mCLASS Professional Development
Customer Privacy Policy
Last Modified: January 23, 2026 | Update History
Most recent update: This Privacy Policy has been updated to address additional rights for individuals in the European Union/UK.
We advise you to read this Privacy Policy in its entirety, including the jurisdiction-specific provisions in the appendix. Click here to review Our U.S. Notice At Collection.
Customer Privacy Policy: K–12 Schools
Who We Are
Amplify Education, Inc. (“Amplify”) is leading the way in next-generation curriculum and assessment. Amplify’s programs provide teachers with powerful tools that help them understand and respond to the needs of each student and use data in a way that is safe, secure, and effective.
Our Products and Services
Amplify’s products support classroom instruction and learning and include Amplify CKLA, Amplify ELA, Amplify Caminos, Amplify Science, Amplify Desmos Math, Boost Reading, Boost Math, mCLASS, Mathigon, associated professional development and tutoring services, and 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 Privacy Policy (together, the “Products”).
Our Approach to Student Data Privacy
In the course of providing the Products to Schools and their Authorized School Users, Amplify collects, receives, generates, or has access to Student Data (defined below). We consider Student Data to be confidential and we collect and use Student Data solely for educational purposes in connection with providing our Products to, or on behalf of the School as described in this Privacy Policy and our Agreements (defined below). We work to maintain the security and confidentiality of Student Data that we collect or store, and we enable Schools to control the use, access, sharing, and retention of Student Data.
Our Products are geared towards K–12 students (“Students”), and the educators, agents and staff members who use the Products as authorized by their School (“Educators”). Information that directly relates to an identifiable Student (“Student Data”) 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”).
Our collection and use of Student Data is governed by our Agreements with Schools, including this Privacy Policy (“Privacy Policy”), and applicable laws which may include FERPA, COPPA, the Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment (“PPRA”), as well as other applicable federal, state, and local privacy laws and regulations (“Applicable Laws”). As noted above, with respect to FERPA, Amplify receives Student Data as a “school official” under Section 99.31 of FERPA for the purpose of providing its Products, and such Student Data is owned and controlled by the School.
Schools may provide authorization in two ways:
- by the School agreeing to our Customer Terms and Conditions located at amplify.com/customer-terms or another written agreement between Amplify and the School, as applicable; or
- by an Educator agreeing to the Acceptable Use Policy located at amplify.com/acceptable-use-policy/ (“AUP”) on behalf of the School as outlined in the AUP.
In each case, we collect Student Data and provide these Products solely for the use and benefit of the School and for no other commercial purpose. We require all Schools to review this Privacy Policy, available at amplify.com/customer-privacy, 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 an account for use of our Products at-home or otherwise outside of the authorization of a School (“Home Users”). See the Appendix–Supplemental Disclosures for additional information that applies to our Home Users.
What This Privacy Policy Covers
This Customer Privacy Policy (“Privacy Policy”) describes how Amplify collects, uses, and discloses personal information through the provision of Products.
For purposes of this Privacy Policy, “you” and “your” means Authorized Users (defined below).
This Privacy Policy does not apply to Amplify’s handling of:
- information collected from users of Amplify’s company website, which is governed by our Website Privacy Policy.
- job applicant data that we process in accordance with our applicant privacy notice.
There may be different contractual terms or privacy policies in place with some Schools. Such other terms or policies supersede this Privacy Policy for information collected or released under those terms. If you have any questions as to which legal agreement or privacy policy controls the collection and use of your personal information, please contact us using the information provided below. Unless expressly superseded, this Privacy Policy is incorporated into and is subject to the Agreement that governs your use of the Products.
Our Role
Amplify as a processor/service provider: Our School customers are the controllers of Student Data (as well as certain other Educator personal information to the extent required by law or Amplify’s agreement with the School) (together “School Data”).
Amplify acts as a processor/service provider for our School customers with respect to School Data, which means when we use School Data, we do so solely on the instruction of the School. School Data is subject to the School’s privacy policies; therefore, you will need to contact the School directly if you have any questions or would like to exercise your rights with respect to School Data.
Amplify as a controller: We are the controller of all other personal information we collect from non-Student Authorized Users (“Amplify Data”) and can be reached by email at privacy@amplify.com or by mail at Amplify Education, Inc., 55 Washington St.#800, Brooklyn, NY, 11201.
Policy
1. Definitions
Capitalized terms not defined in this section or elsewhere in this Privacy Policy will have the meaning set forth by Applicable Laws.
“Agreement” means the underlying contractual agreement between Amplify and the School.
“Authorized Users” means all users of our Products, including Authorized School Users, parents and legal guardians, and Home Users.
“Authorized School Users” means Students and Educators.
“Local Education Authority” means a local education agency or authority, school district, school network, independent school, or other regional education system.
“Non-Student Data” means information that is linked or linkable to Authorized Users who are not Students.
“School” means the Local Education Authority or State Agency.
“State Agency” means the educational agency primarily responsible for the supervision of public elementary and secondary schools in any of the 50 states, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the District of Columbia, or other territories and possessions of the United States, as well as a national or regional ministry or department of education in other countries, as applicable.
2. What personal information do we collect?
When you access or use our Products, you may choose to provide us with personal information, including Student Data. This information may be provided to us directly (e.g. when an account is created or through communications with us) or through your interactions with our Products.
Student Data. Below is a list of the categories of Student Data that may be collected by Amplify or its Products, either directly or through the Authorized School User’s use of the various features and configurations of the Products:
- Identifier and Enrollment Data, such as name, email, school / state ID number, username and password, grade level, homeroom, courses, teacher names.
- Why? Most of Amplify’s Products require some basic information about who is in a classroom and who teaches the class—Student or teacher Identifier and Enrollment data. This information is provided to Amplify by the School, either directly from the School’s student information system or via a third party with whom the School contracts to provide that information.
- Demographic Data, such as date of birth, socioeconomic status, race, national origin, and preferred or primary language.
- Why? To support school instructional and reporting requirements, Amplify’s Products allow Schools to view reports and analyze data using Demographic Data. Generally, Demographic Data is provided on a voluntary basis by the School. For example, a School may wish to analyze Student literacy assessment results based on English Language Learner status to better tailor classroom instruction, and in that case, the School may provide Demographic Data to enable that reporting.
- School Records, such as grades, attendance, assessment results, and whether an Individualized Education Plan (IEP or local equivalent) is in place.
- Why? Some of our Products support grading assignments and administering formative, diagnostic, and curriculum-based assessments. Teachers use that information to support Students’ progress in the program or help with instructional decisions. We do not collect specific details from an IEP, nor do we collect protected health information or other sensitive information.
- Schoolwork and Student Generated Content, which includes any information contained in Student assignments and assessments, including information in response to instructional activities and participation in collaborative or interactive features of our Products, such as Student responses to academic questions and Student-written essays, as well as images, video, and audio recordings.
- Why? As part of the digital learning experience, some of our Products may enable Students to write text and create and upload images, video, and audio recordings. For example, in Amplify ELA, students may write essays or submit short-form responses in our platform as part of a lesson on literature. As another example, in Boost Reading, student interactions with reading skills games are recorded to keep track of the student’s progress to level up in the program and to provide visibility to teachers on how students are mastering the skills.
- Teacher Comments and Feedback, such as scores, written comments, or other feedback that Educators may provide about Student responses or student course performance.
- Why? To enable teachers to track the performance and provide feedback to their students.
- Non-Student Data. We may collect the following types of personal information from all other Authorized Users:
- Contact Information, such as name and email address, as well as grade level taught, school name and school location, whether you are an Educator or Home User that creates an account or uses our Products or communicates with us.
- Account Information, such as user login and password, for account creation and access purposes.
- Survey Responses, which you provide in response to surveys or questionnaires.
- Device and Usage Data. Depending on the Product, we may collect certain information about the device used to connect to our Product, such as device type and model, browser configurations, and persistent identifiers, such as IP addresses and unique device identifiers. We may collect device diagnostic information, such as battery level, usage logs, and error logs, as well as usage, viewing, and technical information (e.g., email open rates), such as the number of requests a device makes, to ensure proper system capacity for all Authorized Users. We may collect IP addresses and use that information to approximate device location to support operation of the Product. To the extent that we collect this information, this data is solely used to support operation of the Product and is not linked to Student Data. For purposes of clarity, Amplify does not use Student Data for marketing or advertising purposes (see section 6 of this Privacy Policy for more information about our commitments regarding Student Data).
- Why? We use this information to remember returning users and facilitate ease of login, to customize the function and appearance of the Products, and to improve the learning experience. This information also helps us track product usage for various purposes, including website optimization, to ensure proper system capacity, troubleshoot and fix errors, provide technical assistance and customer support, provide and monitor the effectiveness of our Products, monitor and address security concerns, and compile analytics for product improvement and other internal purposes.
- How? Cookies and Similar Technologies. We collect device and usage data through “cookies,” Web beacons, HTML5 local storage, and other similar technologies, which are used in some of our Products solely to support operation of the Products as described above. While we may use third party cookies and similar technologies for advertising and marketing purposes on our website (in accordance with our Website Privacy Policy), we do not permit such tracking technologies to be present on Student-facing portions of the Products. In particular, we only use the following types of cookies in our Products:
- Strictly necessary cookies – These are cookies that are required for the operation of our websites and applications that host our Products. They include, for example, cookies that enable you to log into secure areas of our Products. 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 the websites and apps that host our Products 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 us to “recognize” you when you use our Products, 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.
- Performance Cookies – These cookies help us and service providers acting on our behalf compile statistics and analytics about users of our Products that are accessed via websites and apps, including Device and Usage Information.
- Learn how to opt out of cookies and similar technologies by reading the “What Rights and Choices Do You Have?” section of this Privacy Policy below.
3. How do we use personal information?
Student Data. Amplify uses Student Data for educational purposes, to provide the Products, and to ensure secure and effective operation of our Products, including:
- to provide and improve our educational Products;
- to support School and Authorized School Users’ activities;
- to ensure secure and effective operation of our Products;
- for purposes requested or authorized by the School or Authorized School User or as otherwise permitted by Applicable Laws;
- for customer support purposes, to respond to the inquiries and fulfill the requests of the School and their Authorized School Users;
- to enforce Product access and security controls; and
- to conduct system audits and improve protections against the misuse of our Products, or to detect and prevent fraud and other harmful activities.
- to enable the adaptive and personalized learning features of the Products.
Non-Student Data. Amplify may use Non-Student Data for the purposes for which Student Data is used as set forth above. In addition, Amplify may use Non-Student Data to provide customized content, advertising and marketing in limited circumstances (e.g. to periodically send newsletters and other promotional materials) directed to Educators and Home Users. For sake of clarity, we do not use Student Data for marketing purposes and we do not direct marketing to Students. Amplify may also use Non-Student Data for internal research and analytics, including generating insights on the use of our Products by Educators in certain Schools so that we can better serve those communities. We will also use Non-Student Data as otherwise required or permitted by law, or as we may notify you at the time of collection. Learn how to opt out of these communications by reading the “What Rights and Choices Do You Have?” section of this Privacy Policy below.
Amplify may use aggregate or de-identified data as described in the Aggregate/De-identified Data section below.
4. To whom do we disclose personal information?
Student Data. We disclose Student Data to third parties only as needed to provide the Products under the Agreement, as directed or permitted by the School or Authorized School User, and as required by law. Such disclosures may include but are not limited to the following:
- to other Authorized School Users of the School entitled to access such data in connection with the Products;
- to our service providers, subprocessors, or vendors who have a legitimate need to access such data in order to assist us in providing or supporting our Products, such as platform, infrastructure, and application software. We contractually bind such parties to protect Student Data in a manner consistent with those practices set forth in this Privacy Policy and in accordance with Applicable Laws. A list of Amplify subprocessors is available at https://www.amplify.com/subprocessors;
- to comply with the law, respond to requests in legal or government enforcement proceedings (such as complying with a subpoena), protect our rights in a legal dispute, or seek assistance of law enforcement in the event of a threat to our rights, security, or property or that of our affiliates, customers, Authorized Users, or others;
- in the event Amplify or all or part of its assets are acquired or transferred to another party, including in connection with any bankruptcy or similar proceedings, provided that successor entity will be required to comply with the privacy protections in this Privacy Policy with respect to information collected under this Privacy Policy, or we will provide the School with notice and an opportunity to opt out of the transfer of such data prior to the transfer; and
- except as restricted by Applicable Laws or contracts with the School, we may also share Student Data with Amplify’s affiliated education companies, provided that such disclosure is solely for the purposes of providing Products and at all times is subject to this Policy.
Non-Student Data. Amplify discloses Non-Student Data for the purposes for which Student Data is used as set forth above. Amplify may also disclose Non-Student Data as otherwise required or permitted, or as disclosed at the time of collection. Please note that we do not share mobile information or opt-in consent with third parties / affiliates for their own marketing or promotional purposes.
5. Aggregate/De-identified data
Amplify may use de-identified or aggregate data for purposes allowed under FERPA and other Applicable Laws, to research, develop, and improve educational sites, services, and applications and to demonstrate the effectiveness of the Amplify Products. Amplify will not attempt to re-identify de-identified data. We may use aggregate information (which is information that has been collected in summary form such that the data cannot be associated with any individual) for analytics and reports. For example, our promotional materials may note the total number of students served by our programs in the prior year, but that information cannot be used to identify any one student. We may also share de-identified or aggregate data with research partners to help us analyze the information for product improvement and development purposes.
Records and information are de-identified when all personal information has been removed or obscured, such that the remaining information does not reasonably identify a specific individual. We de-identify Student Data in compliance with Applicable Laws and in accordance with the guidelines of NIST SP 800-122. Amplify has implemented internal procedures and controls to protect against the re-identification of de-identified Student Data. Amplify does not disclose de-identified data to its research partners unless that party has agreed in writing not to attempt to re-identify such data.
6. Data prohibitions, Advertising, Advertising limitations
Amplify will not:
- sell Student Data to third parties;
- use or disclose Student Data to inform, influence, or enable targeted advertising to a Student based on Student Data or information or data inferred over time from the Student’s usage of the Products;
- use Student Data to develop a profile of a Student for any purpose other than providing the Products to a School or Authorized School User, or as authorized by a parent or legal guardian;
- use Student Data for any commercial purpose other than to provide the Products to the School or Authorized School User, or as permitted by Applicable Laws.
7. External third-party services
This Privacy Policy applies solely to Amplify’s Products and practices. Schools and other Authorized Users may choose to connect or use our Products in conjunction with third-party services and Products. Additionally, our sites and Products may contain links to third-party websites or services . This Privacy Policy does not address, and Amplify is not responsible for, the privacy, information, or other practices of such third parties. Schools should carefully consider which third-party applications to include among the Products and services they provide to Students and vet the privacy and data security standards of those providers.
Authorized Users may be able to log in to our Products using third-party sign-in services such as Clever, ClassLink or Google. These services authenticate your identity and provide you with the option to share certain personal information with us, including your name and email address, to pre-populate our account sign-up form. If you choose to enable a third party to share your third-party account credentials with Amplify, we may obtain personal information via that mechanism. You may configure your accounts on these third-party platform services to control what information they share.
8. Security
Amplify maintains a comprehensive information security program and uses industry standard administrative, technical, operational, and physical measures to safeguard Student Data in its possession against loss, theft and unauthorized use, disclosure, or modification. Amplify performs periodic risk assessments of its information security program and prioritizes the remediation of identified security vulnerabilities. Please see https://amplify.com/security for a detailed description of Amplify’s security program.
In the event Amplify discovers or is notified that Student Data within our possession or control was disclosed to, or acquired by, an unauthorized party, we will investigate the incident, take steps to mitigate the potential impact, and notify the School in accordance with Applicable Laws.
Non-Student Data
Outside of Student Data, 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.
9. 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.
10. Data Retention / Deletion
Student Data
Upon request, we provide the School the opportunity to review and delete the personal information collected from Students. We will retain Student Data for the period necessary to fulfill the purposes outlined in this Privacy Policy and our Agreement with the School. We do not knowingly retain Student Data beyond the time period required to support the School or Authorized School User’s educational purpose, unless authorized by the School or Authorized School User. Upon request, Amplify will return, delete, or destroy Student Data stored by Amplify in accordance with applicable law and customer requirements. We may not be able to delete all data in all circumstances, such as information retained in technical support records, customer service records, back-ups, and similar business records. All such information will be protected in accordance with this Privacy Policy and our Agreement until it has been permanently deleted. Unless otherwise notified by the School, we will delete or de-identify Student Data after termination of our Agreement with the School.
Non-Student Data
Outside of Student Data, we keep personal information as long as it is necessary or relevant for the practices described in this Privacy Policy or as otherwise required by our Agreement with the School, if applicable. We determine the appropriate retention period for personal information on the basis of the amount, nature and sensitivity of the personal information being processed, the potential risk of harm from unauthorized use or disclosure of the personal information, whether we can achieve the purposes of the processing through other means, and on the basis of applicable legal requirements (such as applicable statutes of limitations).
11. What rights and choices do you have?
What Choices Do You Have?
Marketing/Advertising
As noted above, we do not use Student Data for marketing purposes and we do not direct marketing to Students. Amplify does not use third party cookies and similar technologies for advertising and marketing purposes on Student-facing portions of the Products. The choices below apply to Non-Student Authorized Users.
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 or email us at privacy@amplify.com. Amplify does not send marketing communications to Students.
Opt-out of Cookies and Similar Tracking Technologies. With respect to cookies, you may be able to reject cookies through your browser or device controls. Note that you have to opt-out of cookies on each browser or device that you use. If you replace, change, or upgrade your browser or device, or delete your cookies, you may need to use these opt-out tools again. Please be aware that disabling cookies may negatively impact your experience as some features may not work properly. To learn more about browser cookies, including how to manage or delete them, check the “Help,” “Tools,” or similar section of your browser.
What Rights Do You Have?
Individuals in the U.S.
- What Rights Do You Have With Respect to Student Data?
- Review and Correction. FERPA requires schools to provide parents with access to their children’s education records, and parents may request that the school correct records that they believe to be inaccurate or misleading.
- If you are a parent or guardian and would like to review, correct, or update your child’s data stored in our Products, contact your School. Amplify will work with your School to enable your access to and, if applicable, correction of your child’s education records.
- If you have any questions about whom to contact or other questions about your child’s data, you may contact us using the information provided below.
- Other Privacy Rights? Please see section 3 of our supplemental disclosures: “Additional U.S. State Privacy Law Rights” for more information about your U.S. privacy rights
Individuals in the EU/UK
Please see section 4 of our supplemental disclosures: “Notice for European Economic Area and United Kingdom Customers” for more information about your EU/UK privacy rights.
12. COPPA
We do not knowingly collect personal information from a Child User unless and until a School or Educator, with the permission of the School, has authorized us to collect such information to provide the Products. Amplify relies 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 Child Users in accordance with all applicable provisions of COPPA. To the extent COPPA applies to the information we collect, we process such information for educational purposes only, and no other commercial purpose, at the direction of the School and on the basis of the School’s authorization. If you are a parent or guardian and have questions about your child’s use of the Products and any personal information collected, please direct these questions to your child’s school.
Please refer to the Appendix–Supplemental Disclosures if you are a Home User.
13. Updates to this Privacy Policy
We may change this Privacy Policy in the future. For example, we may update it to comply with new laws or regulations, to conform to industry best practices, or to reflect changes in our product offerings. When these changes do not reflect material changes in our practices with respect to use and/or disclosure of Authorized Users’ personal information, including Student Data, such changes to the Privacy Policy will become effective when we post the revised Privacy Policy on our website. In the event there are material changes in our practices that would result in Authorized Users’ personal information being used in a materially different manner than was disclosed when the information was collected, with respect to Student Data, we will notify the School, and with respect to other information, we will notify you via email and provide an opportunity to opt out before such changes take effect.
14. 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
To report a security vulnerability, visit https://amplify.com/report-a-vulnerability/.
Appendix – Supplemental Disclosures
1. Mathigon and Amplify Classroom accounts
While our Products are geared towards Schools we do provide a limited opportunity for Home Users to use the Products at home—outside of the school context. We do not allow persons under the age of 13 (or those under the age of consent in any applicable jurisdiction) to register for an account with us outside the school context.
If you are a Home User, 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.
Please note that most parts of Mathigon can be used without creating an account or providing any personal information that directly identifies you.
What Rights Do You Have? If you are a Child User who is 13 or older with a legacy Mathigon account (or the parent or guardian of a Child User with a legacy Mathigon account), you may request that we provide for your review, delete from our records, or cease collecting any Child User personal information. To the extent that you are unable to exercise these rights through self-service features within your account with us, please contact us by sending an email to: help@amplify.com and we will provide assistance.
2. U.S. Notice at Collection
| Personal Information We Collect | How We Use Personal Information |
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Student Data, which includes:
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Authorized Users, which includes:
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Some of the information described above may be considered “sensitive” under the laws of certain jurisdictions (i.e., account credentials and race/national origin) (“Sensitive Information”). We use Sensitive Information for necessary or reasonably expected purposes – specifically, to provide you with our Services (i.e., account credentials are used to allow account logins and race/national origin are used for the School’s reporting purposes when voluntarily provided by the School).
We do not sell or share your personal information, as described in California law.
We retain your personal information for as long as reasonably necessary for the purposes disclosed in the chart above. Additional information about our retention of Student Data and personal information from other Authorized Users can be found in Section 10 of this Privacy Policy.
Please see the Additional U.S. State Privacy Law Rights section of this appendix for information about your privacy rights pursuant to applicable U.S. law.
Notice of Financial Incentive
From time to time, to support our services, we offer opportunities to complete surveys and questionnaires. As an incentive for completing the survey or questionnaire, you can voluntarily provide personal information as an entry into a raffle drawing or to obtain 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 the survey is complete. We do not allow students to participate in our surveys.
The value of the personal information we collect in connection with our Financial Incentives is equivalent to the value of the benefit offered.
3. Additional U.S. State Privacy Law Rights
Note for Requests Relating to Student Data: Because Amplify provides the Products to Schools as a “School Official,” we collect, retain, use, and disclose Student Data only for or on behalf of the School for educational purposes, including the purpose of providing the Products specified in our Agreement with the School and for no other commercial purpose. Accordingly, we act as a “service provider” for the School with respect to School Data. We work with the School to support and assist them in addressing privacy requests relating to School Data. Please reach out to your School directly if you wish to exercise any privacy rights that may be available to you.
For all other requests: With respect to Amplify Data, individuals residing in certain U.S. states have the following rights, regarding your personal information (each of which is 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.
- Correction. You have the right to request that we correct inaccurate personal information collected from you.
- Deletion. You have the right to request that we delete the personal information that we maintain about you. Even after the deletion of your account, some personal information may remain on our servers, such as in technical support logs, server caches, data backups, or email conversations. These will be automatically deleted after a reasonable amount of time, unless we are legally required to retain information for longer, or unless there is a legitimate business reason (e.g. security and fraud prevention or financial record-keeping). We are not required to delete any information which has been aggregated or de-identified in accordance with Section 5.
- 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.
See Submitting Requests section below for details on submitting a request to exercise these rights.
4. Notice for European Economic Area (EEA) and United Kingdom (UK) Customers
As detailed at the beginning of our Privacy Policy (under the section titled “Our Role”), Amplify operates primarily as a processor that collects personal information on behalf of the School, and we act as a controller in limited circumstances where we offer Products outside the school context.
If you represent a School in the EEA or the UK, please note that we process personal information in accordance with this Privacy Policy, our Acceptable Use Policy, and our standard Data Protection Agreement, which sets out our responsibilities when it comes to our processing activities. Schools must send an email to privacy@amplify.com to enter into that DPA.
Lawful Basis for Processing
We rely on the following lawful bases for our processing activities:
- Consent;
- We obtain your consent to use cookies to collect and process device and usage data to understand how individuals use our Products.
- Pursuant to a contract for use of our Products;
- We process School Data to provide our Products (e.g., to create, authenticate and manage your account, to verify your identity, to manage our Products) pursuant to the Agreement between us and the School, as required in order for us to perform our obligations.
- To comply with our legal obligations;
- We process all categories of personal information that we collect to ensure the safety and security of our Products 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 process all categories of personal information that we collect to support the provision, effective management, and improvement of our Products where such activities are not strictly required under our contract. This is in our legitimate interests to ensure that we are providing the best possible service.
- We process all categories of personal information that we collect to ensure the safety and security of our services where this is important but not required under the data protection law or cyber and information security laws. This is in our legitimate interests to ensure the security of our services and systems, to prevent threats, abuse or fraudulent or unlawful activity, to promote safety and security and to ensure our Products are used in accordance with our terms and conditions.
- We process the contact information of Non-Student Authorized Users to manage our relationship, including to respond to queries or otherwise communicate with you in relation to our Products and the operation of our business where this is not strictly required under a contract with you. This is in our legitimate interests to communicate with and resolve queries from users of our Products and to ensure that we are providing the best possible service.
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Update History:
Update: 6/13/2025: This Policy has been updated to align with product updates and to provide additional context for authorized educational use of Amplify’s Products.
Update 6/27/2024: The Policy has been updated to include an explanation regarding Google APIs in the Appendix — Supplemental Disclosures section.
Update 6/30/2023: This Privacy Policy has been updated to address new state law data privacy requirements.
S1-04: Connecting with students and caregivers in the science classroom: Ryan Rudkin

