed to teach the companion lessons are listed in the PDFs provided below. Please select your grade to view or download the list.

NYC Student Editions (print)
The NYC Student Editions are durable student references that compile all reading material required for a grade level, including the articles students read for NYC Companion Lessons. Students reading in the Student Edition should annotate the text directly with sticky notes to achieve the full benefits of Active Reading. The Active Reading approach was designed as an interactive process in which students highlight and annotate digital or hard copies of articles directly. Printable versions of the articles are available in the downloads section below.

It is recommended that NYC teachers insert this additional lesson between Lessons 3.1 and 3.2 in order to have students complete a reading assignment in class along with an additional Sim activity.

  • Lesson: Earth, Moon and Sun: Modeling Seasons
  • Lesson Placement: Insert between Lessons 3.1 and 3.2*
  • Links (click to download):

*If teaching this Modeling Seasons lesson, do not assign reading “The Endless Summer of the Arctic Tern” article for homework in Lesson 3.1. However, students should still model a lunar eclipse with the Modeling Tool for homework, as they will be revisiting and revising this model in Lesson 3.3.

NYC Investigation Notebooks (for teacher download)

* includes NYC Companion Lesson Copymaster(s)

* includes NYC Companion Lesson Copymaster(s)

  • Geology on Mars
  • Earth, Moon, and Sun
  • Force and Motion
  • Engineering Internship: Force and Motion
  • Magnetic Fields*
  • Light Waves
  • Traits and Reproduction
  • Natural Selection
  • Evolutionary History

* includes NYC Companion Lesson Copymaster(s)

Remote and hybrid learning resources

South Carolina review for grades K–5

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South Carolina Literacy State Review Site (Public)

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South Carolina ELA review for grades 6–8

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Evaluate Online

To review Amplify Science online, click the orange button below.

Once you’re logged in, watch our navigational guide videos to review the digital Teacher’s Guides:

Grades K–5:

Grades 6–8:

Phenomenon-Based Learning

Phenomenon-based teaching and learning deeply engages students. By positioning students as scientists and giving them questions, not answers, Amplify Science delivers results in and beyond science class.

This represents a shift from asking students to learn about science to supporting students in figuring out the science.

Flowchart of a learning unit divided into four chapters, showing stages of student engagement from introduction to application, with assessments indicated at various points.

Instructional Model

The Amplify Science program is rooted in the proven, research-based pedagogy of Do, Talk, Read, Write, Visualize. Here’s how each element works:

Three columns of text describing educational programs: "students write", "students talk", and "students read" with icons symbolizing activities like experiments, discussions, and analysis.

New Program Enhancements

Amplify Science is unique because we continually add new content, tools, and resources, which will help us meet Milwaukee Public Schools’ needs as they evolve. In a world where things are changing by the minute, Amplify commits to providing MPS with the most up-to-date content throughout the life of the adoption.

We want to save you time, extend your reach, and support your efforts to deliver the types of rigorous and riveting learning experiences you know your students deserve.

Some of our latest enhancements include:

  • Amplify Science@Home, a new solution to improve synchronous and asynchronous remote learning
  • Classroom Slides offered in both PowerPoint and Google Slides formats, to save teachers time
  • Spanish Digital Simulations and Spanish Classroom Slides, to complete our full Spanish digital suite
  • Administrator Reports, which can be easily exported for integration with learning management systems

To learn more about our newest features, click here.

Science and Literacy

At Amplify, we believe science and literacy should truly integrated, and not just connected.

Even the youngest readers are supported in their journeys to obtain, evaluate, and communication information about the natural world through Read-Alouds, Shared Reading, and Partner Reading.

To learn more about Amplify Science and its commitment to literacy-rich science instruction, click here.

Spanish Resources

Amplify Science is committed to providing support to meet the needs of all learners, and includes multiple access points for Spanish-speaking students. Our Amplify Science materials were created with the same rigor of scientific accuracy, rich content and language, and literacy development, and materials were developed in conjunction with Spanish-language experts and classroom teachers.

Some of our Spanish resources include:

  • Classroom Lesson Slides
  • Spanish Digital Simulations
  • Teacher Digital Licenses
  • Student Digital Licenses
  • All Student-Facing Print Materials

To see a complete list of Spanish print and digital resources, click here.

Access and Equity

Amplify Science provides all students with access to intellectually stimulating, rigorous, and culturally relevant science and engineering education. We value and build on the rich assets that each student brings to class. You can read more about our commitment to equity, diversity, and inclusion here.

To learn how we commit to culturally and linguistically responsive teaching, choose a link below.

Scope and Sequence

GRADE UNITS
Kindergarten
  • Needs of Plants and Animals
  • Pushes and Pulls
  • Sunlight and Water
Grade 1
  • Animal and Plant Defenses
  • Light and Sound
  • Spinning Earth
Grade 2
  • Plant and Animal Relationships
  • Properties of Materials
  • Changing Landforms
Grade 3
  • Balancing Forces
  • Inheritance and Traits
  • Environments and Survival
  • Weather and Climate
Grade 4
  • Energy Conversions
  • Vision and Light
  • Earth’s Features
  • Waves, Energy, and Information
Grade 5
  • Patterns of Earth and Sky
  • Modeling Matter
  • The Earth System
  • Ecosystem Restoration
GRADE UNITS

Grade 6: Earth Science

  • Launch: Geology on Mars
  • Plate Motion
  • Plate Motion: Engineering Internship
  • Rock Transformations
  • Earth, Moon, and Sun
  • Ocean, Atmosphere, and Climate
  • Weather Patterns
  • Earth’s Changing Climate
  • Earth’s Changing Climate: Engineering Internship
Grade 7: Life Science
  • Launch: Microbiome
  • Metabolism
  • Metabolism: Engineering Internship
  • Traits and Reproduction
  • Populations and Resources
  • Matter and Energy in Ecosystems
  • Natural Selection
  • Natural Selection: Engineering Internship
  • Evolutionary History

Grade 8: Physical Science 

  • Launch: Harnessing Human Energy
  • Force and Motion
  • Force and Motion: Engineering Internship
  • Magnetic Fields
  • Thermal Energy
  • Phase Change
  • Phase Change: Engineering Internship
  • Chemical Reactions
  • Light Waves

Welcome, Louisiana! CKLA Review

Thank you for taking the time to review Amplify CKLA!

Amplify CKLA is making a difference — and the results are undeniable.

Truly built on the Science of Reading, CKLA is uniquely designed to provide evidence based literacy instruction to help all students make learning leaps in literacy.

The resources below will allow you to experience our program and support your review.

A powerful partnership

Amplify Science was developed by the science education experts at UC Berkeley’s Lawrence Hall of Science and the digital learning team at Amplify.

The word "Amplify" is written in orange bold letters with a period at the end against a white background.
The logo for The Lawrence Hall of Science, University of California, Berkeley, features blue text on a light background and is recognized by educators using Amplify Science for middle school science programs.

Back to school 2020–21 updates

Back to school 2020 is coming! Click here for more information on all of the improvements and new features we’re adding to Amplify Science for the new school year.

Program introduction

Onboarding: what to expect

Welcome to Amplify Science! To help you know what’s coming next, we created the following outline of the steps of the onboarding process. You can use it as a reference.

Administrators receive launch email

  • Share the information with teachers
  • Submit the shipping survey sent to your email

Log In

  • Go to learning.amplify.com
  • Click on Log in with Clever or Google 
  • Enter your FCPS credentials
  • Demo Account for full access to Amplify Curriculum without access to personalized class rosters:
    • Go to learning.amplify.com
    • Click on login with Amplify
    • Username: t.Fayette2020@tryamplify.net
    • Password:  AmplifyNumber1

Ensure you have received all materials and components

  • Teachers have access to a series of “Unboxing your materials kit” videos. If you’re interested in watching those, click here.

Check out the professional learning opportunities and/or access the Getting Started Resources below.

If you need assistance, please see the help resources or reach out to your Educational Partnerships Manager or PD manager at caffleck@amplify.com, pworks@amplify.com with any questions.

K–5 resources

To ensure your first day using Amplify Science in the classroom is as seamless and smooth as possible, we recommend reviewing the following checklist before the first day of school.

A graphic with the text "Pre-launch checklist for teachers" and an orange "Download PDF" button below. An icon of a checklist with a down arrow is on the left.

What’s coming to my school?

Each unit of Amplify Science comes with a hands-on materials kit. Each hands-on materials kit arrives in one to three boxes and contains:

  • Consumable materials for two uses of 25 or 36 students (depending on school purchase)
  • Non-consumable materials
  • Classroom wall materials
  • Premium print materials (card sorts, vocabulary rings, etc.).
  • 18 copies of each Student Book (5 titles each unit, K–1 will receive 5 big books per unit)
  • A blackline master of the Student Investigation Notebook

You can find complete materials lists for each unit in the following PDF. This information is also available in the digital Teacher’s Guide within the program.

Button for downloading a PDF of a K-5 materials list. An icon of a document with a downward arrow is on the left.

Onboarding videos

Our team has created a series of short videos to help get you started with Amplify Science:

What’s online?

Planning strategies

How to log in and navigate

NGSS introduction

Planning guides

As you prepare to plan for a unit, download our planning guides to help walk you through the most important resources to locate in either the print or digital Teacher’s Guide to help you plan:

    Additional resources

    If you’re interested in learning more about each unit’s anchor phenomena, the Student Books in each unit, and more program features, download the resources below:

      Overview Video

      The Lawrence Hall of Science

      Developed by the science education experts at UC Berkeley’s Lawrence Hall of Science and the digital learning team at Amplify, our program features:

      • phenomena-based approach where students construct a complex understanding of each unit’s anchor phenomenon.
      • A blend of cohesive storylines, hands-on investigations, rich discussions, literacy-rich activities, and digital tools.
      • Carefully crafted units, chapters, lessons, and activities designed to deliver true 3-dimensional learning.
      • An instructional design that supports all learners in accessing all standards.
      The logo for The Lawrence Hall of Science, University of California, Berkeley, features blue text on a light background and is recognized by educators using Amplify Science for middle school science programs.

      Instructional model

      The Amplify Science program is rooted in the proven, research-based pedagogy of Do, Talk, Read, Write, Visualize. Here’s how each element works:

      DO

      First-hand investigations are an important part of any science classroom, and Amplify Science has students getting hands-on in every unit—from building models of protein molecules to experimenting with electrical systems.

      TALK

      Student-to-student discourse and full-class discussions are an integral part of the program. Students are provided with numerous opportunities to engage in meaningful oral scientific argumentation, all while fostering a collaborative classroom environment.

      READ

      Students read scientific articles, focusing their reading activities on searching for evidence related to their investigation and, importantly, on asking and recording questions as they read through fascinating texts on 21st-century topics.

      WRITE

      Following real-world practices, students write scientific arguments based on evidence they’ve collected, making clear their reasoning about how a given piece of evidence connects to one of several claims.

      VISUALIZE

      By manipulating digital simulations and using modeling tools to craft visualizations of their thinking— just as real scientists and engineers do—students take their learning far beyond the confines of what they can physically see in the classroom in an exciting and authentic way.

      Program structure

      Our cyclical lesson design ensures students receive multiple exposures to concepts through a variety of modalities. As they progress through the lessons within a unit, students build and deepen their understanding, increasing their ability to develop and refine complex explanations of the unit’s phenomenon.

      It’s this proven program structure and lesson design that enables Amplify Science to address 100% of the NGSS, and support students in mastering the standards.

      Graphic showing a research process with four steps: spark intrigue with a real-world problem, explore evidence, explain and elaborate, and evaluate claims, connected in a cycle with arrows.

      Unit types

      While every unit delivers three-dimensional learning experiences and engages students in gathering evidence from a rich collection of sources, each unit also serves a unique instructional purpose.

      In grades 6–8:

      • One unit is a launch unit.
      • Three units are core units.
      • Two units are engineering internships.

      Launch units are the first units taught in each year of Amplify Science. The goal of the Launch unit is to introduce students to norms, routines, and practices that will be built on throughout the year, including argumentation, active reading, and using the program’s technology. For example, rather than taking the time to explain the process of active reading in every unit in a given year, it is explained thoroughly in the Launch unit, thereby preparing students to read actively in all subsequent units.

      Core units establish the context of the unit by introducing students to a real-world problem. As students move through lessons in a Core unit, they figure out the unit’s anchoring phenomenon, gain an understanding of the unit’s disciplinary core ideas and science and engineering practices, and make linkages across topics through the crosscutting concepts. Each Core unit culminates with a Science Seminar and final writing activity.

      Engineering Internship units invite students to design solutions for real-world problems as interns for a fictional company called Futura. Students figure out how to help those in need, from tsunami victims in Sri Lanka to premature babies, through the application of engineering practices. In the process, they apply and deepen their learning from Core units.

      Unit sequence

      Our lessons follow a structure that is grounded in regular routines while still being flexible enough to allow for a variety of learning experiences.

      In fact, our multi-modal instruction offers more opportunities for students to construct meaning, and practice and apply concepts than any other program. What’s more, our modular design means our units can be flexibly arranged to support your instructional goals.

      Three columns listing education curriculum topics for grades 6, 7, and 8, focusing on science themes such as microbiomes, mars geology, and harnessing human energy.

      Program components

      Available digitally and in print, our unit-specific reference guides are chock full of helpful resources, including scientific background knowledge, planning information and resources, color-coded 3-D Statements, detailed lesson plans, tips for delivering instruction, and differentiation strategies.

      Amplify Science TG

      Hands-on learning is an essential part of Amplify Science, and is integrated into every unit. Students actively participate in science, playing the roles of scientists and engineers as they gather evidence, think critically, solve problems, and develop and defend claims about the world around them. Every unit includes hands-on investigations that are critical to achieving the unit’s learning goals.

      A young person wearing gloves looks through a microscope at a table with laboratory supplies, including bottles, slides, and a tray, against a plain blue background.

      More hands-on with Flextensions:
      Hands-on Flextensions are additional, optional investigations that are included at logical points in the learning progression and give students an opportunity to dig deeper if time permits. These activities offer teachers flexibility to choose to dedicate more time to hands-on learning. Materials referenced in Hands-on Flextension activities will either be included in the unit kit or are easily sourced. Supporting resources such as student worksheets will be included as downloadable PDF files.

      Our kits include enough materials to support 200 student uses. In other words, teachers can easily support all five periods and small groups of 4-5 students each. Plus, our unit-specific kits mean teachers just grab the tub they need and then put it all back with ease.

      Amplify Science California supports 3-D learning with more materials than any other program.

      Our digital Simulations and Practice Tools are powerful resources for exploration, data collection, and student collaboration. They allow students the ability to explore scientific concepts that might otherwise be invisible or impossible to see with the naked eye.

      Available for every unit, our Student Investigation Notebooks contain instructions for activities and space for students to record data and observations, reflect on ideas from texts and investigations, and construct explanations and arguments.

      In grades 6–8, one copy of the Student Investigation Notebook is included in each unit’s materials kit for use as a blackline master. Each notebook is also available as a downloadable PDF on the Unit Guide page of the digital Teacher’s Guide.

      Two booklets titled "El clima cambiante de la Tierra: la desaparición del hielo" and "Earth’s Changing Climate: Vanishing Ice" with landscape illustrations on the covers.

      These customizable PowerPoints are available for every lesson of the program and make delivering instruction a snap with visual prompts, colorful activity instructions, investigation set-up videos and animations, and suggested teacher talk in the notes section of each slide.

      A laptop displays a PowerPoint presentation in presenter view, with slides about observing objects in plastic containers and related sensory instructions.

      Explore your print samples

      With your Amplify Science print samples, you’ll find unit-specific Teacher’s References Guides and Student Investigation Notebooks for each grade level.

      A note about the Teacher’s Reference Guides:

      It’s important that your committee sees the full breadth and depth of our instruction. For that reason, we provided a copy of each of our unit-specific Teacher Reference Guides.

      Rest assured that teachers do not use these robust reference guides for day-to-day teaching. For that, we have a hands-free TG!

      A laptop screen shows an energy simulation, with surrounding text and diagrams explaining the Earth's system and energy flow.
      • Teacher Reference Guide: Unlike a typical TG that requires a series of supplemental books to support it, our encyclopedic reference guide is chock-full of everything a teacher needs to fully implement our program and the NGSS.
      • Ready-to-Teach Lesson Slides: For daily instruction, teachers need their hands free. That’s why we created ready-to-teach lesson slides for every single lesson. What’s more, they are editable and include suggested teacher talk and point-of-use differentiation and other instructional tips. Click to learn more.

      A note about the Materials Kits:

      Hands-on learning is at the heart of Amplify Science, and is integrated into every unit. In order to make hands-on learning more manageable for busy teachers, Amplify Science materials are organized into unit-specific kits.

      Stacked storage bins with labels, arranged neatly; caption notes they are a sample and may not reflect actual quantities or sizes.

      Our unit-specific kits:

      • Include more materials — We give teachers enough materials to support 200 student uses.
      • Are more manageable — Unlike other programs that require large groups of students to share limited sets of materials, our kits include enough to support small groups of 4–5 students.
      • Include supportive videos — Each hands-on activity provides clear instructions for the teacher, with more complex activities supported by video demonstrations and illustrations.

      What comes in each grade level kit? Click the links below to see the grade-specific lists of all materials included in each kit.

      Access your digital samples

      Explore as a teacher

      Follow these instructions to explore the Amplify Science digital platform as a teacher.

      • Click the Access Amplify Science Platform button below and bookmark it.
      • Select Log in with Amplify.
      • Enter the username: t1.jeffersoncounty@demo.tryamplify.net
      • Enter the password: Amplify1-jeffersoncounty
      • Click the Science icon.
      • Click on the Program Menu in the top center of the screen and select any grade.
      • Select any unit.

      To help familiarize yourself with navigating the digital platform,watch the below navigational video.

      Explore as a student

      Follow these instructions to explore the Amplify Science digital platform as a student.

      • Click the Access Amplify Science Platform button below and bookmark it.
      • Select Log in with Amplify.
      • Enter the username: s1.jeffersoncounty@demo.tryamplify.net
      • Enter the password: Amplify1-jeffersoncounty
      • Click the Science icon.
      • Click on the Grade Menu in the top center of the screen and select any grade.
      • Select any unit.

      Resources to support your review

      What’s New for Amplify Science 6–8!

      Denver Public Schools (DPS), check out what’s new from Amplify Science 6-8!  The first part of this site will take you through the updates that have been made to Amplify Science. The second will be a refresher of Amplify Science for any new users in DPS. With Amplify Science, DPS students don’t just passively learn about science concepts. Instead, they take on the role of scientists and engineers to actively investigate and figure out real-world phenomena. With culturally sustaining pedagogy, Amplify Science strives to make sure every student feels included in the science classroom.

      Two students collaborating on a project using a laptop in a classroom filled with other students working in the background.

      Update: The Digital Experience

      The digital experience allows students to engage with digital lessons and provides teachers with everything they need in one place—ready-to-use slides-based lessons, seamlessly integrated teacher prompts and guidance, robust PD resources, and more. It’s now easier and more engaging than ever to plan lessons, present digital content, and review student work. To learn more, click here.

      Update: The PD Library

      All professional development (PD) content is consolidated into the PD Library, a one-stop hub for all your self-paced PD needs. As a result, the “Professional Learning Resources” tile will no longer be available on the main Amplify Science Program Hub page. The rest of the non-PD content in the Program Hub will remain as is, including the on-demand resources.

      Update: Educator & Student Home expansion

      Educator and Student Home landing pages will now be available for all Amplify Science users. This Home page provides a central location to access all Amplify programs in one place and a customized stream based on your activity.

      Your Amplify Science grades 6–8 students will no longer access My Work for assignments, scores, and teacher feedback. Instead, they’ll find it all on Student Home, the page they already land on when logging in to Amplify Science.

      Keep in mind: Amplify Science middle school teachers will continue to have access to Classwork.

      Update: Caregiver Hub

      Throughout the school year, teachers can share the Amplify Science Caregiver Hub with students’ families. This site provides curriculum details, an overview of what caregivers can expect throughout the school year, and resources they can use with students at home.

      What is Amplify Science?

      The Lawrence Hall of Science

      Developed by the science education experts at UC Berkeley’s Lawrence Hall of Science and the digital learning team at Amplify, our program features:

      • phenomena-based approach where students construct a complex understanding of each unit’s anchor phenomenon.
      • A blend of cohesive storylines, hands-on investigations, rich discussions, literacy-rich activities, and digital tools.
      • Carefully crafted units, chapters, lessons, and activities designed to deliver true three-dimensional learning.
      • An instructional design that supports all learners in accessing all standards.
      Aerial view of the lawrence hall of science at the university of california, berkeley, showcasing the building and surrounding trees with a foggy city backdrop.

      Proven to work

      WestEd Randomized
      Control Trial for Grade 1

      Read More

      WestEd Randomized
      Control Trial for Grade 7

      Read More

      Amplify Science NE
      Grades K–5

      Read More

      Instructional model

      The Amplify Science program is rooted in the proven, research-based pedagogy of Do, Talk, Read, Write, Visualize. Here’s how each element works:

      Do

      First-hand investigations are an important part of any science classroom, and Amplify Science has students getting hands-on in every unit—from building models of protein molecules to experimenting with electrical systems.

      Talk

      Student-to-student discourse and full-class discussions are an integral part of the program. Students are provided with numerous opportunities to engage in meaningful oral scientific argumentation, all while fostering a collaborative classroom environment.

      Read

      Students read scientific articles, focusing their reading activities on searching for evidence related to their investigation and, importantly, on asking and recording questions as they read through fascinating texts on 21st-century topics.

      Write

      Following real-world practices, students write scientific arguments based on evidence they’ve collected, making clear their reasoning about how a given piece of evidence connects to one of several claims.

      Visualize

      By manipulating digital simulations and using modeling tools to craft visualizations of their thinking— just as real scientists and engineers
      do—students take their learning far beyond the confines of what they can physically see in the classroom in an exciting and authentic way.

      Program structure

      Our cyclical lesson design ensures students receive multiple exposures to concepts through a variety of modalities. As they progress through the lessons within a unit, students build and deepen their understanding, increasing their ability to develop and refine complex explanations of the unit’s phenomenon.

      It’s this proven program structure and lesson design that enables Amplify Science to address 100% of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) and support students in mastering the Pennsylvania Science Standards.

      Flowchart depicting a critical thinking process with four circular nodes connected by arrows, each node representing a step: posing a real-world problem, exploring evidence, elaborating concepts, and evaluating claims.

      Unit types

      While every unit delivers three-dimensional learning experiences and engages students in gathering evidence from a rich collection of sources, each unit also serves a unique instructional purpose.

      In grades 6–8:

      • One unit is a launch unit.
      • Three units are core units.
      • Two units are engineering internships.

      Launch units are the first units taught in each year of Amplify Science. The goal of the Launch unit is to introduce students to norms, routines, and practices that will be built on throughout the year, including argumentation, active reading, and using the program’s technology. For example, rather than taking the time to explain the process of active reading in every unit in a given year, it is explained thoroughly in the Launch unit, thereby preparing students to read actively in all subsequent units.

      Core units establish the context of the unit by introducing students to a real-world problem. As students move through lessons in a Core unit, they figure out the unit’s anchoring phenomenon, gain an understanding of the unit’s disciplinary core ideas and science and engineering practices, and make linkages across topics through the crosscutting concepts. Each Core unit culminates with a Science Seminar and final writing activity.

      Engineering Internship units invite students to design solutions for real-world problems as interns for a fictional company called Futura. Students figure out how to help those in need, from tsunami victims in Sri Lanka to premature babies, through the application of engineering practices. In the process, they apply and deepen their learning from Core units.

      DPS Scope and Sequence

      Our lessons follow a structure that is grounded in regular routines while still being flexible enough to allow for a variety of learning experiences.

      In fact, our multi-modal instruction offers more opportunities for students to construct meaning, and practice and apply concepts than any other program. What’s more, our modular design means our units can be flexibly arranged to support your instructional goals.

      Un gráfico que muestra los cursos de ciencias para los grados 6 a 8. Cada grado tiene una lista de clases categorizadas como Launch, GROW y GOAT, con el título de cada curso y la duración en minutos o días.

      Program components

      Available digitally and in print, our unit-specific reference guides are chock-full of helpful resources, including scientific background knowledge, planning information and resources, color-coded 3D Statements, detailed lesson plans, tips for delivering instruction, and differentiation strategies.

      Amplify Science TG

      Hands-on learning is an essential part of Amplify Science, and is integrated into every unit. Students actively participate in science, playing the roles of scientists and engineers as they gather evidence, think critically, solve problems, and develop and defend claims about the world around them. Every unit includes hands-on investigations that are critical to achieving the unit’s learning goals.

      A young person wearing gloves looks through a microscope at a table with laboratory supplies, including bottles, slides, and a tray, against a plain blue background.

      More hands-on with Flextensions:
      Hands-on Flextensions are additional, optional investigations that are included at logical points in the learning progression and give students an opportunity to dig deeper if time permits. These activities offer teachers flexibility to choose to dedicate more time to hands-on learning. Materials referenced in Hands-on Flextension activities will either be included in the unit kit or are easily sourced. Supporting resources such as student worksheets will be included as downloadable PDF files.

      Our kits include enough materials to support 200 student uses. In other words, teachers can easily support all five periods and small groups of 4-5 students each. Plus, our unit-specific kits mean teachers just grab the tub they need and then put it all back with ease.

      Assorted office and household items displayed on a white background, including rubber bands, binder clips, cardboard, and sports balls.

      Our digital Simulations and Practice Tools are powerful resources for exploration, data collection, and student collaboration. They allow students the ability to explore scientific concepts that might otherwise be invisible or impossible to see with the naked eye.

      Available for every unit, our Student Investigation Notebooks contain instructions for activities and space for students to record data and observations, reflect on ideas from texts and investigations, and construct explanations and arguments.

      In grades 6–8, one copy of the Student Investigation Notebook is included in each unit’s materials kit for use as a blackline master. Each notebook is also available as a downloadable PDF on the Unit Guide page of the digital Teacher’s Guide.

      Two booklets titled "El clima cambiante de la Tierra: la desaparición del hielo" and "Earth’s Changing Climate: Vanishing Ice" with landscape illustrations on the covers.

      These customizable PowerPoints are available for every lesson of the program and make delivering instruction a snap with visual prompts, colorful activity instructions, investigation set-up videos and animations, and suggested teacher talk in the notes section of each slide.

      Amplify Science Classroom Slides

      Explore your print samples

      With your Amplify Science print samples, you’ll find unit-specific Teacher’s References Guides, Student Investigation Notebooks, and sets of Student Books for each grade level.

      A note about the Teacher Reference Guides:

      It’s important that you see the full breadth and depth of our instruction. For that reason, we provide a copy of each of our unit-specific Teacher Reference Guides.

      Rest assured that teachers do not use these robust reference guides for day-to-day teaching. For that, we have a hands-free Teacher’s Guide!

      Three laptop screens displaying educational content on earth's energy system, including diagrams and text annotations.
      • Teacher Reference Guide: Unlike a typical TG that requires a series of supplemental books to support it, our encyclopedic reference guide is chock-full of everything a teacher needs to fully implement our program and the NGSS.
      • Ready-to-Teach Lesson Slides: For daily instruction, teachers need their hands free. That’s why we created ready-to-teach lesson slides for every single lesson. What’s more, they are editable and include suggested teacher talk and point-of-use differentiation and other instructional tips. Click to learn more.

      A note about the Materials Kits:

      Hands-on learning is at the heart of Amplify Science, and is integrated into every unit. In order to make hands-on learning more manageable for busy teachers, Amplify Science materials are organized into unit-specific kits.

      Stacked storage bins with labels, arranged neatly; caption notes they are a sample and may not reflect actual quantities or sizes.

      Our unit-specific kits:

      • Include more materials — We give teachers enough materials to support 200 student uses.
      • Are more manageable — Unlike other programs that require large groups of students to share limited sets of materials, our kits include enough to support small groups of 4–5 students.
      • Include supportive videos — Each hands-on activity provides clear instructions for the teacher, with more complex activities supported by video demonstrations and illustrations.

      At your request, we did not include our materials kits with our submissions samples. However, we did provide grade-specific lists of all materials included in each kit, which you can also find with the links below.

      Access your digital samples

      Explore as a teacher

      Follow these instructions to explore the Amplify Science digital platform as a teacher.

      • Click the Access Amplify Science Platform button below and bookmark it.
      • Select Log in with Amplify.
      • Enter the username: t1.dps68sci@demo.tryamplify.net
      • Enter the password: Amplify1-dps68sci
      • Click the Science icon.
      • Click on the Grade Menu in the top center of the screen and select any grade.
      • Select any unit.

      To help familiarize yourself with navigating the digital platform, watch the below navigational video.

      Spanish-language support

      Amplify Science is committed to providing support to meet the needs of all learners, including multiple access points for Spanish-speaking students. Developed in conjunction with Spanish-language experts and classroom teachers, several components are available in Spanish across the Amplify Science curriculum.

      Spanish-language materials include:

      COMPONENTTEACHER/STUDENT
      Student Investigation NotebooksStudent
      Science articlesStudent
      Video TranscriptsStudent
      Digital simulation translation keysStudent
      Printed classroom materials
      Unit and chapter questions, key concepts, vocabulary cards, etc.
      Teacher
      CopymastersTeacher
      AssessmentsTeacher
      Digital student experience license
      This license gives students access to the student resources in Spanish, including instructional text, articles, and assessments. Teachers can control student access to Spanish-language content through the digital Teacher’s Guide.
      Teacher
      Spanish teacher support license
      This license includes teacher talk, projections, downloadable PDFs of all print resources, and video transcripts and closed captioning in Spanish.
      Teacher

      Resources to support your review

      Contact Us

      If you have any further questions as your review Amplify Science, please contact:

      Senior Account Executive

      719-964-4501

      mlammers@amplify.com

      What is Amplify Caminos?

      Amplify Caminos is a core Spanish language arts program for grades K–5 that delivers:

      • Authentic instruction built from the ground up for the Spanish language.
      • A unique research-based approach truly built on the Science of Reading.
      • A combination of explicit foundational skills with meaningful knowledge-building.
      • Embedded support and differentiation that gets all students reading grade-level texts together.
      • Opportunities for students to see the strengths and experiences that all people share while also celebrating each others’ unique identities and experiences.
      A diagram showing two strands labeled Language Comprehension and Word Recognition, intertwining into fluent reading, with examples of educational materials on both sides.

      How does Amplify Caminos work?

      Grades K–2: Dedicated knowledge-building and explicit skills instruction
      Every day, students in Grades K–2 complete one full lesson that builds foundational reading skills in the Amplify Caminos Lectoescritura strand, as well as one full lesson that builds background knowledge in the Amplify Caminos Conocimiento strand. Through learning in each of these strands, students develop the early literacy skills necessary to help them become confident readers and build the context to understand what they’re reading.

      Grades 3–5: Integrated instruction
      In Grades 3–5, the Amplify Caminos Lectoescritura and Conocimiento strands are integrated in one set of instructional materials. Lessons begin to combine skills and knowledge with increasingly complex texts, close reading, and a greater writing emphasis. Students can then use their skills to go on their own independent reading adventures.

      What makes Amplify Caminos different?

      Built on the Science of Reading

      Built out of the latest research in the Science of Reading, Amplify Caminos delivers explicit instruction in both foundational literacy skills (systematic phonics, decoding, and fluency) and background knowledge in grades K–2 with an integrated approach to explicit instruction in grades 3–5.

      Explicit systematic skills instruction

      The skills instruction in Amplify Caminos was distinctly developed with the Spanish language in mind. Its foundational lessons are specific to the language, rather than a direct translation from Amplify CKLA’s English skills instruction.

      Reading instruction begins with the vowels first, then the most common consonants, and finally the least common consonants. Students will blend and segment sounds to form syllables, and syllables to form words.

      Although Spanish has a highly predictable orthography, there are a few silent letters (h is always silent, u is silent after g or q), as well as letters that can make different sounds, depending on the letters that follow them. For that reason, syllables with these letters are taught somewhat later in the progression. The same is true for syllables with infrequently occurring consonants, such as z, k, x, and w.

      Coherent knowledge instruction

      While students are learning how to read, the Conocimiento strand gives them authentic and engaging reasons to read.

      Amplify Caminos uses spiral learning to reinforce every student’s ability to develop skills like reading, writing, speaking, and listening in Spanish that can be transferred to English. As students engage with their lessons, they explore the similarities and differences in grammar, vocabulary, writing, and language use between Spanish and English. This bridge helps students learning two languages to strengthen their knowledge in both.

      Through cross-curricular content, students explore units that relate to storytelling, science, and the history of our world in a holistic and thoughtful way. With these units, you’ll bring the world to your students, showing them how reading can become an exciting, rewarding, and useful part of their lives.

      Embedded differentiation for all learners

      Amplify Caminos provides built-in differentiation strategies and supports in every lesson.

      • Apoyo a la enseñanza y desafío: Support and Challenge suggestions in every lesson provide assistance or opportunities for more advanced work toward the goal of the lesson.
      • Notas culturales: These point-of-use notes provide additional information about the traditions, foods, holidays, word variations, and more from across the Spanish-speaking world.
      • Apoyo adicional: Every lesson in the Lectoescritura (Skills) Strand provides additional support activities suggested to reinforce foundational skills instruction. These activities can be given to any student who requires extra help, including students with special needs.

      Commitment to equity

      Illustration of two astronauts in space, a woman singing, a person sketching outdoors, a hot air balloon, and a landscape, all connected by flowing musical notes.

      We believe we have a responsibility to provide literacy instruction that gives every student an equal opportunity to succeed and even excel. Amplify Caminos builds students’ knowledge about the world, helping them see people who resemble them and their familiar situations or experiences while also exposing them to people whose appearances, lives, beliefs, and backgrounds differ from their own.

      In addition to teaching all students to crack the written code (which is vital for equity), the Amplify Caminos program helps students celebrate their own unique identities and experiences while also seeing the strengths and experiences we all share.

      Amplify Caminos includes both transadaptations and authentic texts written by Latin American and Spanish authors. Authentic literature exposes students to a variety of text types and perspectives to deepen their knowledge of fascinating topics in social studies, science, literature, and the arts. Authentic texts support text-to-self, text-to-world, and text-to-text connections for readers.

      Amplify Caminos Authentic Literature

      Amplify Caminos is built on the conviction that equitable instruction is vital to an effective program. Decodable Student Readers celebrate students’ diverse experiences and feature individuals with a broad range of identity factors, including socio-economic status, age, ability, race, ethnicity, country of origin, and more.

      Amplify Caminos Student Readers

      How does Amplify Caminos integrate with the other parts of the literacy system?

      Amplify Caminos + mCLASS® Lectura

      Achieve complete parity between English and Spanish assessments with mCLASS Lectura for K–6. mCLASS Lectura allows teachers to connect with their Spanish-speaking students face-to-face, one-on-one, and in the language most comfortable to them. The result? Valid and reliable student data reports
      available in both English and Spanish, enabling teachers to pinpoint where their Spanish-speaking or emergent bilingual students really are in their skill development and what instruction to prioritize.

      Amplify Caminos + Boost Reading

      Boost Reading is an engaging, adaptive digital program that extends the learning in Amplify Caminos. Boost Reading offers support to a large sub-group of English learners (ELs) through Spanish voice-over. Spanish voiceover instructions are available in vocabulary and sentence-level comprehension games so ELs can build their vocabulary, language, and critical comprehension skills before moving into analyzing complex texts

      Language selection screen with options for English and Spanish, a cartoon girl waving and saying "¡Hola!", and sidebar menu items: Journal, Practice, and Settings.

      Check out these additional resources

      Caminos review resources:

      Demo access

      Ready to explore on your own? Follow the instructions linked below to access your demo accounts for Caminos and mCLASS Lectura.

      Caminos login instructions

      mCLASS Lectura login instructions

      Welcome!

      Amplify Science: California Edition is an immersive and engaging core curriculum authored by UC Berkeley’s Lawrence Hall of Science and built specifically for the NGSS.

      K–8 Integrated Course Model

      Grades 6–8 Integrated Model

      Grades 6–8 Discipline Specific Model

      Invest in high-quality professional development.

      Amplify’s professional development (PD) provides a variety of learning experiences over multiple years to incrementally develop and apply the knowledge and skills needed for effective and self-sustaining implementation.

      Gain insights into effective instructional techniques and develop a deeper understanding of your Amplify program(s) by investing in PD.

      The foundation for long-lasting and sustainable change

      Partner with us to plan long-lasting and sustainable change for your school or district. Change achieved deliberately is much more likely to stick and get results. We can support you through this journey to drive your professional improvement, enrich your instructional practice, and increase student impact.

      Professional learning journey

      Prepare

      You’ll understand research-based practices to support new program implementation.

      Prepare learning experiences will help shift literacy and math instruction in areas such as the Science of Reading and/or problem-based approaches to math.

      Begin

      You’ll build the foundational knowledge and skills necessary to begin teaching with your Amplify program(s).

      Program-aligned packages will support those who are new to Amplify’s programs.

      Practice

      You’ll refine instrucional skills, expand knowledge of your Amplify program(s), and explore more advanced insturctional strategies.

      Program-aligned packages will support those who have experience using Amplify’s programs.

      Advance

      You’ll deepen understanding of content and pedagogy and build-in house capacity to support a robust, sustainable implementation.

      Program-aligned offerings will support advanced implementation, build capacity for instructional leaders, certify in-house trainers to deliver Launch sessions, and more.

      Learn more about our curated catalog of packages and sessions to support each stage of your learning journey.

      Multi-program, suite packages

      Core program packages

      Literacy

      • Amplify Texas ELAR/SLAR K–5
      • Amplify Texas ELAR 6–8

      STEM

      • Amplify Math
      • Amplify Desmos Math (K–A2)
      • Amplify Science
       

      Supplemental program sessions

      • Boost Reading Texas K–8
      • Boost Lectura K–2

      Assessment program packages

      • mCLASS Texas Edition
      • mCLASS Lectura Texas

      mCLASS Intervention K–6 program sessions

       

      Empower teachers to continuously improve.

      Professional development helps teachers stay motivated and inspired to grow professionally. Demonstrate your commitment to your staff by empowering them with professional development packages that include on-site or virtual Launch, Strengthen, or Coach sessions, all of which will orient you and your team to the full features of Amplify programs.

      You can also personalize your learning experience by adding enhancement sessions to base packages.

      Launch

      Launch sessions introduce Amplify programs and support strong implementation.

      After learning about the program’s foundational principles and key features, you’ll practice administering the program within a collaborative environment.

      Strengthen

      Strengthen sessions deepen understanding of the program. Session offerings are targeted and meant to take your practice—and your students’ learning—to the next level.

      Offered as part of core packages, as well as enhancements, Strengthen sessions are intended to effectively address your students’ needs. Examples include:

      • A focus on data analysis.
      • Examining student writing.
      • Targeted intervention instruction.

      Coach

      Coach sessions elevate instructional practice and help meet teachers’ and schools’ specific needs.

      Partner with an Amplify coach who will support you in planning a day tailored to meet the needs of teachers and/or leaders. Your customized session will leverage our menu of support, which can include:

      • Lesson modeling by an Amplify facilitator.
      • Classroom observations and debriefs.
      • Grade-level planning.

      Coach sessions are customized to you with an Amplify facilitator.

      Commit to sustainable change for long-term impact.

      Learning may ebb and flow between phases depending on your teachers’ and leaders’ needs, experiences, and professional goals. Amplify PD aims to continually grow, develop, and refine instructional practices to support student learning and achievement.

      Frequently asked questions

      We value your partnership and aim to provide you with the highest quality learning experiences. Check out our frequently asked PD questions below, along with responses.

      Additional learning

      Once you become an Amplify customer, you’ll have access to many opportunities to continue learning how to get the most out of your Amplify program(s).

      To get a sense of our support, check out some of our free resources:

      Three children sitting on the floor, reading a book together.

      Biliteracy supports

      Sessions are available to support educators teaching with both Amplify ELAR and Amplify SLAR core programs, or both mCLASS Texas Edition and mCLASS Lectura Texas assessment programs.

      Facilitated in both English and Spanish, these specialized sessions should be scheduled for biliteracy teachers using both curriculums and/or assessments. Substitute a biliteracy session for the six-hour initial training in your package, or add these sessions on to your package for your biliteracy teachers.

      Speak to our team to learn more!

      Order and payment support

      If you’re ready to submit your price quote, purchase order, or payment, please visit our Ordering Support site for more information.

      Sample invoice document with orange Accenture logo and text. Includes fields like quote number, PO number, contract details, and invoice number highlighted as INV-123456.

      Community of collaboration

      Connect with fellow Science of Reading, math, or science advocates in one of our public Facebook groups. Join a community or tune into one of our podcasts today:

      Amplify customers can join our exclusive, program-specific Facebook communities to ask pedagogical questions, share Amplify teaching hacks, and more!

      Our experts

      We are educators supporting educators. Every member of Amplify’s national team of highly experienced and qualified facilitators is a former educator with years of hands-on classroom and/or administrative experience. Our facilitators are passionate about supporting educators in the implementation of their Amplify programs and creating transformational change for all students.

      Get in touch with a PD expert

      We’re here to provide answers and guidance as you explore your PD journey. Fill out the form to connect with us and discover how Amplify PD can enhance your educational journey.

      Welcome, North Carolina educators!

      To view this protected page, enter the password below:



      Welcome, North Carolina educators!

      To view this protected page, enter the password below:



      DPS, welcome to Amplify Science!

      Welcome! This site contains supporting resources designed for Denver Public Schools Amplify Science adoption for grades K–8.

      Click the button below to preview the digital Teacher’s Guide, and check back for exciting updates to this site!

      Illustration of three children, each in separate colorful vignettes, engaging in different activities: reading, conducting a science experiment, and using a tablet with educational graphics.

      Let’s get started.

      Click the button below to preview the digital Teacher’s Guide, and check back for exciting updates to this site!

      To explore resources, select your role below:

      News for educators

      The world has turned upside down in the last few weeks, and we know it can be stressful to figure out how to adjust to this new reality, both personally and professionally. We at Amplify continue to be dedicated to supporting you as you transition to this unprecedented time of remote teaching and learning.

      Join us! Click here for Remote Learning Office Hours to collaborate with others on remote learning resources, tools and solutions.

      To help you prepare for (and implement) remote learning:

      Go to amplify.com/remotelearning for more remote learning resources.

      Go to freeresources.amplify.com for video lessons and Read-Alouds for grades K–5.

      About mCLASS in NC

      DPI is committed to providing literacy instruction for all by:

      • Aligning core curriculum, instruction, and assessments with Science of Reading.
      • Providing appropriate literacy interventions to address difficulty with reading development.
      • Implementing practices based on the Science of Reading in every classroom every day.
      • Providing aligned resources to parents, guardians and family members.

      mCLASS is built on decades of research at the Center on Teaching and Learning at the University of Oregon, a national center for early childhood assessment and instruction. The measures are already in use in many districts in North Carolina. With the additional mCLASS suite including reporting, grouping, lessons and caregiver support, DPI’s early literacy goals for North Carolina students will be met.

      North Carolina mCLASS DIBELS 8 requirements

      DIBELS 8th Edition fulfills legislative requirements for K-3 students with sub test measures for:

      • Phonemic awareness
      • Phonics
      • Fluency
      • Vocabulary
      • Comprehension

      For the above reasons, the state will begin using DIBELS 8 data for EVAAS purposes effective 2021-22 from MOY-EOY for Kindergarten, BOY-EOY for all 1-2 teachers, and BOG-EOG for grade 3.

      DIBELS measures at each grade level
      Measure Grade K Grade 1 Grade 2 Grade 3
      Letter naming fluency    
      Phonemic segmentation fluency    
      Nonsense word fluency
      Word reading fluency
      Oral reading fluency  
      Maze (basic comprehension)    
      Required additional measures at each grade level below 
      Oral language
      Vocabulary

      Amplify assessment invalidation process

      1. Teacher requests approval for an invalidation from a school-level administrator and provides a valid reason for requesting the invalidation.
      2. School-level administrators reach out to the district Read to Achieve (RtA) contact to approve the invalidation.
      3. District RtA contact approves the request and notifies the school-level administrator who notifies the teacher.
      4. Teacher invalidates assessment.

      Professional Learning

      Stay tuned for new registration links!

      Stay tuned for new registration links!

      Preparing for EOY (Administrators and Enrollment)

      North Carolina Online Course

      All of our monthly webinars will be linked in the online course. You will access the North Carolina Online Course to view previous webinars.

      1. When you open your course you will see a navigation panel along the left hand side. 
      2. At the top of this panel, you will see a small back arrow by the title mCLASS in North Carolina Initial Training. 
      3. Click on that back arrow to be taken to the beginning of the course with the introduction.
      4. When you land on that Introduction page along the left panel, you will see the welcome to the course. 
      5. Scroll down that left panel to the section titled Monthly Recorded Webinars, within that section you will see a link to the page where we are posting the webinars, click on the “this page” link.

      mCLASS DIBELS 8th Edition online course

      As part of the implementation of mCLASS with DIBELS 8th Edition for the 2023-24 school year, all North Carolina educators will have access to a self-paced online course as a support for a successful implementation and to serve as a resource throughout the school year.

      Learn how to:

      • Administer and score mCLASS with DIBELS 8th Edition Interpret student data Identify students’ instructional need Access skills-focused lessons.
      • Plan differentiated instruction.
      • Please contact your district for access information to the online course. Districts received the link for the course in the DPI memo. Please reach out to your DPI consultant for assistance.

      Monthly Webinar recordings will be placed on the Online Course site upon the completion of each session.

      In addition, PSUs may purchase additional remote or in-person training sessions. Amplify offers in-person training options pending:

      • agreement to Amplify’s Covid safety guidelines, and
      • confirmation of availability for the requested training date.

      Contact us for more information on additional PD.

      Reading Camp

      Overview

      The Excellent Public Schools Act of 2021 defines “Reading camp” as an additional educational program outside the instructional calendar that the local school administrative unit offers as a literacy intervention to:

      1. any third-grade student who does not demonstrate reading proficiency and
      2. any second-grade student who demonstrates difficulty with reading development. Local school administrative units may offer a reading camp as a literacy intervention to any first-grade student who demonstrates difficulty with reading development.

      Resources

      The resources below review the Summer Benchmark assessment, Reading Camp data, and explain enrollment for Reading Camp. 

      Please Note: Do not make any manual changes in the Amplify platform prior to June 1st, 2026. Any changes made before this date will be overwritten. 

      Additional support:

      We will be hosting office hours each Wednesday from 2:00 pm-2:30 pm EDT starting May 20th, 2026 and continuing through July 15th, 2026. This is a time for you to chat directly with us so we can help answer any questions you may have regarding reading camp.

      Click here to join the office hours.

      Office hours will occur on the following dates:

      • May 20th
      • May 27th
      • June 3rd
      • June 10th
      • June 17th
      • June 24th
      • July 1st
      • July 8th
      • July 15th

      Please note that this is not a presentation, but a chance to ask questions and receive specific support. 

      Enrollment resources

      Each night, DPI extracts rostering files from Infinite Campus and sends them to Amplify. Changes in the enrollment system are captured in mCLASS the next day. As a reminder, no manual changes can take place in mCLASS.

      In order to be included in the staff file sent to mCLASS from Infinite Campus, staff members must have a Read to Achieve role assigned to them. It is also important to ensure staff members are active, have a district assignment (Navigation to verify district assignment: Search Staff > Census > Staff > District Assignments), and an email address associated with NCEdCloud; If a staff member receives a “user not found” message when attempting to log in to mCLASS via NCEdCloud, this means they do not have a staff record enrolled in mCLASS.

      Additional troubleshooting documents around enrollment can be found here.

      Infinite Campus Resources:

      mCLASS reporting

      mCLASS gives you instant results and clear next steps for each student. Quick and actionable reports provide detailed insight into students’ reading development across foundational literacy skills for teachers, specialists, administrators, and caregivers.

      View the mCLASS Reporting Guide to learn more.

      Charter Schools

      More information coming soon!

      Remote assessment

      We at Amplify and the team at the University of Oregon are here to provide continued guidance and support around collecting and using DIBELS® 8th Edition data.

      This guide offers recommendations for benchmark assessment with DIBELS as well as tips for interpreting benchmark data during our unpredictable school disruptions.

      North Carolina remote assessment guidance

      Service Hub

      Amplify Service Hub Now Live:
      The Service Hub is an online portal which allows district- and school-level administrators to create support tickets, check on ticket status, and view reports related to support cases. Educators who have an RtA Admin role have access to the Service Hub. You can access the Service Hub here. Log in with the SSO Login icon and search for North Carolina Public Schools. Your NCEdCloud credentials will enable you to access the Service Hub.

      Learn about navigating, viewing insights, and more in the

      Amplify Service Hub Overview.

      Spanish in NC

      mCLASS Lectura is available for all students enrolled in a Dual Language program. When mCLASS Lectura is used with D8 teachers have access to the dual language report. This report provides side-by-side data of the student’s performance in Spanish and English. 

      Then mCLASS suggests actual strategies and specific activities to promote cross-linguistic transfer for bilingual students.

      If you have students that would benefit from this assessment but are not enrolled in a dual language program, individual licenses can be purchased. Please reach out to your CSM and Jennifer Eason, your Account Executive, for more information.

      Science of Reading resources

      To continue your own professional learning around the Science of Reading, subscribe and join with your colleagues.

      Science of Reading: The Podcast delivers the latest insights from researchers and practitioners in early reading. Further your professional development with each episode by subscribing and downloading them now.

      Science of Reading: The Community is built for those committed to fostering conversation around the Science of Reading and implementing best practices in the classroom (including the virtual classroom).

      What does classroom instruction look like when it is based on Science of Reading practices? We’ve outlined a Science of Reading action plan to guide your evaluation in our new FREE ebook, Science of Reading: Making the shift.

      Caregiver supports

      The mCLASS Home Connect website houses literacy resources for parents and caregivers, including at-home lessons organized by skill to help students at home during remote learning. Our mCLASS parent/caregiver letters in English and Spanish ensure that families know how to best support their child.

      Screenshot of the mclass home connect website showing educational activities in three categories: word race, count the ways, and mystery game, with navigation options at the top.

      Support

      NCDPI has been provided with its own dedicated support line: +1 (888) 890-2505
      The current national support line will remain available and include the North Carolina option on the phone tree throughout the fall.

      FAQs

      Interested in learning more?

      Amplify and NC DPI are collaborating on this FAQ. Please continue to check back, as we are updating this based on questions we receive about mCLASS and the current NC implementation.

      FAQ Link

      Additional Amplify products

      Get in touch with us to learn more about bringing other high-quality Amplify programs to your school or district.

      Welcome, Tennessee reviewers!

      Welcome to Amplify Core Knowledge Language Arts (CKLA), a comprehensive reading and language arts curriculum for Grades K–5 built on today’s rigorous standards. Amplify CKLA delivers superior results through a uniquely research-based approach, combining explicit foundational skills instruction with meaningful content knowledge in science, history, literature, and the arts.

      By focusing deeply on building students’ knowledge base, Amplify CKLA levels the playing field for every child.

      Amplify CKLA was developed by the Core Knowledge Foundation and Amplify.

      An illustration from Amplify CKLA's The War of 1812

      Grades K–2 introduction

      In grades K–2, Amplify CKLA is segmented into two distinct strands: Knowledge and Skills.

      Skills Strand: Skills Strand lessons build a strong foundation for students through daily instruction in phonemic awareness, spelling patterns, decoding with engaging, decodable texts, writing mechanics, and writing structure and processes.

      Knowledge Strand: It is vital to build students’ knowledge and vocabulary while they are still in the process of learning to read. In doing so, you better ensure their long-term success. CKLA’s Knowledge Strand is based on that very principle.

      Grades K–2 student materials

      Student Reader
      Unlike other decodable texts, CKLA’s Readers feature engaging plots and characters, making the process of learning to read rewarding. Student Readers are provided for each unit in the program beginning in Kindergarten Unit 6.

      Grades 3–5 introduction

      In grades 3–5, the Skills and Knowledge strands are integrated. As part of the curriculum’s research-based design, students in grades 3–5 spend several weeks immersed in sequenced domains in science, history, and literature, deepening both critical literacy skills and background knowledge.

      Grades 3–5 student materials

      Student Reader
      Rich in knowledge and diverse in content, Student Readers are the foundation of each unit as students dive into increasingly complex text and sharpen their analytical skills. From geology to the Middle Ages, students engage with a truly diverse range of topics.

      Student Readers

      • Unit 1: Classic Tales: The Wind in the Willows
      • Unit 2: Animal Classification
      • Unit 3: The Human Body
      • Unit 4: The Ancient Roman Civilization
      • Unit 5: Light and Sound
      • Unit 6: The Viking Age
      • Unit 7: Astronomy: Our Solar System and Beyond
      • Unit 8: Native Americans: Regions and Cultures
      • Unit 9: Early Explorations of North America
      • Unit 10: Colonial America
      • Unit 11: Ecology

      Student Readers

      Student Readers

      Dyslexia toolkit for teachers

      What do students at risk for dyslexia struggle with?

      • Delay in learning tasks such as tying shoes, telling time
      • Difficulty expressing self
      • Inattentiveness, distractibility
      • Inability to follow directions
      • Left-right confusion
      • Difficulty learning alphabet, times tables, words of songs
      • Difficulty learning rhymes
      • Poor playground skills
      • Difficulty learning to read
      • Mixing order of letters or numbers when writing
      • Reversing letters or numbers

      Supporting students with dyslexia: What can you do?

      According to the International Dyslexia Association official publication of Perspectives on Language and Literacy, Vol. 44, 2018, here are six steps to help your struggling students:

      1. Screen for dyslexia

      • Become involved in implementing or improving universal screening programs for dyslexia by reminding administrators about specific laws.
      • If you suspect your student has dyslexia, request that common reading and writing skills associated with dyslexia are assessed (e.g., basic reading skills [phonics and sight word identification], spelling, reading rate).

      2. Dyslexia training for teachers and reading specialists

      • Advocate for the appointment of a specific person in charge of dyslexia training.
      • Request specific teacher training that includes structured literacy programs (e.g., explicit, systematic reading instruction, phonics instruction, etc.). Request dyslexia awareness training for all K–12 teachers.

      3. Eligibility for accommodations and services for students with dyslexia

      • Become involved in the Response to Intervention, Multi-tiered system of support, or a similar system at your school. Ensure that the accommodations and services that are provided are appropriate for students with dyslexia.
      • Collaborate with colleagues to evaluate the effectiveness of accommodations and services being provided to students with dyslexia.

      4. Classroom instruction for students with dyslexia

      • Become familiar with differentiated instruction strategies (e.g., use of centers during instruction).
      • Learn and help colleagues learn about specific reading programs designed to help students with dyslexia (e.g., structured literacy programs).

      5. Dyslexia handbook

      • Request that your state or district develop a dyslexia handbook to guide teachers and offer other states’ handbooks as a reference.

      6. Dyslexia awareness

      • Consult with fellow educational professionals in your school(s) to hold events and encourage discussions about dyslexia during October (National Dyslexia Month).

      DIBELS® 8th Edition is validated for the following measures:

      DIBELS 8th Edition Subtest Alignment with Dyslexia Screening Areas

      Rapid Naming AbilityPhonological AwarenessAlphabetic PrincipleWord Reading
      Letter Naming Fluency
      Phonemic Segmentation Fluency
      Nonsense Word Fluency
      Word Reading Fluency
      Oral Reading Fluency

      How mCLASS can help you identify and support at-risk students

      mCLASS® with DIBELS® 8th Edition’s free dyslexia screening measures provide additional screening for risk of dyslexia in students in grades K–3 through subtests that help identify early warning signs of reading difficulty. Measures include:

      • Vocabulary
      • Encoding
      • Rapid Automatized Naming (RAN)
      • Word Reading Fluency (WRF)
      • Letter Naming Fluency (LNF)
      • Phonemic Segmentation Fluency (PSF)

      4 ways to weather educational change

      The landscape of education is constantly shifting. That’s always been true, because the world is constantly changing. But at no time in recent memory has the landscape of education been forced to change in as many ways as it has over the past few years.

      How can teachers navigate the seismic changes in the education system in their day-to-day lives?