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.
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):
- 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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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.

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.
You might also like:
S1-05: How does coding fit in the science classroom? A conversation with Aryanna Trejo of Code.org

In this episode, Eric sits down with Aryanna Trejo, a professional learning specialist of Code.org. Aryanna shares her journey from working as an elementary teacher in New York City and Los Angeles to teaching other educators at Code.org. Eric and Aryanna chat about computer literacy within the science classroom, problem-solving skills, and ways to model productive struggle for students. Aryanna also shares ways to teach coding and computer literacy in schools, no matter the classroom’s technology level. Explore more from Science Connections by visiting our main page.
Aryanna Trejo (00:00):
I would hear teachers saying things like, “Well, I just can’t do coding; this is too hard for me; the time has passed.” And I would ask them, “Would you say that to your student about math or English?” And they would always sheepishly go, “No.” And I’d say, “Well, be as kind to yourself as you would be to your student.”
Eric Cross (00:19):
Welcome to Science Connections. I’m your host, Eric Cross. My guest today is Aryanna Trejo. Aryanna is a member of the professional learning team at Code.org. Before joining Code.org, Aryanna led computer science professional development for elementary school teachers, and served as an instructional coach for new educators. She also taught fourth and fifth grade in both New York City and in Los Angeles. In this episode, we discuss Aryanna’s journey to Code.org, where she helps educators connect coding to real life, how to use a rubber duck to solve problems, and how coding and computer science principles can be taught to students in areas without access to the internet…or even a computer. I hope you enjoy my conversation with Aryanna Trejo. So I was born and raised here, and I saw that you went to UC San Diego.
Aryanna Trejo (01:11):
I did, I did. I actually just put a deposit down on an apartment in University Heights, ’cause I’m moving back.
Eric Cross (01:16):
You’re coming back?
Aryanna Trejo (01:17):
I’m coming back. Yeah.
Eric Cross (01:19):
So if you need a classroom to visit….
Aryanna Trejo (01:21):
I would love to do more classroom observations!
Eric Cross (01:24):
Are we doing this? Let’s do—we’re making this happen.
Aryanna Trejo (01:26):
We are. Yeah. So I’ll be there. I’m moving there in April. I actually grew up in Orange County too, so I’m like a very diehard SoCal person.
Eric Cross (01:35):
So I feel like I know the answer to, hopefully—Tupac or Biggie? ‘Cause you’re on the East Coast, and you’re on the West Coast.
Aryanna Trejo (01:40):
Yeah. I like Tupac, but I have more Biggie songs committed to memory. Which is not a lot. I have “Juicy” and “Hypnotized” memorized.
Eric Cross (01:53):
All right. So you’re just memorizing, and you have the Biggie songs memorized, but not the Tupac ones.
Aryanna Trejo (01:58):
No, but I do love Tupac songs. You know, it’s like, Biggie has the flow, but Tupac has the lyrics. Nobody’s—they both have something really amazing about them.
Eric Cross (02:06):
You know, I can respect that you broke it down into both of their strengths.
Aryanna Trejo (02:11):
Thanks for buttering me up before this interview. And not….
Eric Cross (02:15):
<laugh> Oh, we already started.
Aryanna Trejo (02:16):
Huh? We already started?
Eric Cross (02:17):
We’re already started. Yeah. We’re already into this.
Aryanna Trejo (02:19):
We’re into it.
Eric Cross (02:21):
You were in the classroom, fourth and fifth grade, and you were doing TFA.
Aryanna Trejo (02:26):
I did. I did Teach For America. I was 2012, New York City Corps. Right after graduation. ‘Cause I graduated UC San Diego in 2012. So graduation was on June 17th, and I touched down at JFK on June 19th.
Eric Cross (02:40):
Even though I wasn’t in TFA, I know a lot of the fellows that are in it. And there’s just some phenomenal teachers in there. How long were you doing elementary school when you were teaching?
Aryanna Trejo (02:49):
Yeah, I taught for—well, I did, three years of teaching fourth grade. Then there happened to be an instructional coach opening in my fourth year. I took that, did some instructional coaching within the same network, and then I moved back to LA and I taught fifth grade for a year.
Eric Cross (03:11):
- And what was it like now? Did you go to Code.org right after the classroom?
Aryanna Trejo (03:17):
No, I didn’t. No. I transitioned after teaching fifth grade for a year in downtown Los Angeles, in the Pico-Union neighborhood. I ended up getting this email out of the blue from someone who had actually found me through the Teach for America job site. ‘Cause I was hitting the pavement; I was really looking to transition out of the classroom. And she invited me to interview with this company called 9 Dots. And they taught computer science to kids K–6 throughout Los Angeles and Compton. And I was like, “Sure, no problem. Let’s do it.” So I interviewed, I got the job, and yeah, that’s how I transitioned to 9 Dots. And then after almost four years there, I transitioned to Code.org, with the same person. Actually, she moved over to Code.org first, and then she helped me get this job.
Eric Cross (04:07):
Oh, that’s happened a lot—like, that relationship kinda carries over.
Aryanna Trejo (04:11):
Yeah. We’re meant to be coworkers.
Eric Cross (04:13):
Yeah. Are you still? Is she still there? Are you both still together?
Aryanna Trejo (04:17):
Yeah, we’re on the same team and it’s nice. I saw her last night for Happy Hour, with another coworker who’s in LA. So we’re tight. And she’s a wonderful, wonderful mentor to me.
Eric Cross (04:28):
That’s great. Did you have computer-science background, when you were doing elementary school teaching? Did you have—
Aryanna Trejo (04:34):
No. <laugh> Not at all. When I was teaching in New York City, I had like four desktop computers in my classroom, and we rarely used them. Which was such a shame. And then when I moved to Los Angeles and taught fifth grade there, we were a one-to-one school, and the joys of that are just amazing. It was just really wonderful to, you know, get the students used to typing on the computer, using different software to submit their assignments. Getting creative—as creative as you can get—with Google Slides. You know, to show off what they know. And stuff like that. That’s all I had, though. And you know, when I transitioned to 9 Dots I was like, “Sure, why not? Let’s give a shot.” And I learned a lot. It was really interesting, yeah.
Eric Cross (05:26):
And so now at Code.org you are…well, so my journey with Code.org, I’ve been in the classroom for eight years. Still in the classroom as of…an hour ago, I was there. <Laugh> And I use Code.org, and I feel like I’ve checked it periodically, and I feel like it’s evolved over the gaps. And I’ve seen it. It’s become more robust in the things that they offer, over the years I’ve been an educator. Just to kind of…could you give a thumbnail sketch? Like, what is Code.org? Who’s it for? Who’s the target audience? What resources are there?
Aryanna Trejo (06:00):
Yeah. So it’s for everyone. It is a nonprofit that provides curriculum and training and a platform for teachers and students. We provide curriculum for K through 12. It’s completely free. And it comes with lesson plans, slideshows, all that. We focus specifically on underrepresented groups. So we have targeted measures for Black students, for Native American students, for students who identify as female. That’s a huge part of our mission. But we’re really working to expand access to computer science to as many students as we can.
Eric Cross (06:41):
One of the things I’m hearing in your story is you were teaching in Compton; you were in Bronx, New York. One of the reasons why I got into the classroom is because of educators, and the impact they made on me in exposing me to science and technologies I’d never had access to. And that intentionality, that you’re going about it…are there…not just the code, but how you bring that across to different groups…are there strategies, or are there ways to connect this idea of coding to diverse groups and diverse audiences? Or is it kind of, the curriculum applies for everyone? ‘Cause in science, when I’m teaching, I’m always trying to make what I’m doing relevant to the backgrounds of my students.
Aryanna Trejo (07:28):
Sure.
Eric Cross (07:28):
So I’m teaching biology, and I’m trying to make this kind of connection. Sometimes it’s more organic; sometimes it feels kind of forced. Because it’s just not always a nice fit. But it sounds like Code.org is really about inclusion. And in the numbers that I’ve seen for representation, in especially computer science software engineers, the groups that you’re focusing on are not necessarily represented in the professional workforce. At least disproportionately.
Aryanna Trejo (07:54):
Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, that’s correct.
Eric Cross (07:57):
And so how do you go about being intentional about reaching groups that we don’t see in, you know, the Silicon Valley software engineers? How do you start that? Like, at a young age, do you look for specific schools in specific areas to say, “We are going to bring this to the school. We’re going out to these populations of the cities”? Because we’re just not seeing…you know, on the map, we’re not seeing anybody really doing anything with coding here. Or we’re not seeing the numbers come out of these areas, out of these cities, of students who are going into STEM or going into computer science fields.
Aryanna Trejo (08:41):
Yeah. I don’t necessarily work on the recruitment side of it, is the issue, in my position. But I do work on the professional learning, that is brought out to teachers. And we have a huge focus on equity throughout the workshops that we create from K–12. It’s something we’re really passionate about. We definitely aim to prepare teachers to teach computer science. That’s a huge part of it. Knowing the content, but also thinking through, “What does recruitment look like at your school to make sure that the demographics of your classroom match the demographics of your entire school?” Also, thinking through, “How can we make sure that female students feel included in your classroom? How can we make sure that we are, giving students creativity to think about, or we are setting students up to be creative and think about the problems that are in their community, and how they can use computer science to solve them, or at least work towards them?”
Eric Cross (09:39):
So solving real-world problems and that inclusion aspect…are there things like…you were saying “female or students who identify as female”…are there things that teachers can do to ensure that they’re being more inclusive? Or to recruit, or encourage more female students to take part? One of the things I was thinking of, that I’ve seen, is I’ve seen coding kind of camps.
Aryanna Trejo (10:06):
Sure.
Eric Cross (10:08):
That were specifically for a female audience. And that seemed to help with recruitment. Is that something that you see on your side?
Aryanna Trejo (10:16):
That’s not something that we set up, no. But the curriculum that I work with is CS Principles. And it’s offered as an Advanced Placement course, as well as an AP class. So that’s a curriculum that’s designed for students who are in grades 10 through 12. And so at that point, we can really talk to teachers and ask them what the recruitment strategy is. But in terms of strategies that teachers can use to recruit those students…I mean, I’ve heard over and over from lots of different teachers who identify as female that they didn’t think that computer science was for them, until they saw a role model in that position. And so just being a role model for those students is really wonderful.
Eric Cross (11:00):
And I see it too, with—like, we do “Draw a Scientist” activity, which is like a popular science thing—
Aryanna Trejo (11:05):
Sure, yeah, I’m familiar.
Eric Cross (11:05):
But it’s the same thing, right? Like, it fleshes out. My students don’t draw themselves as scientists. They draw what they perceive, based on what television says. I imagine with computer science, it’s probably really similar, when you think about “What’s a software engineer look like?” Do students tend to draw themselves? Or is it even a mystery? Because I don’t even know what a software engineer looks like.
Aryanna Trejo (11:28):
Yeah, absolutely. Well, one of the things we love to do with our professional learning workshops is talk about understanding yourself, your identities, how they show up in the classroom as biases. And, you know, things like stereotype threat. We see that as really important to understand, and think through, and consider, before you step into the classroom. So that you’re not, you know, coddling certain groups of students because you don’t believe that they are able to be successful in computer science. Holding all the students to the same expectations and believing that they can succeed. And computer science, I think a lot of the times people have this conception of it being this utopian, bias-less, technocratic field. When in reality, everything has bias. And people talk about algorithmic bias and facial recognition, but also the people who created computers and computer languages have their own bias that comes through. And I think it’s really important to show students that. So that they can, one, know what they’re working with, and two, make sure that they can create products that reduce that bias.
Eric Cross (12:50):
It’s like…it’s not objective, just because we’re creating software. Like, once it gets to a point of being so sophisticated…I think, like, AI software, right? With facial recognition? And we’re seeing more and more articles come out about, you know, predicting trends based on historical data.
Aryanna Trejo (13:12):
Sure.
Eric Cross (13:13):
But then, the trends and things that they’re seeing tend to target things that have happened in the past. But it also doesn’t take into consideration a lot of other factors that can lead to certain groups or populations being identified. And I’ve seen some articles lately about how your code is really just representation of what you put into it. And like you just said, your bias—if you have that, conscious or unconscious—you’re gonna put that into your code. And the input is gonna be an impact, is gonna impact the output.
Aryanna Trejo (13:44):
Yeah, absolutely. Or even just—and I’m ashamed to say this, ’cause this is an idea that came to me just recently, through an article that I read—but computers themselves have bias. The hardware assumes that you have vision, that you can see the screen, that you are able-bodied, that you can use your hands to work the keyboard, the mouse, et cetera, and that you don’t have to use assistive technology. You know, there are small things like that, where we think that technology, like I said, is this utopian, futuristic science…but there are biases throughout.
Eric Cross (14:19):
You’re absolutely right. I’ve never even—I’ve never even considered that. Even though I do use assistive tech, and figure it out, I’ve never thought from the ground up, the process is built for an able-bodied, sighted, hearing person.
Aryanna Trejo (14:31):
Exactly.
Eric Cross (14:32):
To be able to engage with the hardware. And then these other things, these tertiary things that we kind of add on, so that you can do this, but it’s not designed from the ground up for people who are, you know, different audiences, physically. So I’m glad you brought that up, though. Now I’ve seen—and I haven’t done this—but I know Hour of Code is a big thing. And this is something that’s ongoing. Can you talk a little bit about what Hour of Code is? I know it’s, it’s a big thing for the classroom teachers.
Aryanna Trejo (15:08):
Yeah. So Hour of Code is really exciting, and it’s just blossomed from something small to something tremendous. This year is gonna be the 10th Hour of Code. So what it is, is it happens during CS Education Week in December, during Grace Hopper’s—or to honor Grace Hopper’s birthday. She was a computer scientist and Navy Admiral. And basically the aim of it is to get as many students on the computer doing an hour of code, and demystify what coding is. You know, to do seed-planting. To show teachers that this is something that you can facilitate for your students. And also to show students like, “Hey, computer science is something you can absolutely do. Not just for an hour, but more if you want.” So, yeah. Now it’s worldwide, and it’s really exciting.
Eric Cross (15:58):
That’s awesome. And I think about teachers and I still hear the apologetic—when I’m helping teachers in the classroom with education technology—the self-deprecating “I’m a dinosaur; I’m not good with tech,” which is never true. Like, they’re better than they even realize. And I feel like sometimes there’s still a stigma, too. It’s like <laugh> The Simpsons’ Comic Book Store Guy. The condescending tech support person—
Aryanna Trejo (16:27):
Sure.
Eric Cross (16:28):
—who has that tone. And so I feel like some people have been so negatively impacted by that person. So I know when I’m helping people, I actually try to go full-spectrum the other side. But I’m thinking about teachers’ barrier to entry. Sometimes code is like, “Whoa.” And I don’t teach computer science. Do you see those barriers to entry, or at least the perception of them? And then, what’s the reality for like someone listening, and going, “I’m a fourth grade teacher,” or “I’m a humanities teacher in ninth grade.” What’s the perception that you see, versus reality, with the teachers that you train? Is it much more accessible than we think? Or is there a level of sophistication that you have to have coming into it?
Aryanna Trejo (17:10):
No, not at all. I know computer science, and that says a lot! <Laugh> You know, I know my own corner of computer science. And you know, that’s me being self-deprecating, too. But I think learning computer science has helped me in so many different ways that I wasn’t expecting. I recently took the GRE in hopes of, you know, getting back into grad school. And I think just the way that computer science teaches you to search for bugs in your code, or errors, and kind of tirelessly look at a problem from multiple different angles, I was able to carry that into the math that I was doing. And I noticed just a huge difference in the way that I approached it, and the way that I was open to it. But you asked a great question, in regards to the barriers to technology. In my position at 9 Dots, I was working directly with teachers to lead professional development with them. Sometimes it would be a full day; sometimes it would be an hour after school. And the one thing that I always had in my back pocket that was really useful is that I would hear teachers saying things like, “Well, I just can’t do coding; this is too hard for me; the time has passed.” And I would ask them, “Would you say that to your student about math or English?” And they would always sheepishly go, “No.” And I’d say, “Well, be as kind to yourself as you would be to your student.” You know, it takes some patience and nobody’s gonna get it perfect 100 percent of the time. Have I banged my head against the wall trying to solve one tiny little syntax error in my code? Absolutely! But it feels absolutely phenomenal to fix that. And I was an English major in undergrad, and I had never done computer science before. So it’s something that becomes really satisfying.
Eric Cross (19:07):
Yeah, I imagine. I had someone—a trainer or a presenter—one time bring up the fact that our students rarely get to see us learn in real time.
Aryanna Trejo (19:19):
Yeah.
Eric Cross (19:19):
So we don’t get to ever really model failure. I mean, unless we’re in a classroom situation <laughs> in our failures, with classroom management. Then they see it, they see it! But they don’t get to see us model learning failure. And I don’t mean like failure—and yes, I know, “first attempt is learning,” and “no such thing as failure”—that’s not what I’m talking about. But just when we’re not successful with our code, and then we experience real-time frustration.
Aryanna Trejo (19:42):
Yep.
Eric Cross (19:42):
And they said that is actually a great learning experience for your students to watch you go through productive struggle. And that was really liberating for me. Because now I’m in the classroom, and I’m trying to go through it with my students, and the beautiful thing was, they started helping me. We were all trying to solve the problem. And then we had this authentic problem-solving experience. I think it was like a Scratch program, where we were trying to solve, trying to embed it somewhere, or something. And then, in the background of the class: “Mr. Cross! I got it! I figured it out!” And it was this really neat bonding experience. And I felt that—your ears get red, and you get hot, ’cause you’re not—
Aryanna Trejo (20:19):
Oh yeah.
Eric Cross (20:20):
You don’t know it! And you’re in front of 36 kids! And I said, “OK, I need to tell them how I feel.”
Aryanna Trejo (20:25):
Yeah.
Eric Cross (20:26):
So I said, “Now I feel really frustrated.” Like, “I want to go through this, and here’s my thoughts.” ‘Cause I knew that it would be helpful if they saw and would hear my thoughts. So I just did a quick think-aloud and I said, “In my head, <laugh> I want to just quit,” I said, “But I realize that this is the part where my learning’s happening. So I just want you all to hear what’s going on in my brain.” And now I feel like when I’m doing coding with my students, and it’s just basic coding, I feel much more comfortable, like, not knowing. But I needed someone to release me from that “I have to be the expert in everything” to do it.
Aryanna Trejo (21:06):
And teachers are used to being the experts. Right? And they should be. And coding is just such a different landscape. But I think once you kind of give over to the power of tinkering, I think it’s really gratifying. I love being able to…you can revise a sentence, and then read your paragraph back to yourself in English, and say, “OK, I get it.” But there’s something so gratifying about changing a line of code or a block and then being able to hit play and watch your program come to life, and say, “Hmm, that’s not quite what I wanted. Let’s try something different.”
Eric Cross (21:39):
I love your connection to tinkering. ‘Cause—I had never thought about it—’cause I love tinkering with my hands. But I always think about physical things. But coding is exactly that. It’s tinkering.
Aryanna Trejo (21:47):
It’s exactly that.
Eric Cross (21:47):
That’s exactly what it is.
Aryanna Trejo (21:49):
And a lot of it is, for me, especially when I’m trying something new, it’s guess-and-check. It’s like, “OK, that didn’t work. What if I add a semicolon here? Will it finally work? Or what if I add a ‘for’ loop? Will this get me what I want?” And it’s wonderful because you have that with students as well. Like, you have that record of their thinking, and you can ask them to go step-by-step and tell you, you know, “First, I added this, because I wanted the program to do this,” and so on and so forth. And so you have that record, but you can always get rid of it. Students often wanna get completely get rid of it. That’s something that I’ve noticed a lot as I’ve taught computer science. But, once you can get them to target the specific parts of the program, tinker with that, and continue, that’s a really wonderful learning space. There was also something you said about modeling failure. I love the fact that in computer science you can model failure for your students. You said to your students, “I’m getting frustrated.” I love that, because I never got that in math. Nobody ever showed me what it was like to be frustrated with graphing a parabola. Right? Like, my math teachers were always like, “Doot, doot, doot, here you go, you’re done!” <Laugh> And I would get so frustrated, because it didn’t come that easily to me. And I think there’s two parts to that. So there’s modeling the learning and the thinking and the productive struggle, but also there’s the identity of being a computer scientist and modeling what that looks like. So for me, when I get really frustrated with a program, I walk away. I take five minutes. I take a deep breath. I say, “I’m not gonna think about it in these five minutes.” And I come back to it. And I think once you start teaching computer science, you can facilitate that for students. And there’s so many different strategies that they can pick up. They can pick up rubber ducking, which is where they pick up a rubber duck or a similar object, and they talk to it as if they were a partner and talk through their code. And oftentimes, as you’re rubber ducking, you’re gonna find that error, because you’re explaining it to someone who’s a stand-in for a novice. And rubber ducking is a well-known strategy for computer scientists who make it their career. You know, there’s pair programming. Some students love pair programming; some students hate it. But the students start to build this identity about how they problem-solve. And how they approach failure. And I just love that.
Eric Cross (24:31):
I’m writing this down. Because the rubber-ducking strategy, I love. I just imagine my seventh graders, a bunch of 13-year-olds with, like, rubber on the desk. And not necessarily in coding, but I was thinking in my science class. And they’re working through a challenge, and they’re all looking at this duck, and they’re talking to it. But I just love the the idea of externalizing your thought process and talking through it yourself so that you can hopefully arrive at a conclusion. But it’s such a great practice, and this is something that’s been around for a long time, apparently. So.
Aryanna Trejo (24:59):
Yeah. Yeah. It’s a real thing. And you know, you can go low-fi. It doesn’t have to be a rubber duck. You can have students talk to their pencils or their imaginary friends. That’s not the issue; the issue is, you know, talking to somebody.
Eric Cross (25:10):
I know you support teachers. But I just wanted to…I was just curious about your typical day, what that’s like. And then what you do, how you support ’em.
Aryanna Trejo (25:15):
So, at my previous job at 9 Dots, I was in there with the teachers in the classrooms. I was coaching our internal staff who went out to co-teach with teachers. And I loved that. And I had such a great impact on a local scale. But now at Code.org, I have a much broader impact. But I don’t get to interface with—that’s such a tech-y word!—I don’t get to interact with—
Eric Cross (25:42):
You work at Code.org! You get to—
Aryanna Trejo (25:42):
I know! But I’m a teacher at heart, forever, right? That’s my identity that I forged when I was 22 years old. And a typical day looks like opening up my computer, taking a look at my calendar. I often have meetings to talk about, different things that we’re doing to support our facilitators who go out to our teachers and lead their workshops for them. I recently worked on a product that was designed for CS principles, teachers, to onboard to the course if they weren’t able to get into an in-person workshop. And it’s completely self-paced, so it gives teachers an on-ramp into the course. And now I’m working on some in-person workshop agendas. So I feel really wonderful that my work is going out to thousands of teachers. But at the same time, I really, really miss talking to teachers. Because that’s something that energizes me so much.
Eric Cross (26:46):
When should students start learning computer science? I feel like we see it in this kind of narrow lane. Like, this is computer science if you make an app. Can it be more than that? As far as like the benefit of computer science? And—I guess two-part question—when should students, one, start being exposed to it? And then two, what are some of the benefits beyond just, “I wanna just make an app”?
Aryanna Trejo (27:08):
I taught coding to kindergartners. It can start as early as you as you want it to. And it doesn’t necessarily need to be on the computer. A lot of students that I worked with didn’t have computers at home, were interacting with computers for the first time. And that’s a huge barrier, of course, to a lot of teachers. But there are so many unplugged lessons that you can do to start to start to have students think about algorithms, which is just a series of steps to complete to solve a problem. As long as a student can use a computer, I think they can do computer science. There are products out there like codeSpark, where students—and Code.org has these products too—where students are moving an avatar around a board, kind of like a quadrant to…you know, they feed the directions to a computer and then the computer enacts it for them. And with that, they can learn algorithms. You know, that is computer science. And a lot of people don’t see it that way, but it really is. And it starts to set students up for more complex thinking as they move on.
Eric Cross (28:13):
One of the biggest underserved communities, geographically, are students in rural areas.
Aryanna Trejo (28:20):
Yep.
Eric Cross (28:21):
They can be reservations; they can be places just not an urban area. Is there a way to serve our communities of students and bring these skills in an unplugged way?
Aryanna Trejo (28:32):
Yeah. Yeah. If you typed in “unplugged computer science lessons” to Google, you’ll have a ton of hits. And there are so many students out there—not just in rural areas. But there’s incarcerated students. It hurts my heart to even say those words, but in urban areas too. Like in my classroom, where I only had four desktop computers. Access is a real struggle. And there’s things, like I said, instead of moving an avatar around a grid on the computer, I used to have an actual mat that I would take out to my kindergarten classrooms, lay it out, and it would have a grid on it. And we’d have one of the students act as the avatar and the rest of the students would give them directions to get to a different point on the grid. And there, you’re building an algorithm or just a series of steps. Like I said, it’s not some fancy term to solve a problem. And there’s multiple ways to solve that problem, too. And I think investigating that can be a really good way to stretch those lessons.
Eric Cross (29:32):
It almost sounds like an oxymoron, but this low-tech computer science strategy. Develop these skills and then transfer that once you have access to the tools.
Aryanna Trejo (29:39):
Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. And I think it’s a good way for students who need kinesthetic means to start to understand something, or just different learning styles, to start transferring that over.
Eric Cross (29:53):
I probably have students in the classroom where those kinesthetic moving things would help be a great way—or WILL be a great way—for them to learn the principles and the fundamentals of coding. Instead of only giving the option to just do the computer, actually giving them some choice. Or giving them a way to be able to manipulate things. We’re still in the system of education that’s still very siloed. It’s been the same way for a hundred years. We got math and then we got science and we got English. I’m wondering, how can a teacher fit this into their daily lessons? And then, do you have any experiences or stories or things that you’ve seen, just really creative ways that you’ve seen teachers incorporate this? Outside the norm of, “This is a computer science class; we’re just gonna code.” But have you seen it branch out? In the trainings that you’ve done?
Aryanna Trejo (30:40):
I’ve seen examples of that. I’ve seen a teacher use Scratch to demonstrate different climates of California, and show the different climates. This past year for Hour of Code, my friend Amy—the one who helped me move to 9 Dots and at Code.org—she created this incredible tutorial called Poetry Bot. And it was a way to get students to match the mood of the poem to some of the elements that were happening in the stage. So they would have different backgrounds show up at different parts of the poem. When the words would show up, they would have different sprites show up. They would have, sometimes, sounds. Or the text would show up with different animations. So there are cross-curricular opportunities everywhere, if you can be creative enough to find them, or if you beg, borrow, steal from other educators who are doing this incredible work out there.
Eric Cross (31:36):
Yeah. I say this all the time, but I’m an educational DJ, not an MC.
Aryanna Trejo (31:44):
Oh yeah.
Eric Cross (31:45):
So MCs write their lyrics and DJs remix with things that other people have done.
Aryanna Trejo (31:48):
Absolutely.
Eric Cross (31:48):
I was like, I’m a DJ. I was like, all day. Sometimes I’ll write a lyric, once or twice, but most of the time I’m remixing things. So teachers, if you’ve been out there and you got an awesome interdisciplinary thing, or you’ve incorporated coding and it’s something that’s traditionally not seen, please send it to us. Share it with us.
Aryanna Trejo (32:03):
Yeah. And there are so many different places where you can find that. We have a forum for Code.org, but there’s also CSTA, the Computer Science Teachers Association. You can join your local chapter and get to know other computer science teachers out there.
Eric Cross (32:19):
I guess…to wrap up, I’ve been using Scratch programming, the MIT website. My students do the basic animated name, CS First, stuff. But over the years, I’ve noticed that my students are coming in with a higher level of sophistication in Scratch to where now the differentiation…some of my students are just doing very basic…and then I have other students who’ve created full-on video games with complex…like, you look at their Scratch page and it’s just an amazing amount of blocks and integrations and things that they have. Is there anything on Code.org that could be a next step? That takes them beyond, maybe like the visuals? And if so, what would be a good next step, to take students to advance them to another platform? There’s so many coding languages out there, I feel like. Or I might not even be thinking about that the right way.
Aryanna Trejo (33:20):
No, I think you are. You know, we have three different curricula out on our website right now. We have CS Fundamentals, which is probably more in line with what you’re talking about. We have a free CS Discoveries curriculum, and that is designed for, grades, I believe, 6 through 10. And that would be a really good entry point, for both teachers and for students.
Eric Cross (33:44):
There’s a lot of new stuff that I hadn’t seen yet, a few years ago.
Aryanna Trejo (33:49):
Yeah.
Eric Cross (33:49):
So I was really excited.
Aryanna Trejo (33:50):
One thing that I do know is that CS Discovery has just added an artificial intelligence slash machine-learning unit, that you can just pick up and give to your students. You don’t have to go in order with CS Discoveries, like you do with CS Principles. And I’ve gone through some of those lessons. They are really rad. And I would’ve loved to have learned that when I was in middle school or high school. So yeah, we’re constantly thinking of how we can make things one, relevant to our students, and two relevant to what’s going on in the world.
Eric Cross (34:20):
So would I be overselling it if I said, “If you go through this, you’ll be able to create an AI or a neural net to do all your homework”?
Aryanna Trejo (34:26):
You would be overselling it.
Eric Cross (34:27):
I would be? OK. So what I’ll do is, I’ll wait until the end of the school year, and then introduce it, and then by the time they’ve realized it’s not true, they’ll be eighth graders.
Aryanna Trejo (34:35):
There you go. Good old bait-and-switch.
Eric Cross (34:37):
You’re amazing. Thank you for serving teachers, and for being part of such a great organization that puts out great stuff. So much free curricula for teachers to be able to use. Especially nowadays we hunt and scour the internet for those types of things. And to be able to bring computer literacy into the classroom, and with your focus of serving communities of underrepresented groups, it feels good to know that not only is it high-quality material, but it’s also trying to raise everyone up. Because ultimately when we have more people trying to solve a common problem, we come up with better solutions. And I was talking to somebody who was a materials engineer somewhere in Europe, and he said one of the things about the U.S., As he was critiquing me on this flight, critiquing the U.S., He said, “One of the things about your country is that you have a heterogeneous group of people who, in a group, when you have multiple perspectives attacking a problem, you come up with more novel solutions.” He says, “That’s one of the great things, is that there’s not necessarily just a hive mind.” And I think that that’s one of the great things. We uplift different communities, and we uplift women, people of color, people who, have backgrounds that parents didn’t go to college but have these amazing qualities and strengths. And we put everybody focusing on the same issue. We come up with novel solutions that we wouldn’t have come up with if only select groups were trying to look at it and solve it. And so—.
Aryanna Trejo (36:22):
Yeah.
Eric Cross (36:23):
And we couldn’t do that without organizations like yours, that help empower teachers. So.
Aryanna Trejo (36:27):
Yeah! You really said it.
You’re coming to my classroom when you’re back in San Diego?
Aryanna Trejo (36:31):
Yeah! I totally will. Yeah. Let’s make it happen.
Eric Cross (36:34):
Last question. If you think back in your schooling, your own schooling, K through college, is there a person or a teacher that had a big impact on you? Or a learning experience that had an impact on you? And it could be, you know, positive or negative. But something that impacted you, even to this day, that stands out to you, that you remember?
Aryanna Trejo (36:56):
This is a big diversion from the topics that we’re talking about. But in grades 10 through 12, my drama teacher, Mr. Byler, who I still talk with, was such a huge impression on me. Really wonderful. And I couldn’t tell you the teaching moves that he did that were wonderful. I don’t know much about his management. But I can tell you that he gave me space to be confident, and grow into myself, through drama productions. They were high school productions, so they weren’t amazing. But I just really came into myself in high school, because I had the confidence to get on stage. And he was just such a wonderful mentor to all of us. So, props to Mr. Byler.
Eric Cross (37:39):
Shout out to Mr. Byler for creating space for Aryanna to fly! Thanks for making time, after your workday, to talk with us and to share Code.org with teachers.
Aryanna Trejo (37:54):
Of course. Happy to.
Eric Cross (37:59):
Thanks so much for joining me and Aryanna 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. Make sure to click subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts. And join our brand new Facebook group, Science Connections: The Community for some extra content.
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Meet the guest
Aryanna is a member of the Code.org Professional Learning Team. Before joining Code.org, Aryanna led computer science professional development for K-6 teachers and served as an instructional coach for new educators. She also taught fourth and fifth grade in New York City and Los Angeles. In her spare time, Aryanna loves taking advantage of the California sunshine, creating wheel-thrown pottery, and hanging out with her dog Lola.