      In this recent episode of Science Connections: The Podcast, host Eric Cross talks about managing educational change with veteran educator and former Miami-Dade County Public Schools (M-DCPS) Middle School Science Teacher of the Year Marilyn Dieppa.

      Below, we’ve outlined four tips for weathering shifts. The bottom line? It’s important for teachers to be able to change with the times, while remaining a steady, solid presence for students.

      1. Embrace change—it’s good for kids, too.

      “I always change my labs. I don’t like to do the same thing over and over again,” says Dieppa. And when she tries something new, she tells her students she’s experimenting. (After all, it’s science!)

      “They’re afraid of trying something new and failing,” Dieppa says—so she tries to model taking on the unknown, learning, and adjusting as needed. This is part of cultivating a growth mindset for kids. “It’s for them not to be fearful. That gives kids a foundation they need.”

      2. Have an open-door policy.

      The pandemic has exacerbated challenges in kids’ lives that can make it tough for them to learn. Some even say we’re in a youth mental health crisis. Now more than ever, it’s important that “you become more than just a science teacher,” says Cross. “You’re a mentor. You’re an encourager. Sometimes you’re a counselor.”

      It’s impossible to be everything to every student, but it’s important to let them know you see them.

      “I always say, I’m not there to really be your friend, but I’m there to help you,’” says Dieppa. “And you gotta tell ’em, you know, ‘if you need to talk, come talk to me’. Because so much of what we’re doing is like life coaching in addition, and that connects to their success in the classroom.”

      3. Measure wins in lots of ways.

      What keeps Dieppa going? “Whether [students] have struggled all year and they’ve had that one piece of success, or they come back and tell you they didn’t realize what they got out of middle school science until they got to high school, those are my moments of success.”

      4. Remember—you’re still learning, too.

      Yes, you’re the teacher, but “you don’t have to be the expert in everything,” says Cross. “Teachers tend to be more risk-taking and innovative when they’re willing to say, ‘I don’t have to know everything in order to do something.’”

      Whenever it feels like you can’t do something or don’t know something, remember: You can’t do it yet. You don’t know it yet. Growth mindset phrases for students apply to your growth, too.

      Listen to the whole podcast episode here and subscribe to Science Connections: The Podcast here

      About Amplify’s Science Connections: The Podcast

      Science is changing before our eyes, now more than ever. So how do we help kids figure that out? How are we preparing students to be the next generation of 21st-century scientists?

      Join host Eric Cross as he sits down with educators, scientists, and knowledge experts to discuss how we can best support students in science classrooms. Listen to hear how you can inspire kids across the country to love learning science, and bring that magic into your classroom for your students.

      The Science of Reading Star Awards are back!

      If you’re reading this, someone taught you to read! You might remember learning your letters with a standout teacher, or simply curling up with a loved one to point out pictures and sound out words.

      No matter who stands out to you, it takes a constellation of people to help children learn to read—both inside classrooms and beyond, and from district leadership to student families.

      It also takes science: specifically, the science of teaching reading.

      And we want to celebrate Science of Reading stars!

      That’s why we created the Science of Reading Star Awards. Read on for more information about them, including how to nominate someone for the  2023 Awards. (If you’re already ready to nominate a star in your community, go right ahead!)

      Reading educator awards for teachers who shine.

      We launched this awards program in 2021—a year when schools, educators, and students were still working to bounce back from pandemic challenges and into a new normal. Even then, educators drove change, leading their school communities on a journey to the Science of Reading.

      Our inaugural award program honored educators who championed and advocated for the Science of Reading in their classrooms, schools, or districts.

      They generated buy-in. They inspired their peers and students. They successfully brought research-based instruction, phonics instruction, and foundational literacy skills into their approaches—and had remarkable gains to show for it.

      Our 2021 awards, both finalists and winners, celebrated:

      • Teachers who directly impacted their students and served as role models for their colleagues by applying the Science of Reading.

      Winner: Anila Nayak, instructional coach and reading intervention teacher, Los Angeles Unified School District, California.

      She says: “The Science of Reading is becoming my North Star because it’s guiding me to give the best that research has shown for my students.”

      • Principals who have supervised the successful shift to the Science of Reading in many classrooms across several grades.

      Winner: Cathy Dorbish, principal, Austintown Elementary School, Ohio

      She says: “We know our kids come from all different backgrounds, different opportunities, and parents who read or don’t. By teaching them in this manner, we’re leveling the playing field. Those kids who may be economically disadvantaged, [but] they’re going to be readers just like the kids whose parents bought them 100,000 books.”

      • District leaders who have driven or are driving change using the Science of Reading.

      Winner: Alli Rice, elementary ELA lead, Kansas City, Kansas Public Schools

      She says: “Teachers are saying things like ‘I never really thought my kids could have a discussion about the Renaissance during language arts class, but they are doing it.’”

      Winner: Brittney Bills, curriculum coordinator, Grand Island Public Schools, Nebraska

      She says: “I believe the Science of Reading is about hope. Knowing 95% of students are cognitively able to read at grade level with the right explicit instruction was empowering for me and the teachers I support.”

      Nominate a Science of Reading star!

      Inspired? Now think of the educators in your world—especially those devoted to literacy. Do you know someone who has transformed their classroom and empowered their students with the Science of Reading? What about someone who’s gone above and beyond core instruction based in the Science of Reading to apply these evidence-based practices in less traditional ways in areas like assessment, intervention, biliteracy, and beyond? (And yes, this person might be you!) We also have new categories this year, to honor both the traditional, and less traditional, Science of Reading champions!

      Submit your nomination for the 2023 Science of Reading Star Awards by February 28!

      All award winners will receive:

      • A free professional development session with Susan Lambert, host of Science of Reading: The Podcast.
      • A library of Science of Reading books to guide their journey.
      • A subscription to The Reading League Journal.
      • A spotlight on an episode of Science of Reading: The Podcast.

      The Grand Prize winner will receive full conference registration and associated travel costs to Big Sky Literacy Summit in Big Sky, Montana, Sept. 2023 (dates forthcoming).

      Learn more

      To hear more from the 2021 winners, you can watch our Amplify Science of Reading Star Award Winners panel, now available as an on-demand webinar, or tune into Science of Reading: The Podcast to hear their conversations with host Susan Lambert.

      Their stories and perspectives may help you discover how you can drive change in your classroom, school, and district with the Science of Reading!

      New study provides evidence that assessing multilingual students in their home languages can improve educational outcomes

      new Amplify study of K–3 Spanish-speaking multilingual learners (MLs) shows that more of these students were identified as at risk for not learning to read when their early literacy skills were measured only in English.

      Read the research brief. Findings reveal that using only English-language assessments for early literacy can lead to a higher rate of misidentifying Spanish-speaking MLs as at-risk for reading difficulties, underscoring the importance of comprehensive dual-language assessments that help educators better understand their students’ early literacy skills.

      For the study, Amplify analyzed data from an intact group of Spanish-speaking MLs in grades K–3 who have Spanish literacy data from mCLASS® Lectura assessments and English literacy data from mCLASS DIBELS® 8th Edition assessments at the beginning, middle, and end of the 2023–2024 school year.

      Responding to changing demographics

      Changing demographics in the United States public school population necessitate the availability of reliable and valid universal screening assessments for literacy in languages other than English. In 2020, for example, approximately 5 million public school students—10 percent of all students—identified as MLs. For the majority of these students (75 percent), Spanish is one of the top five languages spoken in their state. Unfortunately, an English-only approach to screening bilingual students may underestimate their knowledge and skills, given that limited English proficiency can adversely affect a student’s performance on English measures. Moreover, an English-only approach to assessment fails to capture the knowledge and skills MLs have in their home language that can be leveraged to support their English literacy development through processes of cross-linguistic transfer.

      The importance of bilingual assessment

      When MLs are assessed in English only, the skills students have from another language may go unrecognized. Educators may see these students as generally struggling readers simply because they are not able to demonstrate fully their literacy skills in English. However, these students likely have knowledge and skills in Spanish and may need support transferring those skills from Spanish to English. Assessing students in their home languages enables educators to identify areas of strength and areas that require further support, ensuring a more comprehensive assessment of their overall language and literacy abilities.

      A dual-language approach to early literacy assessment has powerful implications, including:

      • Providing more accurate information about whether students need intervention.
      • Giving educators a more complete understanding of students’ literacy skills, including which skills they possess in each language.
      • Helping educators support students’ language development needs with more precision.

      “Although the availability of universal screening assessments for Spanish-speaking MLs has increased in recent years, it’s still not where it needs to be,” said Kajal Patel Below, vice president of biliteracy at Amplify. “Our hope is that this study will shed light on the extent to which the identification of reading intervention support varies for MLs when assessed in both their home language and in English.”

      Supporting student literacy development in both languages

      A dual-language approach to literacy assessment for Spanish-speaking multilingual learners provides educators with a more comprehensive understanding of students’ literacy development in both languages, highlighting student strengths and bringing to light opportunities for improvement. As the data included in this brief indicate, significantly greater percentages of Spanish-speaking MLs were identified as needing intervention when assessed only in English, providing further evidence that a monolingual approach to assessment fails to capture students’ true range of literacy skills.

      Read the full report for more insights and recommendations.

      More about the study

      The goals for this study were to better understand the extent to which the identification of reading intervention support varies for Spanish-speaking MLs when they are assessed in Spanish and English. Amplify analyzed data from an intact group of Spanish-speaking MLs in grades K–3 who have Spanish literacy data from mCLASS Lectura assessments and English literacy data from mCLASS DIBELS 8th Edition assessments at the beginning, middle, and end of the 2023–2024 school year.

      During the 2023–2024 school year, more than 212,000 students in grades K–6 were assessed at least once with mCLASS Lectura. These students were enrolled in schools located across 30 states and the District of Columbia (representing four census regions and all nine census divisions) and one country outside of the United States. Of these, the data for this study were from students who had assessment scores from beginning, middle, and end-of-year in both Spanish and English. Our sample includes more than 21,000 Spanish-speaking MLs in grades K–3 who have data on both assessments at all three times of year.

      Small district, big change: Patrick County’s journey with the Science of Reading

      In rural southwest Virginia, Patrick County Public Schools—a small district with big ambitions—has redefined early literacy through a transformative approach to reading instruction.

      Teachers and leaders are shifting long-held instructional practices and embracing a Science of Reading-based framework. With the dedication of instructional coaches like Sara Vernon and Callie Wheeler, this district is building classrooms full of proficient readers and shaping a new culture of reading.

      This commitment to reimagining literacy instruction has earned Patrick County Public Schools the Science of Reading Star Awards District Captain award—a testament to the district’s vision for improved student reading outcomes.

      Before: Reading instruction challenges

      Before this shift, reading instruction in Patrick County matched familiar approaches across the country, grounded in programs like Jan Richardson, Lucy Calkins, and Fountas and Pinnell. Educators like Wheeler and Vernon initially relied on balanced literacy and whole language techniques, believing that increased exposure to texts alone could help children learn to read.

      However, especially during the pandemic, they began to see students struggle—including, in Wheeler’s case, her own child—and begain to wonder if there might be a better way.

      Vernon and Wheeler found their approaches lacking—until they found each other. When their paths crossed in Patrick County, they realized a shared need to re-evaluate their instructional approaches. Conversations with colleagues and research into the Science of Reading framework opened their eyes to new possibilities, sparking a commitment to overhaul literacy instruction in the district.

      Building a coalition for change

      Vernon and Wheeler were not alone in their vision. District leaders and teachers became eager collaborators. Together, they built a coalition for change, advocating for professional development and resources to support a district-wide implementation of evidence-based practices grounded in the Science of Reading.

      Recognizing the need for expert training, they secured ESSER funds to attend the Plain Talk about Literacy and Learning Conference, which deepened their understanding of structured, evidence-based reading practices. This journey transformed not only Vernon and Wheeler’s methods but also those of their colleagues, building a strong foundation for the new approach.

      Embracing Science of Reading-based best practices

      With district support, Vernon and Wheeler led the selection and adoption of Amplify’s CKLA curriculum, which aligns with the Science of Reading. To extend teachers’ understanding, they offered podcast studies, professional development sessions on the research behind reading instruction, and LETRS (Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling) training.

      Teachers throughout the district quickly saw the benefits, with kindergarten students making tangible reading progress. The new curriculum emphasizes background knowledge, foundational skills, and a diagnostic approach that ensures each student’s needs are met.

      Teachers previously grounded in balanced literacy practices began to embrace the change. Many began to see that teaching phonics and sound-first strategies brought faster and more meaningful progress in reading.

      As Wheeler explained, they wanted teachers to fully understand the research behind CKLA and the Science of Reading—empowering them to support students more effectively.

      Sustaining a culture of literacy and growth

      Today, Patrick County is witnessing an inspiring literacy transformation. Continuous feedback sessions, classroom observations, and data-driven discussions are all part of an evolving system where educators feel encouraged to explore new ideas and take calculated risks.

      The district’s openness to change and the collaborative spirit among teachers have been instrumental in creating a culture where educators feel empowered to enhance student learning outcomes.

      Reflecting on their achievements, Vernon and Wheeler emphasize the profound impact of this district-wide change. As their assistant superintendent put it: “The worst thing we could ever do is to know that what we were doing wasn’t working and not change.”

      Patrick County’s journey is a testament to what’s possible in even the smallest districts when leaders and teachers commit to bold, research-based reforms that truly put students first.

      Welcome, Washington County!

      To view this protected page, enter the password below:



      Amplify Ambassador Program

      Educators like you do extraordinary things both in the classroom and beyond. The Amplify Ambassador Program brings together a vibrant community of changemakers shaping the future of education to elevate their voices as they advocate about their Amplify experience.

      Two women sit at a desk using laptops, one pointing at the other’s screen. Decorative graphics of hot air balloons and a planet are added around the image.

      What is the Amplify Ambassador Program?

      The Amplify Ambassador Program brings together inspiring educators from across the country to share insights, build connections, and help shape the future of Amplify programs.

      A woman and a boy read a book titled "What Lives in Antarctica?" at a table; two other adults are pictured in separate framed portraits on the right.

      Ambassadors are:

      • Experienced educators who use Amplify programs to create meaningful learning experiences.
      • Passionate collaborators who are eager to learn from and inspire colleagues.
      • Thought leaders who love to share their insights and best practices.

      As an Ambassador, you’ll receive:

      • Features on our website and opportunities to contribute to Amplify’s social media communities.
      • Opportunities to advise Amplify teams and influence future programs.
      • Personalized updates, special learning opportunities, and behind-the-scenes access from our team.
      • An honorarium in recognition of your time and contributions.
      • Incentives including exclusive Amplify swag.
      A blue puppet with googly eyes faces an open cardboard box, with a cartoon green caterpillar below.
      Two women with long blonde hair work together at a laptop; illustrations of a hamster in a wheel and an astronaut are in the corners.

      Ambassadors are asked to:

      • Share feedback and innovative ideas to help improve Amplify programs.
      • Participate in virtual presentations, publications, and share experiences with other educators over the course of the school year. 
      • Connect, collaborate, and build relationships with other Ambassadors and Amplify teams.
      • Attend quarterly virtual meetings.

      Ready to become an Amplify Ambassador?

      Apply now

      Have questions? Reach out to us at
      ambassadors@amplify.com.

      What our Ambassadors are saying

      “The Amplify Ambassador program is a great way to connect with the company. This is one of the many ways that Amplify shows their true commitment to student learning. They are asking for and value feedback from the users.”

      Allie Appel, Instructional Coach, School District of Arcadia, WI

      What our Ambassadors are saying

      “The Amplify Ambassador Program has provided the opportunity for me to network with like-minded and Amplify-inspired individuals! The Ambassador Program leaders make us feel involved and valued each step of the way while also encouraging us to participate in all of the possible activations!”

      Maria Fadden, PreK–8 Literacy Coach, Belle Plaine Public Schools, MN

      What our Ambassadors are saying

      “As an Amplify Ambassador, you have a unique opportunity to connect with other educators across the nation with one similar goal. Through this passionate network of teachers and leaders, you will be introduced to individuals who wish to impact and improve the high-quality instructional materials and effective teaching practices being used in classrooms, with an emphasis on developing more independent and confident thinkers and problem-solvers!”

      Katie Purse, Grade 3 Teacher, Seaford School District, DE

      Welcome, Willard Public Schools ELA review committee!

      Thank you for taking the time to review Amplify’s ELA resources for K–8.

      Amplify Core Knowledge Language Arts® (CKLA K-5) is an effective core literacy resource for grades K–5 students. CKLA was developed with the Core Knowledge Foundation and designed to help teachers implement proven evidence-based instructional practices. CKLA is all green on EdReports–read the full review on EdReports.org.

      Click here for correlations to the K-5 Missouri Learning Standards.

      Amplify ELA is a blended English language arts curriculum designed to support students in grades 6–8 and prepare them for high school and beyond. With Amplify ELA, students learn to tackle any complex text and make observations, grapple with exciting ideas, and find relevance for themselves. Amplify ELA is also all-green on EdReports.

      Click here for correlations to the 6-8 Missouri Learning Standards.

      Trial Access

      Ready to explore on your own? Follow the instructions below to access your demo account.

      Go to learning.amplify.com

      Select Log in with Amplify

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      Welcome, Anoka-Hennepin Public Schools literacy review committee!

      Thank you for taking the time to review Amplify’s high-quality instructional literacy resources. Amplify Core Knowledge Language Arts® (CKLA K-2 and 3-5) is your students’  core literacy resource with explicit and systematic foundational skills and a rich knowledge-building curriculum. CKLA was developed with the Core Knowledge Foundation and designed to help teachers implement proven evidence-based instructional practices. CKLA is all green on EdReports–read the full review on EdReports.org.

      Click here for correlations to the Minnesota Learning Standards.

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      Overview

      With Amplify Science, students don’t just passively learn about science concepts. Instead, they take on the role of scientists and engineers to actively investigate and figure out real-world phenomena. They do this through a blend of cohesive and compelling storylines, hands-on investigations, collaborative discussions, literacy-rich activities, and interactive digital tools.

       

      Each unit of Amplify Science engages students in a relevant, real-world problem where they investigate scientific phenomena, engage in collaboration and discussion, and develop models or explanations in order to arrive at solutions.

       

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      Amplify Science includes hands-on activities, print materials, and powerful digital tools to support online and offline teaching and learning. Highly adaptable and user-friendly, the program gives schools and individual teachers flexibility based on their technology resources and preferences.

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      Amplify Science is rooted in the Lawrence Hall of Science’s Do, Talk, Read, Write, Visualize model of learning. This research-based approach presents students with multiple modalities through which to explore the NGSS curriculum.


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      S1-02: Community and joy within K–8 science instruction: Desiré Whitmore

      Promotional graphic for "Science Connections" Season 1, Episode 2 featuring Desiré Whitmore, focusing on community and joy in K–8 science instruction.

      In this episode, we join Eric Cross as he sits down with physicist and science education specialist, Desiré Whitmore. Listen in as Desiré explains her work at the Exploratorium, a public learning laboratory. Eric and Desiré discuss finding passion in science, the importance of meeting students we’re they’re at, and K–8 science instruction with real-life connections. Desiré chats with Eric about her work on supporting the science of teaching science content at the Exploratorium museum.

      Explore more from Science Connections by visiting our main page.

      Download Transcript

      Desiré Whitmore (00:00):

      I think it’s really amazing when we can realize as teachers, like, no, our job is not to just enforce rules on our students, right? Our job is to help students to achieve more learning.

      Eric Cross (00:37):

      Welcome to Science Connections. I’m your host, Eric Cross. My guest today is Desiré Whitmore. Desiré has held positions as a science curriculum specialist with Amplify Science, a professor of laser and photonics technology at Irvine Valley College, and is now the senior physics educator in the Teacher Institute at the Exploratorium in San Francisco. Her current work is focused on providing support and professional development to middle and high school science teachers to help them teach through inquiry. In this episode, we discussed Desiré’s pathway into physics, the impact of educators in her life, and the importance of representation for students in the classroom. I’m so excited for you to meet my physicist friend, Dr. Desiré Whitmore. All right. So just like a superhero, STEM superhero, you have an origin story and so—

      Desiré Whitmore (01:36):

      How long is this podcast gonna be? ‘Cause, you know, I can talk for days, so you—

      Eric Cross (01:40):

      I know, I know! But it’s, it’s…so, OK. We can give us a highlight. So, you know, 30 minutes. But what would be the origin story? You can start from any point in time, but what’s that journey like?

      Desiré Whitmore (01:51):

      I’m gonna start at the beginning, when I was really young, just because I think it’s important. Neither of my parents were college-educated. My mother didn’t finish high school. My father went back and got a GED later. But my father’s grandmother, her name was Claudia Pairs, and she was a teacher, right? So when I was a kid, she actually kind of raised me from, I don’t know, until I was around seven or eight. And so she was very important in who I became, I think because she taught me that college is important and she taught me to think. She taught me to ask questions. She taught me how to ask questions. Just the Exploratorium likes to do. Which is why I fit so well here. She taught me to always wonder and always think about things. And I remember as a kid, she taught me to count and read and write when I was, like, three. And she would always have bubbles at her house. And I was obsessed with bubbles. I thought bubbles were the coolest thing in the world. And just how you can take your breath and create this thing that now you can see, and it’s your breath, right? It’s your breath inside of a bubble and it’s flying around and it has all these cool colors, and then it would fly up and then eventually just pop. And you’re like, where did it go? Now my breath is just up there. Not understanding, as a kid, but my breath is always everywhere. I didn’t understand any of that, but I understood that my breath was inside of a bubble. That’s my earliest memory of thinking about science, was from that. And she was not a science teacher. She was—I don’t even know what she taught. I think she was an elementary school teacher, maybe. She died when I was 12. So I don’t have super-strong memories or of understanding who she was, only that she raised me and what she taught me as a kid. But that in itself really helped me because then when I was in the environment that I was in at home with my parents, which was not at all the environment she provided for me, I always had the things she taught me in my head, right? So I was always asking questions. My mother hated it. I was always taking things apart and putting them back together. So I used to take apart TVs and VCRs and vacuum cleaners and telephones, and my mother’s like, “Oh my God, I’m gonna murder you.” And she tried a couple times, too.

      Eric Cross (04:25):

      Did you ever put ’em back together and realize you had extra parts? You’re like, oh, hi.

      Desiré Whitmore (04:29):

      Oh yeah. All the time. Yeah. Yeah. VCRs have a lot of extra pieces. You’re like, “What do you even…it still works. It’s fine.” <laugh> You know? And vacuum cleaners too. They had a lot of extra parts, <laugh> all the time. And TVs. I should not have been playing with TVs. But like I said, I didn’t have a lot of parental, guidance as a child. So, like, whatever—I’m opening up TVs.

      Eric Cross (04:54):

      There’s a lot of open inquiry going on in your household. Yeah. Unsupervised.

      Desiré Whitmore (04:59):

      Unsupervised. But I didn’t know what it was or what it meant as a kid. I mean, I used to put things in the microwave. I did so many microwave experiments as a child, trying to cook different foods or melt different things. And so I think those kinds of experiences, where I was allowed to just be curious, kind of shaped who I am today. And then I kind of got into…you know, when I was in school, I loved math. In 10th grade, I had my first Black teacher, he was my chemistry teacher. His name was Mr. Strickland. And I was like, chemistry is cool, dude. And he was not the best teacher, but he was fun. Like you were saying, he was me, and he was talking to us the way I speak. And he was so like, just kind of chill and happy-go-lucky, I guess. But he wasn’t…he hadn’t taught chemistry in a long time. So he wasn’t a very good teacher. And me and one other kid in the class were in love with chemistry. And so we would read the book and do all the homework and he’d be in class lecturing and we’re like, “That’s not right, Mr. Strickland, like, what are you talking about?” And then he’d be like, “Oh, really, Desiré? Do you wanna teach the class, then?” And I’d be like, “Yeah.” And so I would go up and I would teach my chemistry class in high school, because the teacher was trying to make an example out of me. But he was also, I think, willing to be like, “I really don’t know.” And I really appreciated that. That he wasn’t just like, “I know all of the answers and you’re wrong.” Like, he wasn’t being a jerk, right? Like, the fact that I said, “Yes, I do wanna teach it,” and he actually let me do it? That’s pretty dope. And then I liked physics in my senior year in high school, but I didn’t think it was where I was gonna go or anything. I loved music and I loved math. Those were my two subjects.

      Eric Cross (06:51):

      What was it about math that resonated with you?

      Desiré Whitmore (06:55):

      I think it helped me understand the world a lot better. I didn’t have strong science teachers, I guess, growing up. It was a lot of reading out of books or watching laser discs in class. That’s how old I am.

      Eric Cross (07:12):

      Laser discs.

      Desiré Whitmore (07:13):

      Laser discs. And you know, so there wasn’t a lot of…I moved around a lot as a kid. I didn’t have this straight curriculum. You know, in one year, in the third grade, I went to three different schools.

      Eric Cross (07:25):

      Mm. Oh wow.

      Desiré Whitmore (07:26):

      It was kinda hard for me to latch onto school. But with math, because I could look at math and actually understand the world in it, I could see how math can be used to describe how things work.

      Eric Cross (07:40):

      I almost imagine, especially with so much transition in your life, it helped make sense of things. You had a lot of transition going on, but you were able to understand the world through the process of math. And then this early exposure, it kind of reminds me my own story too. Because there were these books that would do these cross sections of a cruise ship or a machine; that’s what got me really into engineering. Kind of How Stuff Works. I would watch that on Nova, How Stuff Works. I’d always be fascinated. Even Sesame Street had a segment where they would show you crayons and how the dye was added. You remember that?

      Desiré Whitmore (08:19):

      Yep. Yeah.

      Eric Cross (08:20):

      Young Desiré, doing photronics…photronics?

      Desiré Whitmore (08:24):

      Photonics.

      Eric Cross (08:24):

      Photonics. Photonics at home with the microwave and all these other things.

      Desiré Whitmore (08:29):

      Sure. How ’bout that.

      Eric Cross (08:30):

      <laugh> Right. And then loving math. So, early, I could see this combination, sort of this alchemy, happening inside you. And then, how did that lead to you becoming a physicist?

      Desiré Whitmore (08:46):

      It’s not as straightforward as it seems it should be. It’s obvious to everyone. <laugh>. But it wasn’t obvious to me. ‘Cause I wanted to be a lawyer. You know, because my parents weren’t educated, they didn’t really know…both of my parents and their subsequent spouses when they broke up—so my parents and my stepparents—are all bus drivers. And so they don’t know what options are. Right? So for them it’s like, “You have to be—you can be a doctor. You can be a lawyer. ‘Cause you’re smart. I know you’re smart, so you’re gonna be one of those things.” And I was like, “I don’t wanna be a doctor. That’s not actually interesting to me.” I did wanna be a teacher when I was younger, because I knew that my grandmother was one. But yeah, I went in and I was like, “I’m gonna be a lawyer. I’m gonna be a lawyer.” And then I go to college and I was like, ‘Eh, I don’t. I hate writing.” <Laugh> Like, I love reading, but I don’t writing. So I don’t think I wanna be a lawyer. I love music and I love math. I was originally going to major in music and math, but then I went to community college because I missed my opportunity to go to university for…long story. And so I’m at community college and I was like, “You know what? I’m gonna just do something new. I’m gonna be a marine biologist.” So my major was marine biology, and then they’re helping me pick out my classes. And they had zero math there. And I was like, “Pardon me. I think there’s a mistake, but I’m not taking any math.” And they were like, “No, you’re done with all your math. For marine biology, you only need calculus. And you took all of that in high school, so you’re done.” And I was like, “No, this is not gonna work for me, dude.” So I continued taking calculus anyway and moving on in math. And then I realized that biology wasn’t what I needed, but I did love my chemistry and I loved my physics classes. So I asked those teachers—chemistry, physics, and math teachers in community college, my professors—”I don’t wanna be a marine biologist and I don’t wanna be a lawyer. What do I do? What do you think I could study? I really like chemistry and math and physics.” And so all of them, all three of these professors told me, “Oh, it sounds chemical engineering would be good for you, so you should be a chemical engineer.” And I was like, “OK, cool. No problem.” That’s what I did. So I got my degree in chemical engineering. Right. And I finished community college, studying chemical engineering. I was like, “This is really cool. This is a lot of fun. I love engineering.” And then I transferred to UCLA as a chemical engineering major. And I was like, “I hate this.” <Laugh>. “I hate it a lot.” It was just…

      Eric Cross (11:07):

      What was it about chemical engineering that you were just not feeling anymore? What was it that just made you go, “nope”?