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!
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S4 – 03: LIVE from NCTM with Bethany and Dan

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.
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.
Stay connected!
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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.


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!
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The SHRM Blog: “What’s the Best Work Perk of All? Contributing to the Social Good”
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”
October 20, 2021
Hechinger Report: “OPINION: Younger students were among those most hurt during the pandemic”
September 2, 2021
EdSurge: “An Edtech User’s Glossary to Speech Recognition and AI in the Classroom”
September, 2021
SIIA Education: “ED TECH SUCCESS STORIES”
August 23, 2021
CNN: “Irish tech firm helps kids’ voices be heard”
August 18, 2021
SoapBox Labs: “Can Speech Recognition Help Children Learn to Read?”
August 12, 2021
FOX Chicago Broadcast Interview: “Pandemic widens literacy gap for students”
August 3, 2021
T.H.E Journal: “More Students of Color at Risk in Reading After Pandemic”
July 28, 2021
The 74: “Early Reading Skills See a Rebound From In-Person Learning, But Racial Gaps Have Grown Wider, Tests Show”
July 28, 2021
K-12 Dive: “Reports: Math, reading progress slowed during first full school year of pandemic”
July 20, 2021
EdNC: “The mCLASS reading assessment tool is back in North Carolina classrooms, but it’s going to look different”
July 5, 2021
WBAL: “Baltimore students from all socio-economic backgrounds get a chance to ‘Amplify’ their learning skills”
June 15, 2021
Language Magazine: “Using Evidence to Overcome Adversity”
May 7, 2021
The Dallas Morning News: “How can a one-minute kindergarten test help teachers tackle the ‘COVID slide’?”
April 20, 2021
Education Week: “How Teachers and Curriculum Will Shape Ed Tech’s Future: A CEO Makes the Case”
March 24, 2021
The Hechinger Report: “OPINION: Children will need summer tutors to make up for pandemic learning loss”
March 23, 2021
Education Week: “Most States Fail to Measure Teachers’ Knowledge of the ‘Science of Reading,’ Report Says”
March 17, 2021
Axios: “How online education and tutoring could fight COVID learning loss”
March 16, 2021
USA Today: “Students are struggling to read behind masks and screens during COVID-19, but ‘expectations are no different’”
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”
February 25, 2021
K–12 Dive: “Reading gaps widen in mid-year data, especially for K-1 students of color”
February 24, 2021
The 74: “One Year into Pandemic, Far Fewer Young Students are on Target to Learn How to Read, Tests Show”
February 17, 2021
NBC Los Angeles: “Local Students Design Rovers in Mission to Mars Student Challenge”
February 5, 2021
District Administration: “To save literacy, focus first on high-quality core instruction”
February 4, 2021
The Hechinger Report: “5 ways schools hope to fight Covid-19 learning loss”
January 5, 2021
The 74: “Science Matters Now More than Ever. The Time to Start Teaching It Is in Elementary School”
2020
December 15, 2020
Education Week: “Students’ Reading Losses Could Strain Schools’ Capacity to Help Them Catch Up”
December 9, 2020
Education Post: “How to Help Beginning Readers During the Pandemic”
December 3, 2020
American Consortium for Equity in Education: “The Importance of Quality Curriculum With Industry Voice”
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’”
May 25, 2020
The 74: “Class Disrupted Podcast Episode 2: Why Is My Child Doing So Many Worksheets Right Now?”
February 5, 2020
Getting Smart Podcast: “Larry Berger on EdTech Past and Future”
Boost Reading+ sessions overview
| Title | Duration | Modality | Audience |
|---|---|---|---|
| Launch Sessions | |||
| Initial training | Half day | Onsite/Remote | New Boost Reading+ customers |
Launch sessions
Initial training
Half day (3 hours)
The initial half-day training will explain how Skills Boost combines assessment, targeted instruction, personalized practice, and intervention to accelerate students’ reading growth. It will also support educators in administering program placement to students, utilizing the teacher dashboard to monitor students’ progress, and implementing 9-day lesson plans for students who require intervention.
Audience: Teachers (administrators welcome), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/remote
Pricing
| Session type | Pricing |
|---|---|
| Half-day onsite session | $2,500 |
| Half-day remote session | $750 |
Contact
Amplify welcomes the opportunity to partner with schools and districts to design professional development plans and answer your questions.
If you would like to order any of our professional development services, please contact your local Amplify sales representative or call (800) 823-1969.
Amplify Science – Oklahoma
Amplify Science – Oklahoma
Inspiring the next generation of Oklahoma scientists, engineers, and curious citizens
Amplify Science is an engaging new core curriculum designed for three-dimensional, phenomena-based learning.

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.
Our 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.
Resources to support your review
- What’s so phenomenal about phenomena? – ebook
- Phenomena in grades K–5
- Phenomena in grades 6–8
- Student Books in grades K–5
- Literacy-rich science instruction in grades K–5
- Active Reading in grades 6–8
- Engineering in Amplify Science
- Oklahoma standards correlation for grades K–8
- Program structure for grades K–5
- Program structure for grades 6–8
- Oklahoma recommended scope and sequence for grades 6–8
Remote and hybrid learning supports

Oklahoma remote and hybrid overview video
Amplify has launched a new remote learning solution called Amplify Science@Home. Intended to make extended remote learning and hybrid learning easier, Amplify Science@Home includes two useful options for continuing instruction: @Home Videos and @Home Units.
Amplify Science @Home Videos are recordings of real Amplify Science teachers teaching the lessons. For those teachers who are unable to meet synchronously with their students, the recorded lessons are a great way to keep their students on track and engaged with Amplify Science while at home. These videos will be produced for all K–5 units, and for the first four units of each 6–8 grade level. Their release will be rolling, beginning in August.
Amplify Science@Home Units are modified versions of Amplify Science units, strategically designed to highlight key activities from the program. The @Home Units take significantly less instructional time than the complete Amplify Science program and allow students to engage with science at home. @Home Units will be developed for all Amplify Science K–8 units. Each @Home unit includes:
- Teacher overviews explaining how to use the materials, including suggestions for enhancing the @Home Units if synchronous learning or in-class time with students is available.
- Overviews to send home to families.
Student materials are available in two formats:
- @Home Slides (PDF/PPT) + Student Sheets (PDF) for students with access to technology at home.
- Downloadable @Home Packets (PDF) for students without access to technology at home.
Download the Remote and hybrid learning guide.
What’s included
Flexible resources that work seamlessly together
Science articles
The middle school science articles serve as sources for evidence collection and were authored by science and literacy experts at the Lawrence Hall of Science.

Student Investigation Notebooks
Available for every unit, the Student Investigation Notebooks provide space for students to:
- Record data
- Reflect on ideas from texts and investigations
- Construct explanations and arguments
Available with full-color article compilations for middle school units.

Digital student experience
Students access the digital simulations and modeling tools, as well as lesson activities and assessments, through the digital student experience. Students can interact with the digital student experience as they:
- Conduct hands-on investigations
- Engage in active reading and writing activities
- Participate in discussions
- Record observations
- Craft end-of-unit scientific arguments

Teacher’s Guides
Available digitally and in print, the Teacher’s Guides contain all of the information teachers need to facilitate classroom instruction, including:
- Classroom Slides
- Detailed lesson plans
- Unit and chapter overview documentation
- Differentiation strategies
- Standards alignments
- In-context professional development

Hands-on materials kits
Hands-on learning is at the heart of Amplify Science. Each unit kit contains:
- Consumable and non-consumable hands-on materials
- Print classroom display materials
- Premium print materials for student use (sorting cards, maps, etc.)