      Desiré Whitmore (11:12):

      It didn’t—at least the way it was taught to me—it wasn’t as as…exploratory, I guess. There wasn’t a lot of theory in it. There was just a lot of “OK, pull out a ruler and you’re gonna draw a thing and then this is how you’re gonna build a reactor.” And it didn’t seem very scientific to me. The science was missing. And don’t get me wrong, I understand, now that I have a degree in chemical engineering, that it’s not that chemical engineering is not scientific. But it’s that you build up the science and then you don’t focus on it. You focus on the engineering aspect of it. Which is, you have the science and the scientists will work on that aspect. But then how can WE do kind of larger batch chemistry. And for me, that was just less interesting. It was a lot of pushing buttons and just plug-and-play equations stuff. Instead of diving into first principles of why things happen in chemical engineering. There was no “why things happen”; it was “this is what happens, so this is the next step.”

      Eric Cross (12:25):

      You had to go so far into your academic career to realize that this is what chemical engineering is. And we were talking about representation, and not having examples or parents; your families were bus drivers. My mom was a receptionist and executive assistant, things like that. And I was the first of many, like you…we kind of had to go through and invest all this time and money to finally get to this place to realize, “This ain’t it.”

      Desiré Whitmore (12:58):

      This is not for me, yeah.

      Eric Cross (12:59):

      This is not for me. That was a long journey to get to that point.

      Desiré Whitmore (13:03):

      It was. Especially because I went through community college and I took a long time in community college, ’cause I was working full-time. So I was working full-time, going to community college. Took me a while. And then I finally get to UCLA. I’m like, “Yeah, I’m finally gonna get my degree and go make money!” And then I was like, “Ooh, no.” I mean, I could go and make money, don’t get me wrong. I could have graduated and made a ton of money. But I was not happy at all and I did not enjoy what I was doing. So, while I was in undergrad, I realized I don’t wanna do chemical engineering anymore. But what do I wanna do? But then I was taking…I took a quantum mechanics class. And that class blew my whole mind. And I was like, “This is the coolest thing that I’ve ever learned in my life, and this is what I wanna do.” And so I went and talked to my professor and I was like, “Can I work for you? Can I do research? Because this is amazing and I wanna do this.” I felt it was too late for me. I had been in school for so long and I was already kind of burnt out. So I was, “I’m not going to change my major. That’s just outta the question for me right now. It costs so much money for this degree and I don’t have—I’m not just gonna waste my time and keep working all these jobs.” So I had three jobs in college. And it was like, I worked at Radio Shack, I did research for this professor, and I worked in the library, the chemistry and physics library.

      Eric Cross (14:28):

      I love the fact that we’ve talked about laser discs; you said Radio Shack; and we talked about the analog internet of the encyclopedia salespeople. And I know all of those things. And I’ve been through all of those things together.

      Desiré Whitmore (14:43):

      Just in case people don’t know how old I am. <Laugh>

      Eric Cross (14:47):

      For our listeners who are way younger, yeah, this is how we grew up. This is how we—these things are extinct now. There’s this element of this kind of cultural connection. I think that we experience that. It kind of it flies under the radar. People don’t really realize it until you’re in an environment that’s different from what you’re used to. And you realize that, “Oh wow. this is not what I’m used to.” And the things that I’m finding funnier, the things that I connect with, it’s not what everybody else connects with. And as a teacher, it’s the same thing, right? Like, we go in the classroom and you know, you and I are rapping about laser discs and Radio Shack and I’m trying to talk to my kids about it. And they’re like, “Yo, Cross, what is that? Are you gonna give us a history lesson? What are these things?”

      Desiré Whitmore (15:35):

      Yeah.

      Eric Cross (15:36):

      And I found myself having to stay connected to pop culture, because I teach 12- and 13-year-olds all day. And it’s great for keeping things relevant for my students. But when I talk to my friends that are my peers, they’re like, unless they’re a teacher, they’re like, “I got no idea what you’re talking about.”

      Desiré Whitmore (15:55):

      Yeah. I have a friend who’s also a middle-school teacher and she’s always coming to me with all this. I’m like, “What are you talking about?” She did the Glow-up Challenge, but she did the Glow-down Challenge. So she invented a new thing. She’s like, “No, I couldn’t do Glow Up ’cause that’s too much. So I did the Glow-Down Challenge.” And it’s the cutest thing ever. And the students think it’s amazing. And I’m like, “That’s awesome. But I have no idea what the point of that is.” <Laugh>

      Eric Cross (16:21):

      And there’s this theme, too, that when we talk about teaching kids STEM, there’s this soft part of it, this relational piece of it that you mentioned, of this connective aspect that in a certain way kind of even superseded the content knowledge that your teacher even had at that point, where you’re going up and teaching the class. But just the fact that someone looked like you or spoke like you or connected with you in a certain way made a big difference to who you are as…well, the trajectory of where you went.

      Desiré Whitmore (16:57):

      Yeah.

      Eric Cross (16:57):

      “I like chemistry. It resonates with me.” And it’s something I think can get lost. And I think just to kind of a good segue, I use Amplify my classroom, and one of the reasons why is because of the representation that is in these videos. And you were part of crafting this for…was it the fifth grade?

      Desiré Whitmore (17:21):

      I mean, it was K–8. So I was—

      Eric Cross (17:23):

      OK, so you were doing the whole thing.

      Desiré Whitmore (17:24):

      Yeah, I was a part of the K–8 science team. My title was science curriculum specialist. But in reality I was hired to do the engineering internships, mostly. Which are middle school. And to be a sim developer. So sims K–8. I worked on several of them in both middle school and elementary. Yeah.

      Eric Cross (17:47):

      What was that like for you? When you were designing curriculum? ‘Cause as a teacher, it’s, you know, I think with teachers it’s kind of…I would consider myself, if I was gonna use hip hop as a metaphor, I’m more of a DJ than an MC. Where I wanna remix things that exist, versus, I don’t wanna write the lyrics in freestyle. So I don’t want to go and write the curriculum completely; I wanna take something that’s solid and then I want to go ahead and remix it. You are great at both. What was the process for you, being on that team, designing? How did you go about making, “OK, we’re gonna create this experience for kids”?

      Desiré Whitmore (18:25):

      It was, it was amazing. I learned so much, so much. It was the best job I had before I came to the Exploratorium. The process was amazing, because it wasn’t just me, right? It wasn’t just me. It was a whole team. And each unit had its own team. So we had a scientist, which I was the scientist we had. So we had a scientist; we had a literacy specialist, because it was really important to increase science literacy so that students understand not just that science exists, but “What are the terms that are used in science and how can I speak and act a scientist? What are the things that scientists actually do in their real life?” Then we had an assessment specialist and then we had a simulation specialist. And so, on the units that I was on, sometimes I was both the sim developer and the scientist, or sometimes I was just the sim developer and I got to work alongside another scientist, which was always fun. And so it was really nice, because I was working alongside master teachers. People who had been teaching for years, and they were able to help me better understand. ‘Cause I’ll come in and I’ll be like, “Yeah, there’s a unit on light waves, let’s come in and teach this unit on light waves!” <laugh> I was the sim developer and scientist on that unit, and there was another scientist working on the unit, but they were like, “Well, Desiré literally builds lasers, so I think she should be the science developer.” So we kinda had two science developers on that one, which was fun. But I come in and she’ll come in and she’ll be like, “Yeah, I think this is where we wanna go and this is what we wanna teach.” I’m like, “No way! Like, that’s not accurate, right?” And so I can come in, but then I’m coming in with all this crazy lingo, right? I’m up here. But then also I have taught kids about lasers and optics and photonics my whole career. So I’m also very capable of bringing it down to where kids need it to be. What I don’t know is how effective that is, right? When to do it and when not to do it. When to bring the level up; when to bring the level down. And so working alongside these other teachers and assessors really helped me to do that. And so for me it was just two years of deep learning experience. I learned—every single day at work, I learned something new. Which is something that I value and I’ve wanted in my career, my whole life. We made active decisions in that room. Like, “We want to interview scientists who are scientists of color or who have different abilities or who have different representations in all kinds of ways.” Right? And then we also have these fake internships, or not even the internships, but just in the general units. And we actively wrote scripts for those. And we actively wrote in those scripts, like, “This is a Black woman. This is an Indian woman. This is a Jewish man in a wheelchair.” Like, we specifically dictated exactly who we wanted in these videos, because we knew that representation was super-important and we knew that we wanted students to be able to connect.

      Eric Cross (21:35):

      Right. One of the things, I appreciate what I’m hearing a lot in that is the amount of intentionality that went into this. But even now as you’re reliving it, you’re still almost iterating on how could we improve it or how can we make it different or reach more people. And I think that goes towards when we’re talking about including more people and inclusion. Like, it’s not a binary thing. You’re always modifying; you’re always iterating; you’re always redesigning and improving to be more inclusive, to reach more students. Because you know, to your point, part of it is, “Yes, we wanna do this really awesome science curriculum,” but the other part of it is there’s more to it than just your content. And I think now more than ever…I use—we just finished the food bar unit. Metabolism. And in there there’s a simulator. They always ask me when I show the videos, “Are these, are these real people? Are these real situations?” And I tell ’em, “Well, the story is real, but these are all fictional actors. But what’s actually happening happens. It’s real.” And they get really into it. And I think one of the other things is with your simulations—especially the engineering units—there’s no one right answer. And so my students who want to go, “Mr. Cross, I wanna make the best bar! Perfect 10, best taste, cheapest!” And I’m like, “All right, good luck!”

      Desiré Whitmore (23:06):

      Yeah. Go do that.

      Eric Cross (23:09):

      Casue there’s something called trade-offs! It could happen! And they’re like, they’re trying. They get into the code. They try to open up the Inspect Element, when they feel like hackers.

      Desiré Whitmore (23:17):

      Yeah, they do. But these kids like, they’re so smart and they’re so resourceful. And I’m just thinking like, maybe that’s how we challenge them more, right? Sometimes we can give them these kinds of things where it’s like, “Go and create a program, ’cause that’s the level you’re at <laugh>. Go and create this program to do something similar that’s related to the work that we’re doing.”

      Eric Cross (23:38):

      I’ve had some of my own students redesign—I have one student who redesigns every assessment I give him. I give the project; I give the options for the final goal; and he always chooses—if I give three options, he always chooses option four. If I choose two options, he’s choosing option three. And so he’ll go into Google Sheets, he’ll pull all the data and then he’ll construct his own kind of spreadsheet with all the probabilities of different things.

      Desiré Whitmore (24:06):

      You tell this kid to make a GitHub right now <laugh> so that he can get a job as soon as he’s done with high school. <laugh>.

      Eric Cross (24:12):

      He’s amazing. And we did this one project where students had to design a Netflix show to show their understanding of metabolism. And they had to do four episodes. So I gave him a template. It’s not from me; it’s from, I think, EdTechPicks.org or something. And it looks like the whole Netflix splash page. They took photos, did the whole deal. He created NOTflix. Everyone else did Google Slides. His Google Slides was interactive. So when you clicked on different boxes, it actually took you to the next splash page of that show. I mean, it was….

      Desiré Whitmore (24:48):

      That’s fantastic.

      Eric Cross (24:49):

      It was, it was. I recorded his presentation. It was brilliant.

      Desiré Whitmore (24:53):

      But that’s amazing. And that speaks to your strengths as a teacher and why you’re an amazing teacher. Because you see the students and what they’re trying to do and you work with them; you meet them where they are. Right? There are so many teachers who would just be frustrated with that student. And it’d be like, “No, these are not your options. Your option was to do what I told you to do.” And there are many teachers who would do that. And I think it’s really amazing when we can realize as teachers, “No, our job is not to just enforce rules on our students. I mean, that is part of the job, because that’s what school was when it was created. But our job is to help students to achieve more learning in what we’re trying to do. And so the fact that you are so good with this student and that you encourage him to go above and beyond when he can, I think it’s so amazing.

      Eric Cross (25:49):

      Well, that brings me to my favorite group, organization, and the phase of your career of where you are now: The Exploratorium. And I wanted to kind of rap, talking about what you do now. Because the Exploratorium—I tell people, they go, what is that place? And maybe you can tell us what it is and then what you do. But for me, I’ll just tell everybody: It’s Disneyland for science teachers. And I love going there. I not only love going there because of what I receive from it professionally. Many of the PDs, I don’t even call ’em PDs—just communal learning experiences, that I’ve had that have been led by you and Lori and, and Tammy and the rest, and everybody that’s there have been incredible. And I have so much fun. Emotionally, I get excited when I go. When I’m on the plane, I’m like, “Here we go!” And then we go and we’re making fudge or we’re blowing darts with marshmallows across the room in the theme of Boba Fett. There’s just these rad things that are going on there. And it’s not like anything I’ve ever experienced before. So maybe we can close with talking about what the Exploratorium is, what you do there, for people who’ve never been and have been a part of it.

      Desiré Whitmore (27:19):

      I’m gonna give you what my definition of the Exploratorium is.

      Eric Cross (27:21):

      That’s what we want.

      Desiré Whitmore (27:22):

      So, the actual definition is, we are a public learning laboratory. We are known as the Museum of Art, Science and Human Perception. Cool. But, like, what does that all mean? Right? And I think your description of the Disneyland for science teachers, I think that’s a perfect description. ‘Cause for me, I tell people like, “Oh, I wanna go to the happiest place on earth.” And for me, that is the Exploratorium. And yes, I work there, and yes, it’s still true for me. So the Exploratorium is this huge museum. It’s an interactive science museum. And art—we have a lot of art. And it’s all about learning through doing. It’s not about learning science by going up to an exhibit and reading the little paper next to it. It’s like, no, you go up to an exhibit and you interact with it and you teach yourself science. The goal of the Exploratorium is really to help people understand that learning science, doing science, isn’t reserved for only scientists. Doing science is something that everyone in the world should and does do. And so helping people understand that everything we do is science is kind of the point of the Exploratorium to me.

      Eric Cross (28:35):

      Even the building itself…one of the other cool things too is, for people that don’t know, it’s the size of Costco or two.

      Desiré Whitmore (28:43):

      Yeah. Yeah.

      Eric Cross (28:44):

      It’s immense! And even the building itself teaches. Like, you have that whole workshop, dead-center in the middle of the floor where they’re designing things. It’s like inside-out. And then I remember going to the one experience where I think it was Eric who showed us that it’s one of the few facilities that is actually cooled by the Bay water. And there’s only a couple of those in the state that can do that. And it has a platinum rating, something wild that. So even just the building itself…everything that if they can extract every ounce of science teaching in that, it’s in there. And you are in a very important program for me. And can you talk a little bit about maybe what you’re doing in T.I.?

      Desiré Whitmore (29:33):

      So I am in the Teacher Institute. I’m a physicist in the Teacher Institute. And the Teacher Institute is a group of teachers and scientists. And our job is to basically support middle school and high school science teachers and teacher leaders in the state of California, but science teachers around the world, in their pursuit of science teaching. And by support, I mean we provide professional development. We provide other things, communities of practice, and we go and do workshops in certain places. We go to India to teach Tibetan monks and nuns science. And we go to Costa Rica to teach teachers all over the country of Costa Rica about science. And so our job is really, to help science teachers feel more secure in their science teaching and help to retain them in the field, because a good science teacher is so important in helping our students thrive. And so our job—and we take this very seriously—is to help science teachers thrive. And we are made up of PhD scientists and veteran classroom teachers. So we have on the one side teachers who have been teaching middle school or high school for years. One of my coworkers, Zeke, who I work with the most, he was a high school physics and environmental science teacher for 21 years before coming to the Exploratorium. And then me, I was never a classroom teacher. I was a professor; I was a physics professor at a community college, and I was a researcher. So my deep knowledge of physics and current knowledge of physics—or knowledge of current physics—combined with Zeke’s extremely experienced pedagogy is really how we work together as a team. And it’s not just Zeke, right? We’ve got a geologist on the team, Eric Muller. We’ve got Tammy, who’s a middle-school bio teacher. We’ve got, Julie Yu, who is a chemical engineer, PhD, and also a prior middle school teacher, former middle school teacher. We’ve got Hilleary Osheroff, who was a PhD biologist who used to work at the American Museum of Natural History. We’ve got Lori Lambertson, who was a middle-school math teacher. And so, you know, we all come together to bring our experiences both in and out of the classroom and in and out of the research lab to provide teachers with the best inquiry-driven stuff we can. And we’re very—we’re so equity-focused, because we believe that that’s important, right? We know that the impact of our work is, I think, why most of us are here. It’s why I’m here. In undergrad, my grad school, and my postdoc, I would go into classrooms. I would go into science museums and teach science to people. And I probably reached out to maybe…over that whole time, I would say a couple thousand people, right? Maybe a couple thousand people total. That’s great. But over 15 years of reaching out and only reaching a couple thousand people, that’s rough, right? And now I’m at the Exploratorium, and I know that if I reach one teacher, right? If I can teach one teacher…let’s say you. How many students do you have in your classes a year?

      Eric Cross (33:11):

      Two hundred a year.

      Desiré Whitmore (33:12):

      You have 200 students a year that you teach. So if you teach for 10 years, that’s 2000. That’s 2000 students. So I have, by teaching you today, assuming that I’m actually teaching you something that’s gonna be useful for you—

      Eric Cross (33:29):

      You do! And you are!

      Desiré Whitmore (33:30):

      You are going to be impacting these 2000 students over the next 10 years. And of course you’re gonna be in teaching for much longer than that. But let’s just say in 10 years, that payoff is so much higher, right? And you’re one teacher. But I have 30 of you in my workshop! And so if all of these 30 teachers each teach 2000 kids over the next 10 years, then I’m actually doing something. I’m actually changing the way that students see science, through changing the way that you see science. Right? And so I take my job very seriously, as we all do. Like, we’re so invested in our teachers. And it’s not that we don’t care about students, ’cause we absolutely do. But we understand that without good teachers, students aren’t going to be able to thrive, as often as they would otherwise. I was able to do it somehow. But I’m one. There are so many other kids who could have gone into science who didn’t because they felt they never connected to it. So our job is to try to help teachers connect to it. And an important part of that is allowing you all to experience science as a learner. We want you to play and have joyful experiences. We want you to enjoy science and to try to think about it from the perspective of your students. Walk in their shoes. So that when you then go back to your classroom, you are able to think about like, “Oh yeah, you know, my students totally asked the same question that I asked, or that another teacher asked in the workshop because they had the foresight to think about that’s what my students would ask.” Right?

      Eric Cross (35:02):

      Well, I think it’s really effective to create empathy for the learner. Because I find myself in that position. I don’t know if some kind of memory displacement field happens to me when I sit in those workshops, but Hillary will ask a question that I know the answer to and I’m like, “I don’t want to answer the question. I don’t—I might be wrong.” And I teach the subject! And I embody what it’s like to be a student. And when I leave, I might have to go back and reference exactly what the lesson was, but I remember how I felt when I didn’t know. And very rarely as teachers do we get put in positions like that. And so it helps me be in the position of my students emotionally, of what it’s like. Even even the intentionality of how do you ask questions and not showing an affect on your face when somebody says the right answer or the wrong answer.

      Desiré Whitmore (35:55):

      Well, I’m still learning that. I’m not great at it. Julie is the mast.

      Eric Cross (35:59):

      Julie’s got it nailed.

      Desiré Whitmore (36:00):

      I’m still trying to learn from her. She’s amazing. And I really would like to get there one day. But I’m still not there. I’ll be like, “Oh! Oh! Well, that’s…”. I have a terrible poker face. So I’ll be like, “Oh yeah, but you think that? Maybe…”. That’s a piece of it that’s really important, right? It’s this not giving away the answer, even when you have the right answer. Allowing people to ask the questions and explore and become invested in the problem, before giving away the answer. That’s something that I learn here at the Exploratorium. And like I said, I learn every day. And it’s something that I think is so important for us as teachers to learn and try to implement. Because oftentimes you’ll come and you’ll have students who are like, “I’m too stupid. I don’t know the answer.” And then somebody else will say the answer, and then the student is like, “Yeah, I was right. I’m too stupid.’” But it’s like no! But if you have that student actually think about it, then the student—once they do hear the right answer—they might be like, “Oh yeah, that would make sense.” Instead of “I’m stupid.” It’s like, no, this is, “I explored this and I figured it out on my own.”

      Eric Cross (37:08):

      Things keep coming back to how this experience and the process of them learning science even outweighs the content of it. ‘Cause the content is almost easier to share, it’s easier to get, you can look it up really quickly. But in your story and in many other people’s stories, the exposure, the experience, how they’re going through that process—I know that’s something that I’ve learned a lot in just watching. Not teaching science, but actually the science of teaching. Sitting in the workshops and watching how we’re treated as students, how you interact with us, and then being able to take that back to the classroom. And just to add onto the value that it’s created, I think one thing that it’s also done is given us community. And in addition to being able to impact students, it’s also been able to build resilience in teachers. Because we as teachers can feel very isolated. And especially now when things are incredibly difficult, and every teacher’s experiencing Covid and shutdowns and low staffing across the country in different ways, when you don’t feel you have community or people that you can connect with, it just makes everything feel exponentially harder. And you’ve done a great job at being able to build community with us in our community of practice. The Exploratorium has been able to do that. And it’s something that I’m super-grateful for probably more than anything else is that through these last two years, being able to connect really made me feel like, “OK, we’re gonna be able to do this.” And it’s not just about Cross or my other teacher in eighth grade or my sixth grade teacher who’s doing this. That message, I think, is really, really important. I wanna ask this: Was there a teacher or an experience that impacted you or inspired you throughout your educational career? You know, kindergarten all the way to college? Was there a moment or a person or anything that that really stuck with you, that you felt maybe influenced who you became? Met you where you were at? I know you mentioned your chemistry teacher at that point, but is there anyone else, or was it that person that was really the person who sticks out for you?

      Desiré Whitmore (39:21):

      There actually have been a few. Of course, the first is my great-grandmother, Claudia Pairs. But I think in the fourth and fifth grade I had the same teacher. She stayed with us going from fourth to fifth grade. And fourth grade was a new school for me. New town. I was the only Black child in the school, me and my sister. And my teacher recognized that I had no real help at home, I guess? And she really kind of…she saw that I was really smart. She would give me extra assignments when she could tell I was bored. It meant that someone outside of my house cared about me in a way that I didn’t feel cared about at home. Her name is Ms. Comet. Mrs. Comet.

      Eric Cross (40:11):

      Like…comet?

      Desiré Whitmore (40:13):

      Yeah. Mrs. Fran Comet. And I’ve tried looking her up as an adult and I can’t find her. But I work with so many teachers, and I know how hard teaching is and how degrading it can be…or demoralizing, I guess, to not be appreciated. And so I know what it feels to me when a student has reached out and shown me like, “Hey, I’m now in dental school,” or “I’m now getting a PhD in science,” and I’m just like….

      Eric Cross (40:40):

      I got a message this morning on Instagram from a student. And none of my students use their real names in their Instagram handles. So I got a message from Moonshine. <Laugh> And I was a seventh grade teacher. And through deduction, deductive reasoning, I figured out who it was. This person’s now in college and they responded in that…you know, you get one of those every once in a while. And I feel it just fills your tank. It’s just so important that we—it’s funny because, kind of to your point, we don’t realize who or how we’re making impacts on people. And in what ways. We just know that we are. And I tell other teachers, I said, “You have one of the few professions where you fall asleep worrying about other people’s kids.” And it’s the words that we speak, the things that we do, people are always watching. I know, no pressure, right!? Hopefully, someone listening can find Ms. Comet.

      Desiré Whitmore (41:37):

      Ms. Comet. Teacher at Buena Vista Elementary School back in the ’80s. But your talk about this impact, it reminds me of the thing I wanted to say, but I didn’t. But I’m gonna tell you right now. I mentioned how science was not a priority when I went to school, in my hometown. That’s Lancaster, California. But recently I got a phone call from a family friend and she was so excited. And she called me to tell me that her daughter was super-excited when she picked her up from school. Because I was in her classroom. She said, “Auntie Desiré was in my class today! And she works on lasers! And she does spectroscopy! And I wanna learn about spectroscopy now. So can we call Auntie Desiré?” And I was like, “Wait, what?” My friend was kind of confused. She’s like, “Desiré didn’t tell me she was in town.” She had no idea why her daughter was saying I was in her classroom, ’cause I was not physically there. And then I had to put the pieces together and I was like, “Oh my God, your daughter’s in eighth grade already.” It made me feel really old, ’cause I know this girl from a little baby. But I was like, “Oh my God, that’s the eighth grade unit on light waves for Amplify that I wrote, and I’m featured as the scientist.” Because we have real scientists in the units. And they featured me in that one, in my laser lab. And so this little girl who knows me really well, who lives in my hometown, is seeing representation in science. She doesn’t necessarily know I’m a scientist. She knows that—I don’t know what she knows about me. She just knows I’m Auntie Desiré and, you know, I like gumbo at Christmas. That’s what she knows about me. <Laugh>. And so she comes back and she’s so excited ’cause now she knows so much more about me. And she knows that if I can do it and I came from where she’s at, she can do it too. And she was super-excited. And I was just…it brought me to tears. I was just crying in the car. I was driving <laugh> at the time and I was like, “This is amazing. Work that I did is teaching you and all of your friends in this tiny little town that you live in. And that to me is so important because now this little girl knows that, like, she knows me as just a normal human right. Who likes Star Trek and Star Wars and The Owl House. And now she’s over here like, “Oh my gosh, this normal human wrote the science curriculum that I’m learning from.” Which I think is just so fantastic. And it really brought home for me kind of the importance of my work and why I’m doing what I’m doing. And that’s pretty awesome. And I get messages from Instagram, you know, from teachers who are like, “Hey, did you work on this? ‘Cause you were featured in the video, but did you write this light waves unit?” And I’m like, “Yeah.” And they’ll tell me, “I have students, this is their favorite unit. I’ve gotten notes from students saying, ‘This was my favorite unit in all of middle school.’” And I’m like, “Ohhhhhh!”<Laugh>

      Eric Cross (44:33):

      That story just gives me chills. Because I just can imagine how surreal that must feel. And you’re directly making that impact on those kids. And I’m glad that you shared that story so that everyone can hear it, because it’s a powerful story and I lived—I feel I was living it through you, just now, as you were discussing it.

      Desiré Whitmore (44:54):

      Yeah.

      Eric Cross (44:54):

      And I feel that way in the classroom to a small degree, because I get to have—when my students create posters of scientists that we don’t typically see, I’ve got you on my list of scientists, and I’m they’re like…And I’m like, “I can call her!” Like, “Mr. Cross, you KNOW her?!” I’m like, “Yeah, she’s a friend of mine! I was talking to her the other day!” And they’re like, “Whoa. She works with lasers?!”

      Desiré Whitmore (45:17):

      <Whispers> I do.

      Eric Cross (45:18):

      Desiré. I’ve held you for so long and—

      Desiré Whitmore (45:23):

      Yes, I’m sorry! I told you, I talk so much! I’m a teacher!

      Eric Cross (45:26):

      No! No, no, no, no. It was great! I wanna honor your time. Can you tell everybody where they can find out more about you again?

      Desiré Whitmore (45:33):

      So first off, you can find me on Twitter at Darth Science, D A R T H S C I E N C E, and you can also find me at Instagram at Dr. Laser Chick: D R dot laser chick. Even though I don’t post on Instagram that much. I also have a website, which is laser chick dot net. I’m still working on it. It’s not the best website yet. But, you know, it’ll, it’ll be better in the future.

      Eric Cross (46:02):

      Would you be willing to come back later on in the year and do a part two?

      Desiré Whitmore (46:07):

      Oh, for sure. Yeah. So I can actually finish telling you the story of how I got into physics! ‘Cause I totally didn’t. ‘Cause I’m all over the place.

      Eric Cross (46:15):

      So, everybody, cliffhanger! Next time she comes back, she’ll continue to tell us the story. Desiré, thank you so much.

      Stay connected!

      Join our community and get new episodes every other Tuesday!

      We’ll also share new and exciting free resources for your classroom every month.

      What Desiré Whitmore says about science

      “I think it’s really amazing when we can realize as teachers… our job is not just to enforce rules on our students… our job is is to help students achieve more learning.”

      – Desiré Whitmore

      Senior Physics Educator, aka “LaserChick”, Exploratorium

      Meet the guest

      A Southern California native, Desiré earned an associate of science from Antelope Valley College, a bachelor of science in chemical engineering from UCLA, and a master of science and Ph.D. in chemical and material physics from UC Irvine. Her research focused on developing very fast laser and microscope systems that could capture molecules vibrating and rotating in real time. She was a postdoctoral fellow at UC Berkeley, where she designed and built attosecond lasers (the fastest laser pulses, which emit x-ray light, ever measured). At the Lawrence Hall of Science she wrote an all-digital K–8 science curriculum (Amplify Science), which aligned to the NGSS, with the Learning Design Group (LDG). Desiré left LDG to teach hands-on laser technology and physics courses at Irvine Valley College before joining the TI staff. She is the proud mom of Stella, a four-year-old boxer-pit mix. In her spare time, Desiré is restoring her 1967 VW bug.

      Person with curly hair wearing a blue jacket, smiling at the camera with a blurred background.

      About Science Connections

      Welcome to Science Connections! Science is changing before our eyes, now more than ever. So…how do we help kids figure that out? We will bring on educators, scientists, and more to discuss the importance of high-quality science instruction. In this episode, hear from our host Eric Cross about his work engaging students as a K-8 science teacher. Listen here!

      Welcome, Louisiana!

      Get all students talking and thinking together about grade-level math.

      Amplify Math is designed around the idea that a core math curriculum needs to serve 100 percent of students in accessing grade-level math every day. To that end, the program delivers: 

      • Engaging, discourse-rich math lessons that are easier to teach.
      • Flexible, social problem-solving experiences both online and off.
      • Real-time insights, data, and reporting that inform instruction.

      Flexible social problem-solving experiences

      Digital lessons should be powerful in their ability to surface student thinking and spark interesting and productive discussions. We’ve partnered with Desmos to bring this vision to life with our complete library of Amps—social, collaborative lessons powered by Desmos technology.

      Intuitive and engaging student experience

      The student experience is intuitive and engaging because the content and the tools are interesting and exciting. Students work together and interact with the mathematics in real time to quickly see that reasoning and revising are important parts of math class. 

      Powerful teaching and monitoring tools

      Imagine knowing where your students are, what they think, what they might not get yet, and what needs to happen next. This is all possible with Amplify Math.

      Automatic, just-in-time supports

      Our Power-ups provide just-in-time support at the point of use before activities for your students. Power-ups ensure we are giving all students—even the ones who might be three years behind in math, but only 15 minutes behind the day’s lesson—the chance to experience success in math. Not teaching online? They’re available in the Teacher Edition, too.

      Engaging lessons that are more teachable

      Amplify Math makes productive discourse easier to facilitate and more accessible for students. The program provides teachers with easy-to-follow instructional supports that make implementing a problem-based program more effective and enjoyable for both you and your students.

      Math in the program is social and collaborative. Our digital experience is fun and dynamic, with plenty of opportunities for students to talk through their reasoning, work with their peers, and gain new understandings.

      Curious to learn more about what a social, collaborative classroom looks like?

      Review now

      Review now

      Click the orange button below to log in as a teacher and review the full digital experience.

      Select “Log in with Amplify” and enter these credentials:
      Username (teacher): t1.louisianamathpublic@demo.tryamplify.net
      Username (student): s1.louisianamathpublic@demo.tryamplify.net
      Password (teacher and student): Amplify1-louisianamathpublic

      Click here to download a navigational guide.

      Welcome, Tennessee!

      Get all students talking and thinking together about grade-level math.

      Amplify Math is designed around the idea that a core math curriculum needs to serve 100 percent of students in accessing grade-level math every day. To that end, the program delivers: 

      • Engaging, discourse-rich math lessons that are easier to teach.
      • Flexible, social problem-solving experiences both online and off.
      • Real-time insights, data, and reporting that inform instruction.

      Flexible social problem-solving experiences

      Digital lessons should be powerful in their ability to surface student thinking and spark interesting and productive discussions. We’ve partnered with Desmos to bring this vision to life with our complete library of Amps—social, collaborative lessons powered by Desmos technology.

      Intuitive and engaging student experience

      The student experience is intuitive and engaging because the content and the tools are interesting and exciting. Students work together and interact with the mathematics in real time to quickly see that reasoning and revising are important parts of math class. 

      Powerful teaching and monitoring tools

      Imagine knowing where your students are, what they think, what they might not get yet, and what needs to happen next. This is all possible with Amplify Math.

      Automatic, just-in-time supports

      Our Power-ups provide just-in-time support at the point of use before activities for your students. Power-ups ensure we are giving all students—even the ones who might be three years behind in math, but only 15 minutes behind the day’s lesson—the chance to experience success in math. Not teaching online? They’re available in the Teacher Edition, too.

      Engaging lessons that are more teachable

      Amplify Math makes productive discourse easier to facilitate and more accessible for students. The program provides teachers with easy-to-follow instructional supports that make implementing a problem-based program more effective and enjoyable for both you and your students.

      Math in the program is social and collaborative. Our digital experience is fun and dynamic, with plenty of opportunities for students to talk through their reasoning, work with their peers, and gain new understandings.

      Curious to learn more about what a social, collaborative classroom looks like?

      Review now

      Review now

      Click the orange button below to log in as a teacher and review the full digital experience.

      Select “Log in with Amplify” and enter these credentials:
      Username (teacher): t1.tnmathreviewer@demo.tryamplify.net
      Username (student): s1.tnmathreviewer@demo.tryamplify.net
      Password (teacher and student): Amplify1-tnmathreviewer

      Click here to download a navigational guide.

      S1-06: Supporting students with a creative twist: A conversation with Kentucky Science Teacher of the Year, Shad Lacefield

      In this episode, Eric sits down with the Kentucky Science Teacher of the Year, Shad Lacefield. Shad shares his experience teaching during the first year of the pandemic, where Shad dressed up in over 100 costumes to create a unique and engaging online learning experience for his students. Shad also explains ways he connects with his students to celebrate student success, as well as large-scale efforts he leads within his school to cultivate the love of learning science content. Explore more from Science Connections by visiting our main page.

      Download Transcript

      Shad Lacefield (00:00):
      When you stay relevant, it’s being engaged with your students and figuring out, or what are, what are they liking? And every year it’s gonna be different. And that helps you stay relevant. When you have conversations and you build relationships with your kids,Eric Cross (00:13):
      Welcome to science connections. I’m your host. Eric Cross. My guest today is Shad Layfield. Shad is a teacher at garden Springs elementary and a part-time professor at Asbury University in Kentucky during the first year of the pandemic, Mr. Layfield dressed up in over a hundred costumes to create a unique and engaging online learning experience for his students. He also created Vader visits, where he visited students at their homes, dressed as Darth Vader to celebrate their online successes and keep them encouraged. During a challenging time. In this episode, we discuss how creativity impacts engagement, transferring lessons learned from distance teaching back to in-person instruction, and how upper grades can apply the same principles to improve student learning. I hope you enjoy this discussion with shad lays field. So you’ve been in fourth grade for four years, and then you were in second grade and fifth grade. And so like how long have you been teaching for like total?

      Shad Lacefield (01:09):
      So this is my 15th year teaching.

      Eric Cross (01:12):
      Really? Yeah. You’ve been in the game for a while.

      Shad Lacefield (01:15):
      Yeah. Yep. It, it doesn’t, and it’s always surprising to parents too during that, that first like, come in and meet your teacher. And I walk in, I’m like, yeah, I’ve been teaching for 15 years and every time it gets ’em, they’re like no way. And I’m like, yeah,

      Eric Cross (01:28):
      That’s, that’s a good thing though. That’s a good thing. Right?

      Eric Cross (01:31):
      You know? So like, well the energy and then, and you’re just how you’re perceived. Like you’re, they’re just, I don’t know. It’s something about work with young people. Like it keeps you young.

      Shad Lacefield (01:39):
      That’s what it is. Absolutely.

      Eric Cross (01:41):
      So how did, how, like, what’s your origin story? Like, how did you become a teacher? Like what, what was it? Was it something like you knew second career, like right outta school? Like how did you end up in the classroom?

      Shad Lacefield (01:53):
      Yeah. No, and I love this question cause I’m a big Marvel and, and superhero. So origin stories are all, I love a good origin story. So I grew up on a 13 acre farm in a little bitty town called Gustin, Kentucky, and very early on, like we were instilled my parents, amazing, amazing parents. But they really instilled like a, a super important work ethic in our lives of like, it’s, it’s all about hard work and it’s important that you’re working hard in whatever it is that you do. And I’m one of six kids as well in my family.

      Eric Cross (02:24):
      Where are you in the–

      Shad Lacefield (02:25):
      I’m second to last.

      Eric Cross (02:26):
      Second to last. Okay. So you’re the second youngest.

      Shad Lacefield (02:29):
      Yes. Okay. And and so, and so growing up, like with that, like, you know, I worked in tobacco, I worked in hay, you know, we did things being on the farm and stuff like that. And within my family as well, there’s four boys. And so when I decided to go to college I was the first guy in my family to go to college. And the first and only boy that ended up going to college. And so it was like this big deal, like, oh, you know, we got one of our boys gonna go to college. So what is he gonna be? And I was like, well, if I’m gonna put forth the, the time and effort and then the financial strain that it would cause cuz we were not poor at all. My dad worked two jobs to make sure, but I really felt the responsibility of like, if I’m gonna go, I’m gonna work in a profession.

      Shad Lacefield (03:09):
      That’s gonna make a lot of money. And here I am as a teacher now. So I didn’t go to college to be a teacher. I actually was pre dentistry. I thought, now here’s a profession. You can, a lot of money. You don’t work weekends or holidays, you know, I can still be the doctor thing. And so I’m gonna be pre dentistry. But like all good origin stories. There was a, there was a flip. So in my first year I started working at the most majestic place that you will ever go. It’s called Squire, boon, caverns. It’s a cave in Southern Indiana. And it’s an amazingly beautiful little place. You have to like one lane highway, like road to go back there up and down. Like you, you think you’re never gonna make it. And if it rains too much, the bridge will flood and you actually can’t even get back there.

      Shad Lacefield (03:52):
      So that’s how we’re talking like way back in the sticks. But once you get back, back there totally worth it. And as part of the job you were a tour I also did grist mill demonstrations and gym mining adventures, or, you know, as they’re gym mining and stuff like that. And within that, I started working with school aged kids and on very large tours and stuff. And my manager at the time, Claudia, I’m still great friends with and we still take our kids back there. Every summer she, to me, you’re really good with kids. Like you’re really good with kids. We have this scout program that’s on the weekends. And then during the summers and you would be teaching kindergarten through eighth grade kids, geology and forestry. What do you think about doing that? And I said, well, right, let’s try that out. And then I got the teaching bug and it hit and I was like, oh my gosh, like I don’t wanna spend my life doing something that is all about money or, or that is like, this is where it’s at. Like, I love this, I enjoy this. I enjoy the response that I get when I’m talking. And kids are excited about learning and getting new information and learning new stuff. And so then I change my major and here I am now, all these years later teaching instead of being a dentist,

      Eric Cross (05:04):
      Are there, are there days, do you ever have days where you’re like, you know, dentistry, it’s still an option. Like I can, I can go back.

      Shad Lacefield (05:12):
      Oh, rare, rare occasions. Rarely. Yeah.

      Eric Cross (05:16):
      Okay. Yeah. All right. All right. Fair enough. I, I, I always joke and say that like we have, you know, sometimes I have my, my alternate job on the hard days, which is for me, it’s working at the gap where I just want to fold clothes and go home at the end of the day, you know, on those really rough days. And you know, it’s never the kids, right. It’s always other things. The kids are like the great part. And then there’s all these other things. And I just wanna work at the gap. I just wanna work at the gap. Fold some clothes. Yes, sir. Yes. Ma’am absolutely. I can find that size for you. And then I just go home cause about their job when they go home at the end of the day, when you work at the gap, at least sorry, gap workers. I’m sure hard of that, but my perception in my mind is that you close up shop and then you’re done. Yeah,

      Shad Lacefield (05:52):
      Absolutely. Like you said, they can turn it, like it’s a turnoff at the end. Exactly. As teachers we know, like you don’t ever turn it off, it’s always there.

      Eric Cross (06:00):
      Yeah. So one of the things that I was super excited about when I, when I first heard about you is I went on your website and there’s so many things I feel like I can just talk about your website and just the, the content that you’ve produced. I, I, there’s so many directions I can go. But one, one of the things I want to ask you is, is about that. Now, one of the things that’s on there, and this is coming from a fellow star wars, Fisha who finished Bobba FET and the Mandalorian recently and is Jones in four OB one to come out.

      Shad Lacefield (06:33):
      Oh, so yes,

      Eric Cross (06:35):
      I live in Southern California next to Disneyland visited Galaxy’s edge star wars. You have these things called VA Vader visits. And so what do you do in those? And like, where did you get the idea for these Vader visits?

      Shad Lacefield (06:50):
      So the costumes were bringing the kids into the classroom. But when they left my room because you would, we only had them for a certain amount of time. There was still a lot of extra work that they needed to get done. And what I was seeing was I could get them to come in and they were really engaged during my lesson. But then afterwards, when it came to work completion or getting things done, there was, it was starting to fall off. As you know, we were experiencing, you know, more and more craziness of what’s going on. So then as an incentive, I decided if you have everything turned in, by the end of the day, I’m gonna dress up in my Darth Vader outfit, full costume, the, you know, the, the full helmet, like everything. And I’m gonna show up to your house and we’re gonna hang out and play any game at all that you wanna play.

      Shad Lacefield (07:34):
      So then it was a way of rewarding. My kids for getting everything turned in. But same time I felt like it would also help me build a relationship with them. That was a very challenging part of online learning. Like, again, I want you to feel like you’re a part of my classroom. I wanna feel like I’m invested in you and wanna learn about you. And it was a commitment because some of those kids put me through the ringer, whether it was we’re gonna do gymnastics on a trampoline. And again, I’m in full costume doing gymnast on the trampoline, or we’re doing soccer drills with their soccer coach at their house playing football games. I mean, all kinds of stuff. I made a Yachty game for a kid that loves Harry Potter. And it was really a big part of getting work turned in because, and it’s the crazy thought they wanted to spend time with me. Like that’s what it was. And so it was like, yeah, absolutely. I’ll keep dressing up. I did over 50 plus Vater visits. It wasn’t just for my homeroom. It was for all of fourth grade. So I went over 50 visits and it was cool to see kids in their home and talk to them and meet their parents. It was a great opportunity for me to engage with parents as well. How is online learning, going, what can I do to support you? Do you guys have any questions and stuff like that? So

      Eric Cross (08:39):
      This thing of relationships is like leading to work completion, which isn’t, which isn’t always the, the thing that we think to as educators of like how, you know, work completion. A lot of times we think of like structures or you know, certain protocols that you do in class get work completion, but here you are addressing as Darth Vader. And, and you said students were turning in more work because they’re connected to, you saw an increase in, in yeah. Engagement.

      Shad Lacefield (09:07):
      And absolutely. And, and I remember even saying that to myself, like this is, this is what’s getting them. But it, it was, and as part of the Vader visit as well with the videos we recorded all of them and I said, I’m gonna make you a YouTube star. And so I would, I, I recorded them. I put ’em on my YouTube channel. And so a lot of the videos that are on my website, all those Vader visits are like the kids showing off and playing against the teacher. And I promise you, I didn’t take it easy on any one of those kids. Like when it was like a verse match, I went all out and I told ’em. I was like, if you beat me, you know, it’s gonna be like, you earned it.

      Eric Cross (09:38):
      What a great way to leverage, just what, what is relevant to our students? Like you used your platform and then now you’re showcasing them on your, you know, your platform or what you were using. And then they’re seeing each other. And I could just see, regardless of the grade level, like just students, like beam from, from getting that kind of positive praise through, through, you know a medium that doesn’t, that tends to be more of a, just content consumption, but you’re kind of watching other folks do stuff, but now it’s about them. Like, and they’re, they’re getting that attention directly. Now I have to ask about the Vader costume. Did you, did you buy it for this event or did you already have that Darth Vader costume in your closet?

      Shad Lacefield (10:19):
      I had parts of the costume, but not the complete costume. And honestly, the very first Vader visit I had, I had the Vader mask that makes sounds, and like you could talk and it makes you sound like Vader.

      Eric Cross (10:29):
      My dark saber is on order. Yes. And it keeps getting delayed from best buy. It’s supposed to arrive in April, but I do have dark staple and order that I ordered back in November. So the best to your point, I don’t know who doesn’t have one, I’m waiting for mine though.

      Shad Lacefield (10:42):
      There you go, come on. Best buy come through for us. So

      Eric Cross (10:44):
      You, you did all this investment in time and, and you created all this content, but then we went back in person. Were, were you able to bring this back into the classroom or any of the things that you had generated during distance learning back in the classroom? Or are you, are you using some of the things that you learned? Like what, or is it just completely separate and you’re just doing something completely different. Now

      Shad Lacefield (11:04):
      That’s a great question. So I still try to dress up at least once every week, if not once every other week just to make whatever we’re doing fun, cuz I already have costumes that were connected to the content that I was doing. So had I had made a character called captain Soundwave that will use when I’m teaching my amplify lessons over sound. And so then I, you know, I have that or I would have, you know, specific characters that were designed for certain lessons that I would do. And so I still

      Eric Cross (11:32):
      Lemme interrupt you real quick. Where did you get these character ideas from? Cause they are super creative. I clicked on one random one. And you have had like a, a knitted like skull cap and like some blue shiny like cloak and I like who is this guy? I think, is that him? Is that captain sound wave? That’s

      Shad Lacefield (11:48):
      That’s hilarious. That was, that was my attempted Elsa. Oh, that was yeah. Started buying more and more costumes and and making characters and putting costumes together. And so yeah, it just ends up being this thing where you never know when I’m gonna show up in a completely random costume and be like today, we’re getting ready to learn about how sedimentary rocks form. And I dressed in my rock outfit, which is the old school rock with the turtleneck and the gold chain with,

      Eric Cross (12:16):
      Wait, do you have a Fanny pack too?

      Shad Lacefield (12:17):
      I have a Fanny pack. Yes you have. Yep. You nailed it. And they’re like, what does this guy

      Eric Cross (12:22):
      Do? He raise the one eyebrow. Can you do the, the rock eyebrow? Oh yeah, you got this. Oh, people on the podcast. Can’t see. Chad’s got it down. He’s got it down. He’s got the, he’s got the eyebrow going. Okay, so you, so I feel like I can go on a tangent and talk about all your costumes that you have, but the thinking about this. So tons of engagement, younger people now taking like some of the principles that you’ve learned from this, how can, how can upper grades like bring this joy to their classroom? Like middle school students, you know, older kids sometimes, you know, they can, they’re still kids, but you know, they might not be the same thing as fourth graders. Like would you, do you have any ideas of like how teachers and upper grades can kind of take these elements that you’ve done and, and apply them?

      Shad Lacefield (13:04):
      Absolutely. So some of the things that you had talked about, like with YouTube can also be applied to like TikTok videos and things like that, that kids are, are willing to watch and, and be engaged in. And so those things, I feel like I’ve seen other middle and high school teachers really utilize in their classroom. But honestly, and this is a new initiative that we’ve started in our district. Minecraft has been something that a lot of kids play and are really engaged in and has shown an amazing engagement for all of our kids when it comes to science engagement, particularly. And so with that, so there’s 126 million active Minecraft players right now in the world. And Minecraft is one of the largest selling video games. The average age, cuz they’re always like, oh, Minecraft is for kids who actually the average age is like 24.

      Shad Lacefield (13:51):
      So a lot of the older kids are playing Minecraft as well with the younger kids. And with that in mind, it was a way when I looked at Minecraft and specifically like Minecraft educational edition came out and it was during COVID and it was free. So if you had a school email or it’s like the, what the go 365 account, you could get it for free and all of our kids got it for free. And so then, then we went from playing Minecraft on the computer as like a fun game to me looking at it and saying like, wait a minute. I feel like when I’m doing energy conversions, we can take Redstone and Minecraft and kids can now show how a simple system using different parts and devices can work and understand even more con creates how energy is converted from one form to another.

      Shad Lacefield (14:39):
      And so let’s make this a, a, a, an actual activity. Let’s take what I’m teaching in the classroom. And if they get done early as an enrichment piece, because there’s not a ton of science and enrichment activities at times for kids to be able to do, like, what do I do when I’m done, Minecraft ended up being that. And so I could have these elaborate worlds that I would build for them that they could then go and play and be super engaged in and show me way more on this Minecraft world, what they knew than what they were writing on paper sometimes, cuz I, you know, you’d get like a sentences out of them on paper, but then all of a sudden when they would build this elaborate system and you just had them record and talk, it was like, oh my gosh, you understand way more than I was thinking that you did with that last exit slip, an assessment that we did.

      Shad Lacefield (15:25):
      And so like, this is awesome. So then I went to my district and I actually proposed an idea what if we did tire Minecraft build challenges for the whole district? So our district has 37 elementary schools and I was like, I think this could be something that, you know, as we’re looking for science, curriculum engagement and making kids excited about learning science and stuff again, cuz that was always the hard part. I feel like sometimes with COVID everything kids lost this love of, of being in the classroom and, and, and learning and that it was like, you know, getting them to come back into the classroom and, and finding, learning fun again. It was like this, this started to get ’em excited and like, yeah, I get to play in Minecraft and I’m learning at the same time. And it was working for all kinds of content areas.

      Shad Lacefield (16:07):
      We’re doing a blast off to, to Mars. We it’s called blast off to us. We’re partnering with CLO of the future. They’re working with SpaceX. Our kids will actually get to send postcards to space and yes, it’s, it’s a super cool thing. And I love my district and all of the office of technology, individuals, Ashley Josh and Kelly for putting this together. And so it asks this question if you could a community in space, what would it be like? And the goal is that kids will write on the back what they want. And then we send this postcard off to space, they stamp it saying it’s been in space and the kids get to have it back and, and be able to use it. But what, what we decided, what we could do with Minecraft is what if they actually built the colony on Mars, like really research put time and effort into reading scientific articles about plants and how plants would grow and, and water and, and structures and apply all of that in a massive build challenge. And then that be, you know what we’re doing? That can be the answer to the question. And so it’s not just a couple sentences on a postcard, but it’s like a week or two week unit that pulls all this scientific content and standards that we’re working with and really allows kids to show so much creativity like on my Twitter I’ve been posting like pictures and stuff like that of some of the students builds. And I’m gonna continue to do that throughout the build challenge.

      Eric Cross (17:26):
      Now, are you using Minecraft EDU?

      Shad Lacefield (17:28):
      Yes. That is correct.

      Eric Cross (17:29):
      I love Minecraft EDU. Like it, it, you talking about it inspires me to, to try to dive back into it. One of the things sometimes I feel limited by is the time that I have and the things that we’re trying to cover. And it’s almost, it almost feels like we’re doing something wrong using a video game to teach, but it’s such a great educational tool. Like you said, you just said that students are able to show what they know in, in a way by creating something that’s different than if they would’ve just written it, but they’re actually creating, and this is one of the things, I guess you kind of hit on this, but I wanted to probe it a little more. Is do you have your students creating content like you do? Cause I kind of heard that they, you were, did you say that they were explaining or doing a video recording or describing it? How are they, how are they, how are they doing that work?

      Shad Lacefield (18:17):
      Yeah. So what they actually do is they’ll write a script and they will use Screencastify to record and then upload to Flipgrid. And then that way they can actually show their build to all of fourth grade. Since we weren’t allowed to be in the same class, like we were all departmentalized, so then we will have voting challenges. So after you record, you get to see everyone’s videos, you get to like and comment and leave feedback on their builds. So you can see what the other kids created. And then then from those initial videos and voting, we selected a certain of kids that then go on to the district level for our Minecraft build challenge. And then those videos are viewed by administration and other teachers to vote again. And then you end up having grade level winners and then an overall winner, which shout out to my boy in fourth grade, who was our overall winner, Eli, super proud of him.

      Shad Lacefield (19:07):
      He, he made this really, really space saving system, which was hidden stairs that ran off of Redstone and used motion, energy. And again, in his video, he talks about like how motion energy has changed to electrical energy and then back into motion through the process of how this hidden staircase would be in the wall. And then you’d be able to use this lever to then release that staircase. So you could go up and down but it was just, and again, when you, when you let kids talk about energy conversions and you let them build all of a sudden, you have kids making security systems for banks. Another kid that made a feeding system for kids for animals at the zoo, and it was just like, oh my gosh, I had no idea that this was what you guys could run out and do. When I, when I taught you how energy conversions work, that this is what you could produce and come over, like this is mind blowing. I love it,

      Eric Cross (19:56):
      What our kids can do and what they can create always kind of blows us away when we give them an opportunity to kind of have that freedom to, to create and take their knowledge and actually do something with it versus channel it into what, show me what, you know, but only do it like this. This is, this is the lane that you have to stay in. How do you get these ideas and, and stay, stay relevant? Like so many of the things like you’re touching, like pop culture, you, you have this hand in education technology, you have you’re, you’re doing video editing. Like where are you drawing from? Cause I’m just thinking like, as a teacher listening to this, that might be newer. And they go to the side like, oh my gosh, this, this guy is doing these so many things like where are you drawing from for inspiration or ideas?

      Shad Lacefield (20:39):
      I think a lot of it is like you say, when, when you stay relevant, it’s being engaged with your students and figuring out, or what are, what are they liking? And every year it’s gonna be different. And that helps you stay relevant. When you have conversations and you build relationships with your kids to figure out, you know, what’s going on. Because I was not a big Minecraft person. It was the group that came in that really challenged me to do Minecraft because it, it showed up on their Chromebooks one day and all of a sudden it’s like, oh, we can play Minecraft all the time. And I said, no, you can’t play Minecraft until that I’ve had training. And I know what’s going on because I’m super nervous about this new thing. And I wanna make sure you guys aren’t doing something that you’re not supposed to.

      Shad Lacefield (21:13):
      And like, they hounded me hardcore about you better do you need to do that training, Mr. Lacefield, you need to, we wanna play Minecraft. You better be doing this. Right. And so I was like, all right, man, I’ll, I’ll invest. I’ll, I’ll put some time into this training. And I’m so glad that I did yeah, again, that’s it just like building relationships and having those conversations help you realize like, what’s, what’s what are they interested in? What what’s going on and what would be really funny, even connecting that back to the costumes. What would it be really funny if I showed up in you know, today, princess Jasmine.

      Eric Cross (21:42):
      Yeah.

      Shad Lacefield (21:43):
      Been yes. Done that. That’s a great one. I,

      Eric Cross (21:45):
      I, I just went to the social studies page. I, and I stop laughing while you were talking. Cause I saw the princess Jasmine.

      Shad Lacefield (21:52):
      Oh yeah. Folks.

      Eric Cross (21:53):
      I’m telling you, you have to go, you have to go to his videos and see what he’s done. I mean, they’re just, they’re just amazing with my middle school students. They, I, I find myself having to be into things that I’m not normally into. And we have these intergenerational relationships, right? Like I think teachers are unique in this I aspect where I can connect with a 12 year old with what 12 year olds are in no matter where this 12 year old’s from. Cuz I get 12 year old culture. But sometimes when I go back into my adult world, like I forget that like, Hey yeah, haven’t watched a new anime you know, or, or whatever, you know, up

      Shad Lacefield (22:26):
      That. Yeah. No said too. And a kid will show up wearing a, a shirt to school and I’m like, I wasn’t the world’s that like, I’ve never even seen that before. And you’re like, okay, I’m gonna have to learn what that is cuz that yeah.

      Eric Cross (22:38):
      And then the next student asks you about, Hey, do you like, do you like these this game? I’m like, yeah, yeah, let me go Google that game real quick. Yeah, I’m totally into it. I’m downloading on my phone real quick. And, and now I’m connected to all kinds of obscure random interests, but to your, to what you said, it like, it helps keep us fresh, right? With I, with ideas, there, there is something that is super practical that you’ve done that you’ve created that I’ve encouraged teachers to do. And I think you really nailed it. On your site, you have these video tutorials. When I look at those, I, I think about how much time you must have saved yourself of not having to explain the same exact thing multiple times. Because you’ve created this virtual help section that allows students to log in amplify earth, check, Flipgrid, whatever. Like do you, when you’re, when you’re teaching students, do you, do you use those in direct students there so they can kind of support themselves? Or is that, what, how did that come to be when you, when you made these, these virtual tools? Because I could just imagine these are time savers for you.