Scope and sequence
GRADE |
UNIT |
| Kindergarten |
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| Grade 1 |
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| Grade 2 |
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| Grade 3 |
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| Grade 4 |
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| Grade 5 |
|
Grade |
Units |
|
Grade 6 |
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Grade 7 |
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Grade 8 |
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Oklahoma Academic Standards for Science coverage
Amplify Science was designed from the ground up to meet the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), and the Oklahoma Academic Standards for Science (OASS) are closely aligned to the NGSS at K-8. The guidance below is meant to provide support for integrating additional activities that support full coverage of the OASS. You can view the full K–8 OASS correlation here.
Organized by grade level, each section below will outline:
- additional activities that support 100% alignment to the Oklahoma Academic Standards for Science;
- the standard being addressed with the activities;
- the recommended placement of the activities within a specific Amplify Science unit; and
- PDFs of any accompanying materials that are necessary to implement the activities.
Standard: 1.ESS3.1: Communicate solutions that will reduce the impact of humans on the land, water, air, and/or other living things in the local environment.
Recommended placement: Animal and Plant Defenses unit, Chapter 1
Materials: The Student Book Investigating Monarchs from the unit Needs of Plants and Animals
Investigating Monarchs emphasizes the needs of monarch caterpillars and butterflies and shows what happens when these animals are not able to meet their needs. The book first introduces the life cycle of monarchs, explaining that monarch caterpillars must eat milkweed to survive and change into butterflies. Their summer habitat must have milkweed. The butterflies then migrate a long distance, from the United States to a forest in the mountains of Mexico, where they take shelter in the trees. Their winter habitat must have trees. Scientists discovered that the monarch population in Mexico was greatly reduced because people were cutting down the trees. The forest was then protected, but the monarch population did not recover as expected. Scientists in the United States found evidence that this was because fields with milkweed are being replaced by farms and buildings. This book could be read with the class either before or after Chapter 1 of the Animal and Plant Defenses unit, which focuses on what plants and animals need to do to survive. Students could be asked to reflect on what the monarchs need to survive (including food and shelter), and how human activities impacted the monarchs’ ability to meet those needs. After reading the book, students could brainstorm ideas for how to reduce the impact of humans on the local environment.
Standard: MS-PS4-2: Develop and use a model to describe that waves are reflected, absorbed, or transmitted through various materials.
Recommended placement: Metabolism unit, Lesson 3.3, addition to Activity 5
Materials: “What Eyes Can See” science article
As students investigate metabolism and the body systems, the article “What Eyes Can See” should be assigned to deepen their understanding of information processing and sense receptors and connect that understanding to the emerging idea of the interaction of waves with various materials. The article explores how the only thing we can really see is light. Light travels from a light source to the eye, passing through some materials and bouncing off others. Tiny organs inside the eye called rods and cones absorb energy from light, making vision possible. These interactions between light and materials determine our visible world.
Instructions:
Download the PDF “What Eyes Can See” above and remind students of the Active Reading Guidelines. Before students read the article, invite them to share prior experiences. For example, “Have you ever had an experience where something looked different in one kind of light than in another kind of light? Or where something seemed to appear or disappear when the light changed?”
Standard: MS-PS3-1: Construct and interpret graphical displays of data to describe the relationships of kinetic energy to the mass of an object and to the speed of an object.
Recommended placement: Harnessing Human Energy unit, Lesson 1.4, after Activity 4
Materials: Force and Motion Simulation; Activity instructions and copymasters
In this activity, students use the Force and Motion Simulation to investigate the relationship between kinetic energy, mass, and velocity.
Instructions
Download the PDF linked above for the Lesson Guide and copymasters needed for the activity. Note that this investigation is typically implemented during the Force and Motion unit. This means the Lesson Guide will contain some incongruous labeling (e.g., unit name), as well as instructions that are out of context and unnecessary for the purposes of addressing this standard at grade 7. We suggest skipping to step 4 of the Instructional Guide to avoid some of this. Your students will get additional exposure to this activity, and indeed the standard as a whole, when they get to the Force and Motion unit in grade 8.
Standards:
- MS-PS2-3: Ask questions about data to determine the factors that affect the strength of electric and magnetic forces.
- MS-PS2-5: Conduct an investigation and evaluate the experimental design to provide evidence that fields exist between objects exerting forces on each other even though the objects are not in contact.
Recommended placement: Force and Motion unit, after Lesson 1.5
Materials: Flextension PDF
This hands-on activity builds on and reinforces students’ understanding of forces that act at a distance, with a focus on electrostatic force. Students explore electrostatic forces, prompted by a set of challenges that they try to accomplish. Next, students generate scientific questions based on their observations. Electrostatic force is less predictable and consistent than magnetic force, and investigating it can be both challenging and intriguing. The purpose of this lesson is for students to gain firsthand experience with electrostatic force and to gain experience generating scientific questions based on observations. You might choose to include this Flextension if you would like your students to have more exposure to electrostatic force, and if you would like to challenge your students to explore and ask questions about a challenging type of force.
Instructions:
Download the PDF linked above for a detailed Lesson Guide and the copymasters associated with the activity. Note that this activity is typically implemented as an add-on Flextension during the Magnetic Fields unit. This means that you will see some information that is out of context (e.g., placement information, unit title), but the activity itself also works for the purposes of the Force and Motion unit. If you have any questions, please reach out to our support team via the chat icon in your account or help@amplify.com.
Explore the Digital Teacher’s Guide
When you’re ready to review, click the orange button below and use your provided login credentials to access the Amplify Science Digital Teacher’s Guide.
To help familiarize yourself with navigating the digital Teacher’s Guide, watch our navigational guide videos:
Grades K–5:
Grades 6–8:
Looking for help?
Powerful (and free!) pedagogical support
Amplify provides a unique kind of support you won’t find from other publishers. 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
To reach our pedagogical team, use our live chat within your program, call (800) 823-1969, or email edsupport@amplify.com
Timely technical and program support
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 less urgent questions:
Contact us
Contact your South Carolina team representatives:
Jeff Rutter
Field Manager
jrutter@amplify.com
(727) 512-8440
Cathy McMillan
Senior Account Executive
cmcmillan@amplify.com
(904) 465-9904
Sessions overview
| Audience |
Title | Duration | Modality | Available |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| K–2 teachers |
National Edition Language Studio initial training | Half day | Onsite/Remote | Yes |
| California Edition Language Studio Initial Training | Half day | Onsite/Remote | Yes | |
| 3–5 teachers | California Edition Language Studio initial training | Half day | Onsite/Remote | Yes |
| K–5 teachers | Writing Studio initial training | Half day | Onsite/Remote | Yes |
K–2 teachers
National Edition Language Studio initial training for K–2 teachers
Half day (3 hours)
Prepare to implement the K–2 National Edition Language Studio program in your classroom! Understand the framework of the program, the structure of materials, and key lesson elements. Participants will practice identifying key instructional actions during observations and leave with an annotated lesson plan.
Note: This session is aligned to WIDA standards.
Audience: K–2 Language Studio teachers (instructional leaders welcome), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
California Edition Language Studio initial training for K–2 teachers
Half day (3 hours)
Prepare to implement the K–2 California Edition Language Studio program in your classroom! Understand the framework of the program, the structure of materials, and key lesson elements. Participants will practice identifying key instructional actions during observations and leave with an annotated lesson plan.
Note: This session is aligned to CA ELD standards.
Audience: K–2 Language Studio teachers (instructional leaders welcome), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
3–5 teachers
California Edition initial training for 3–5 teachers
Half day (3 hours)
Prepare to implement the 3–5 California Edition Language Studio program in your classroom. Understand the framework of the program, the structure of materials, and key lesson elements. Participants will practice identifying key instructional actions during observations and leave with an annotated lesson plan.
Note: This session is aligned to CA ELD standards.
Audience: 3–5 Language Studio teachers (instructional leaders welcome), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
K–5 teachers
Writing Studio initial training for K–5 teachers
Half day (3 hours)
Prepare to implement the K–5 Writing Studio program in your classroom! Understand the framework of the program, the structure of materials, and key lesson elements. Participants will practice identifying key instructional actions during observations and leave with a weekly plan.
Audience: K–5 Writing Studio teachers (instructional leaders welcome), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Pricing
We offer the following pricing for training sessions and packages:
| Session type | Pricing |
|---|---|
| Half-day onsite session | $2,500 |
| Half-day remote session | $750 |
Contact
Amplify welcomes the opportunity to partner with schools and districts to design professional development plans and answer your questions.
If you would like to order any of our professional development services, please contact your local Amplify sales representative or call (800) 823-1969.
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
- Teacher requests approval for an invalidation from a school-level administrator and provides a valid reason for requesting the invalidation.
- School-level administrators reach out to the district Read to Achieve (RtA) contact to approve the invalidation.
- District RtA contact approves the request and notifies the school-level administrator who notifies the teacher.
- 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.

- When you open your course you will see a navigation panel along the left hand side.
- At the top of this panel, you will see a small back arrow by the title mCLASS in North Carolina Initial Training.
- Click on that back arrow to be taken to the beginning of the course with the introduction.
- When you land on that Introduction page along the left panel, you will see the welcome to the course.
- 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:
- any third-grade student who does not demonstrate reading proficiency and
- 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.
- Districts hosting Reading Camp at each individual school
- Districts merging schools for Reading Camp
- Charters
- Accessing Summer Benchmark Data
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
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.

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.
Additional Amplify products
Get in touch with us to learn more about bringing other high-quality Amplify programs to your school or district.
Inspiring the next generation of Oklahoma scientists, engineers, and curious citizens
Amplify Science is an engaging new core curriculum designed for three-dimensional, phenomena-based learning.

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.
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.
Oklahoma Instructional Samplers
Video: Oklahoma Spotlight on All Learners (SPED, G & T, EL, DEI)
Resources to support your review
- What’s so phenomenal about phenomena? – ebook
- Phenomena in grades K–5
- Phenomena in grades 6–8
- Student Books in grades K–5
- Literacy-rich science instruction in grades K–5
- Active Reading in grades 6–8
- Engineering in Amplify Science
- Oklahoma standards correlation for grades K–8
- Program structure for grades K–5
- Program structure for grades 6–8
- Oklahoma recommended scope and sequence for grades 6–8
Remote and hybrid learning support

Oklahoma Spotlight Video: Remote and Hybrid Learning
Amplify has launched a new remote learning solution called Amplify Science @Home. Intended to make extended remote learning and hybrid learning easier, Amplify Science@Home includes two useful options for continuing instruction: @Home Videos and @Home Units.
Amplify Science @Home Videos are recordings of real Amplify Science teachers teaching the lessons. For those teachers who are unable to meet synchronously with their students, the recorded lessons are a great way to keep their students on track and engaged with Amplify Science while at home. These videos will be produced for all K–5 units, and for the first four units of each 6–8 grade level. Their release will be rolling, beginning in August 2021.
Amplify Science@Home Units are modified versions of Amplify Science units, strategically designed to highlight key activities from the program. The @Home Units take significantly less instructional time than the complete Amplify Science program and allow students to engage with science at home. @Home Units will be developed for all Amplify Science K–8 units. Each @Home unit includes:
- Teacher overviews explaining how to use the materials, including suggestions for enhancing the @Home Units if synchronous learning or in-class time with students is available.
- Overviews to send home to families.
Student materials are available in two formats:
- @Home Slides (PDF/PPT) + Student Sheets (PDF) for students with access to technology at home.
- Downloadable @Home Packets (PDF) for students without access to technology at home.
Download the remote and hybrid learning guide.
What’s included
Flexible resources that work seamlessly together
Oklahoma Spotlight Video: Instructional Resources: More than a textbook!
Science articles
The middle school science articles serve as sources for evidence collection and were authored by science and literacy experts at the Lawrence Hall of Science.
Student Investigation Notebooks
Available for every unit, the Student Investigation Notebooks provide space for students to:
- record data.
- reflect on ideas from texts and investigations.
- construct explanations and arguments.
Available with full-color article compilations for middle school units.

Digital student experience
Students access the digital simulations and modeling tools, as well as lesson activities and assessments, through the digital student experience. Students can interact with the digital student experience as they:
- conduct hands-on investigations.
- engage in active reading and writing activities.
- participate in discussions.
- record observations.
- craft end-of-unit scientific arguments.
Oklahoma Spotlight Video: Spotlight on Simulations

Teacher’s Guides
Available digitally and in print, the Teacher’s Guides contain all of the information teachers need to facilitate classroom instruction, including:
- Classroom Slides.
- detailed lesson plans.
- unit and chapter overview documentation.
- differentiation strategies.
- standards alignments.
- in-context professional development.
Oklahoma Spotlight Video: Classroom Slides

Hands-on materials kits
Hands-on learning is at the heart of Amplify Science. Each unit kit contains:
- consumable and non-consumable hands-on materials.
- print classroom display materials.
- premium print materials for student use (sorting cards, maps, etc).

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
- Launch: Microbiome
- Metabolism
- Plate Motion
- Plate Motion Engineering Internship
- Rock Transformations
- Ocean, Atmosphere, and Climate
- Weather Patterns
- Thermal Energy
- Phase Change
Grade 7
- Launch: Harnessing Human Energy
- Chemical Reactions
- Populations and Resources
- Matter Energy and Ecosystems
- Earth’s Changing Climate
- Earth’s Changing Climate Engineering Internship
- Magnetic Fields
Grade 8
- Launch: Geology on Mars
- Force and Motion
- Force and Motion Engineering Internship
- Light Waves
- Earth, Moon, and Sun
- Traits and Reproduction
- Natural Selection
- Evolutionary History
Oklahoma Academic Standards for Science coverage
Amplify Science was designed from the ground up to meet the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), and the Oklahoma Academic Standards for Science (OASS) are closely aligned to the NGSS at K–8. The guidance below is meant to provide support for integrating additional activities that support full coverage of the OASS. You can view the full K–8 OASS correlation here.
Organized by grade level, each section below will outline:
- additional activities that support 100% alignment to the Oklahoma Academic Standards for Science;
- the standard being addressed with the activities;
- the recommended placement of the activities within a specific Amplify Science unit; and
- PDFs of any accompanying materials that are necessary to implement the activities.
Standard: 1.ESS3.1: Communicate solutions that will reduce the impact of humans on the land, water, air, and/or other living things in the local environment.
Recommended placement: Animal and Plant Defenses unit, Chapter 1
Materials: The Student Book Investigating Monarchs from the unit Needs of Plants and Animals
Investigating Monarchs emphasizes the needs of monarch caterpillars and butterflies and shows what happens when these animals are not able to meet their needs. The book first introduces the life cycle of monarchs, explaining that monarch caterpillars must eat milkweed to survive and change into butterflies. Their summer habitat must have milkweed. The butterflies then migrate a long distance, from the United States to a forest in the mountains of Mexico, where they take shelter in the trees. Their winter habitat must have trees. Scientists discovered that the monarch population in Mexico was greatly reduced because people were cutting down the trees. The forest was then protected, but the monarch population did not recover as expected. Scientists in the United States found evidence that this was because fields with milkweed are being replaced by farms and buildings. This book could be read with the class either before or after Chapter 1 of the Animal and Plant Defenses unit, which focuses on what plants and animals need to do to survive. Students could be asked to reflect on what the monarchs need to survive (including food and shelter), and how human activities impacted the monarchs’ ability to meet those needs. After reading the book, students could brainstorm ideas for how to reduce the impact of humans on the local environment.
Standard: MS-PS4-2: Develop and use a model to describe that waves are reflected, absorbed, or transmitted through various materials.
Recommended placement: Metabolism unit, Lesson 3.3, addition to Activity 5
Materials: “What Eyes Can See” science article
As students investigate metabolism and the body systems, the article “What Eyes Can See” should be assigned to deepen their understanding of information processing and sense receptors and connect that understanding to the emerging idea of the interaction of waves with various materials. The article explores how the only thing we can really see is light. Light travels from a light source to the eye, passing through some materials and bouncing off others. Tiny organs inside the eye called rods and cones absorb energy from light, making vision possible. These interactions between light and materials determine our visible world.
Instructions:
Download the PDF “What Eyes Can See” above and remind students of the Active Reading guidelines. Before students read the article, invite them to share prior experiences. For example, “Have you ever had an experience where something looked different in one kind of light than in another kind of light? Or where something seemed to appear or disappear when the light changed?”
Standard: MS-PS3-1: Construct and interpret graphical displays of data to describe the relationships of kinetic energy to the mass of an object and to the speed of an object.
Recommended placement: Harnessing Human Energy unit, Lesson 1.4, after Activity 4
Materials: Force and Motion simulation; Activity instructions and copymasters
In this activity, students use the Force and Motion Simulation to investigate the relationship between kinetic energy, mass, and velocity.
Instructions
Download the PDF linked above for the Lesson Guide and copymasters needed for the activity. Note that this investigation is typically implemented during the Force and Motion unit. This means the Lesson Guide will contain some incongruous labeling (e.g., unit name), as well as instructions that are out of context and unnecessary for the purposes of addressing this standard at grade 7. We suggest skipping to step 4 of the Instructional Guide to avoid some of this. Your students will get additional exposure to this activity, and indeed the standard as a whole, when they get to the Force and Motion unit in grade 8.
Standards:
- MS-PS2-3: Ask questions about data to determine the factors that affect the strength of electric and magnetic forces.
- MS-PS2-5: Conduct an investigation and evaluate the experimental design to provide evidence that fields exist between objects exerting forces on each other even though the objects are not in contact.
Recommended placement: Force and Motion unit, after Lesson 1.5
Materials: Flextension PDF
This hands-on activity builds on and reinforces students’ understanding of forces that act at a distance, with a focus on electrostatic force. Students explore electrostatic forces, prompted by a set of challenges that they try to accomplish. Next, students generate scientific questions based on their observations. Electrostatic force is less predictable and consistent than magnetic force, and investigating it can be both challenging and intriguing. The purpose of this lesson is for students to gain firsthand experience with electrostatic force and to gain experience generating scientific questions based on observations. You might choose to include this Flextension if you would like your students to have more exposure to electrostatic force, and if you would like to challenge your students to explore and ask questions about a challenging type of force.
Instructions:
Download the PDF linked above for a detailed Lesson Guide and the copymasters associated with the activity. Note that this activity is typically implemented as an add-on Flextension during the Magnetic Fields unit. This means that you will see some information that is out of context (e.g., placement information, unit title), but the activity itself also works for the purposes of the Force and Motion unit. If you have any questions, please reach out to our support team via the chat icon in your account or help@amplify.com.
Explore the Digital Teacher’s Guide
When you’re ready to review, click the orange button below and use your provided login credentials to access the Amplify Science Digital Teacher’s Guide.
To help familiarize yourself with navigating the digital Teacher’s Guide, watch our navigational guide videos:
Grades K–5:
Grades 6–8:
Looking for help?
Powerful (and free!) pedagogical support
Amplify provides a unique kind of support you won’t find from other publishers. We’ve 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.
To reach our pedagogical team, use our live chat within your program, call (800) 823-1969, or email edsupport@amplify.com
Timely technical and program support
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 less urgent questions:
Contact us
Contact your Oklahoma representative:
Julie Godfrey
Account Executive
jgodfrey@amplify.com
(817) 360-0527
Boost Reading+ sessions overview
| Title | Duration | Modality | Audience |
|---|---|---|---|
| Launch Sessions | |||
| Initial training | Half day | Onsite/Remote | New Boost Reading+ customers |
Launch sessions
Initial training
Half day (3 hours)
The initial half-day training will explain how Skills Boost combines assessment, targeted instruction, personalized practice, and intervention to accelerate students’ reading growth. It will also support educators in administering program placement to students, utilizing the teacher dashboard to monitor students’ progress, and implementing 9-day lesson plans for students who require intervention.
Audience: Teachers (administrators welcome), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/remote
Pricing
| Session type | Pricing |
|---|---|
| Half-day onsite session | $2,500 |
| Half-day remote session | $750 |
Contact
Amplify welcomes the opportunity to partner with schools and districts to design professional development plans and answer your questions.
If you would like to order any of our professional development services, please contact your local Amplify sales representative or call (800) 823-1969.
High Impact Tutoring: ESC Training of Trainers
Making the most of a science education conference

A typical science education conference such as NSTA may offer hundreds of booths, sessions, and new people to meet—and, most of the time, a typical science educator can’t do it all! So how can you maximize these opportunities to learn even more about teaching science … without maxing out? Middle-school educator and Science Connections podcast host Eric Cross is here to offer his tips. Here’s what he shared with us:
Proven tips for capitalizing on science education conferences
- Fuel up: Good food and good coffee are essential for me. Before you arrive, do some pre-trip research into local coffee shops and restaurants near the conference center. Avoid the long lines and overpriced food at the conference venue; instead, support local businesses to keep your energy levels up. Also important: comfy shoes, a reusable water bottle, and extra snacks.
- Make a plan: Once registered, head to the conference website to build your agenda. Phone apps are handy, but I often find the desktop version works better for planning.
- Narrow it down: NSTA, as just one example, offers more than 1,132 sessions! So it’s crucial to zero in on your options. Use a session schedule filter to focus on the sessions most relevant to your interests and needs.
- Go where you’re fed: If you’re torn between sessions, go to one to collect resources, then move onto the other. Usually presenters list their session resources on the schedule or in the beginning of their session. Don’t hesitate to leave a session if it’s not meeting your needs, either—you’re there on behalf of your students. Presenters get it.
- Divide and conquer: If you’re attending with a team, collaborate on a shared document for session notes and resource links. This way, everyone in your department and administration can benefit from the resources gathered at the conference.
- Visit the expo hall: I recommend visiting right when it opens. You’ll find the booths fully stocked and the energy levels high.
- Embrace downtime: Remember, conference venues are huge, and you’ll be on your feet quite a bit. Make sure to schedule 30–45 minutes of downtime. Use this break for a bit of mindless relaxation or to catch up on emails and reflect on earlier sessions. This brief pause can be a game changer for your overall conference experience.
- Revisit next-day plans: Schedules can shift at the last minute. After dinner, I like to give the lineup a fresh look for any speaker or time changes. Being prepared allows me to have a game plan, but flexibility is also key.
- Network: I especially find value in connecting with educators who teach content or student populations similar to my own and learning about their best practices in science instruction. Sometimes, these new connections can be just as enriching as the sessions themselves.
Note: Amplify will be at NSTA (March 20–23) at Booth #713. Stop by to experience real Amplify Science lessons; gain access to exciting, free resources and activities; and pick up fun swag. You’ll also hear from product experts and real educators about how they use Amplify Science to benefit all students.
Can’t wait? Check out our Amplify Science success stories to see how our K–8 curriculum is helping students everywhere read, think, and talk like scientists.
More to explore
- Amplify Science
- STEM free resource library
- Eric Cross’s podcast, Science Connections, and his most recent webinar on AI in the classroom
About Desmos Math
Desmos Math 6–A1 delivers the instructional power of student-centered learning packaged in a lesson format that is teacher-friendly and manageable.
With easy-to-follow instructional supports, implementing a problem-based program becomes more effective and enjoyable for both you and your students. Delivered through the Desmos Classroom digital experience, math class becomes fun and dynamic, with plenty of opportunities for students to talk through their reasoning, work with their peers, and gain new understandings.
Powerful Desmos Classroom technology
Math lessons should be powerful in their ability to surface student thinking and spark interesting and productive discussions. The Desmos Classroom platform brings this vision to life. It even includes a complete library of interactive, collaborative lessons made by your math colleagues.