      Shad Lacefield (23:49):
      Absolutely. Cuz again, like you said, it’s it saves on time. So a lot of when you have kids that are already visual learners as well, and they love watching YouTube and they learn stuff from YouTube, why not? I mean, make the video and then attach it to my Google classroom, keeping everything online. Everyone always has access. And by still having those videos, it allows kids to hear the directions multiple time, but on their time and at their pace. So then it’s posted on the assignment. So even though I probably still will give those directions verbally out loud if a kid forgets and maybe they feel a little nervous about asking in front of their peers, like, oh, how do I do this again? Or, oh, I don’t remember how to do that. That video is linked on there. So that way they can go back and watch it.

      Eric Cross (24:28):
      It’s almost like a little co-teacher that you have like a little aide that’s like, but it’s you, but it’s like a mini you who’s helping you out. I found that putting sometimes those tutorial videos on ed puzzle, where at different points in time, you can set it up so that at a certain timestamp, it asks a question and you can control it. So they can’t move faster past it until they respond to the question and you have the question be about whatever you just said. And then it, it syncs with Google classroom. So you can import all the grades and you can see how far through the video they got. But that was one other layer that I was able to do. So I can have some accountability and make sure that okay, everybody watched it and they answered all five questions of like, how do you do this?

      Shad Lacefield (25:07):
      Oh, see, now you’re sharing stuff with me, Eric, because I, I’m not as familiar with ed puzzle. I’ve used like near pod and per deck, but I mean just you saying that I’m like, okay, I need to check out ed puzzle and, and see what, what this is all about. Cause that sounds awesome.

      Eric Cross (25:20):
      Hey, I shared something with Chad and it it’s useful. I’m I’m feeling good right now. I’m feel I’m feeling good. So as we, as we kind of wind down one, couple questions I wanna ask. One of ’em is you’ve been in teaching for, for 15 years and I, I talk to you like right now and I get this energy and this vibe that’s just so upbeat, so positive. How do you stay fresh, fresh. And how did you stay fresh during a time when things have been so hard, you know, and it, and still is for so many educators, how do you stay encouraged? Like what, what have you done and, and to stay in, in education for, for this long,

      Shad Lacefield (26:00):
      I think it, it even goes back to like when I made my initial decision to switch my major to education, like I, I really felt like I found so thing that I thoroughly loved and enjoyed, and I always feel like you go through seasons. Like, and I definitely, when, when COVID hit, like you went through a season of where you start to feel again, that pressure like do I really like doing this as much as I thought that I like doing this and am I ready for this next thing? And then I just go back to just the, well, why did I do this to begin with? And, and it gets me, you know, excited to be like, I did it for the kids, like, and it’s about the kids. And I get joy when they’re laughing and smiling. So again, with the videos, it’s like, how can I make ’em laugh and smile because if they’re laughing and smiling and having a good time, I’m gonna get, you know, jacked and ready to start teaching again.

      Eric Cross (26:48):
      And I just hear that so much in what you’re saying is you’re serving your kids is, is being more than that building the relationship, that connection. And then through all that, the learning happens. The last question I wanna ask you is who’s one teacher that created a memorable experience for you or inspired you. Is it someone that you remember when you were in school or learn experience that just, that stands out to you to this day? Cuz as teachers, we remember thi like our kids remember us and it’s weird to be in that position to think that we’re gonna be that person. So is there anybody or anything that stands out to you that you remember from a, a teacher and experience?

      Shad Lacefield (27:27):
      Gosh, I have, I have a lot that you know, from my fifth grade science teacher, Mr. Goodman, who we did the ecology meet and the ecology team, and we went to OT Creek park and we competed against other schools about science, connected materials to my physics teacher in high school that let us build boats out of cardboard and take it to the only hotel in our town and the pool. And we had like boat races with the cardboard boats that we did. But really I, I go back to Squire boon and Claudia my manager and I remember not only was, she’s such a, a pivotal like getting me into teaching. But I remember the, the curriculum that we were using at the time that I was. And again, it goes back to what if I was to teach that curriculum, I would not still be a teacher because again, as sometimes you experience with curriculum, it can be boring and not engaging. And I was already putting my own flare on it at SQUI boon during the scout lessons. And I said, what if I just completely rewrote this curriculum? What if I made it really fun and put my own, spin on it? And, and she was like, absolutely, absolutely do that. And I feel like that encouragement as teachers, when we encourage kids to be creative when we encourage kids to, to take risk and to try new things we end up getting such amazing results that we didn’t even expect

      Eric Cross (28:45):
      Thought I out to Mr. Goodman for the ecology meet the physics teacher for the, the boat races, which are hilarious, by the way, if you’ve ever been able to watch students, did you make ’em at a cardboard?

      Shad Lacefield (28:53):
      We did. Yep.

      Eric Cross (28:54):
      Yeah. Those are hilarious to watch. And Claudia for giving the freedom to let you be a educational DJ and remix things to make it fun. Thanks for being on the podcast. Thanks for your inspiration and for sharing your stuff like publicly and letting other people see it and, and get ideas. It’s, I’m sure there’s more people than, you know, and more teachers than, you know, that are looking at that and getting their own ideas and coming up with their own. It might not be star wars, but coming up with their own inspiration, maybe it’s like Harry Potter or Lord of the rings or some like that.

      Shad Lacefield (29:26):
      Yeah. Whatever. You’re passionate about. Pull that in.

      Eric Cross (29:31):
      Thanks so much for joining me and Shad today. We want to hear more about you. If you have any great lessons or ways to keep student engagement high, please email us at stem@amplify.com. That’s STEM@amplify.com and make sure to click, subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts until next time.

      Stay connected!

      Join our community and get new episodes every other Tuesday!

      We’ll also share new and exciting free resources for your classroom every month.

      What Shad Lacefield says about science

      “It’s about being engaged with your students and figuring out what are they liking. Every year it’s going to be different…when you have conversations and you build relationships with your kids.”

      – Shad Lacefield

      4th Grade Science Teacher, District Elementary Science

      Meet the guest

      Shad Lacefield is a teacher at Garden Springs Elementary and part-time professor at Asbury University in Kentucky. Mr. Lacefield leads professional development in his district, and has been a guest speaker for Eastern Kentucky University, Campbellsville University, and Amplify Education. His topics include classroom managment, integrating techology, and student engagement. He earned his bachelor’s degree in elementary education from Campbellsville University in 2007, and his master’s in science from Southwest Baptist University in 2011. Shad has either taught or coached every grade K-12, and in his 14 years in education he has served as a lead teacher in literacy, math, science, and social studies. He currently coordiantes with the FCPS Office of Instructional Technology to plan Minecraft build challenges for elementary students, and is working on setting up a science field trip that turns a golf course into a STEM lab. During the first year of the pandemic, Shad dressed up in over 100 costumes to create a unique and engaging online learning experience for his students. He also created Vader Visits where he visited students at their homes dressed as Darth Vader to celebrate their online successes, and keep them encouraged during a challenging time. His creative teaching style, and over 50 “Vader Visits” with students, have been featured on WKYT-TV, LEX-18, Spectrum 1 News, and several local and college news publications. Shad lives in Lexington Kentucky with his wife Whitney Lacefield and their three children.

      Check out his websiteYouTube channel, and Facebook account!

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      About Science Connections

      Welcome to Science Connections! Science is changing before our eyes, now more than ever. So…how do we help kids figure that out? We will bring on educators, scientists, and more to discuss the importance of high-quality science instruction. In this episode, hear from our host Eric Cross about his work engaging students as a K-8 science teacher. Listen here!

      S5.E6. Why skepticism is essential to the Science of Reading, with Dr. Claude Goldenberg

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      S3 – 03. Math professional learning experiences with Elham Kazemi

      Podcast episode poster for "Math Teacher Lounge" featuring Elham Kazemi, a Mathematics Education Professor at the University of Washington.

      How do we continue to grow and be more reflective about our own teaching? In this episode, Bethany Lockhart Johnson and Dan Meyer chat with Elham Kazemi to explore how to look at teaching as a collaborative experiment. Moving more toward analyzing student thinking and how that contributes to teaching itself, leaves more space for one’s own understanding of math to grow throughout your career. When one revises their teaching based on the data we’re collecting from students and peers, this allows us to be both teachers and learners forever.

      Explore more from Math Teacher Lounge by visiting our main page.

      Download Transcript

      Dan Meyer (00:04):
      Hey folks, welcome to math teacher lounge. My name is Dan Meyer

      Bethany Lockhart Johnson (00:07):
      And I’m Bethany, Lockhart Johnson.

      Dan Meyer (00:09):
      And this is the teacher learning week. We’re thinking this week about how we grow as teachers. And to start with, I just wanted to ask Bethany, uh, first Bethany, how are you doing? And second <laugh>. Um, what is, what, what has been your like most favorite and least favorite, most effective least effective professional learning experience when you were a classroom teacher?

      Bethany Lockhart Johnson (00:30):
      I think for me, most effective was definitely when I could use it right away. Right. Whatever we were talking about, whatever we were learning, like I got to go put it into practice. Sure. Uh, I, I remember we did something where we designed a lesson and then we went and taught it like one person taught it and the rest of the people watched. And then we kind of like got to workshop it, which that was like a one off the fact that we got to go out of our classroom and go observe somebody teaching. It was gold. It was gold. Um, so that was probably the most effective, because there was so much opportunity for reflection and least effective was something that felt like just completely unconnected to, you know, kind of either so theoretical that it wasn’t like touching on what we were navigating right there in the classroom. I don’t know. What about you? What can you think of times that, are you gonna say times you led a PD? Those were the most effective?

      Dan Meyer (01:26):
      Yeah. My favorite ones are my sessions, of course. But if I had to throw those out for a second, um, yeah, I, I like, I want, I want both, I want it all. I want the, um, the big ideas that take a long time to settle in that also have like small bits that can carve off and use relatively quickly to test my understanding of the ID is, yeah. I’ve had some, some PD where I’m like, this is very relevant to tomorrow. And I also don’t care. Like for instance, like how to use the CD, the, the, like the, the software, you know, on the, on my curriculum, for instance, it’s like, okay, yeah, this is just a little, little too practical. You know what I’m saying? I want some bigger ideas to chew on. Um, I would also say like, I love my favorite PD by a long was writing up thoughts about how the day went and putting that on the internet in a public place that we used to call a blog and where people would come along, cuz there was like 10 blogs and like, tell me like that’s no good.

      Dan Meyer (02:16):
      Like the thing that you like is not a thing you should like, here’s the thing you should like instead, or try instead, or just this weird community that sprung up, you know, when I was, uh, starting to teach relatively new teacher and uh, I feel like I grew a lot

      Bethany Lockhart Johnson (02:28):
      Go back to this idea blog. If people would call you, they’d call you on the phone. What, what

      Dan Meyer (02:32):
      Was they would fax me? They, it would be a fact. So

      Bethany Lockhart Johnson (02:35):
      Fax,

      Dan Meyer (02:36):
      I got it. Fax a comment. Yeah. Got it. So, uh, that’s, that’s Bethany and I, and we’re super excited to have people who have a bit broader of a perspective, a bit more of the land than what, what the two of us, um, think about with our own professional learning experiences.

      Dan Meyer (02:52):
      We’ve invited on an expert. We hope will help us understand alternate ways to do professional learning as teachers to grow as teachers besides, you know, all of us getting into the same room once every, every, uh, few months together, Elm Cosmi is a professor of mathematics education at the university of Washington, Elm studies, how strong professional communities develop in schools and how schools can be organized. So teachers learn from and what their students, this work is informed by equity oriented research on thinking, uh, on children’s mathematical thinking and classroom practice. She is co-author with Allison hints of intentional talk, which focuses on leading productive discussions in mathematics. And she edited coral counting and counting collections with Megan Frankie and Angela tau, which focuses on the importance of counting from preschool to fifth grade. Looking forward to a great chat with Elham, welcome Elham to the show.

      Elham Kazemi (03:43):
      Thanks for having me, my favorite topic ever to talk with you both about,

      Bethany Lockhart Johnson (03:47):
      I think something that I just deeply, deeply respected admire is that I feel like you are constantly sharing about how you are learning. You’re continue to learn, continue to, to try out new ideas and you do a very good job of like highlighting things that you’ve learned, whether that’s sharing it through a tweet or sharing it amongst colleagues or peers. And I, I just really appreciate that because I feel like being in the mathematics community with you, I feel like I grow by, I just like paying attention to like, Hey, she’s a learner, she’s done all these amazing things and thinks in these amazing ways and has shifted my thinking in such amazing ways. But she’s saying, Hey, I I’m still learning. So yeah. Hi, thank you. Thank you for your, I don’t know. We’re just glad to have you here.

      Elham Kazemi (04:41):
      Thanks. I do feel like the perpetual student, like I’ve never left school and I wonder like one day maybe I will, when I grow older, when I grow up, will I ever leave school? Maybe not.

      Bethany Lockhart Johnson (04:52):
      <laugh>

      Dan Meyer (04:53):
      Great. Let’s dig in. Yeah. So please tell us you partnered with a school for some professional learning that wasn’t the sort where you would go in and offer brilliant ideas and then leave. But rather it, it seemed like it was more of a job embedded sort, the sort of thing that might have a life of its own after, you know, after the, the grant ends or the program ends. Can you describe what it was you did and what the effect was?

      Elham Kazemi (05:15):
      I think I wanna first say that everything that I have done and experimented with as really the result of working with fabulous people, teachers, coaches, principals, other, um, colleagues and peers in the field who are constantly trying to work on what good teaching looks like and how you learn to do it. And mostly because we care about kids and we care about what students experience in the classroom. And we want kids to love school, to have school, be a place where they’re known, they’re loved, um, that they look forward to being in every day. And I think there’s that, um, the why that, that, um, per that makes you want to learn is really about the students and being, doing things in service of them. Because when, uh, as one of my colleagues said, when children thrive, teachers thrive. So what does it mean for us to thrive?

      Elham Kazemi (06:06):
      If we are focused on our kids’ experiences in schools, what we did at this, this particular school and a group of schools is kind of tap into a, all that curiosity and drive that teachers have to do a good job and to use their imaginations well, and to engage the actual ideas that children have in their classroom together, not separately, not like get a great idea and be inspired by it and then go figure it out by yourself, but be inspired by ideas and then try to figure them out together. Because, um, as you both know, very talented teachers, uh, who also have been inspired to change your classroom teaching. Once you figure something out or as you’re figuring it out, there’s all kinds of intricacies. Like I remember when I first learned about three act tasks, I thought what a brilliant idea, but it’s not so simple to try to enact the brilliance of it because you can simplify it too much or you can get stuck and not really know how do you move from one act to the next, or what’s the point of the third act?

      Elham Kazemi (07:12):
      Do you just like reveal the answer and that’s it. And then you move on. Um, how do you even do design the tasks to begin with all of those things, raise questions and working on them together, uh, and carving up that space and time to work on them together is sorely missing in schools. And so that’s what we were able to do with the schools that I parted and it is find the time and then design the structures so that teachers could, um, <affirmative> think about their teaching together and then also be in the classroom together with kids. So the kids see that we are also learning to be responsive to them. That’s the point. So we have to work stuff out when kids are present, which is the part that usually trips a lot of people up.

      Bethany Lockhart Johnson (07:55):
      Well, that to me is I think the part that shifted my teaching and continues to is this, it is a culture shift to tell your students, to invite your students into your learning, to tell them I’m, I’m learning too. It was an invitation to, to be vulnerable in a way that I think sometimes teachers are very afraid to be vulnerable. Uh, if they don’t know what the student response is gonna be, or they don’t know, they don’t wanna seem like they don’t know the answers or they don’t know how to figure out a problem. I think that’s a real shift in the, in the culture for, for compared to maybe what we, we experienced growing up.

      Dan Meyer (08:33):
      I hated not knowing the answer to a math problem. I admitting I, I was uncertain with the mathematics, but to admit that I am like a, a work in aggress as a teacher, feels like an extra admission, an extra layer of humility, which is, I don’t know, it’s a really special thing that you were up to with that school. I’d love to hear like about specific structures that you worked with to help make that transition feel, you know, more natural, more welcoming, more productive.

      Elham Kazemi (08:58):
      So, I mean, you probably have experienced common planning time, right? This is a thing that often happens for us teachers. I think that common planning time looks a lot sometimes like, uh, what are we gonna do on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday? Okay. What do we need? What are the materials we need? Who is gonna do that? Will you write this? And that’s what kind of common planning time, and then it’s over. And then you might see each other at lunch and say, well, how did that go? And you’ll talk a little bit about it, but common planning time and learning labs, which is sort of what the, what we call the, the PD that we designed means. Okay. So let’s take three act task. We, we write a little bit about it. We’ve seen a couple, but okay. What would it really mean to plan this particular one?

      Elham Kazemi (09:42):
      So common planning time is thinking like, how are we gonna launch that first act? What are we actually gonna say? What do we think the kids are gonna say? Why would we say it that way? What if they say something else? Um, and then, okay, so what does it actually sounds like to transition from act one, to act two? What might we say, what would happen with this particular task and actually getting into the details of how you imagine, like, what, what you would do when you were actually planning the specifics of a particular lesson, but leaving it loose enough that you’re not trying to make it perfect. And I think that’s the trick. So, so that you are not so invested, that goes in that particular way or that you fail. If it doesn’t go that way. Um, but that you have something you wanna learn together and trying out this three act task with a particular group of kids so that when you go into the classroom, first of all, you’ve all thought through the full R of the lesson.

      Elham Kazemi (10:40):
      And you’re curious enough about what’s gonna happen at particular points that you’ve left room for uncertainty and the taking of some risks. So then when you go together into a classroom and kids start to say things that you didn’t anticipate you or, or they start to do something that you’re so jazzed about, that you didn’t anticipate that you’re like, this is the thing we should pursue more. You give each other permission to do that. You’re like, whoa, wait, did you hear what so? And so said, I think we should follow that road and see where it takes us, or, huh. Okay, hold on. And that’s what we call teacher timeouts, where you actually confer briefly and you tell the kids, this is a super special day. We’ve tried to design something. We’re very curious how you are gonna react to it. So we’re gonna try it out. And along the way, we might pause to get your ideas or for us to make some decisions and steer the ship in a, in a new directions and see what happens. So we’re gonna be sitting closely to you among you. Um, and you get to be our teachers today while we teach. That’s how it’s framed.

      Bethany Lockhart Johnson (11:46):
      Like, what were you seeing in professional development or in that wasn’t happening amongst teachers? Like where, where are the gaps? Because it feels like so much of your work. You’ve just looked in such nuanced ways at how teachers can continue to grow and be more reflective of their own teaching. And I’m just kind of curious where that came from or where you’re seeing the landscape.

      Elham Kazemi (12:10):
      Yeah, that’s a good question. Well, I, oh, everything I know about, children’s thinking to Megan Frankie and the beautiful body of work called CGI, but, um, one of the things that we noticed, there’s so many great CGI workshops, and even like all the seminars and conference presentations and amazing things that you can design to have engaging work time for teach in, in professional development, outside of their classroom, people get super jazzed, you know, they get, um, uh, they have meaningful experiences, but to contextualize that back into their classrooms with their own students is like where, where often I would see like, wait, the same group of teachers I just saw in my classroom or in either in math methods or in this PD seminar, or even myself, like noticing, like I have seen and thought about stuff a lot. But when I went to go do it with a particular group of kids, holy moly was that so hard. And I saw all kinds of new complexities that I didn’t anticipate. And if I were just left to my own devices, I might very easily say, whew, this seems a little too hard.

      Bethany Lockhart Johnson (13:21):
      Right,

      Elham Kazemi (13:22):
      Right. And that’s the thing that I always hated. I was like, oh, if only we had, or you, or if you watched somebody do a demo lesson and you saw something that was like, kind of cool that you wish you had done afterwards. I often this happened in reflections. I wish we had, because we weren’t allowed to interrupt each other during teaching. Cuz somehow that would be rude or that would undermine the teacher’s authority. But that’s only the way we frame it. If we say actually we’re all capable people. So a question we ask ourselves during instruction doesn’t mean you don’t know what you’re doing. It means actually we’re thinking together then the interruptions aren’t about undermining authority. They’re about thinking together.

      Dan Meyer (14:04):
      There’s a performative aspect to a lot of teaching. Like the like teaching feels like a performance and you don’t, the movie’s playing or there’s a play that’s going on. It feels like inappropriate to interrupt that in any way. Cause the performance is going and I, I love what this that’s. I love what this idea does to kind of, to redefine teaching is not a performance, but this, this co-constructed thing. Or if it’s a performance, it’s a performance, the stars, all of us, like we’re all a part of the cast and always a it’s always the dress rehearsal.

      Elham Kazemi (14:30):
      <laugh> it is like the dress rehearsal. Although some of my brilliant colleagues with backgrounds in drama and theater, Sarah Kavanaugh and Holly GU and Elizabeth dure, they actually were at a meeting together. And they talked about how this like breaks the fourth wall, you know, mm-hmm, <affirmative> like, which is out of theater, um, where the performer speaks to the audience, you know, I know you’re there and I have something to say to you. Yep. And I was like, well, we should, why can’t we do that in teaching? So we actually wrote a little paper, um, that’s called breaking the fourth wall as a way. That’s so cool as a metaphor for understanding and reframing what these interruptions could meet. Cuz we often get people when we about this for academic audience who say like, aren’t you using the children and what are the children gonna do while you just pause? Are they supposed to freeze? And uh, you know, while you talk about them, but it’s not really that it’s like, Hey students, we’re here because of you. So shouldn’t, we try to involve you and are decision making. To some extent, it’s not like we don’t know what we’re doing, but we’re doing things because we wanna advance your learning.

      Bethany Lockhart Johnson (15:40):
      I mean, I still remember the first time I did a teacher time out and it, it was, I, it was breaking the four, it was this like, okay, you’re gonna see what happens, kids like, look at my, my tap dances stopped. And you’re you mean like, you know, whoa, wait a second. And I think it is about how you frame it. Right? It’s a celebration of their thinking and you, you use the term ambitious teaching and it, to me that is such a joyful way to think about it.

      Elham Kazemi (16:06):
      It is risky. And you would never say anything to shame any student, no. Or to shame your colleagues. Clearly it’s not a about that kind of discussion. Right. And they’re so brief. They’re like, it, it seconds. It’s not like you’re wasting time. You’re actually trying to understand what’s happening here. And I’ve just had so many instances where something goes on. Um, like we were doing a growing patterns task in a classroom and the student built the fourth term and they built stuff that did not follow the pattern. And I was so confused. I, I just didn’t understand like what was going on. And one of the kids said, well, if you, if you did follow the pattern, that’s not her words. But you know, she’s like, well, if we built it this way, that would be too obvious. Because if you just, if you saw that and you’re like, oh, that lesson failed.

      Elham Kazemi (16:59):
      Now we, our kids don’t understand what patterns are. We did it. Like, we gotta pause here and we gotta say, and we’re like, well, what do you mean? Can you say more about that? And basically what they said is that, um, well, first of all, they’re, they’re right. A pattern could change at any time, but it’s like, it would be more interesting if they, they knew how many cubes it would take for the fourth term that it would be nine, but they’re like, Hey, let’s rearrange that nine in some cool new ways. <laugh> cause that’s more interesting. It was like more interesting to them if, if they didn’t keep the pattern. So like, you kind of had to wrestle with that in the moment <affirmative> with them. And that’s how they can actually be partners with you in the teacher, timeout.

      Bethany Lockhart Johnson (17:40):
      Right. That’s making it about them and their learning. It’s not about that. It’s not about your performance and like looking all shiny and, and I’ve got it all together and I know exactly how this lesson’s gonna go. It that’s so interesting.

      Elham Kazemi (17:53):
      And sometimes you pause and like some cuz somebody else who’s watching is noticing something about what the kids are doing. And while you’re, if you’re happen to be the person who’s upfront at the time leading, you’ve got so many things going on in your head that some times the person who’s just been sitting on the rug with the kids mm-hmm <affirmative> has noticed something. And they’re like, can I ask something right now? And that’s a great teacher timeout too. Mm. Because they’re interrupting you cuz they’re like, I think I, I wanna see what kids will say. If we ask this question next and those moments have been like amazing because someone has noticed something that another person hasn’t in the room and it’s been very helpful to illuminate how kids are processing something or what two ideas they could connect. That would be really powerful based on what we were hoping to learn that day or do with the kids that day.

      Dan Meyer (18:47):
      It’s like you have a bonus brain attached to you there in the room. Sounds really powerful. I wonder a couple about the student experience of this. I’m imagine if I was a student in the room and I heard the two teachers like kind of pause, take this time out and like talk about how interesting my thinking was like behind my back a little bit, like trying to strategize about something interesting. I had said, I just imagine I would, I would feel very good about like, that would be a very positive experience for me. Um, but I’m just curious, can you speak to how students reacted when they’re,

      Bethany Lockhart Johnson (19:16):
      You mean, if you had been a student in the class and you saw two teachers conferring about your work?

      Dan Meyer (19:21):
      Yeah. Yeah. Like I, my classmates had of thing that was like, it, it kind of like was so novel that it stymied the teachers and then they like had to pause and like talk about what are we doing? Oh, I don’t know. I can imagine that’d be like know a fun feeling. Maybe I just tell more about me than about the kids, but

      Elham Kazemi (19:35):
      <laugh> it points to like, how would you go about starting to do this work? Right. Because one is you do, you do have to tell kids, Hey, I’m here with so and so and so, and so, and so, and so it might be just two of you. It might be five of you. It might be more and you know how we’ve been working on X thing in class? Well, today we wanted to try this new thing and, but we’re not sure how it’s gonna go and we need, we need your feedback. Right. So here’s something that might happen. We might pause you, you, I mean, you really do directly tell the kids to do that. And then we’re gonna ask you how it felt and we’re gonna share those feelings with one another. So you do that, you do a little exit card or you,

      Bethany Lockhart Johnson (20:19):
      How, what felt the pause or how,

      Elham Kazemi (20:22):
      How, yeah. How did it feel that, how did this lesson go or how did a lesson, how did it feel when you heard, you know, ALM and Dan talk to each other, doing this lesson and they might say, Hey, it’s cool. It’s fun. Kids have definitely chimed in, in like, if we ask a question like, should we do this next or this, somebody will pipe in and say, do that, you know, do this thing. Instead. If, if you kind of pipe in to say, can I ask a question? They just turn to you and look at you and answer your question. Right. So, and we always thank them and we just like pump it up. Right? Like this is so cool because this is all about you. And usually when you say today, you’re gonna be our teachers, especially the little kids. They like get all giggly. Totally.

      Bethany Lockhart Johnson (21:02):
      Right.

      Elham Kazemi (21:04):
      Love it.

      Bethany Lockhart Johnson (21:05):
      You know, you, you were sharing about this really unique situation, which I wish it wasn’t as unique where you had the whole school involved, but how did that happen? And what if you don’t have the whole school involved? What if it’s just me in my grade level, who’s like, I kind of wanna try this, but what

      Elham Kazemi (21:22):
      <laugh>, I think you could start with your, a peer in your school or a colleague in your school. Yeah. I mean, it’s a little seed, right. And it’s a little seed and then you could make it grow. I also believe in starting small and growing, cuz you do have to invite people into a different way of thinking about what it means to learn together. So you need to experience it, um, in order to believe it.

      Dan Meyer (21:49):
      Yeah. It feels like we would not want to write off any student as like, oh, they just don’t wanna learn. I think a lot of, a lot of us just like don’t buy that, that there’s other reasons why people need that. A teacher shouldn’t like shouldn’t, that’s not true of students that they have been told they can’t learn or there’s various circumstances the same. I, I suppose the same as like should be true is true of teachers. Like no teacher doesn’t want to learn more about teaching is at least a helpful Axiom to use, to approach the work of teacher growth. And so maybe they, yeah, maybe I feel like I’m the only person in my school who wants to do this, but perhaps that’s not actually true. Perhaps it’s just a matter of creating an imagination or the right kind of enticement or I don’t know what, um, but to start small and grow from there makes a lot of sense.

      Elham Kazemi (22:32):
      I feel now, like it would be weird and a lot harder for me to invite someone to just come in and watch me teach and sit quietly in the back when I don’t know anything about what they’re thinking and wait until afterwards to get their opinion.

      Bethany Lockhart Johnson (22:46):
      Oh yes.

      Elham Kazemi (22:47):
      I would be much more willing to co-plan with someone so that we were both on the same page about what we were trying to do and then when you’re in the classroom with me. So that’s the other thing that’s important cuz I don’t think you can just be in the classroom together and I, you know, interrupt each other’s teachers, if you haven’t planned together, cuz you do have to have some common understanding of what are we trying to do here? Oh the

      Dan Meyer (23:10):
      Intent here.

      Elham Kazemi (23:11):
      Yeah. So I would definitely say don’t just show up in each other’s classroom and start interrupting each other. <laugh> if you don’t know what the heck is going on. Yeah.

      Dan Meyer (23:21):
      Yeah. I, I know that’s directed at one person on this call in particular. I hear that.

      Elham Kazemi (23:25):
      I know who we’re talking about, but you know, I would be way more intimidating for me if I was trying to do a three act task and Dan just came to watch me do it <laugh> and he hadn’t planned with me. He didn’t know why I selected that task. I had no opportunity to talk to him. Then it would be, Hey Dan, would you just like do this with me? Let’s think through this. Why would you do this then? What, what have you normally done? Oh, okay. Why have you done that? Right. And then to like, okay, let’s try it together. Um, and then, and then along the way, if I have questions, you’re there with me. So sometimes there is someone more experience like if right. And sometimes you’re both just like, I just don’t have that much experience with this. I’m learning this for the first time.

      Elham Kazemi (24:04):
      Right. And the beauty of the math ed community, whether it’s on Twitter or is that we’re kind of pretty accessible to each other. Right. So if I read something and I have a question about it, you bet I’m gonna reach out to the author <laugh> and say, I’ve been thinking about your work and this is what’s been coming up for us. Can you? So like, it definitely happened with hands down conversations. We tried it in the learning lab and we just couldn’t figure out like that. How do you intercede, like into the hands down conversation cuz the kids are supposed to have a conversation. So we had to like give Kaia and her co-author a few specific examples so they could help our thinking so that we could try it again. Right. And make it better. And I think that is, is what it means to be learning in community is that you use the resources more broadly.

      Bethany Lockhart Johnson (24:52):
      That’s a beautiful reminder too. And it also helps me feel a little better about all the messages I’ve sent you. Like what does this mean? Can you help me with this?

      Elham Kazemi (24:59):
      <laugh> I mean, that just makes you feel alive. <laugh> I think

      Bethany Lockhart Johnson (25:06):
      So. I think P part of the beauty of you talking about starting small is that it does give those of us who maybe aren’t seeing that those opportunities for collaboration reflected in our school culture, it gives us kind of some hope for like, wait, don’t just like, think you can’t start. I, how do you, how do you see, how do you see it growing? Or, or do you think like if you could magically <laugh> like wave your wand and, and create some shifts around, around, uh, the culture where folks are feeling isolated or maybe don’t feel like they have the needs to do this work. What could that look like?

      Elham Kazemi (25:51):
      Yeah. What could that look like? So time, like we need some imagination around the use of time in schools and I have seen some really amazing opportunities where teachers get to co-teach, which means that they really have to co-plan when, um, there’s a break in a regular school session and there’s like an intercession or like a, like an elective that, um, that doesn’t, I haven’t seen it happen a lot in public schools, but I have seen it happen a lot in independent schools where they’ll have like, stop, stop the presses. It’s like a drop everything and read, but it’s like a drop everything and do an R arts week. And then all the kids in the school get shuffled. So they into multiage groupings and the teachers get to plan something special for like the week. But you could start with like a day, which would at least get you to plan something together and try to teach together and be just in each other’s spaces. And I think that might be kind of an interesting way to start where you have to like mess with the schedule somehow. Cuz the schedule is the beast in schools

      Bethany Lockhart Johnson (26:59):
      Is kind of the first step. Like we are going to create a shared activity, a shared instructional goal, a shared like where do I start?

      Elham Kazemi (27:09):
      What, where do you start? I mean, there’s so many good books. We all read, start with something that grabs your imagination. That you’re like, if I got to do this in my class, I’d be so jazzed. And I think my kids would love it. Why would they love it? You know, whatever it is. There’s so many good ideas that people are instantly blogging about publishing, um, slow reveal graphs. I love those two. I have like all these things. I was like, I would love to try these out, but I, I gotta do them with somebody cuz I need a sounding board about like how, what does it mean to do it well? And what does it mean to just do it at the surface level and do it a, you know, in a kind of a crappy way. And we don’t wanna do a crappy job. We wanna do a good job, but you have to start, you have to start sometimes in an awkward, crappy way. Like, you know, and get past that stage. Cause often we try a bunch of stuff, eh, and then we drop it. But like you gotta work on it to make it really

      Bethany Lockhart Johnson (27:58):
      Good. And if you’ve already tried it and it didn’t go so well it’s, this could be an invitation, like, you know, it doesn’t mean give up on the idea. It means like, Hey let, let’s let’s collaborate. Let’s you know, come into my class. Let’s co plan this.

      Elham Kazemi (28:10):
      So I would challenge people to think about the schedule. <laugh> try to do something just a little bit different. You know, like when we do learning labs, people are like, well, how do you do that? And there’s no money for it. Actually. We just use our money in a slightly different way to make or that everybody four people get a sub, which I know right now, sub shortages is crazy, crazy, but then combine your classes or do something different. Yeah. You know, um, involve people differently somehow in your, in your school environment to get that time,

      Bethany Lockhart Johnson (28:43):
      Really see this as a priority. This is a, this is there’s is intense value in this time to collaborate. Yeah.

      Elham Kazemi (28:51):
      Yeah. There’s so many side benefits for, I think for kids and teachers when you’re able to do this.

      Dan Meyer (28:58):
      Yeah. You’ve heard of folks. Uh, usually our, our math teacher challenge, our lounge challenge has been, uh, pedagogical in nature or a new CU. And uh, this is a different kind of one. This is, uh, go, go be a Rabel Razr go Rouse rabble at your, uh, front office and figure out the right way to get some funding or some time or shuffle a master schedule in such a way that you have collaboration, time to plan to co-teach to interrupt one another and uh, let us know how it goes. We are super excited and super interested in all of that. Thank you, uh, Elham for being with us here today and sharing all of your wisdom about how teachers grow.

      Elham Kazemi (29:36):
      Thanks for reminding me. You too loved

      Bethany Lockhart Johnson (29:38):
      It. We’re never done learning. We’re never done learning. Nope.

      Bethany Lockhart Johnson (29:44):
      Aha. Thank you so much for joining us in the lounge. I think all of us have sat through effective and ineffective professional learning sessions and just helping us to envision of how this can truly help PD can truly transform our classrooms. It is it’s exciting. It’s exciting. And I think we’ve all learned a lot from our conversation. So thank you. Thank you. Thank you. And don’t forget, you can connect with us in the lounge on Facebook at math teacher lounge or on Twitter at MTL show. Let’s keep this conversation going. Keep it going. Thanks so much for joining us. Thanks

      Speaker 4 (30:20):
      Everybody. <silence>.

      Stay connected!

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      What Elham Kazemi says about math

      “ When children thrive, teachers thrive. So what does it mean for us to thrive if we are focused on our kids’ experiences at school?”

      – Elham Kazemi

      Professor of Mathematics Education, University of Washington

      Meet the guest

      Elham Kazemi is a professor of mathematics education at the University of Washington. She studies how strong professional communities develop in schools and how schools can be organized so teachers learn from and with their students. This work is informed by equity-oriented research on organizational learning, children’s mathematical thinking, and classroom practice.  She is co-author with Allison Hintz of Intentional Talk, which focuses on leading productive discussions in mathematics. She also edited Choral Counting and Counting Collections with Megan Franke and Angela Turrou, which focuses on the importance of counting from preschool to 5th grade.

      Follow Elham on Twitter

      A woman with long dark hair and streaks of gray smiles at the camera, wearing a black top and necklace, with a blurred green and pink outdoor background—ideal for sharing in a math teacher lounge or featuring math teacher resources.
      A graphic with the text "Math Teacher Lounge with Bethany Lockhart Johnson and Dan Meyer" on colored overlapping circles.

      About Math Teacher Lounge: The podcast

      Math Teacher Lounge is a biweekly podcast created specifically for K–12 math educators. In each episode co-hosts Bethany Lockhart Johnson (@lockhartedu) and Dan Meyer (@ddmeyer) chat with guests, taking a deep dive into the math and educational topics you care about.

      Join the Math Teacher Lounge Facebook group to continue the conversation, view exclusive content, interact with fellow educators, participate in giveaways, and more!

      S1-09: Supporting K–8 science students in the digital world: Ricky Mason

      Podcast cover for "Science Connections," Season 1, Episode 9, featuring "Ricky Mason" discussing K–8 science education. Includes a globe illustration and decorative science-themed elements.

      In this episode, Eric sits down with Ricky Mason, chief executive officer of BrainSTEM. Ricky shares his passion for inspiring students into science careers, and his path from an engineering career with organizations like the Department of Defense, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and the Central Intelligence Agency to starting BrainSTEM, an education program that develops creative digital tools to enable all teachers and students to dive deeper into STEM content. Ricky and Eric talk about representation in science classrooms and the importance of embedding fun within K–8 science content! Explore more from Science Connections by visiting our main page.

      Download Transcript

      Ricky Mason (00:00):

      I feel like comfort is where dreams go to die. And I’m still dreaming every night. So I’ll wake up, chasing them.

      Eric Cross (00:08):

      Welcome to Science Connections. I’m your host, Eric Cross. My guest today is Ricky Mason. Ricky is an engineer whose career included lead roles at the Department of Defense, NASA, and the CIA. Ricky transitioned to education as an adjunct faculty at the University of Kentucky. And while there, he founded BrainSTEM, an edtech company that developed a 3D virtual reality metaverse for STEM education. Today, BrainSTEM serves public school districts, private schools, and nonprofits. And in this episode, we discuss what led Ricky to creating BrainSTEM Metaversity, and how he’s using the metaverse to transform STEM learning for students. And now please enjoy my conversation with Ricky Mason. How did you, so like maybe going back doing your origin story, maybe you can talk about it, but brother, you don’t sleep. Talk about keep making moves, your hashtag, I mean, I was looking at your LinkedIn profiles, looking at your details. You get after it. I was getting tired just reading it. I was like John Hopkins, electrical engineering, real estate, starting companies. You must have that gene where it’s like four hours of sleep and then you’re like, ready to go.

      Ricky Mason (01:19):

      Yeah, man. My mom told me if I didn’t stay busy, then I’m in trouble. So when I was about 14, she told me that. I said, well, Mama, I guess I’m gonna stay busy then. And yeah, man, that’s just been my life. I feel like if I don’t keep making moves, then I’m in trouble. So, feel like comfort is where dreams go to die and I’m still dreaming every night. So I’ll wake up chasing them.

      Eric Cross (01:44):

      I feel like a kindred spirit with you. So, were you always interested in STEM like, was there something like a moment or a year where you remember you were like, this is my jam. This is what I’m gonna get into.

      Ricky Mason (01:57):

      Yeah, man. When it really clicked for me was in the fifth grade. I was at a school assembly and an IBM engineer came in and he brought a robot and he programmed it with punch cards right on the stage. And I got the opportunity to come up andyou know, put one of the punch cards in the robot to program it. And I asked him, I’m like, what is your job? He said, I’m a robotics engineer. And I went home right after that assembly and I said, Mom, that’s what I wanna do, become a robotics engineer. And my mom would take me to the libraries. Well, I felt like I was getting outta bible study on Wednesdays by going to the library. So I went there and I started researching robots.

      Ricky Mason (02:39):

      And at the time the robots that were popular were all being sent to space. And it was the spiritless. It was being sent to Mars. And I said, Mom, well, I guess I gotta become an astronaut if I’m gonna be a robotics engineer. And that’s kind of what set me out on that dream. And my mom started trying to find outlets for me to get involved in STEM, but it was really tough to find those outlets, you know, especially in that fifth to eighth grade range here in Kentucky. So that was kind of where it started for me man, when I knew that yeah, engineering is what I wanna do.

      Eric Cross (03:14):

      What does an electrical engineer do? I imagine there’s different types of specialties, but like, was there something that you specialize in that you focused on or was it, is it just kind of like a generalist field?

      Ricky Mason (03:23):

      Yeah, so I would say, yeah, man, it’s a huge field. So you could be doing anything from, you know, power, like power coming into your house. So those large power systems all the way down to nanotechnology and microchips. I like to tell people I’m a real full stack engineer, so my wheelhouse is kind of from the PCD, the little green computer chips, all the way to the cloud. Over my career, I’ve had some pretty cool jobs. One of those things was I was a test engineer for the army. So I got to test weapons up at Aberdeen Proving Ground for the Army. So I got to drive those weapons and test them before they went to theater there. After that,I worked at United Launch Alliance down at Cape Canaveral where I launched five rockets.

      Ricky Mason (04:07):

      So I was a part of the electrical ground systems team there where we were responsible for all of the electrical systems on the rocket while it was on the pad. Somonitoring the temperature of the rocket, the fuel, the entire system for safety while it was on that pad. And then finally I worked at the CIA as a computer engineer building data centers and as a data center architect for some of our remote systems and virtualizing our systems. So kind of had a broad spectrum of things there. And then finally coming back to the University of Kentucky as a research engineer and faculty. I developed drone technology for monitoring crops. So flying drones over crops with LIDAR, just like self-driving cars with high-definition cameras to pull in data about those crops, to help farmers determine about pesticides fertilizers, and the overall health of their crops from a remote location.

      Eric Cross (05:10):

      It’s so neat to hear you talk about it and to see how this is all built up to what you do now with BrainSTEM. How would you explain what BrainSTEM is? I know that’s your, that’s kind of your baby right now and what you’ve been working on a few years.

      Ricky Mason (05:23):

      Yeah, man, we started BrainSTEM in 2019 officially, but I would say BrainSTEM has been almost 10 years in coming. While I was in undergrad, I played football at the University of Kentucky. But I got hurt going into my sophomore year and that kind of shattered my dreams of football. And that’s when I really got back into engineering. One of my professors asked me to come to a robotics competition and I saw these third graders and sixth graders programming robots. And I’m like, oh my God, they’re programming robots! And I had no idea how to code or what to do with these things. And where was this a when I was a kid? And so I immediately bought one of those robots and taught myself how to program it <laugh> and then we started a robotics team in Lexington,there at a church.

      Ricky Mason (06:10):

      And we got a sponsorship from Lexmark to start that team. And that was kind of my first leap into STEM and teaching STEM and creating programs for students in STEM. I did that in undergrad and like I said, fast forward 10 years later, I’m teaching at the University of Kentucky and we’re struggling to recruit STEM students. Why aren’t students going into STEM? I hear too many adults tell me, oh man, I wish I would’ve done engineering, or I started out in engineering, but I left engineering or I wish I could go back to school for engineering or learn to code. And I’m like, I asked them like, why didn’t you do this? What happened? And often it’s like, it was the math. It was, oh, I didn’t get into it until I was in college. And I’m like, well, that’s the key.

      Ricky Mason (06:52):

      I knew I wanted to do this in the fifth grade. And I started with a plan in the fifth grade to achieve these goals and dreams. And I started doing that research and realizing that the same problem existed that I had. There was no outlet for kids to get involved in STEM, and so many kids have an affinity for STEM an early age. So we started BrainSTEM to provide access to STEM education and exposure STEM careers, STEM professionals, and just to STEM fields as a whole, because too often kids may know about the term, engineer, or the term, scientists, but they don’t really know what those people do or have a strong connection with the field or have any hands-on projects that they kind of done around those things or met anyone like me.

      Ricky Mason (07:42):

      I didn’t meet an engineer until I was in college. So that has really been impactful for some of the students that we’ve been able to touch. I had a family reach out to me. They moved to Lexington from California and they were like, man, I really want my ninth-grade son to get involved in engineering. So we started a weekend program with that one student and it went amazing. Like we competed in science fairs, we applied for different college programs and things like that. So it became an entire like mentorship program. And I’m proud to say that a year ago, he actually graduated with his bachelor’s in electrical engineering from your side of town, UCSB. It was just awesome to actually see this come full circle. And that’s kind of one of the first things that we did before we actually formalized as BrainSTEM University.

      Eric Cross (08:34):

      What will be like your elevator pitch for a teacher? If you were gonna say, this is what BrainSTEM does. I have the luxury of going through it on the site, but since we’re on a podcast, how would you kind of pitch it to people letting them know, like what, what does it do? Who does it serve?

      Ricky Mason (08:47):

      Yeah. So BrainSTEM provides STEM curriculum and STEM magnets for schools and nonprofits looking to increase access to STEM for K through 12 students. We also have launched our BrainSTEM Metaversity, a metaverse product for teachers to take their 2D Google classroom and convert it into a 3D metaverse classroom where students can collaborate during a 3D class. So all of your students show up as their avatars that they can select from our inventory of 150 avatars, and enjoy class in a 3D gameified Minecraft like World.

      Eric Cross (09:26):

      So I made my avatar by the way. It’s kind of tight, I have to say, it’s kind of tight. Hey, I’m gonna share. So those of you in the podcasts I’ll share it so you can see it. You’re not gonna be able to see it right now, but since I have the man himself I gotta share it with him just so I can get a reaction. So can you see that?

      Ricky Mason (09:43):

      Yeah. <laugh> That’s so good.

      Eric Cross (09:44):

      I feel like I wanna look like him though. I want him in real life. Like I want be able to switch to looking like my avatar

      Ricky Mason (09:52):

      <Laugh>

      Eric Cross (09:54):

      That was the first thing that I jumped on, when I went on your site, was making the avatar and I had so much fun doing it. I actually took longer than I probably wanna admit cause I was like customizing everything

      Ricky Mason (10:03):

      Yeah, man. It’s so fun. And that’s exactly what, you know, when you can show up as the person you want, it changes your whole being. I’ve seen kids that are quiet in class. They show up as their avatar and they’re talkative, they’re asking questions, they’re moving around the room, interacting with other kids. I feel like it’s almost like a superpower just to put your avatar on.

      Eric Cross (10:25):

      So what is something that a teacher could have their students go and learn or do if they, if they signed up,

      Ricky Mason (10:31):

      Let’s kick it off. So how we started with the metaverses, was teaching coding. So our first class was Minecraft and Python coding in the metaverse. So students showed up in the metaverse with our virtual instructor, that instructor led a lecture in the metaverse and then those students could collaborate on their Python games. So, they created and built the game in Python. We shared those games in the metaverse and we have our leaderboards that are in the metaverse, as they’re completing these challenges, including these games, then sharing them back in the metaverse with other students and getting that feedback on their game. So we’ve seen huge excitement from students when I can come back in and see my friend’s work. Like too often, students don’t get to see their work and that’s motivation to do better when I’m like, Jim’s gonna see my work. It’s amazing to see that motivation when students are sharing their work with other kids and not just their parent or just them and the teacher or seeing their grades. It’s been really cool to see.

      Eric Cross (11:33):

      You have that genuine audience too. Like that real-time feedback. And then like an authentic audience for students that makes everything seem, it takes it up a notch.

      Ricky Mason (11:42):

      Yeah, man. And then as we have built on this platform, so like you said with that avatar, so think if you created a really cool looking avatar and other students wanted to be that avatar, we have a way of sharing that avatar back into the world and in the inventory so that other students could then be your avatar. Or, if you create a world, we could then share that world back into the inventory, so the teacher could have class in a world that you created.

      Eric Cross (12:07):

      They’re creating content, not just consuming it. They’re actually creating content that could be shared across like grade levels or students.

      Ricky Mason (12:14):

      Well, we’re gonna say right now it’s just within your classroom. Eventually yes, we want students to be able to share that across school districts. At least we think that data will be probably limited to those kinds of realms as far as schools go. But you’ll be able to share this across sixth grade. We’ll be able to see what everyone in the sixth grade is doing in their STEM class or their game development class or their history class, per se, even if they’re giving back a presentation or what we have here in JCPS is backpack skills of success, where students are presenting on things that they’re learning that relate back to core competencies that the district is focused on. And I think that sharing those in the metaverse and doing those in the 3D world will be an awesome experience for students.

      Eric Cross (12:56):

      Are you seeing anything else as far as those skills that we see that are needed in coding? Is there something that the VR adds that was distinct from maybe just a kid with a Chromebook in his class that it’s just him in isolation doing the coding? Was there any like aha moments or surprises when they’re in the VR world doing this?

      Ricky Mason (13:13):

      I think the biggest thing is we could actually show them real examples of code working in other ways. Sofor example, if we’re working through loops, we can show them something looping. We can relate these functions to real-world things happening in the VR world so that they can see and better relate the actual concept with visuals, if that makes sense. So, you’re in loop Allen the whole time you’re learning about loops. You’re immersed in that kind of world. What we’ve seen is students really start to, you know, they it pick up and it clicks a lot faster because some of these concepts are so abstract for students to understand, when we can relate them to things in that world that they see that are in front of them, that they can grasp before we go to okay, type in “while” “”parentheses” <laugh> they can thenrelate that and pick up on those clues a lot better after they’ve seen those things in the world.

      Eric Cross (14:09):

      So they can actually visualize it in the metaverse. Whereas outside of it, it’s more just, just text-based coding and they’re not isolated. Like the first thing I’m thinking about is how like, with my own students, when they’re learning Sratch or Python, it’s not easy to share back and forth because they all are on individual accounts and they’d have to go on a different computer, or we’d have to find some way to publish it. And then all the kids would have to access it. But it sounds like in the metaversity classrooms, it’s easy for students in that same class to see each other’s work. Am I getting that right?

      Ricky Mason (14:37):

      Yeah. So most of our classrooms are limited to 24 students and in some of our breakout classrooms, we limit them to about eight students. Everybody can share their screen, so students can share their screen in the metaverse. They can share their video in the metaverse. They can share documents in the metaverse. They can share their, like I said, their code or anything that they want to share with other students. They can kind of do that. So it’s been a really cool product, I think, for students to almost find independence to work within a group, in an online setting. As they’ve been working through these problems online and remote it’s been really cool to see how they use the metaverse and break out. Even in a class, they can go off into a section because it’s all spacial. If you walk away, I can’t hear your conversation. So they can go into a little section within a metaverse class and have their own breakout. And a teacher can walk over to them. Okay. You guys are working over here. Let me walk to my next group. Just like in class. So it’s been really cool to see those students use the metaverse like that.

      Eric Cross (15:41):

      Just listening to you talk about this. One of the exciting things about emerging technologies or taking what the private sector does, and someone with a mind like yourself, and go, how do I use this for education? Like, that’s something that like excites me and you’ve run with it. But I just thought about, you’re doing an hour of code, you’ve created this metaverse, and you can bring in somebody, a professional into the metaverse, but they’re in, you know, the Bay area, but they could be a software engineer for Tesla or Google or anybody. Could they move around the metaverse and take a look at different students’ work and interact in that way.

      Ricky Mason (16:17):

      Yeah, man, we get in there. We make metaverse selfies. I drop Lambos in the metaverse, we take picture with Lambos. We have scavenger hunts in the metaverse. It’s a really awesome experience. And that’s one of the big things I think that is so powerful, is like you said, we could have that engineer, that celebrity, we could have Travis Scott, you know, in the world meeting thousands of kids motivating them because they met their STEM goals. They met their, you know, their testing school goals or whatever. These are things that kids really care about. If I get the Travis Scott avatar or the Elon Musk avatar, because I completed the Elon Musk rocket challenge, like that’s huge for me to show up in class as that avatar, like it’s just like Fortnite and it’s bringing all of those mechanics into the classroom.

      Eric Cross (17:07):

      When I hear you talk about the metaverse and I hear you talk about the potential of where you want to go with it, I think about my own students, and I think about, how they would really have a genuine interest and desire to want to do this and probably be doing it when they don’t have to, like at home at night wanting to go back into it and interact. And, you’re also building this virtual community. I mean, are you seeing that like, cause I’m hearing that?

      Ricky Mason (17:28):

      Yeah, man, building that community is huge. And I often tell people all the time, I want the STEM community to be just like the basketball community, the football community. I want students to have that camaraderie built around them for learning STEM and participating in STEM activities and competitions. Because when you see students out there at a robotics, they have the same zeal, the same, you know, everything that you find at a football competition. So we just have to get behind them and back those events with the same enthusiasm that we back sports. And that’s the environment that I want to create for STEM students and for that STEM community, because I longed for that community when I was in school. And like I said, I had it in football, but I wanted both. I wanted the best of both worlds. I wanted my robotics guys and my football guys to show up together here at the competition and have a good time.

      Eric Cross (18:23):

      You’re absolutely right. Like robotics STEM, these things, community helps fuel like people’s interest and working together. And it brings people from the outside who are seeking that community. Like, hey, my friends are doing this, I wanna kind of check it out. That’s how we recruit a wider swath of our population into it. So it’s not this kind of very narrow channel of folks who are going into STEM.

      Ricky Mason (18:45):

      If you can’t find that community. I mean for me, I felt like I was the only one playing football who was interested in robotics. So I never told anybody because I didn’t feel like that related to anybody within my vicinity. So I kept that to myself and that’s the biggest thing. I think if we get these kids just talking more about their interests, because a lot of them are interested in robotics and space and these STEM topics, but they don’t have anyone that’s really nudging them or asking them or piquing their interest in those spaces and saying, hey man, it’s okay to, you know, learn about robots. It’s okay to geek out on space. <Laugh> So that’s been my goal and that’s kind of why I felt like this was the time in my career for me to kind of do this, be a face for STEM education and inspire kids to chase their goals and dreams. Over my career, I’ve had some really cool jobs, but I felt like I could keep doing cool jobs, but I’m like at the right age to still connect with those students and inspire them to chase their dreams. And that’s why I feel like right now, man, it’s just an opportune time to get these students involved in STEM.

      Eric Cross (20:01):

      We don’t get that. Oftentimes, when we’re solely doing the cool job or simply in the private sector, we don’t get those experiences as much as we do when we’re able to actually serve our community or students or take our passion, our skill set, and use it to serve another person. I hear that like, as you describe what you’re doing now is like, there’s something beyond just, you know, the using your skills and doing cool stuff, but there’s something I hear. That’s helping people and actually doing something you believe in that resonates deeply in you. And I can hear it as you talk about it.

      Ricky Mason (20:30):

      It’s been just amazing to actually chart out that journey. Like I said, and like tell kids, like, no man, I’m from right up the block from you, cause I mean, I’m building this back at home in my hometown. And that’s the reason why I kind of came back to kind of do that in my hometown, because I really want to, you know, relate to those students and inspire, you know, students here. Nobody thinks about technology coming out of Kentucky and that’s been a gift and a curse, I guess, with launching BrainSTEM in Kentucky. When I first started, I said, we’re a STEM education company, people are asking me what is STEM? So, that was where we started out with this in 2019, all the way to, you know, hey, in 2020, we’re gonna launch a metaverse. A metaverse! What is that? It’s been amazing to try to change the minds of not only Kentuckians about STEM and the importance of STEM, but the world that a metaverse company is coming outta Kentucky. <Laugh>

      Eric Cross (21:31):

      The work that you’re doing and, it exists beyond you and you probably know this, but as a Black science educator out here in San Diego … We don’t see people who look like all of us in this work often, and I saw that you had created something, a network group, network and chill. And that was one of the things, we had touched on community, but I thought that that was so huge because we need each other.

      Ricky Mason (21:55):

      I feel like that was the biggest thing for us in engineering. Like I showed up to my first internship and I’m like, I mean, my boss was cool. Everything else was cool, but I just didn’t feel like, hey, this is a community for me. And I almost changed my major because of that. But I’m glad that I didn’t, it’s huge to have more of us represented in, in these spaces.