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.

Visibility into student thinking
Imagine having more visibility into your students’ mathematical thinking. Now imagine students have access to this same information. With our collaborative lesson interface and teacher dashboard, students can’t hide. What’s more, they have visibility into the thinking of their peers—exposing them to a wider variety of approaches to solving the same problem.

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 also control what slides students see, giving teachers the ability to control the pace of the lesson to suite the needs of the class.

A Lesson with Dr. Dan Meyer
Desmos Math has been extensively tested by math educators across the nation…including Dr. Dan Meyer.
In this 8-minute video, Dr. Dan Meyer puts a Desmos Math lessons to the test, and shares how the Desmos Math teacher tools empower all teacher to deliver engaging and interactive lessons.
Access demo
Ready to explore the program? Contact your local Amplify Account Executive to receive your login credentials. Please see their contact information below.

Contact us
Looking to speak directly with your local Account Executive? Get in touch with a Colorado team member to learn more about Desmos Math or to request a demo account.
S2-01: How teachers are really feeling this school year

In this special solo episode, Eric Cross starts the season by sharing his personal journey as an educator, and how the difficulties of the last few years have shaped his mindset going into the upcoming school year. Eric also addresses teacher burnout and what inspires him to continue working as a classroom educator. Explore more from Science Connections by visiting our main page.
Eric Cross (00:02):
Welcome to Science Connection, Season Two. As we begin the next season, I thought it would be a good time to share my story. As the host, I get to ask people questions about their journey, but I’ve actually never shared much about my own. So I’ve taken some of my most frequently asked questions to guests and asked them to myself. I hope you enjoy.
Eric Cross (00:23):
So the origin story question, I think really gets to the heart of why a person does what they do, because so much of who we are, especially as adults and teachers, is a result of experiences that we had in our lives when we were kids or in school with other teachers. And my life’s no different. I was born to a 19-year-old single mom. And when you’re a young boy growing up, especially with a young single mom, you often look to older men in different positions as kinda like a surrogate or like a mentor. And you may not even tell them that they are that to you. You kind of keep it close to the chest. And that’s what I did growing up. One of the ones that really stood out to me is, in seventh grade, I went to a middle school here in San Diego that was called Keiller Middle School. And we were a magnet program that specialized in science. And they had this program that brought professors from the local universities and they did this high-level enrichment. They would even take us to the college campus and we would work in these labs as seventh graders. It was amazing. And one of the people there, his name was Dr. Tress, and he was a professor. And Dr. Tress took a liking to me. I reminded him of his son. We were doing this great embryology experiment. We would take purple sea urchins. And we would inject them with potassium chloride, which would cause them to spawn. And we would fertilize these eggs, and then we would run different experiments using them. And these were things that I had never done before. I had always loved science. I’d always loved tinkering and building things. But this was my introduction, really, to high-level biology and to higher levels of education. I didn’t—I didn’t have many figures like that in my life growing up. I mean, I’m a first-generation, you know, high school, college graduate. Many of these are first generations for me. So, this was a new experience. And so Dr. Tress really unlocked a core memory and was one of my first mentors, as far as academics are concerned. And during my seventh-grade year, I entered the science fair and won first place, which was a huge deal. They took us out to Balboa Park. We got to miss school for a week. We got to go to all the museums for free. It was the best. And I think at that point in time, it really solidified something in me that would lay dormant until later on in my adult life. High school, I was really fortunate: the high school I went to was Morse High School, not too far from Keiller, and they had an aeronautics program. So I was able to enroll in that aeronautics program. And I learned how to fly before I learned how to drive. And I had this great instructor named Mr. Klon, who was this like 6′ 4″, 250-pound hippie guy. And he—we would get in the plane and we would have these like philosophical conversations. And through that, especially looking back now as a teacher, I realized that he was making connections with me and investing into who I was as a person. And it was something that I so needed at the time. Because at home I didn’t have that. You know, my safe place, a lot of time, was school. It was my only structure. It was where I knew I would get encouragement. It was where I knew things were reliable and consistent. For a lot of people, and a lot of kids, their home life isn’t like that. School was that for me. So Mr. Klon, I mean, he was this authentic, you know, consistent person in my life and made a huge difference at this time.
Eric Cross (03:23):
After I graduated high school, I left home just to get away from a difficult environment. And I was homeless for a little while and that was a huge moment in my life. And around that time, an aunt found out and she said, “You’re gonna come stay with us.” And this was like this three-year process of me living with them in this, like, functional family that ate dinner together. And they went to the zoo. They had family passes. And they took family photos at Christmastime. This was all weird stuff. Like, I didn’t know—I didn’t know who did these things. It was—I felt like a puppy that like lived in a home that was like…it was a home that was just always kind of like violent or like just really toxic. And then it gets put into a healthy home and doesn’t know how to act. That’s how it felt. And this was around like 19, 20 years old. During that time I started putting myself through school. So I went to community college and I was broke as a joke. And so I couldn’t afford the textbooks while I was going. So I would just go to the bookstore, the Barnes and Noble bookstore in Mira Mesa here in San Diego. And I would stay there all night using the textbooks or using the books there for doing my work. And then I would just put the books back on the shelves. Because let’s just face it. Textbooks are expensive, brother wasn’t trying to pay for all that. So I really had to earn that time. So I was working full-time. I was going to school. And, eventually I got a job in working in finance with a really great friend who mentored me during my younger twenties. And I didn’t wanna be broke and finance made sense.
Eric Cross (04:44):
And so I did that for a little while, until I got to a point in my career where I was watching an episode of The Office, the UK version, the Ricky Gervais version, and a character said, “I’d rather be at the bottom of a ladder I want to climb than halfway up one I don’t.” And I realized, working in finance, that I was halfway up a ladder I never wanted to climb. So I wanted to move into something that, if I was gonna spend eight hours a day or 10 hours a day doing something, I wanted it to be something that actually filled me up inside. And this is how I got into teaching. So I had always been working with young people, specifically 12- to 18-year-olds, like a non-profit or volunteering, mentoring, after-school programs. And I’ve always managed to rationalize my job in the finance world as meaningful because it let me do the real work that fulfilled me. So the real work was working with the kids. But my day job, my, like, Clark Kent-type job, was just, you know, doing the finance thing of like helping people that have a lot of money make more money. Which at the end of my life, I look back and I said, “That’s not what I want my legacy to be.”
Eric Cross (05:43):
And when the finance crash happened in 2008, that’s when I think I started looking back on it and said, “If I’m gonna spend all my time doing something and spending 40 or 60 or 80 hours of my day of my week doing things, I want it to matter. And that’s when I decided to pivot and leave that field and go and get my master’s in education and get my teaching credential, teaching science specifically. Now, one of the questions we get asked a lot and I’ve been asked is, is “How has teaching changed as a result of the pandemic?” And I feel like this could be several podcasts in and of itself, and it’s also regional, because everybody’s experienced it differently, And we’re still experiencing it! That’s the crazy thing! It’s like, it’s not over, we’re still in it. And some places have innovated and pivoted and some places just did what they needed to and they are trying to go back to business as usual. But if anything has happened, the pandemic revealed how much more, how much schools are more than places of just content learning. For many students it’s where they have their only community, their structure, their emotional wellness. They get regular meals, access to tech, and adults that care about them that are outside of their family. The schools are so much more than that. I mean, my school, they were a place, like a hub, that was giving out food every single day during the pandemic to families that would kind of drive by. So for a lot of schools, they became places like that. It also…the pandemic revealed the intensity of the educator workload. I mean, being able to manage your family, having the capacity, to be a content expert, you need to be a counselor, a trauma-care specialist, a coach, an encourager, a tech expert.
Eric Cross (07:23):
I mean, the term mental health is now more common and starting to become prioritized. Now we’re focusing so much more on the whole child. And we know from research that how a child feels about themselves and their safety and their security impacts their ability to learn. So the more comfortable and safe a student feels in the classroom with teachers and with friends, the better they’re gonna be able to learn. And ultimately the higher they’re gonna be able to achieve. You can’t, you can’t have one without the other. In addition, I think less teachers, see themselves teaching into retirement. I think that’s a big thing. I read these articles about teacher shortages and I think the reality is it’s actually teacher exodus. It’s teachers leaving. And that’s been really difficult. I’ve had many friends who’ve left for the private sector. And I get it, especially if you’re one that has—if you’re the first in your family to graduate from college, with a STEM degree, to them taking a teaching position can mean walking away from a salary in the private sector that pays two or three times more.
Eric Cross (08:23):
And in many places around the country, in order to be a teacher and maintain a median standard of living, you need either dual income, multiple jobs, or a multi-generational household. For a lot of people it just doesn’t make sense. And even right now, today, as I’m recording this, I’m reading articles and getting text messages…and I received a text message three days ago from a teacher that said, “My goal this year is to just not resign.” And that’s where a lot of teachers are feeling right now: isolated, challenged, and under-appreciated. And Plato said, “What’s honored in a country is cultivated there.” And I’ve been looking at how teachers are honored and one of the ways is just, like, practical. Like, look, I gotta pay my bills. You know, love the Starbucks gift card. Love the CPK, the gift card. The cards, all those other things…but brother got a car payment. And at the end of the day, if we care about our kids, we need to take care of the people that take care of them. And there’s very practical ways for that to happen. And everybody in different sectors around the country is dealing with that in different ways. I think the pandemic also revealed, now the public can see how our kids don’t receive the same quality of education. And once you’re aware of that, you can’t put the genie back in the bottle. So once you see on Zoom or once you see in a meeting, or once you see on the news, that students in different areas, whether it’s the rural South or a suburb in Seattle, are not getting equitable educations, well, ultimately that impacts all of us. Now. It’s not all doom and gloom. Good things have come from, as a result of, the pandemic. Many schools have made progress towards narrowing the technology gap, ’cause they had to! ‘Cause you can’t do Zoom and you can’t do Google Meet and all that stuff with a packet! You gotta get those Chromebooks. And Chromebooks and the internet and access to tech is not a new thing. It’s been out for a long time. The technology gap is not a new thing. It’s been written about extensively, but all of a sudden districts and schools started figuring out how to close that gap. And that’s awesome. We didn’t want a pandemic to be the catalyst for that to happen. But at the end of the day, we started closing it. A lot of schools did an amazing job and districts did an amazing job with deploying the hardware, sending out buses with wifi, putting lessons and videos on USB sticks and dropping them off to parents who live in sparsely populated areas. I mean, there were so many stories that I’ve heard about schools and teachers just doing amazing things, going above and beyond what they needed to on behalf of kids.
Eric Cross (10:51):
I think in addition to that, there’s also been students and families are now having more options to personalize their learning. So we have this in-person model, we have this Zoom or kind of online model, and this hybrid model, and it hasn’t all been perfect, you know, at all. But some families have come out and said, you know what actually doing this hybrid model is better for my son or better for my daughter or better for my student, because they’re able to get the socialization, but also able to focus better at home than they are in a classroom of 36. And that’s legitimate. You know, we talk about personalized learning, but it’s not exactly personalized when everybody has to wake up at the same time, same schedule, go to the same, the same classroom of, you know, up to 40 kids, and do the same lesson. I mean, we have to be honest about our limitations with personalizing learning for students. And when we can provide more options and we give teachers the infrastructure to be able to use different platforms, then we’re able to personalize learning a lot more.
Eric Cross (11:51):
There’s also been an emphasis on the whole-child wellness. I think the spotlight on mental well-being heavily impacts their academic success, but counseling teams, social workers, school psychologists—I think more than ever we’ve realized the value that they bring to the schools. And unfortunately many of them have caseloads of 200 students or more. And they’re seeing students most often that are in crisis. And especially after the pandemic, we’re realizing how valuable they are and how much we need to, one, honor them and give them the support that they need, and also recruit more. Because as we start recognizing how our brains are impacted by the things that we’re dealing with, we’re also gonna see how that’s gonna impact our students’ performance. And we need the specialists in those positions to be able to support our kids. I think, last, I think more innovation and lesson design and how we assess students. And so we’ve been talking about in education just kind of critiquing: how do we assess what a student knows? How do we make what a student actually does at school relevant to real life? I mean, so many times I have students who’ve graduated that are like, “I feel like the things I learned in school, like, they’re not always transferable to real life. It helped me on a test, but like, I don’t know how to do my taxes.” Or “I memorized these facts, but I don’t really apply it in my job.” Or “The facts that I learned I could have actually learned on the fly in my job. I wish I would’ve actually focused on the skills or had an earlier opportunity to get some experience because when I’m trying to apply for a job, <laugh> they ask for experience and I’m 22 years old.”
Eric Cross (13:28):
And so all these things kind of come up. And so I think there’s been some great conversations around “how do we rethink what education looks like?” And there’s different pockets around the country that have been doing that, I think, really well. And I think it’s important for us as teachers to stay connected to those people who are kind of pushing the boundaries and thinking outside the box, because when we get siloed, it’s really easy to get calcified and cynical. I get it. And it impacts me too. But when we’re around those people who have those fresh ideas, who are really pushing the limits, it inspires us. And that’s something I think during the pandemic that I’m grateful that I was intentional about, is staying connected with other teachers. There’s a big question; Why do you continue your work in the classroom and what keeps you motivated? And I was thinking really hard about this question, because depending on <laugh>, depending on my day, I feel like my answer’s gonna be a little bit different. So I’ve had to step back from this 30-foot, thousand-foot perspective and answer the question. And my answer is this: I think because I still feel like I can be effective to influence positive change in my classroom with my students and within the larger education system as a whole. I think if I lost either of those two, then I’d rethink my profession. Look, I’m an innovator. I like asking “why” questions and things like that. And I’m not always the most popular person when you do that. But education is like just a huge ship. It doesn’t pivot on a dime. And asking why questions and pushing for change on behalf of kids isn’t easy, fun, or glamorous, but it’s it’s necessary. And I feel like over the last few years, I’ve been able to see these kind of glimmers of a trajectory change, at least where I am locally. And that’s something that has given me a lot of hope. I’m very fortunate to be connected to educators and people in leadership that are really about making a difference beyond just kind of the cliched platitudes. They actually wanna make systemic change, in a way that’s positive. And that’s been really helpful for me. So as long as I feel like I’m useful in the classroom for students, and as long as I feel like I’m bringing, I think change, on behalf of teachers and students and administrators and our community in a way that moves the ball down the field, that’s what keeps me motivated. And what I like to ask teachers when I close in the podcast is. “What teacher or teachers have inspired you?”
Eric Cross (15:54):
And for me, I think it would start off with the teachers who cared about me when they didn’t have to, in elementary school all the way through college. And there are numerous teachers. My science-teacher community of practice. For the last two years, I’ve been fortunate to spend every month, once a month, meeting with just a core group of science teachers that really care about some of the things that we are impacted by in the classroom. And when the pandemic was going on, we still met regularly. And because we’re not all teaching in the same place, we kind of were able to bring different perspectives to the table. I think the current classroom teachers and former classroom teachers that I have in my community really inspire me. The ones who are dedicated to opening doors for students. The graduate students that I teach at the University of San Diego, they keep me fresh. I love leaving teaching my 12- and 13-year-olds, and then driving down the street to the university and teaching 20somethings who are all about to be in the classroom. They come with new ideas, they’re asking questions, and I get to actually share things that I just did three hours ago. I think that’s one thing that continues to inspire me. And it’s one of the reasons why I love teaching at the University of San Diego. Their energy and enthusiasm is super-refreshing. And then all the teachers that are willing to take risks and fail forward, to try things different, to ask hard questions, to push the envelope. Teaching’s hard. It’s easy to point out the problems in education as a whole. But after we do that, it’s important to figure out the practical ways we can make the changes that we wanna see.
Eric Cross (17:23):
Now, that’s to say that if you have the capacity for it and the resources and the support. Some of us, we don’t. Some of us, we are on an island, and that’s a really, really difficult place to be, especially when you have family and kids to take care of. And you have to make decisions on what’s best for you and for your own students. We do this work on behalf of kids. And it’s one of the most honorable services a person can provide to our community. But one area for growth that I think we have kind of as a society, is teachers spend their lives, daily, on behalf of the future of our country. For other people’s children. They fall asleep at night worrying about other people’s kids. They spend their own money to create opportunities and experiences that students might not otherwise have. And it’s important that we collectively, and I know I’m preaching the choir when I say this, but this is one of my messages, is that we honor them in turn. We create programs that allow them to be able to afford housing. We create opportunities for them to be able to generate wealth. We create ways for them to be able to find rest, to get connection. And then internally we create systems where they can just work on themselves, fill themselves, get trained, and be whole, so they can bring their best self to the kids in front of them. That’s one of my personal platforms. It’s something that I think is vital. We gotta take care of the people that take care of our kids. So there’s a saying that says, “It’s better to light a candle than to curse the darkness.” And it takes one person to blow out a candle, but one candle can light thousands of other candles, without diminishing its own light. And that’s what we have to be. So my encouragement, teachers, as you’re going into this new school year, and you’re thinking about what’s going on, you’re thinking about all the challenges—and they’re there, and they’re real, and trust me, it’s not like some Pollyanna, like, “Hey, just be positive!” mindset and everything’s gonna be great—no, no, no, no, no. It’s not that. But my encouragement…if I can tell you one thing that’s helped me more than anything else, it’s being connected to other people who are candle-lighters. Because there are a lot of places that are gonna blow out the candle. It could be the staff lounge. It could be Twitter, it could be Reddit. It could be Instagram. It could be TikTok. It could be, you know, anybody. Someone next door to you. There’s a lot of folks that are gonna be willing to point out and say, “Look, this is what’s wrong.” But find the helpers. Find the people that are candle-lighters. And stay connected with them. Find that community. I can tell you for me, that’s been the thing that’s been able to help me sojourn through all of this—I couldn’t do this by myself—is being able to share my story with other teachers and knowing that I’m doing this work alongside of other folks who are doing this work, and I can share my story with them and listen to their stories, is something that’s been able to fill my cup. And so I hope I can do the same for you and for other people listening to other people I come in contact with.
Eric Cross (20:08):
Teachers, I wish you a great school year. Hang in there. Be those candle-lighters and bring your best self on behalf of the students. Thanks so much for listening. Now, we wanna hear more about you. If you have any stories you wanna share about the classroom, please email stem@amplify.com. That’s STEM at amplifycom.wpengine.com. And make sure to click subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts. And join our Facebook group, Science Connections: The Community. Until next time.
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Meet the guest
Eric Cross is a 7th grade science/technology teacher, grade level lead, and digital learning innovator for Albert Einstein Academies, International Baccalaureate schools. He is also an adjunct professor of learning and technology at the University of San Diego and a Google certified innovator. Eric earned a bachelor’s degree from Azusa Pacific University and a Master of Education from the University of San Diego. He had 17 years of experience working with at-risk youth and underserved populations before becoming a middle school teacher. By building relationships with students, colleagues, and the community, he has become an empowered leader in and out of the classroom. Through meaningful learning experiences centered around student agency, STEM has become accessible to students through highly engaging lesson design, thoughtful integration of digital tools, and culturally relevant pedagogy.

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!
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Last Modified: February 2, 2026
Create transformation that lasts.
Embarking on educational change takes heart, intention, and determination. It also requires proven strategies and practical tools. With data, resources, and countless stories of successful implementations to guide us, we can take the first step toward true transformation together.


Principles for Educational Change Management
Whether you’re looking for transformative change in math, literacy, or science instruction, some essential principles apply across the board. As a teacher, administrator, or community leader, you’ll find these guiding principles can help you manage your new curriculum implementation and help each student reach their potential.
Leading instructional shifts across all disciplines

Make the shift to the Science of Reading.
Learn the key steps that will drive the success you need.

Change in math is different.
Managing change in math doesn’t have to mean starting over. It starts with a few simple shifts.

Be a science inspiration.
Intentional shifts help transform students into concerned global citizens ready to take on the world. Find out how.
Let data guide your transformation.
The right data at the right time is crucial in planning lasting instructional change. With specific metrics to guide your implementation, you’ll know exactly how to monitor your progress. Download our literacy assessment infographic as a model for the key data questions to ask at critical points in the school year.

Achieve implementation success.
Ready to navigate educational implementation with confidence? The following resources will help you discover practical strategies for decision-making, managing change, and engaging stakeholders.

Discover five steps to successful implementation.
Balancing decision-making, data collection, and transparent communication doesn’t have to be overwhelming. Discover the five essential steps to making implementation manageable.

Think like a leader.
Strategic leadership requires more than sharp management skills. Find out how the leadership brain model can help you, as a district leader, connect initiatives with your broader vision.

Turn plans into results.
Educational change requires intentional effort. Key leadership imperatives can provide the framework you need for effective implementation.
Educational leaders share their success.
Find out how educational leaders have transformed their districts through successful implementation, revealing the commitment and strategic approach that led to real academic improvements.

Change needs commitment.
Change is achievable when everyone commits to the process. See how one district turned collaboration into a successful implementation of Amplify CKLA.

Existing strengths need focused direction.
Strong district foundations require intentional focus. Learn how systematic analysis helped one district turn comprehensive resources into meaningful impact for teachers.

Shared responsibility transforms implementation.
Managing implementation alone limits success. Discover how one district leader used stakeholder mapping to create shared leadership and building-level ownership.

See implementation in action.
Learn how one district achieved positive test results across grades 1–5 within their first year of adopting Amplify CKLA.

Strategic change delivers results.
Results happen when change is managed strategically. Check out how one district turned thoughtful planning into successful Amplify CKLA adoption.

Curriculum evaluation leads to confident decisions.
Explore how one district implemented Amplify CKLA (after piloting seven different programs!) and achieved powerful kindergarten reading gains.

Regular communication fosters growth.
Structured coaching support transforms implementation outcomes. Find out how regular communication helped one district achieve consistency and sustained student growth with Amplify CKLA.

Preparation creates lasting results.
Comprehensive training creates the foundation for sustained success. Read about how strategic summer preparation and ongoing professional learning helped one county achieve significant academic improvements.
Tell us about your experience using an Amplify program or service in the classroom!
Use the form below to let us know how you would like to share your story. You can submit your experiences directly through the form or express interest in participating in serving as a reference or joining a research group, and we’ll be in touch!
If you use the Amplify Texas programming, please select your Texas program after selecting your state in the form below.
Registration is now closed.
Thank you for your interest, but registration is unfortunately closed.
If you’re interested in hearing about other virtual learning opportunities this fall, please contact us at STEM@amplify.com.

About the event
The 1.5-day interactive retreat for math and science district leaders will be held at the Intercontinental Hotel in Chicago, Illinois from October 20–21, 2022. During the retreat, you will spend your time in interactive workshops while learning from thought-leaders, and will also have time to collaborate with other district leaders.
By attending, you will:
- Immerse yourself in the latest math and science education trends with thought leaders and subject-matter experts.
- Expand your leadership network while sharing challenges and success stories with other district leaders.
- Build action plans that you can bring back to your district in interactive workshops.
Logistics
We will have an optional welcome reception on the evening of October 19, and the event will run from 8 a.m. on Thursday, October 20 through 1 p.m. on Friday, October 21.
Participants will be provided breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks on the 20th and breakfast, lunch, and snacks on the 21st.
Amplify will cover on-site hotel and meal fees. Attendees are responsible for their own travel costs.

Meet a few of our speakers
Rebecca Abbott

Professional Learning Lead
UC Berkeley’s Lawrence Hall of Science
Eric Cross

Middle school science educator
Host, Science Connections: The Podcast
Kristin Gray

Math Content Consultant
Amplify
Sunil Singh

Storyteller and author
Desiré Whitmore

Senior Physics Educator
The Exploratorium
Jason Zimba

Chief Academic Officer, STEM
Amplify
The fine print
While we’ve made every effort to ensure that this invitation is consistent with the gift and ethics rules adopted by most jurisdictions, we recognize that many public officials are subject to rules that do not permit acceptance of this offer or require approval of other officials at your agency. If you do plan to attend our event, please ensure that acceptance of our invitation is fully compliant with your local rules regarding travel, lodging, and meals for events with vendors. Please let us know if we can provide any additional information to support your determination.

Join us for an Oklahoma Amplify Science workshop
These fun and informative workshops will give you a sneak peak into Amplify Science for grades K-8. Enjoy dinner with your colleagues and Amplify Science team, preview the program, walk away with free samples, and maybe even a door prize!
Space is limited—register today!
In-person workshops
Agenda
4:00 p.m. Registration
4:30 p.m. Workshop
5:30 p.m. Dinner and door prizes
Tuesday, September 29
Stride Bank Center
301 S. Independence Street
Enid, OK 73701
Wednesday, September 30
Hampton Inn & Suites Stillwater West
615 S. Country Club Road
Stillwater, OK 74074
Thursday, October 1
Science Museum
2020 Remington Place
Oklahoma City, OK 73111
Tuesday, October 20
Oklahoma Aquarium
300 Aquarium Drive
Jenks, OK 74037
Thursday, October 22
Sam Noble Museum
University of Oklahoma
2401 Chautauqua Avenue
Norman, OK 73072
Virtual workshops
Agenda
4:00 p.m. Workshop begins
4:45 p.m. Q&A
5:00 p.m. Dinner gift card and door prizes
Wednesday, October 21
4:00 p.m. CDT
Tuesday, October 27
4:00 p.m. CDT
Wednesday, October 28
4:00 p.m. CDT
Thursday, October 29
4:00 p.m. CDT
Submit the form to register for an event!
The fine print
While we’ve made every effort to ensure that this invitation is consistent with the gift and ethics rules adopted by most jurisdictions, we recognize that many public officials are subject to rules that do not permit acceptance of this offer or require approval of other officials at your agency. If you do plan to attend our event, please ensure that acceptance of our invitation is fully compliant with your local rules regarding travel, lodging, and meals for events with vendors. Please let us know if we can provide any additional information to support your determination.

Join us!
Meet like-minded educators Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut magna aliqua.
March 2–4
The US Grant Hotel, San Diego
About the event
Join us for two days of interactive and inspirational talks with math education leaders from around the country to discuss where math education is headed. Meet like-minded K–12 leaders as well as change-makers from major universities, EdTech companies, and professional learning organizations dedicated to improving teacher experiences and student outcomes in mathematics.
We’re hosting an optional pre-conference workshop featuring Patrick Callahan and Chris Weber on Monday, March 2. The pre-conference starts at 12 p.m.
What to expect:
- Two full days of keynote and breakout sessions covering a variety of K–12 math topics
- Sessions led by district leaders sharing their work to raise math achievement
- Evening networking events
- Engaging speakers with a variety of expertise
- Insights you can put to use in your district immediately

Meet a few of our speakers
Use this version when there are multiple presenters.

Jason Zimba
Founding Partner of Student Achievement Partners
Lead writer of the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics

Sunil Singh
Founding Partner of Student Achievement Partners
Lead writer of the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics

Christina Lincoln-Moore
Founding Partner of Student Achievement Partners
Lead writer of the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics
Meet our featured presenter
Use this version when there is only one presenter, rather than many.

Natalie Wexler
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Quis ipsum suspendisse ultrices gravida dictum fusce. Convallis posuere morbi leo urna molestie. In metus vulputate eu scelerisque felis imperdiet proin fermentum leo.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Quis ipsum suspendisse ultrices gravida dictum fusce.
Event agenda
Monday, March 2
Arrivals
Pre-conference workshop featuring Chris Weber and Patrick Callahan
Sessions begin at 1 p.m. Pacific and include:
- Adult and Student Mindsets and Math Supports
- Enhanced Mathematics
3:00 p.m. Hotel check-in available
6:00 p.m. Welcome reception and dinner
Tuesday, March 3
8:30 a.m. Sessions begin
Sessions include:
- Math milestones with Jason Zimba
- Unfinished learning with Phil Daro
- Powerful moments in math class with Mike Flynn
- Utilizing math history to embrace equity, failure, and authentic problem-solving in leadership communities with Sunil Singh
- Radical change in high school mathematics: Addressing wicked problems of tracking, acceleration, and curricular change with Mike Steele
6:30 p.m. Evening event
Wednesday, March 4
8:30 a.m. Sessions begin
Sessions include:
- Embedding problem-solving into your curriculum with Fawn Nguyen
- Writing in mathematics: The power of mathematics explanations with Jessica Balli
- Talk Number 2 Me: Mathematics and mindfulness with Christina Lincoln-Moore
- Writing in mathematics: The power of mathematical explanations with Patrick Callahan
4:00 p.m. Departures
Submit the form to register for the event!
Note: this is a Hubspot form but, when this page is used, we will be using Gravity forms. I put in an HS form now since the CSS has not been added.

The fine print
While we’ve made every effort to ensure that this invitation is consistent with the gift and ethics rules adopted by most jurisdictions, we recognize that many public officials are subject to rules that do not permit acceptance of this offer or require approval of other officials at your agency. If you do plan to attend our event, please ensure that acceptance of our invitation is fully compliant with your local rules regarding travel, lodging, and meals for events with vendors. Please let us know if we can provide any additional information to support your determination.

Join us!
Meet like-minded educators Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut magna aliqua.
March 2–4
The US Grant Hotel, San Diego
About the event
Join us for two days of interactive and inspirational talks with math education leaders from around the country to discuss where math education is headed. Meet like-minded K–12 leaders as well as change-makers from major universities, EdTech companies, and professional learning organizations dedicated to improving teacher experiences and student outcomes in mathematics.
We’re hosting an optional pre-conference workshop featuring Patrick Callahan and Chris Weber on Monday, March 2. The pre-conference starts at 12 p.m.
What to expect:
- Two full days of keynote and breakout sessions covering a variety of K–12 math topics
- Sessions led by district leaders sharing their work to raise math achievement
- Evening networking events
- Engaging speakers with a variety of expertise
- Insights you can put to use in your district immediately

Meet a few of our speakers
Use this version when there are multiple presenters.
Jason Zimba
Founding Partner of Student Achievement Partners
Lead writer of the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics
Sunil Singh
Founding Partner of Student Achievement Partners
Lead writer of the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics
Meet our featured presenter
Use this version when there is only one presenter, rather than many.

Natalie Wexler
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Quis ipsum suspendisse ultrices gravida dictum fusce. Convallis posuere morbi leo urna molestie. In metus vulputate eu scelerisque felis imperdiet proin fermentum leo.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Quis ipsum suspendisse ultrices gravida dictum fusce.
Event agenda
Monday, March 2
Arrivals
Pre-conference workshop featuring Chris Weber and Patrick Callahan
Sessions begin at 1 p.m. Pacific and include:
- Adult and Student Mindsets and Math Supports
- Enhanced Mathematics
3:00 p.m. Hotel check-in available
6:00 p.m. Welcome reception and dinner
Tuesday, March 3
8:30 a.m. Sessions begin
Sessions include:
- Math milestones with Jason Zimba
- Unfinished learning with Phil Daro
- Powerful moments in math class with Mike Flynn
- Utilizing math history to embrace equity, failure, and authentic problem-solving in leadership communities with Sunil Singh
- Radical change in high school mathematics: Addressing wicked problems of tracking, acceleration, and curricular change with Mike Steele
6:30 p.m. Evening event
Wednesday, March 4
8:30 a.m. Sessions begin
Sessions include:
- Embedding problem-solving into your curriculum with Fawn Nguyen
- Writing in mathematics: The power of mathematics explanations with Jessica Balli
- Talk Number 2 Me: Mathematics and mindfulness with Christina Lincoln-Moore
- Writing in mathematics: The power of mathematical explanations with Patrick Callahan
4:00 p.m. Departures
Submit the form to register for the event!
Note: this is a Hubspot form but, when this page is used, we will be using Gravity forms. I put in an HS form now since the CSS has not been added.

The fine print
While we’ve made every effort to ensure that this invitation is consistent with the gift and ethics rules adopted by most jurisdictions, we recognize that many public officials are subject to rules that do not permit acceptance of this offer or require approval of other officials at your agency. If you do plan to attend our event, please ensure that acceptance of our invitation is fully compliant with your local rules regarding travel, lodging, and meals for events with vendors. Please let us know if we can provide any additional information to support your determination.
Leading in early literacy with science-based practices

Bruin Point Elementary sits at the base of Utah’s Book Cliff Mountain Range in the small mining town of Sunnyside, 30 miles from the nearest district hub. With just 107 students, and one teacher per grade, it’s Carbon School District’s smallest school—and now one of its brightest early literacy success stories.
All of Bruin Point’s students face significant systemic barriers, with 100% qualifying for free lunch. Yet when it comes to literacy development, the school’s educators have achieved something remarkable.
In just one year, their student literacy proficiency rates jumped 19 percentage points—from 39% at the beginning of the year to 58% by mid-year.
That’s why Bruin Point Elementary has been named a Literacy Legend in our 2025 Science of Reading Star Awards. These awards honor educators, schools, and districts that have transformed classrooms and empowered students through the Science of Reading.
Teaching early literacy skills in a community with challenges
Sunnyside tells the story of many rural American communities. “Since the closing of the local mines, there has been an increase in the number of unemployed family members,” says Cindy Garcia, Bruin Point’s principal.
As a result, an already high poverty rate has risen still further, along with levels of substance abuse, neglect, behavioral issues, and more. Parent involvement in school is extremely low, according to Garcia. “Basic needs take priority.”
Yet Garcia and her six-teacher team saw potential where others might have seen obstacles. They understood that their students deserved the strongest possible foundation in early literacy skills. And they knew they had to make a change.
The importance of relying on data
“Many of us had been trained in methods that didn’t fully meet the needs of all students, and shifting the mindset required trust, training, and time,” says fifth-grade teacher Tyler Grundy. “Our biggest challenge wasn’t just learning a new approach. It was unlearning old ones. But we stayed the course.”
Four of the six teachers completed LETRS training, with two more currently working through it. Teachers began to trade guesswork for systematic, explicit classroom instruction, using data to guide their early literacy program.
“We equipped our teachers with the knowledge and tools to teach reading explicitly and systematically,” Grundy says. “We relied on data, not assumptions, to guide our instruction and interventions.”
Building literacy and knowledge together
The school implemented Amplify Core Knowledge Language Arts (CKLA), providing systematic phonics instruction and rich content knowledge that builds comprehension.
“CKLA weaves literacy skills together to help make my students proficient readers and writers,” says first-grade teacher Chelsea Timothy. “They’re making connections between the Greek myth of Arachne and spiders being arachnids. They put together a web of knowledge.”
Just having a wealth of content at their fingertips made a huge difference, too, and the instructors learned quickly how to leverage it.
“I didn’t have to spend countless hours looking for content,” said Julia Sanders, a first-year kindergarten teacher. “It saved me time, so I could focus on making it more encouraging for the kids.”
For second-grade teacher Francie Aufdemorte, having comprehensive materials meant being able to focus on instruction. “It reduced the stress of creating lesson plans from scratch,” she says. “I was nervous about the rigor, but my students have excelled with it.”
Building a culture in which “success is expected”
The 19-point proficiency jump speaks to real student growth, but Garcia knows the impact goes beyond test scores.
“Struggling students who once guessed at words began to decode with confidence,” she said. “We built a culture where reading success is expected and not left to chance.”
Bruin Point’s success rests on ongoing commitment to evidence-based practices. Garcia and her team continue meeting regularly for data discussions, sustaining the mindset shift that began their journey to improved student outcomes.
“Our interventions and extensions are like a well-oiled machine,” Garcia said. “We can see that the young ones are off to a much better start.”
She adds: “We didn’t just change our curriculum, we changed lives. And that is a legacy worth celebrating.”
More to explore
S4 – 02. Bethany and Dan share their math biographies

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.
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):
- 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):
- 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):
- 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.
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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.


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!
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Support your implementation with our half-day virtual mCLASS DIBELS 8th Edition training sessions offered throughout the 2025–26 school year. Various session topics will be offered at strategic times to support teachers at critical times. Sessions will be conducted via Zoom, providing a convenient online format for districts seeking flexible professional development without full-site commitments.
mCLASS DIBELS 8th Edition initial training (3 hrs)
Participants will dive into the essentials of mCLASS DIBELS 8th Edition and leave ready to administer and score the assessment to collect data using standardized guidelines.
Register now!
mCLASS DIBELS 8th Edition: Creating a data-driven culture for teachers (3 hrs)
What’s next? Dive deep into mCLASS DIBELS 8th Edition reports and instructional recommendations to drive stronger student outcomes in your classroom. You will leave ready to leverage mCLASS progress monitoring and grouping tools to support a robust MTSS program.
Sessions coming soon.
mCLASS DIBELS 8th Edition: Administration and reporting training for leaders (3 hrs)
Prepare to implement mCLASS with your school or district. Determine systems-level actions that will ensure assessment fidelity and leave ready to leverage key admin reports to support data-informed decision making.
Sessions coming soon.
mCLASS DIBELS 8th Edition: Creating a data-driven culture for leaders (3 hrs)
Cultivate a school-wide culture of data-driven practices. Use mCLASS reports to drill into key school-level data and leave with a systems-level action plan to drive stronger student and teacher outcomes.
Sessions coming soon.
Looking for additional training? No problem. Reach out to your local Account Executive to explore our flexible training alternatives that work with your district’s unique schedule.
Coming soon!
Training resources

Explore the complete professional development library and the Amplify webinar library.
View the mCLASS DIBELS 8th Edition Benchmark Scoring in action:
- Practice videos and forms
- Video: How to Assign Online Assessments (3:36)
- How To: Use District-Level Student Online Assessment Management
- mCLASS DIBELS 8th Edition assessment materials (for print)
Learn about additional assessment measures (RAN, Spelling, Vocabulary, Oral Language).
Explore more programs.

Amplify’s proven suite of assessment, instruction, and intervention is the gold standard in early literacy. Our programs are designed to enable students to build robust foundational skills and grow at all reading levels. Unlock the full suite and learn more about our related programs today!
Contact us!
Yvonne Rhode
Senior Account Executive
yrohde@amplify.com
Skyler Dario
Account Executive
sdario@amplify.com
Amplify ELA: Florida Edition professional development
Amplify ELA is an engaging and rigorous curriculum designed specifically for grades 6–8. With Amplify ELA, students learn to tackle any complex text and make observations, grapple with interesting ideas, and find relevance for themselves.
We’ve created a wide suite of professional development offerings that will help you meet your unique needs this school year. Find out more below!

Amplify CKLA, ELA, and Science professional development has been vetted by Rivet Education’s team through a rigorous three-step process and is listed in the Professional Learning Partner Guide.

Plan your professional development
We’re excited to partner with you on your Amplify journey. Flexible professional development pathways have been designed to meet your needs.