      Eric Cross (22:16):

      And you know, in engineering, especially when we look at the disproportionate, you know, men versus women. Like it’s not, you know, it’s not just culture, but it’s, you know, gender, all of these different things. And if we’re gonna change it, I think a program like yours that gets exposure to all kids and then giving them choice. What advice would you give to students? Or what advice I should say, do you give to students now? When you see like your younger self in the different kind of K12 grades who are thinking about their futures or they’re thinking about STEM, what do you say to them?

      Ricky Mason (22:46):

      So my biggest advice, man is start now. Whatever that big thing is, that big dream is that you have, what is that now? You’re thinking about planes. You’re thinking about robots. You’re thinking about RC cars, whatever that is. Let’s start now. Let’s get your hands on an RC car. Let’s take it apart. Let’s start coding. Let’s start thinking about those problems now. But the biggest thing is, is getting kids used to solving tough problems. Typically, most students that have an affinity for, you know, STEM — and you just know that that kid’s gonna go into, STEM — they’re problem solvers. They’re typically looking and seeking those tough problems and seeking opportunities to learn. That’s where I feel like it’s parents’ jobs to provide that environment to foster, that zeal. A five-year-old kid, we started our STEM program with them at the beginning of this month.

      Ricky Mason (23:39):

      The first day I came in after I told him I was a rocket scientist. And now he’s like, well, I wanna be a pilot. I said, if you pay attention to this class, we’re gonna get you started on your way to being a pilot. And he knows all the parts of a rocket and he knows a rocket needs an oxidizer. And he knows the fuselage, the wings, the wing flaps. He knows all the different parts of the plane and how the forces, the drag, the lift, the weight, he knows how those are working cause we talked about those in class and he has so much more confidence and it came all to fruition when a kid said, wow, I thought it was gonna be really hard to be a robotics engineer. And I’m like, no, that’s not gonna be that hard. That is exactly what we set out to do when we started BrainSTEM, was to break down those barriers and those walls and build that confidence and say, look man, you can do this. It’s easy.

      Eric Cross (24:26):

      Society doesn’t help much either because one of our terms, right, if something’s really hard, or if something’s not hard, we say it’s not rocket science. That implies that rocket science is really hard and inaccessible. If kids would hear that it kind of instills in their brain, okay. It’s really hard, it’s probably too hard for me. To that point to parents, it sounds like a lot of just exposure, like giving students the opportunity to be able to be exposed to these things and letting them create wonder from it.

      Ricky Mason (24:51):

      Yeah, man. I often tell parents we’re gonna set kids up to go pro no matter what,

      Eric Cross (24:56):

      And those skill sets transfer, whether they decide to go into coding or they decide to manage a bank, you’re still gonna be dealing with people. You’re still gonna be problem-solving. You’re still gonna have to come up with creative solutions to things. It sounds like through a program like this, they learn those skills early.

      Ricky Mason (25:12):

      Yes. And I think that one thing that parents don’t think about … We talk about all the STEM and we want smart kids, but we need those soft skills also within STEM. So those competitions, getting them involved in those communities with STEM students is really huge in presenting their ideas because oftentimes, you know, our STEM guys, we’re in a lab working and that’s where we love and that’s where we wanna be because we haven’t, you know, been prepared to talk and present our ideas. So I think that’s a huge part of what we have to teach our STEM students. And we do that by providing that community and those opportunities for them to, you know, do that.

      Eric Cross (25:47):

      Thinking about where you are now, looking back on your K-12 education, were there any teachers that stood out to you or that inspired you as I even just say that, can you think of a particular teacher or one or two?

      Ricky Mason (26:00):

      When I think about my teachers, my teachers really taught me to solve those tough problems and those subjects that you don’t kinda like <laugh>, cause I was always a great student, but my teachers helped me to focus on those subjects that I didn’t so much, you know, enjoy. So I enjoyed math and science, but English social studies, like why do I have to be here? I had two teachers during my high school career that really supported me in that regard, and helping me to be the best student all aroundfrom like I said, STEM to English and social studies, and making me realize that I have to be a well-rounded student if I’m gonna be truly successful. As far as engineering, man, I would say one guy, my teacher, Nick Bazar up at John Hopkins. During my master’s there, I had a really cool project. I got to do data forensics on a real live murder case. <Laugh> That was really inspiring because I’m like, wow, this is real life where my coding skills are being used in a jury trial <laugh>. And so that was a really cool experience to partner with my professor to kind of do that. I mean, that was just mind blowing that I got to help with that and that, I mean, he was using his programming skills to help solve a murder case.

      Eric Cross (27:22):

      What’s the best way for people to connect with you and follow your journey? And if a teacher’s interested and they’re listening to this and they’re hearing, okay, this metaverse coding thing sounds awesome, I want to get involved, I wanna know more, where can people go? What steps should they take to be able to get connected to you and what you’re doing?

      Ricky Mason (27:40):

      Yeah. So you can check us out at brainSTEMu.com, that’s brainSTEM, the letter “u” dot com and on all social medias, we’re BrainSTEMu or BrainSTEM University. Teachers, right now, we are doing our free course for teachers. So sign up at brainstemu.com. You can sign up for your class to get into a free metaverse experience, just so you can kind of check it out and get your class into the metaverse and see how your students like the metaverse, how you like teaching in the metaverse and convert one of your 2D lessons from Google classroom into a metaverse classroom. For me, I’m Ricky Mason, 5 0 2 on all social media platforms. So you can just type that in Ricky Mason502 and get with me there.

      Eric Cross (28:28):

      Nice. Well Ricky, I wanna thank you for sharing your story and creating BrainSTEM. And then for, I know you’re a man of tremendous talents and skills and accomplishments, and you’re focusing all that on not only being back in your community, but also creating something for younger versions of you and opening up opportunities that they might not otherwise have, as you said, folks are like, what is STEM? And that is exactly where we need those seeds planted. So thank you for doing that.

      Ricky Mason (28:55):

      Oh man, this is awesome. I appreciate you, man for hosting this podcast and providing this platform and sharing the message of, you know, educators and people in the space.

      Eric Cross (29:07):

      Thanks so much for joining me and Ricky today. Make sure to support Science Connections by subscribing wherever you listen to podcasts. And you could hear more from Ricky in our Facebook group, Science Connections the community, where you can check out all the exclusive content. Until next time.

      Stay connected!

      Join our community and get new episodes every other Tuesday!

      We’ll also share new and exciting free resources for your classroom every month.

      What Ricky Mason says about science

      “We just have to get behind [students] and back them with the same enthusiasm that we back sports…because I longed for that community when I was in school.”

      – Ricky Mason

      CEO, BrainSTEM

      Meet the guest

      Ricky Mason is the dynamic CEO and founder of BrainSTEM, an ed-tech company that developed a metaverse for education. His corporate career included lead engineer roles at the DoD, NASA, and CIA. Ricky transitioned to education as adjunct faculty at the University of Kentucky. While there, he started BrainSTEM to bring innovative technology and an inspirational curriculum to STEM education. Today, BrainSTEM serves public school districts, private schools, and nonprofits.

      Follow Ricky on all social media @rickymason502

      Portrait of a smiling man with a beard and short hair, wearing a white shirt, against a gray background.

      About Science Connections

      Welcome to Science Connections! Science is changing before our eyes, now more than ever. So…how do we help kids figure that out? We will bring on educators, scientists, and more to discuss the importance of high-quality science instruction. In this episode, hear from our host Eric Cross about his work engaging students as a K-8 science teacher. Listen here!

      Amplify Desmos Math for Baltimore County Public Schools

      Welcome, Baltimore City community!

      Amplify Desmos Math is a new, curiosity-driven program that supports teachers in building their students’ math proficiency for life. On this site, you’ll find a variety of resources to guide you in learning more about what Amplify Desmos Math has to offer.

      About the program

      Amplify Desmos Math makes it easy for both teachers and students to make the shift to a problem-based approach by providing captivating activities, powerful teacher-facilitation tools, and lots of support for differentiation and practice.

      We’ve combined interactive problem-based lessons with explicit instruction, reinforcement, and practice to enable students to develop math proficiency that lasts. Lessons set a strong foundation in procedural and fact fluency, deepen understanding of concepts, and enable students to apply learning to real-world tasks.

      Amplify Desmos Math will be available for 2025–26 school year implementation. Interested districts can pilot the Beta release starting fall 2024.

      Structured approach to problem-based learning

      • Differentiation and personalized practice
      • Easy-to-follow instructional guidance
      • Robust assessments and reports
      • Spanish student materials

      Math that motivates

      • Powerful teacher-facilitation supports and tools
      • Students talking and building from each other’s ideas 
      • Every lesson has fully compatible print and digital materials for a collaborative classroom

      Student thinking is made evident

      • Curiosity-driven lessons that motivate students with interesting problems they are eager to solve
      • Explicit guidance for teachers on what to look for and how to respond
      • Technology that provides Responsive Feedback and is designed to reveal mathematical thinking

      Figuring out Problem-Based Learning

      Figuring out how to implement a problem-based learning approach to mathematics can be fun and challenging. Rest assured that you will not be alone on this journey. Amplify will be by your side every step of the way.

      In the short videos below, Fawn Nguyen (Math Teaching and Learning Team, Former Math Coach and Teacher) and John Hoogestraat (Math Product Specialist, Former Math Coach and Teacher) share their thoughts about the power of Amplify Desmos Math.

      Scope and sequence

      Click the links below to view the program scope and sequence for grades K–5 and for grade 6–Algebra 1.

      Start your digital review

      Amplify Desmos Math expands on Desmos Math 6–A1 (which received all-green ratings from EdReports) with beautiful print resources, and robust practice, differentiation supports, assessment and reporting. Read the review on EdReports.

      To review Desmos Math 6–A1 lessons click the orange button below, then click “Sign In” and use the following login credentials:

      Email: desmos-program+BCPS@amplify.com
      Password: Desmos1

      Preview lessons

      Check out the links below to explore our interactive digital lessons, as well as preview pages from the Teacher Editions and Student Editions. Watch our quick walkthrough video for tips on navigating our lesson resources.

      In addition to the sample lessons below, you can view a sampler of Amplify Desmos Math mini-lessons. Amplify Desmos Math mini-lessons are 15-minute lessons aligned to the most critical topics throughout a unit. Teacher-led mini-lessons are used to provide targeted intervention to small groups of students who need additional support or to re-engage students with content that they may need more time on.

      Grade 1, Unit 3, Lesson 15: 10-frames and Towers

      Grade 2, Unit 1, Lesson 3: Ways to Make 10

      Grade 5, Unit 1, Lesson 3: Cube Figures

      Grade 5, Unit 7, Lesson 7: Bullseye!

      Red speaker with two purple musical notes on a blue background.

      Grade 6, Unit 6, Lesson 16: Subway Fares

      Grade 7, Unit 6, Lesson 14: Unbalanced Hangers

      Grade 8, Unit 4, Lesson 4: More Balanced Moves

      Algebra 1, Unit 2, Lesson 6: Shelley the Snail

      Looking for help?

      Support is always within reach. Our team is dedicated to supporting you throughout your review and can be reached at any time by emailing or calling us directly.

      • Live chat: Click the orange icon while logged in to get immediate help.
      • Phone: Call our toll-free number: (800) 823-1969.
      • Email: Send an email to help@amplify.com. In the message body, please include your name and question. Provide as much detail as possible, so we can more quickly help you find a solution.

      Ready to learn more?

      Sign up to be among the first to preview Amplify Desmos Math.

      High-impact literacy tutoring for K–6 built on the Science of Reading-NEW | Amplify

      To view this protected page, enter the password below:



      Dyslexia and the Science of Reading: Finding kids at risk and helping them read

      The Science of Reading is also the science of reading struggles. Research helps us identify kids with challenges or at risk for learning disabilities, and helps us offer effective interventions that will make a difference.

      Amplify understands the power of early assessment and early intervention. mCLASS®, built on the Science of Reading, offers an evidence-based solution that can flag reading risk and difficulties associated with dyslexia. Getting students on the right track early is crucial to unlocking the potential of all students to read at their best.

      A teacher and a young student sit across from each other at a desk, talking, with a tablet on the table in a classroom setting.

      What is dyslexia?

      Here’s the definition of dyslexia developed by the International Dyslexia Association (IDA) and adopted by many state education codes: 

      “Dyslexia is a specific learning disability characterized by difficulties in word reading and/or spelling that involve accuracy, speed, or both and vary depending on the orthography. These difficulties occur along a continuum of severity and persist even with instruction that is effective for the individual’s peers.”

      A graphic titled "Dyslexia: Fact vs. Fiction" with a grid of random letters in colored and white squares below the title.

      Key signs of dyslexia

      Difficulties with phonological processing—such as phonemic awareness and decoding skills—are hallmark characteristics of dyslexia.

      Three colored squares display lowercase letters: "a" on an orange square, "c" on a blue square, and "g" on a yellow square—dyslexia-friendly design features each letter clearly arranged in a row with slight tilts.

      Key signs also include difficulty with: 

      • Understanding the sounds in words
      • Reading fluently
      • Spelling, rhyming, and sequencing information
      • Finding the right words when speaking

      Prevalence of dyslexia

      According to the IDA, between 15 and 20 percent of the U.S. population exhibits characteristics of dyslexia. With this in mind, it’s crucial educators have dyslexia resources that help all of their students be successful.

      A 3x3 grid of colored squares with the letters c, e, t, a, n, t, b, o, g in a typewriter font, each on a different colored background.

      Importance of early identification and early intervention

      Research shows that students who struggle to read in third grade are at high risk of continued struggle … and academic failure. And according to the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), only 33 percent of U.S. fourth graders are proficient in reading. We need to help students with dyslexia,  and we need to start early.

      Dyslexia can’t be “cured,” but it can be identified and successfully addressed, starting as early as kindergarten. Students with dyslexia do have the potential to read at grade level when they have access to early intervention, targeted supports, and a structured curriculum. A University of Washington study found that only eight weeks of specialized instruction strengthened students’ neural circuitry—and improved reading performance.

      Students establish reading trajectories early. Without intervention, readers on a low trajectory tend to stay on that trajectory or fall further behind. Being on grade level by the third grade is widely considered the most important predictor of high school graduation and college and career readiness. (Good, Guba, & Kaminski, 2001Morgan, Farkas, & Wu, 2011Shaywitz, Escobar, Shaywitz, Fletcher, & Makuch, 1992).

      The later the onset of intervention, the lower the odds that struggling readers will become proficient readers (Torgesen, 2000). Response to intervention (RTI) and Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS) are built on research in prevention and early intervention and designed to help educators implement strong literacy systems. The screening and progress-monitoring data they provide enable educators to design instruction and intervention that prevent difficulties and close skill gaps for students.

      Without early, intensive intervention, struggling readers won’t catch up to their average-performing peers. In fact, the gap between good and poor readers widens over time. (Adams, 1990Good et al., 2001National Research Council, 1998Stanovich, 1986).

      What dyslexia looks like

      Signs of dyslexia may emerge before children start school, but they become more apparent in the classroom.

      Two young students sitting at desks in a classroom, focused on writing in notebooks with pencils. Other students are visible in the background.

      They may include the following:

      • Delay in learning tasks such as tying shoes and telling time
      • Difficulty expressing oneself
      • Inattentiveness, distractibility
      • Difficulty with following directions
      • Left-right confusion
      • Difficulty learning alphabet, times tables, song lyrics
      • Difficulty with rhyming
      • Poor playground skills
      • Difficulty learning to read
      • Mixing orders of letters or numbers when writing
      • Reversing letters or numbers

      Dyslexia legislation across the United States

      A map of the United States showing states with universal screening laws, dyslexia laws, both, or neither, using different shades of green and gray for each category.

      Recent efforts to increase awareness of and protections for those with dyslexia and other reading difficulties have triggered major shifts in state-level educational legislation. According to the National Center on Improving Literacy, 49 states have passed laws addressing dyslexia in public schools. Common themes in the legislation:

      • Increased emphasis on intervention
      • Dyslexia screening procedures
      • Adoption of multi-tiered systems of support (MTSS)
      • The use of explicit instruction
      • Changes to teacher preparation and training
      • Establishing rights for individuals with dyslexia (e.g., creating state task forces to study educational issues/needs)
      • Preventing the use of dyslexia screening requirements to supplant or postpone IDEA or Section 504 eligibility determination process.

      How does mCLASS help you screen for students at risk?

      Amplify’s mCLASS system includes DIBELS® 8th Edition’s teacher-administered one-minute measures and other built-in dyslexia screeners, as well as intervention and robust reports for teachers and administrators. It’s all you need to monitor and support every student in your classroom.

      DIBELS 8th Edition logo with University of Oregon College of Education text and a yellow arc above the letters.

      The most critical early reading skills—including phonemic awareness, the alphabetic principle, and oral reading fluency (Good, Simmons, & Kame’enui, 2001National Reading Panel, 2000Torgesen, 2002)—are best measured through direct observation. This is a key feature of mCLASS’s content validity. Early literacy skills, defined as the  ability to translate letters to sounds and combine sounds to read and comprehend, are directly measured in mCLASS through a student’s active production of sounds and words, ultimately followed by reading and demonstrating comprehension

      Groups driving change

      The following organizations advocate for dyslexia legislation, supports, and other early literacy efforts:

      Decoding Dyslexia is a national network of parent-led grassroots groups across the country, organized around the issue of equity and concerned about limited access to educational opportunities for all students, including those at risk for dyslexia in the public education system. Through Decoding Dyslexia’s 50 state chapters, tireless parent leaders work to share dyslexia resources, raise awareness, remediate and support students with dyslexia, inform policy makers on best practices to identify at-risk students, advocate for the drafting and passage of state policies, and empower families to support equity for all children.

      The International Dyslexia Association (IDA) is a non-profit education and advocacy organization devoted to issues surrounding dyslexia. Serving individuals with dyslexia, their families, and professionals in the field, the IDA provides information about dyslexia on its website, publishes a peer-reviewed scientific journal called Annals of Dyslexia, and provides referral services to individuals and professionals who use the federal legislative systems to advocate for individuals with dyslexia. 

      The University of Oregon Center on Teaching and Learning—a UO College of Education research and outreach center that develops educational interventions and assessment tools—developed DIBELS (Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills). DIBELS is a research-backed instrument for evaluating reading in kindergarten through eighth grade classrooms. In developing DIBELS 8th Edition (University of Oregon, 2018), the Center on Teaching and Learning made significant efforts to ensure that the measures meet state-level dyslexia screening requirements and help maximize testing efficiencies for schools.

      The National Center on Improving Literacy (NCIL) is a partnership among literacy experts, university researchers, and technical assistance providers, with funding from the United States Department of Education. Its mission is to increase access to, and use of, evidence-based approaches to screen, identify, and teach students with literacy-related disabilities, including dyslexia.

      What my wedding taught me about choosing curriculum

      The right curriculum choice isn’t only about the product—it’s about who’s by your side from start to finish. Here’s how one district found that with Amplify CKLA.

      By Kelly Pruitt, Instructional Facilitator, Peninsula School District | May 28, 2026

      A teacher leans over a group of elementary students who are working together at a classroom table under a "CKLA Skills" sign, guiding them through successful CKLA implementation.

      Health benefits

      Amplify offers a comprehensive benefits package that meets the health needs of our diverse population and their families. Preventative care, mental health services, fertility benefits, flexible spending and health savings accounts, life insurance, and robust dental and vision coverage are just some of the benefits accessible to all eligible employees. The Transparency in Coverage Final Rule requires health plans and issuers to publicly disclose pricing information via machine readable files (MRFs). 

      Time off

      Our employees and their well-being are our top priority. For that reason, Amplify offers unlimited paid time off to all permanent (salaried) employees. Hourly employees receive a generous PTO bank. This can be used for vacation, sick days, or personal time—whether you need to take your pet to the vet, or care for a sick friend or family member. Paid parental leave, short-term and long-term disability benefits, and paid holidays are also common employee benefits offered at Amplify.

      Voluntary benefits

      Looking to protect your spouse, partner, children, or pet? Our comprehensive selection of voluntary benefits makes it easier and more affordable to cover those that you care about the most. Supplemental life insurance, pet insurance, and critical illness are just some of the voluntary benefits our employees can take advantage of at any time during their employment with Amplify.

      Financial benefits

      If saving for retirement is a priority to you, you’re at the right place. Amplify offers traditional (pre-tax) and Roth-based retirement account options with an employer-match benefit, giving you the flexibility and freedom to set and save for your retirement goals. Also, all members of our full-time staff have the opportunity to take advantage of our equity incentive plan, which demonstrates our commitment to our employees and the success of our organization.

      Remote work

      Remote work isn’t a new trend at Amplify. With more than half our staff based in cities outside the Amplify headquarters, we believe our employees can be productive and make valuable contributions regardless of where they’re located. Fun is also part of the remote work experience at Amplify—from happy hours to talent shows, yoga, and meditation sessions, Amplifiers can enjoy the many virtual employee engagement events that take place all year round.

      New Mexico approves Amplify Science for grades K–8

      Amplify, a company that creates next-generation curriculum and assessment programs, announced today that its science curriculum has been approved by the New Mexico Public Education Department and can now be purchased and implemented in classrooms across the state.   

      Each grade level was evaluated by the Department and required to meet an average 90% score threshold in order to be adopted. Amplify Science exceeded expectations and was the only program to get a 100% on an individual grade level.

      Developed in partnership with UC Berkeley’s Lawrence Hall of Science, Amplify Science puts students in the roles of scientists and engineers every day, engaging them in understanding and explaining compelling real-world phenomena. Educators who adopt Amplify Science receive a comprehensive curriculum complete with detailed lesson plans, embedded formative assessments, hands-on activities, digital simulations, and robust teacher supports.

      “We are eager to begin talking to educators across New Mexico about our highly-rated program,” said Steven Zavari, senior vice president and general manager, science curriculum, at Amplify. “Our pedagogy invites students to explore phenomena with the purpose of solving authentic problems. We want to create a generation of students who think like scientists and engineers, and who will become the innovators and informed citizens that New Mexico needs.”  

      Amplify Science is currently in use by more than one million students after launching in spring 2017. In addition to being adopted in California, Amplify Science has been adopted by the New York City Department of Education, Chicago Public Schools, Denver Public Schools, San Francisco Unified, the KIPP charter network, and hundreds of districts across the country.

      For more information about Amplify Science, visit www.amplify.com/programs/amplify-science.

      About Amplify

      A pioneer in K–12 education since 2000, Amplify is leading the way in next-generation curriculum and assessment. Our captivating core and supplemental programs in ELA, math, and science engage all students in rigorous learning and inspire them to think deeply, creatively, and for themselves. Our formative assessment products turn data into practical instructional support to help all students build a strong foundation in early reading and math. All of our programs provide teachers with powerful tools that help them understand and respond to the needs of every student. Today, Amplify serves four million students in all 50 states. For more information, visit amplify.com.

      Contact: media@amplify.com

      Amplify’s mCLASS selected as the K–3 formative and diagnostic assessment in North Carolina

      Brooklyn, NY (June 17, 2021) — Amplify, a publisher of next-generation curriculum and assessment programs, announced today that the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction (DPI) has selected mCLASS® as the K–3 formative and diagnostic assessment for Read to Achieve in North Carolina.

      Authored by the University of Oregon, mCLASS with DIBELS 8th Edition is an integrated literacy system based on the Science of Reading and validated for universal screening, progress monitoring, and screening for risk of dyslexia. The mCLASS platform is part of a large-scale Science of Reading initiative in North Carolina that provides educators with the training, tools and data they need to ensure every child has the opportunity to become a confident reader.

      “Amplify is honored to partner with DPI on this literacy initiative that is focused on equity and students’ futures,” said Larry Berger, CEO of Amplify. “We look forward to supporting the state of North Carolina in its commitment to early reading achievement.”

      “A reliable, valid diagnostic assessment tool is essential for understanding how we can better serve students in their journey to learning how to read. Literacy proficiency remains a priority for us at the Department of Public Instruction, and our work with Amplify will be pivotal to providing feedback to teachers and support staff on the Science of Reading strategies they are implementing in the classroom,” said Superintendent of Public Instruction Catherine Truitt.

      mCLASS includes streamlined administration for DIBELS 8th Edition measures, item-level analysis, grouping, robust reports for every stakeholder, a parent portal, and targeted instructional activities. The mCLASS assessment and instruction suite build the foundation for a state-wide Science of Reading-based literacy system driven by data.

      About Amplify

      A pioneer in K–12 education since 2000, Amplify is leading the way in next-generation curriculum and assessment. Our captivating core and supplemental programs in ELA, math, and science engage all students in rigorous learning and inspire them to think deeply, creatively, and for themselves. Our formative assessment products turn data into practical instructional support to help all students build a strong foundation in early reading and math. All of our programs provide teachers with powerful tools that help them understand and respond to the needs of every student. Today, Amplify serves more than seven million students in all 50 states. For more information, visit amplify.com.

      Contact: media@amplify.com

      Amplify acquires Desmos curriculum to build the future of math instruction; Desmos calculators to remain independent and free to all

      BROOKLYN, N.Y., May 18, 2022 — Amplify, a next-generation publisher of curriculum and assessment, announced today that it has acquired the curriculum and instructional technology of Desmos, the acclaimed developer of digital math tools and curriculum. The deal is the culmination of a close partnership between Amplify and Desmos over the past two years. Desmos’ world-renowned calculators will remain independent as part of a separate Public Benefit Corporation called Desmos Studio that will focus on the development of free, best-in-class online calculators and other tools.

      The Amplify and Desmos curriculum teams will now deeply integrate the technology and content they’ve both been developing and piloting for several years. The resulting combined program, based on IM K–12 Math™, will bring together Amplify’s proven ability to deliver the highest quality STEM curriculum to millions of students, and the groundbreaking digital tools and instructional approach of Desmos. Desmos technology will also power new modes of creative, collaborative learning in the next generation of Amplify’s science and literacy core programs.

      Now a part of Amplify, teacher.desmos.com will be called Desmos Classroom and will continue to provide free lesson-building tools and lessons to teachers around the world. Users can expect more instructional content, professional learning resources, and classroom learning tools, continuing to enhance Desmos Classroom as the most powerful free resource for math educators.

      “We have admired Desmos for more than a decade, watching them sail from strength to strength on a current of excellence and teacher enthusiasm. The past two years of working closely together reinforced a shared vision for improving math education,” said Larry Berger, Amplify’s chief executive officer. “We will now merge our math curriculum development efforts, with the goal of building a new kind of teaching and learning experience that helps every student love learning math and gain access to math’s power and beauty.”

      Desmos Studio will become a separate Public Benefit Corporation led by original Founder and Chief Executive Officer Eli Luberoff, and will continue to build and grow the Desmos suite of calculators and other tools, and the community that relies on them. The calculators will remain free to teachers and students globally and available for companies to license for use in their products. Its partnerships with over 75 organizations around the world will provide Desmos Studio with the resources to continue intensive research and development around Desmos calculators and other tools long into the future.

      “We chose this unique deal with Amplify because, in our years working together, it’s become clear that Amplify shares our pedagogical vision and our commitment to quality, and recognizes what’s made Desmos special. We know that Amplify’s exceptional team can help us continue to improve while bringing our curriculum and activities to as many teachers and students as possible,” said Eli Luberoff, founder and chief executive officer of Desmos. “As an independent entity, Desmos Studio will continue to improve the calculators that teachers and students know and love. The Desmos calculator is now embedded in math classrooms across the world, and for that reason should be managed as a resource for the public good, which means keeping it free for educators and students while continuously improving it for years to come.”

      About Amplify
      A pioneer in K–12 education since 2000, Amplify is leading the way in next-generation curriculum and assessment. Our core and supplemental programs in ELA, math, and science engage all students in rigorous learning and inspire them to think deeply, creatively, and for themselves. Our formative assessment products help teachers identify the targeted instruction students need to build a strong foundation in early reading and math. All of our programs provide educators with powerful tools that help them understand and respond to the needs of every student. Today, Amplify serves more than 10 million students in all 50 states. For more information, visit amplify.com.

      About Desmos
      Desmos wants to build a world where every student learns math and loves learning math, where a student’s access to the power and beauty of math doesn’t depend on their place of birth, race, ethnicity, gender, or any other aspect of their identity. Our free suite of calculators are used annually by millions of teachers and students around the world, and our activities and curriculum power the daily work of hundreds of thousands of teachers and millions of students. For more information, visit desmos.com.

      Contact: media@amplify.com