Recommended professional development plan
Our team has curated a recommended professional learning path from initial launch to continuous support. Use the Professional Development Planning Guide below to discuss the plan that best meets your school or district needs with your Account Executive.
Sessions overview
Recommended sessions are highlighted below
| Title | Duration | Modality | Available |
|---|---|---|---|
| Launch | |||
| Comprehensive initial training for teachers | 2 days consecutive | Onsite | Yes |
| Initial training for teachers | 1 day | Onsite | Yes |
| Initial training for teachers | 2 half days | Remote | Yes |
| Program overview | Half day | Onsite/Remote | Yes |
| Initial training for instructional leaders | Half day | Onsite/Remote | Yes |
| Strengthen | |||
| Enhancing observations for leaders | Half day | Onsite/Remote | 09/01/22 |
| Enhancing planning and practice | Half day | Onsite/Remote | Yes |
| Analytic reading | Half day | Onsite/Remote | Yes |
| Supporting all learners | Half day | Onsite/Remote | Yes |
| Data-informed instruction | Half day | Onsite/Remote | Yes |
| Strengthen consultation session | 1 hour | Remote | Yes |
| Strengthen consultation package | 3 1-hour sessions | Remote | Yes |
| Coach | |||
| Coaching sessions | 2 days consecutive | Onsite | Yes |
| Coaching sessions | 1 day | Onsite/Remote | Yes |
| Half day | Onsite/Remote | Yes | |
Launch
Comprehensive initial training for teachers
2 days consecutive (6 hours per day, 12 hours total)
Prepare to implement and support Amplify ELA instruction in your schools! Learn how Amplify ELA supports students through rigorous and engaging ELA instruction. Participants will navigate the Amplify ELA platform, learn to give feedback on student work, and explore how to use Amplify ELA’s embedded supports and Reporting app to monitor student progress. Participants will engage in multiple opportunities to practice components of Amplify ELA and leave confident to begin teaching.
Audience: Teachers and coaches, maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Initial training for teachers
1 day (6 hours)
Prepare to implement and support Amplify ELA instruction in your schools! Learn how Amplify ELA supports students through rigorous and engaging ELA instruction. Participants will navigate the Amplify ELA platform, learn to give feedback on student work, and explore how to use Amplify ELA’s embedded supports and Reporting app to monitor student progress. Participants will leave with an action plan to begin teaching Amplify ELA.
Audience: Teachers and coaches, maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite
Initial training for teachers
Two half days (3 hours per day, 6 hours total)
This full-day initial training session (6 hours) is split into two half-day sessions (3 hours each). Part 1 and Part 2 may be scheduled consecutively on the same day or on different days, ideally within ~2 weeks. The same participants should attend both sessions in order to receive all content about key components of Amplify ELA, which includes learning how to navigate, teach, and monitor student progress.
Audience: Teachers and coaches, maximum 30 participants
Modality: Remote
Program essentials
Half day (3 hours)
Learn the program essentials including how to navigate the digital curriculum, print materials components and how to locate assessments, data reports and other features associated with the curriculum.
Audience: Teachers and coaches, maximum 30 participants.
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Initial training for instructional leaders
Half day (3 hours)
This training will provide district- and school-level instructional leaders with an overview of Amplify ELA so that they can support their staff in implementing Amplify. Learn basic navigation and gain an understanding of Amplify ELA’s approach to reading, writing, and language instruction. Participants will then have the opportunity to choose how to best support teachers by either developing a school-wide implementation plan or learning strategies for effective classroom observations.
Audience: Ideal for instructional leaders, principals, and district staff who oversee the implementation of the new curriculum, maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Strengthen
Enhancing observations for leaders
Half day (3 hours)
Elevate your program knowledge to support colleagues with effective ELA implementation! Practice analyzing ELA lessons and identify key instructional elements and next steps. Participants will be prepared to analyze data and enhance classroom observations.
Prerequisite training: Initial training for leaders
Audience: Ideal for instructional leaders, principals, and district staff who oversee the implementation of the new curriculum, maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Enhancing planning and practice
Half day (3 hours)
Dig into one unit to unpack standards, assessments, and student engagement. Through backward planning, this session guides teachers to think deeply about learning outcomes and key moments of formative assessments. Teachers will leave this session with a detailed plan of a unit of their choice that includes learning outcomes, key assessment moments, and aligned instructional strategies.
Audience: Ideal for new or experienced Amplify ELA teachers or coaches, maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Analytic reading
Half day (3 hours)
Participants will learn how close reading functions in Amplify ELA and which teacher moves support students as they tackle complex texts. Participants will learn how to facilitate a close reading session to support key reading routines, as well as promote academic discourse and the type of collaboration that drives analysis and deepens understanding.
Audience: Ideal for new or experienced Amplify ELA teachers, maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Supporting all learners
Half day (3 hours)
Participants will learn how to effectively use embedded and differentiated supports and the Classwork app to support all students, including English language learners (ELLs), students with learning disabilities, struggling readers and writers, and advanced students.
Audience: Ideal for new teachers or instructional leaders who want to learn more about included supports in Amplify ELA, maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Data-informed instruction
Half day (3 hours)
Participants will review their own student data using the Reporting and Classwork apps and align embedded supports to specific student needs. The goal of this session is to become proficient in turning Amplify ELA data into differentiated and targeted instruction.
Note: This course can be combined with the supporting all learners session to make a full day of training.
Prerequisite: 4–6 weeks of student data in Amplify’s Reporting app. It is recommended that teachers are in at least Unit B.
Audience: Ideal for teachers or support staff who want to learn how to use student data to inform instruction and provide differentiation, maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Strengthening consultation session
1 hour
This 60-minute session will focus on a specific topic that will deepen educators’ understanding of ELA and equip them with the tools needed to drive stronger student outcomes. An Amplify facilitator will align with the school or district leadership team in advance of the session on the topic (chosen from a menu of options) that will best meet educators’ unique needs. The menu includes sessions on engagement, pacing, and grading/assessment.
Audience: Teachers and coaches, maximum 30 participants
Modality: Remote
Strengthening consultation package
3 1-hour sessions
This package consists of three 60-minute sessions that can be delivered on the same day or on different days. Each session will focus on a specific topic that will deepen educators’ understanding in ELA and equip them with the tools needed to drive stronger student outcomes. An Amplify facilitator will align with the school or district leadership team in advance of the session on the topic (chosen from a menu of options) that will best meet educators’ unique needs. The menu includes sessions on: engagement, pacing and grading/assessment.
Audience: Teachers and coaches, maximum 30 participants
Modality: Remote
Coach
Coaching session
2 days consecutive (6 hours per day, 12 total)
Strengthen your implementation of Amplify ELA with an onsite Coaching visit for your teachers and/or leaders. Participants can choose from a variety of topics that include, but are not limited to: lesson modeling and debrief (conducted by an Amplify ELA coach), grade-level planning, classroom observations, and leadership consultation. The flexible onsite coaching design allows for a collaborative approach to support effective program implementation.
Audience: Teachers, coaches, and/or instructional leaders, maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Coaching session
1 day (6 hours)
Strengthen your implementation of Amplify ELA with an onsite Coaching visit for your teachers and/or leaders. Participants can choose from a variety of topics that include, but are not limited to: lesson modeling and debrief (conducted by an Amplify ELA coach), grade-level planning, classroom observations, and leadership consultation. The flexible onsite coaching design allows for a collaborative approach to support effective program implementation.
Audience: Teachers, coaches, and/or instructional leaders, maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Coaching session
Half day (3 hours)
Strengthen your implementation of Amplify ELA with a Coaching session for your teachers and/or leaders. Participants can choose from a variety of topics that include, but are not limited to: lesson modeling and debrief (conducted by an Amplify ELA coach), grade-level planning, classroom observations, and leadership consultation. The flexible coaching design allows for a collaborative approach to support effective program implementation.
Audience: Teachers, coaches, and/or instructional leaders, maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Pricing
We offer the following pricing for training sessions and packages:
| Session type | Pricing |
|---|---|
| 2-day onsite session | $4,800 |
| 1-day onsite session | $3,200 |
| 1-day remote session (2 half days remote) | $1,500 |
| Half-day onsite session | $2,500 |
| Half-day remote session | $750 |
| 1-hour remote session | $350 |
| 3 1-hour remote sessions | $1,000 |
Please note that the prices are general ranges and may be subject to change.
Contact
Amplify welcomes the opportunity to partner with schools and districts to design professional development plans and answer your questions.
If you would like to order any of our professional development services, please contact your local Amplify sales representative or call (800) 823-1969.
Let’s dig into your K–2 Experience Kit!
If you’re here, you either have your Amplify CKLA Experience Kit in hand or it’s on its way. Welcome! This site pairs with your boxed kit to help you understand the unit you received; see how it fits into the full K–5 program; and access exclusive tools, pacing support, and bonus resources you won’t find in the box.
Getting started
Here you’ll find a quick tour of your Experience Kit and see how it connects to the full Amplify CKLA program.
About your boxed kit
Your kit includes all of the print materials needed for you and your students to experience a complete Knowledge Strand unit of rich, content-based lessons that build vocabulary, comprehension, and curiosity.
About the full program
Amplify CKLA is a comprehensive K–5 literacy program grounded in the Science of Reading, with three distinct strands:
- K–2 Knowledge Strand: Builds background knowledge and vocabulary through daily read-alouds, guided discussion, and writing in context. (The unit in your kit comes from this strand!)
- K–2 Skills Strand: Develops decoding, fluency, and transcription skills through explicit, systematic instruction with hands-on, multimodal practice.
- 3–5 Integrated Strand: Strengthens reading, writing, speaking, and listening as knowledge and skills come together with complex texts, close reading, and a focus on morphology.
For a deeper dive, explore the Amplify CKLA Program Guide.
Experience the Skills Strand
While your kit spotlights the Knowledge Strand, you can also explore the Skills Strand here—including lesson recommendations by grade and time (beginning, middle, or end) of year.
Kindergarten
About this unit
Identify continents, oceans, and places around the world, then create postcards to share new discoveries.
What’s in your kit
Here’s what you’ll find inside—take a quick peek to make sure everything’s there!
*Each student receives their own Student Activity Book in a full implementation.
Additional resources
As you prepare to teach this unit, explore the:
- Curriculum map: Includes a unit summary, writing focus, overall learning outcomes, and standards taught and assessed.
- Caregiver Letter: Shares an overview of the unit, plus conversation starters to keep the learning going at home.
- Pacing options: The full unit takes 16 days—if time is tight, you can also try our 5- and 10-day plans.
- Skills Strand: Try sample Skills lessons alongside your Knowledge unit for practice in phonics, decoding, fluency, and writing.
Grade 1
About this unit
Learn about maps, compare landforms, and connect global geography to local neighborhoods.
What’s in your kit
Here’s what you’ll find inside—take a quick peek to make sure everything’s there!
*Each student receives their own Student Activity Book in a full implementation.
Additional resources
As you prepare to teach this unit, explore the:
- Curriculum map: Includes a unit summary, writing focus, overall learning outcomes, and standards taught and assessed.
- Caregiver Letter: Shares an overview of the unit, plus conversation starters to keep the learning going at home.
- Pacing options: The full unit takes 16 days—if time is tight, you can also try our 5- and 10-day plans.
- Skills Strand: Try sample Skills lessons alongside your Knowledge unit for practice in phonics, decoding, fluency, and writing.
Grade 2
About this unit
Explore rhyme, rhythm, and meaning in many kinds of poems—from silly to serious—and write original stanzas with style.
What’s in your kit
Here’s what you’ll find inside—take a quick peek to make sure everything’s there!
*Each student receives their own Student Activity Book in a full implementation.
Additional resources
As you prepare to teach this unit, explore the:
- Curriculum map: Includes a unit summary, writing focus, overall learning outcomes, and standards taught and assessed.
- Caregiver Letter: Shares an overview of the unit, plus conversation starters to keep the learning going at home.
- Pacing options: The full unit takes 16 days—if time is tight, you can also try our 5- and 10-day plans.
- Skills Strand: Try sample Skills lessons alongside your Knowledge unit for practice in phonics, decoding, fluency, and writing.
Digital platform
Your Experience Kit pairs with an Amplify CKLA demo account in Amplify Classroom, our digital platform. Explore your unit with digital materials and interactive tools including ready-to-use, customizable lesson screens and digital assessments.
Haven’t received your login info? No problem—check with your admin team or complete our support site form.
Pacing options
Short on time? We’ve got you covered. We recommend teaching the full 16-day unit as outlined in the Teacher Guide to fully experience the power of Amplify CKLA instruction. That said, we know your time is limited—and valuable!
That’s why we’ve created pacing options to help you explore the unit on your schedule:
| 5-day experience | 10-day experience (slower pace) | 10-day experience (extended) |
| Teach Lessons 1–5 (1 lesson per day) for a focused snapshot of the unit. | Teach Lessons 1–5 (spreading each lesson over 2 days)—ideal for shorter blocks or a more relaxed pace. | Teach Lessons 1–10 (1 lesson per day) for a deeper dive into the unit. |
💡 Tip: Many educators new to Amplify CKLA prefer the 10-day, slower-paced option. It offers room to slow down without losing the flow of instruction for you and your students.
Pacing like a pro
- Start with the Unit Introduction in the Teacher Guide—it provides key background information and teaching tips.
- Pausing Point and assessment days aren’t included here, but feel free to use them if time allows.
- Teaching in shorter blocks? No problem. Just continue where you left off the next day! (Skipping ahead isn’t recommended, as each lesson builds on the last.)
Skills Strand
Your kit features a Knowledge Strand unit, but you can also explore the Skills Strand here! In K–2, the Skills Strand delivers explicit, systematic instruction in phonics, decoding, fluency, and writing, giving students the strong foundational skills they need to become confident, capable readers alongside their knowledge-building lessons.
See it in action. Visit our Amplify CKLA Skills in action page to watch real teachers and students during a lesson.
Try it yourself. Access Skills Strand lessons in your Amplify Classroom demo account! Use our Try it guide for recommendations tailored to your grade and time of year.
Welcome to Amplify Desmos Math California!
California educators, welcome to math that motivates. Introducing Amplify Desmos Math California, a curiosity-driven TK–12 program that builds lifelong math proficiency. Each lesson poses problems that invite a variety of approaches before guiding students to synthesize their understanding of the learning goals. Students encounter math problems they’re eager to solve, while teachers spend more time where it’s most impactful—creating a collaborative classroom of learners.
Explore the California Adoption Toolkit resources and discover more about the program in the sections below.
Built for California
The Amplify Desmos Math California program is designed around the vision articulated in the Mathematics Framework for California Public Schools: Kindergarten Through Grade Twelve to enable all California students to become powerful users of mathematics. Our program incorporates the latest research in student learning, meaning that we:
- Focus on the Big Ideas: Amplify Desmos Math California’s courses, units, and lessons are centered around the Big Ideas. Big Ideas, like standards, are not considered in isolation. In addition to each unit and lesson’s focal Big Ideas, Amplify Desmos Math California also provides connections among the Big Ideas across units and lessons.
- Center on open and engaging tasks: Amplify Desmos Math California is grounded in engaging tasks meant to address students’ often-asked question: “Why am I learning this?” Students are invited into learning with low-floor, high-ceiling tasks that provide an entry point for all. Open tasks in Amplify Desmos Math California provide the space for students to try on multiple strategies and represent their thinking in different ways, and allow student explanation and discussion to serve as the center of the classroom. All lessons offer both print and digital representations.
- Provide enhanced digital experiences: Amplify Desmos Math California includes digitally-enhanced lesson activities, incorporating interactive digital tools alongside print materials. These purposefully-placed resources allow students to visualize mathematical concepts, receive actionable feedback while practicing, encounter personalized learning support from an onscreen tutor, and engage in discussions about their thinking and approaches.
- Treat core instruction and differentiation as integral partners: The Amplify Desmos Math California curriculum provides teachers with lessons, strategies, and resources to eliminate barriers and increase access to grade-level content without reducing the mathematical demand of tasks. Every activity has multiple entry points to ensure that all students are supported and challenged. Intervention and personalized learning activities are directly connected to lesson content and offer students individualized support as they dive into the mathematics.
California Adoption Toolkit resources
Program Description
Linked here is the Program Description for Amplify Desmos Math California.
Our Major Conceptual Ideas Strategy
The renowned mathematician William Paul Thurston said that mathematics is about understanding. The essence of this perspective is woven into the California Mathematics Framework. The Framework is clear that mathematics calls for “original thought and connections of concepts” and that mathematics teaching should “position students as thinkers and members of the classroom community…to support students in seeing themselves as young mathematicians.”
When Amplify developed Amplify Desmos Math California, we built it with one clear priority: grounding it in student understanding. The Framework provided a basis in the Big Ideas, of course, but also in the Drivers of Investigation (DIs), Content Connections (CCs), and Standards for Mathematical Practice (SMPs). Using those components of the Framework, we organized student learning around how students would make sense of the mathematics.
In addition to lessons and learning experiences specifically designated as Explore lessons or Investigations, we utilized the structure of the DIs, CCs, and SMPs in each lesson. Not only is every lesson in our program tied to one or more of the Big Ideas and their connections with one another, every lesson is also framed around these additional components. Each Lesson Overview centers around these questions:
Why? Why are students learning this content?
How? How are students grappling with the mathematical concepts?
What? What contexts encourage students to apply their knowledge?
Each of these questions maps to one of the additional aspects of the Mathematical Framework. Addressing the “Why?” grounds the lesson in one or more of the Drivers of Investigation. Focusing on “How?” encourages students to develop the habits of mind described by the SMPs, becoming explorers in mathematics rather than passive recipients. And maintaining attention on “What?” centers students and teachers on the precise mathematical topics that they are exploring aligned to the four Content Connections.
The Big Ideas and the conceptual and pedagogical shifts in the California Mathematics Framework reflect a shared goal to center education on student understanding. The Amplify Desmos Math California team is eager to support educators and students in their transition to conceptual understanding through our High-Quality Instructional Materials, professional development opportunities, and continued support.
Standards Maps
The links below provide the Standards Maps for Amplify Desmos Math California for each grade level.
Evaluation Criteria Map
Linked here is the Evaluation Criteria Map for grades K–8. Please note that you will need to be logged into the digital platform to access the links in the Evaluation Criteria Map.
Standards for Mathematical Practice
The links below provide the alignment of Amplify Desmos Math California to the Standards for Mathematical Practice at each grade level.
Big Ideas
Amplify Desmos Math California’s courses, units, and lessons are centered around the Big Ideas. In addition to each unit and lesson’s focal Big Ideas, Amplify Desmos Math California also provides connections among the Big Ideas across units and lessons. Please refer to Keeping the Big Ideas at the Center (linked below) for specific lesson designs and alignment with the Big Ideas for each grade level.
Drivers of Investigation and Content Connections
Amplify Desmos Math California incorporates the Drivers of Investigation and Content Connection throughout the program. Throughout the year, students engage with open and authentic tasks of varying durations — from lesson activities to unit-level Explore lessons and longer course-level Investigations. Every lesson and investigation opportunity is grounded around the why, how, and what of the learning experience, and helps teachers bring mathematical concepts to life.

California English Language Development Standards
The links below provide the alignment of Amplify Desmos Math California to the California English Language Development Standards at each grade level.
California Environmental Principles and Concepts
Select lessons, performance tasks, and investigations across grade levels in Amplify Desmos Math California are aligned to one or more of the California Environmental Principles and Concepts. Click the links below to view how the California Environmental Principles and Concepts are represented in each grade level.
Contact us
For questions, samples, or more information, please contact your local Amplify Account Executive:
Science testimonials
Whether science is just one of the subjects you teach or the subject you teach all day, you do amazing things in your classroom. We want to showcase those moments.
Help us champion science and shine a light on the future of learning by contributing your science testimonials.

Share your science story!
Use this form to let us know how you would like to share your story. You can submit your experiences (in words, photos, or even videos) directly through the form or express interest in serving as a reference or joining a research group, and we’ll be in touch!
Screen and intervene faster with mCLASS DIBELS 8th Edition: California SB 114 Approved
California educators, Amplify’s mCLASS Assessment Suite is one of three approved screeners in California for Reading Difficulties at K–2.
mCLASS® DIBELS® 8th Edition is an all-in-one system for Science of Reading-based reading difficulties screening, progress monitoring, and instruction for grades K-6. Amplify’s Spanish language assessment, mCLASS Lectura, works in tandem with DIBELS 8th Edition’s English assessments to help teachers understand where their Spanish-speaking students are in their English and Spanish literacy paths.

About the program
mCLASS offers teacher-administered assessment, intervention, and personalized instruction for grades K–6. Know exactly how to monitor and support every student in your classroom, with features like:
- Precise one-minute measures based on over three decades of predictive data.
- Reading difficulties screening in one tool.
- Instruction that highlights observed patterns and recommends activities.
- Robust reports for teachers, specialists, administrators, and parents.

The right measures at the right time
With mCLASS DIBELS 8th Edition, you’ll assess students based on grade-specific curriculum and instructional standards, in accordance with SB 114 guidelines.
mCLASS DIBELS 8th Edition offers one-minute, easy-to-administer measures of processing speed, phonological awareness, alphabetic principle, and word reading.
| DIBELS® 8th Edition subtest alignment with SB 114 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Screening Area | mCLASS DIBELS 8th Edition Measure | Grade K | Grade 1 | Grade 2 | Grade 3 | Grade 4–6 |
| Rapid naming ability | Letter Naming Fluency (LNF) | |||||
| Phonological awareness | Phoneme Segmentation Fluency (PSF) | |||||
| Alphabetic principle | Nonsense Word Fluency (NWF) | |||||
| Word reading | Word Reading Fluency (WRF) | |||||
| Word reading | Oral Reading Fluency (ORF) | |||||
| Comprehension | Maze | |||||
Validated as a universal screener
Strong reliability and validity evidence shows that DIBELS 8th Edition can effectively assess students in key skills linked reading difficulty. The research supporting DIBELS 8th Edition, conducted by the University of Oregon, is rigorous, meets high technical standards, and empowers educators to make well-informed decisions.
Read the DIBELS 8th Edition Dyslexia White Paper.
A complete system for data-based decision making

mCLASS DIBELS 8th Edition provides rich data that helps you make informed instructional decisions and seek out further dyslexia screening evaluation if needed:
- Assess skills: mCLASS DIBELS 8th Edition and additional measures in Rapid Automatized Naming (RAN), Spelling, Vocabulary, and Oral Language accurately assess students’ abilities.
- Identify risk: The DIBELS 8 composite score shows each student’s risk level, with ‘Well Below Benchmark’ indicating a need for intensive support. Students who are also ‘Well Below Benchmark’ in RAN and/or Spelling have an additional Risk Indicator icon next to their name.
- Provide instruction: The mCLASS Instruction feature analyzes student error patterns to key dyslexia-related subtests, then recommends small groups and explicit, multi-sensory activities for reinforcing skills.
- Progress monitor: mCLASS includes progress-monitoring measures to track student growth in letter sounds, alphabetic principle, word reading, oral reading fluency, and comprehension, so that informed instructional decisions can be made.
- Adapt instruction: mCLASS displays indicators based on progress monitoring performance that indicate when a change in instruction may be needed. It also updates instruction recommendations using the latest data.
Differentiated literacy instruction
mCLASS DIBELS 8th Edition lays the groundwork for a strong Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS).
In addition to identifying students with symptoms of dyslexia, mCLASS DIBELS 8th Edition data recommends early intervention, personalized instruction, and core instruction within Amplify’s early literacy suite. Based on the Science of Reading, Amplify’s early literacy suite programs follow an explicit and systematic structure, build knowledge, and instruct on all of the foundational skills essential to literacy development.
- Intervene with mCLASS Intervention and Amplify Tutoring: Staff-led Tier 2 and 3 intervention for intensive support.
- Practice with Boost Reading: Personalized learning program to extend and reinforce core instruction.
- Instruct with Amplify Core Knowledge Language Arts (CKLA): Core curriculum to build foundational skills and knowledge.

Bilingual dyslexia screening
By assessing with mCLASS DIBELS 8th Edition and its Spanish counterpart, mCLASS Lectura, you’ll know with confidence whether a student truly shows signs of reading difficulties or is experiencing difficulties learning a new language.
When used together, mCLASS DIBELS 8th Edition and mCLASS Lectura feature a Dual Language Report that analyzes screening results in both languages. The report also details how each student can leverage their strengths from one language to support growth in the other.

Equal skill coverage in English and Spanish
| Screening areas | English measure | Spanish measure | Description* |
| Letter Naming and RAN | Letter Naming Fluency (LNF) | Fluidez en nombrar letras (FNL) | Grades K–1: Naming letters in print. 1 minute, 1:1 administration. |
| Phonological Awareness (Segmentation) |
Phonemic Segmentation Fluency (PSF) | Fluidez en la segmentación de sílabas (FSF) & Fluidez en la segmentación de fonemas (FSF) | Grades K–1: Hearing and using sounds or syllables in spoken words. 1 minute, 1:1 administration. |
| Phonological awareness (Elision) | ¿Qué queda? (QQ) | Grades K–2: Produce the part of a word that remains after deleting a syllable or phoneme. 1 minute, 1:1 administration. | |
| Letter-Sound Knowledge | Nonsense Word Fluency Correct Letter Sounds (NWF-CLS) | Fluidez en los sonidos de letras (FSL) | English: Grades K–3: Identify letter-sound correspondences in the context of pseudo-words. Spanish: Grades K-1: Identify letter-sounds in isolation. 1 minute, 1:1 administration. |
| Letter-Sound Knowledge (Receptive) | Fluidez en los sonidos de las letras K-Inicio (FSL K-Inicio) | Grade K: Identify (point to) which letter makes a certain sound. Untimed, 1:1 administration | |
| Decoding | Nonsense Word Fluency Words Recoded Correctly (NWF-WRC) | Fluidez en los sonidos de las sílabas (LSS) | English: Grades K–3: Decode orthographically regular pseudo-words Spanish: Grades K-1: Decode orthographically regular syllables 1 minute, 1:1 administration |
| Word Reading | Word-Reading Fluency (WRF) | Fluidez en la lectura de palabras (FEP) | Grades K–3: Reading common words easily, quickly and correctly.1 minute, 1:1 administration. |
| Fluency | Oral Reading Fluency (ORF) | Fluidez en la lectura oral (FLO) | Grades 1–6: Reading connected text with accuracy and automaticity. 1 minute, 1:1 administration. |
| Reading Comprehension | Maze | ¿Cuál palabra? (CP) | Grades 2–6: Understanding meaning from texts. 3 minutes, group administration. |
| Vocabulary | Vocabulary | Vocabulario | Grades K–3: Knowledge of grade-specific words. 15 minutes, group administration. |
| Encoding | Spelling | Ortografía | Grades K–3: Arranging letters correctly to spell words with grade appropriate features 15 minutes, group administration. |
| RAN (Numbers) | Rapid Automatized Naming | – | Grades K–3: Correctly and quickly naming visual symbols, such as numbers. 3-4 minutes, 1:1 administration. |
| Language Comprehension | Oral Language | Lenguaje oral | Grades K–2: Demonstrate the ability to use words and phrases acquired through conversations, reading and being read to, and responding to texts. 5 minutes, 1:1 administration. |
*Students can be assessed using off-grade measures when information on specific skills is needed.
Dyslexia resources for families
Families play a crucial role in helping children overcome reading challenges. mCLASS DIBELS 8th Edition and mCLASS Lectura provide a Home Connect letter after each screening to explain the results in family-friendly language, recommend activities, and direct families to a free website for additional at-home support.

Developmentally appropriate
Computer-based assessments that require students to complete tasks silently or independently may over-identify students for intervention services, especially young learners who are still developing focus and attention abilities.
mCLASS requires students to actively demonstrate their proficiency in producing letter sounds, forming words, and reading texts. This approach to assessment aligns with the California Reading Difficulties Risk Screener Selection Panel (RDRSSP) guidelines for effective screening of reading challenges. By choosing mCLASS for reading difficulties screening, you’ll gain accurate information about a student’s risk for dyslexia, and gain the capability to monitor every student’s path to reading proficiency.
Additional resources
- 4 tools to help teachers better understand dyslexia
- Science of Reading: The Podcast, Season 7, Episode 7: Debunking the “gift” of dyslexia in children, with Dr. Tim Odegard
- Science of Reading: The Podcast, Season 1, Episode 6: The facts and myths of dyslexia, with Emily Lutrick
- Dyslexia Fact vs. Fiction
- mCLASS Dyslexia Toolkit
- mCLASS Research Hub
- mCLASS Program Guide
- mCLASS Digital Access Guide
- mCLASS Reporting Guide
- mCLASS Help Site
- Supporting multilingual and English learners in literacy
Demo access
Please watch the navigation video for a short overview of the mClass platform, and reach out to your Amplify Account Executive (contact information below) for demo access credentials.
Questions?
Looking to speak directly with your local representative?
Get in touch with a California team member to learn more about our early literacy suite or request a demo account.
Erin King
Sales Director, CA
(512) 736-3162
eking@amplify.com
NORTHERN CA
Wendy Garcia
Senior Account Executive
(510) 368-7666
wgarcia@amplify.com
BAY AREA
Lisa Marinovich
Senior Account Executive
(831) 461-4187
lmarinovich@amplify.com
CENTRAL VALLEY and CENTRAL COAST
Demitri Gonos
Senior Account Executive
(559) 355-3244
dgonos@amplify.com
VENTURA and L.A. COUNTY
Jeff Sorenson
Associate Account Executive
(310) 902-1407
jsorenson@amplify.com
ORANGE and L.A. COUNTY
Lauren Sherman
Senior Account Executive
(949) 397-5766
lsherman@amplify.com
SAN BERNARDINO and L.A. COUNTY
Michael Gruber
Senior Account Executive
(951) 520-6542
migruber@amplify.com
RIVERSIDE and L.A. COUNTY
Erin King
Sales Director, CA
(512) 673-8526
eking@amplify.com
SAN DIEGO COUNTY
Kirk Van Wagoner
Senior Account Executive
(760) 696-0709
kvanwagoner@amplify.com
BUTTE, DEL NORTE, HUMBOLDT, and SHASTA COUNTY
DISTRICTS UNDER 2250 ENROLLMENT
Kevin Mauser
Lead Account Executive
(815) 534-0148
kmauser@amplify.com
What’s included in our literacy curriculum for 6–8
Amplify ELA is a blended literacy curriculum designed specifically for grades 6–8. The heart of every lesson is the text. Our core English Language Arts curriculum enables teachers to teach skills through texts and develop their students’ muscles for building meaning through reading. With Amplify ELA, students learn to attack any complex text and make observations, grapple with interesting ideas, and find relevance for themselves.
Year at a glance
Each grade includes six core units centered on literary or informational texts, delivered in several forms of media. In addition to these main units, students will engage with targeted Grammar lessons and a dedicated Story Writing unit, plus two to three immersive learning experiences called Quests.
Grade 6 core units

Dahl & Narrative
1 assessment lesson
4 sub-units | 28 lessons | 4-6 weeks

Mysteries & Investigations
1 assessment lesson
5 sub-units | 32 lessons | 4-6 weeks

The Chocolate Collection
1 assessment lesson
5 sub-units | 25 lessons | 4-6 weeks

The Greeks
Myth World Quest
1 assessment lesson
4 sub-units | 25 lessons | 4-6 weeks

Summer of the Mariposas
1 assessment lesson
2 sub-units | 27 lessons | 4-6 weeks

The Titanic Collection
1 assessment lesson
5 sub-units | 25 lessons | 4-6 weeks
Grade 7 core units

Red Scarf Girl
1 assessment lesson
4 sub-units | 31 lessons | 4-6 weeks

Character & Conflict
1 assessment lesson
4 sub-units | 29 lessons | 4-6 weeks

Brain Science
Perception Academy Quest
1 assessment lesson
4 sub-units | 25 lessons | 4-6 weeks

Poetry & Poe
The “Who Killed Edgar Allen Poe” Quest
1 assessment lesson
5 sub-units | 29 lessons | 4-6 weeks

The Frida & Diego Collection
1 assessment lesson
5 sub-units | 25 lessons | 4-6 weeks

The Gold Rush Collection
1 assessment lesson
5 sub-units | 25 lessons | 4-6 weeks
Grade 8 core units

Perspectives & Narrative
1 assessment lesson
4 sub-units | 27 lessons | 4-6 weeks

Liberty & Equality
1 assessment lesson
6 sub-units | 38 lessons | 4-6 weeks

Science & Science Fiction
1 assessment lesson
3 sub-units | 29 lessons | 4-6 weeks

Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet
1 assessment lesson
2 sub-units | 22 lessons | 4-6 weeks

The Holocaust: Memory & Meeting
1 assessment lesson
6 sub-units | 21 lessons | 4-6 weeks

The Space Race Collection
1 assessment lesson
5 sub-units | 25 lessons | 4-6 weeks
Units at a glance
Amplify ELA lessons follow a structure both grounded in regular routines and flexible enough to allow for a variety of learning experiences. Lesson structures vary from day to day, ensuring that students are always engaged.
Learn more in the Amplify ELA Grade Overview.

Unit 6A
Dahl & Narrative
Students begin with narrative writing to develop foundational Focus skills and establish key classroom routines. Teachers use this work to create targeted feedback cycles and build a vibrant community centered on diverse experiences. Students then apply observational skills to Roald Dahl’s Boy: Tales of Childhood, learning to work closely with textual evidence.

Unit 6B
Mysteries & Investigations
Students read like an investigator to embark on a multi-genre study into the mesmerizing world of scientific and investigative sleuthing. The Secret of the Yellow Death: A True Story of Medical Sleuthing by Suzanne Jurmain, and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes stories take place in the late 19th century, when medical diagnostics and criminal investigations were still evolving into scientific fields.

Unit 6C
The Chocolate Collection
Students explore primary documents and research the diverse cultural roles chocolate has played over 3,700 years, from its various uses in ancient Mexico to issues with modern production. Along the way, they build information literacy skills, craft research questions, and collaborate in Socratic seminars. Students also learn how to construct an evidence-based argument and use those skills to write pieces aimed at convincing readers about chocolate preferences, school lunch policies, and recommendations for local candy stores.

Unit 6D
The Greeks
Students closely explore and analyze three stories from Greek mythology: “Prometheus,” “Odysseus,” and “Arachne.” Drawing on the routines and skills established in previous units, these lessons ask students to move from considering the state of a single person to contemplating broader questions concerning the role people play in the world and the various communities they inhabit.

Unit 6E
Summer of the Mariposas
Students read Summer of the Mariposas by Guadalupe García McCall, a contemporary Latino retelling of The Odyssey. Following five sisters on their journey into Mexico and back, students explore this reimagining of the hero’s journey as they encounter Mexican folklore and Aztec legends along the way. Students analyze character development, compare the novel to Homer’s original, research Aztec mythology, explore symbolism, and engage in collaborative discussions before writing an essay about what makes the heroes successful.

Unit 6F
The Titanic Collection
Students explore primary documents and conduct research to understand the 1912 Titanic disaster, building information literacy skills by examining artifacts such as dining menus, ship photos, telegraph transcripts, and newspaper accounts. Each student is assigned a passenger from the manifest and writes a narrative account from that person’s perspective, considering different views. Students also participate in Socratic seminars to examine the complicated issues within the Titanic story.

Unit 7A
Red Scarf Girl & Narrative
Students begin with narrative writing to develop foundational Focus skills while teachers establish targeted feedback cycles and build a classroom community centered on diverse experiences. After exploring how they describe their own experiences and emotions, students apply the same close attention to analyzing details in Ji-li Jiang’s Red Scarf Girl: A Memoir of the Cultural Revolution.

Unit 7B
Character & Conflict
Students analyze characters’ responses to conflict and examine how authors use character interactions to develop theme and perspective. They read Carson McCullers’ “Sucker” and Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun, both texts that explore how families facing hardships can support and harm one another. Students observe complex character growth and discuss issues of identity, family obligations, and differing notions of success.

Unit 7C
Brain Science
Students explore narrative nonfiction and informational texts about brain science to understand what it means to be human and how their developing brains impact daily experiences. They also build awareness of their cognitive strengths and analyze the structures of informational texts and scientific arguments. Key texts include Phineas Gage, Inventing Ourselves: The Secret Life of the Teenage Brain, and Oliver Sacks’ The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat.

Unit 7D
Poetry & Poe
Students learn visualization techniques to read like a movie director, beginning with poems by D.H. Lawrence, Federico García Lorca, and Emily Dickinson to form mental images. They then read three Edgar Allan Poe texts, creating storyboards and analyzing narrative elements to learn about unreliable narrators. Students also participate in the murder-mystery Quest “Who Killed Edgar Allan Poe?” and write an essay arguing whether they can trust a narrator in the unit’s texts.

Unit 7E
The Frida & Diego Collection
Students explore primary source documents and research on Mexican artists Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo, learning how they drew inspiration from Latin American folklore, politics, and customs. Along the way, students build information literacy by generating research questions and visual analysis skills through close reading of key paintings. They also compare the artists’ descriptive writing to Shakespeare’s and analyze figurative language. The unit culminates in a research project showcasing their interpretation of Frida and Diego’s work and legacy.

Unit 7F
The Gold Rush Collection
Students explore primary documents and conduct research on the California Gold Rush, building information literacy skills and constructing research questions. They also learn about the diverse people who participated, compare fictional and historical accounts, and participate in Socratic seminars. Students write narrative accounts from specific perspectives and complete a culminating research assignment combining essay and media project elements.

Unit 8A
Perspectives & Narrative
Students learn to read like writers, paying attention to craft and writing moves that shape reader experience and developing Focus and Showing skills as they build collaborative classroom routines. Students study three narrative texts, exploring themes of belonging and identity through close reading. They also practice alternating between analytic and narrative writing, and conclude with an essay arguing whether the mothers in Amy Tan’s “Fish Cheeks” are role models.

Unit 8B
Liberty & Equality
Students study Civil War-era writings that debate the meaning of “all men are created equal,” exploring various perspectives on American ideals. Key texts include Walt Whitman’s Leaves of Grass, Frederick Douglass’ Narrative, and Harriet Ann Jacobs’s Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl. The unit culminates with an essay examining Douglass’s arguments and Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address to consider what America means by “all men are created equal.”

Unit 8C
Science & Science Fiction
Students read Gris Grimly’s Frankenstein, a graphic novel adaptation of Mary Shelley’s novel, exploring themes of creator responsibility, societal influence, and the risks of scientific inquiry. They trace Victor’s sympathy for his creation, rewrite scenes from the creature’s perspective, and debate whether Victor owes the creature a companion. The unit concludes with an essay determining whether the creature should be considered human.

Unit 8D
Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet
Students read five excerpts from Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet to learn key elements of Shakespearean English through close reading. They practice memorizing and reciting the famous “Prologue,” put on stage performances, translate Shakespeare’s language into contemporary terms, and study the Shakespearean sonnet form. The unit concludes with an essay arguing whether love or hate is responsible for Romeo’s death.

Unit 8E
Holocaust: Memory & Meaning
Students use close reading to explore memoirs and primary sources that address two key Holocaust questions: How do societies become participants in atrocity, and what are our responsibilities as witnesses? Students analyze multiple perspectives through texts, including Alexander Kimel’s “I Cannot Forget,” Irene Butter’s Shores Beyond Shores, 1936 Olympics propaganda, and excerpts from Maus and Night.

Unit 8F
The Space Race Collection
Students explore primary documents and conduct research on the Space Race. They build information literacy skills, construct research questions, and learn about diverse participants from Soviet cosmonauts to American heroes like Buzz Aldrin and Katherine Johnson. Each student researches an assigned cosmonaut or astronaut and writes space blog entries from their perspective. Students also complete a capstone research essay and media project.
Print & digital components
The program includes instructional guidance and student materials for a year of instruction, with lessons and activities that keep students engaged every day.

Teacher materials
Teacher Edition
Available digitally and in print, the Teacher’s Edition contains all the information teachers need to facilitate classroom instruction, including detailed lesson plans, video teacher tips, presentation slides, standards alignment, Exit Tickets, real-time differentiation strategies, and robust reporting.
Student materials
Student Edition
Available digitally and in print, student materials guide middle schoolers through complex texts and writing by engaging them with high-quality narrative and informational texts—providing videos, audio supports, and a digital experience that captures their attention. They also keep all of their writing in one place with a personal Writing Journal.

Explore more programs
Our programs are designed to support and complement one another. Learn more about our related programs.
Core Principles:
These core principles guide our operations, employee behavior and product development:
- Customer Control: We help school districts securely manage their personally identifiable student information. The districts direct our use of the data, and control who has access to that data and with whom it is shared.
- Educational Purpose: Personal student information can only be used for customer-authorized purposes to support student learning through the secure and effective operation of our educational tools.
- Transparency: School districts, teachers, parents and students have the right to know what information is collected by school technology, how it is used and by whom, as clearly described in our privacy policy.
- Commitment: Privacy and security are thoroughly embedded into our organizational practices. We dedicate substantial resources to systems, processes and personnel required to protect student information.
Amplify Data Privacy and Security Practices:
Amplify maintains a customer data privacy policy that explains our data collection, handling and use practices.
Amplify also maintains a data security policy that explains how student data is protected from unauthorized access. Data security practices at Amplify are developed and maintained in accordance with the internationally recognized ISO27002 security standards. In addition, Amplify has successfully completed the SOC 2 Type 2 examination of controls relevant to security and conducts such examination on an annual basis.
For more information, please review our customer privacy policy and security practices. If you have additional questions, please contact us at privacy@amplify.com.
State Law Compliance
Amplify has entered into Data Privacy Agreements (DPAs) with districts across the country to facilitate compliance with applicable laws governing student data privacy. These DPAs can be applied to any Amplify product.
Unless otherwise noted, the DPAs are based on the Student Data Privacy Consortium’s (SDPC) model agreement which was created to simplify the contracting process between providers and local education agencies (LEAs) while ensuring LEAs have the necessary data protection obligations in place with providers. For additional information please visit the SDPC website and select your state.
General Offer of Privacy Terms:
To expedite your district’s need for a DPA and streamline the contracting process, we have compiled the following DPAs, listed by state.
By executing the General Offer of Privacy Terms, your LEA can “piggy back” off an existing DPA that other LEAs in your state have already agreed to. If you do not see your state below, please contact privacy@amplify.com.
Instructions:
(i) Please download the General Offer of Privacy Terms, (ii) sign and send the executed copy to your Amplify account representative, and (iii) retain a copy for your records. If you have any questions please reach out to privacy@amplify.com.
*Please note, states marked with an asterisk do not have a General Offer of Privacy Terms; however, please review the instructions below on how to quickly implement a DPA in compliance with your LEA’s state law.
Arizona: To enter into Amplify’s AZ-NDPA-V1, please sign the General Offer of Privacy Terms
Arkansas: To enter into Amplify’s AR-NDPA-V1, please sign the and General Offer of Privacy Terms
California: To enter into Amplify’s CA-NDPA, Version 1.5, please sign the General Offer of Privacy Terms
Connecticut*
To facilitate your district’s compliance with the requirements of Connecticut’s student data privacy law (Connecticut General Statutes §§ 10-234aa through 10-234dd), Amplify is proud to offer our “Connecticut Terms of Service Addendum” linked below. This Addendum supplements Amplify’s Terms and Conditions for use of Amplify products licensed by the district available at https://amplify.com/customer-terms.
Addendum: Connecticut Terms of Service Addendum
Instructions: Please retain a copy for your records – no further action is required.
Florida: To enter into Amplify’s FL-NDPA, Version 1.0, please sign the General Offer of Privacy Terms
Hawaii*
Amplify has entered into a Data Sharing Agreement with the Hawaii State Department of Education (HIDOE) which applies to any LEA associated with HIDOE. If your LEA is not a part of the HIDOE and you require a data privacy agreement, please reach out to privacy@amplify.com.
Illinois: To enter into Amplify’s IL-NDPA (which includes the IL State Supplemental Terms), please sign the General Offer of Privacy Terms
Iowa: To enter into Amplify’s IA-NDPA (which includes the IA State Supplemental Terms), please sign the General Offer of Privacy Terms
Maine: To enter into Amplify’s MA-ME-MO-NH-NY-OH-RI-VT DPA, Version 1 (which includes the ME State Supplemental Terms), please sign the General Offer of Privacy Terms
Massachusetts: To enter into Amplify’s MA-ME-MO-NH-NY-OH-RI-VT DPA, Version 1 (which includes the MA State Supplemental Terms), please sign the General Offer of Privacy Terms
Missouri: To enter into Amplify’s MO-NDPA, Version 1.0, please sign the General Offer of Privacy Terms
Montana: To enter into Amplify’s MT DPA, Version 3, please sign the General Offer of Privacy Terms
Nebraska: To enter into Amplify’s NE NDPA (which includes the NE State Supplemental Terms), please sign the General Offer of Privacy Terms
New York*
Option 1:
To facilitate your district’s compliance with the requirements of New York State Education Law § 2-D and regulations promulgated thereunder, Amplify is proud to offer our “New York Data Privacy and Security Addendum” linked below. This Addendum supplements Amplify’s Terms and Conditions for use of Amplify products licensed by the educational agency available at https://amplify.com/customer-terms.
Addendum: New York Data Privacy and Security Addendum
Instructions: Please retain a copy for your records- no further action is required.
Option 2:
To enter into Amplify’s MA-ME-MO-NH-NY-OH-RI-VT DPA, Version 1 (which includes the NY State Supplemental Terms), please sign the General Offer of Privacy Terms
New Hampshire: To enter into Amplify’s MA-ME-MO-NH-NY-OH-RI-VT DPA, Version 1 (which includes the NH State Supplemental Terms), please sign the General Offer of Privacy Terms
North Carolina*
The Data Confidentiality and Security Agreement issued by the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction (NCDPI) is not applicable to Amplify’s services given Amplify does not have a direct integration to any state system via API/plugin. You can review the NCDPI guidance here: https://www.dpi.nc.gov/about-dpi/technology-services/third-party-data-integration. However, Amplify can sign this form with some revisions. As such, we have prepared an Addendum which supplements the Data Confidentiality and Security Agreement.
Instructions: Please download a copy of the Data Confidentiality and Security Agreement with Amplify Addendum, return an executed copy to your account executive, and retain a copy for your records.
Ohio: To enter into Amplify’s OH-NDPA Version 1.0, please sign the General Offer of Privacy Terms
Oregon: To enter into Amplify’s OR-NDPA-V1, please sign the General Offer of Privacy Terms
Rhode Island: To enter into Amplify’s MA-ME-MO-NH-NY-OH-RI-VT DPA, Version 1 (which includes the RI State Supplemental Terms), please sign the General Offer of Privacy Terms
Tennessee: To enter into Amplify’s TN-NDPA-V1, please sign the General Offer of Privacy Terms
Texas: To enter into Amplify’s TX-NDPA-V1R6, please sign the General Offer of Privacy Terms
Utah: To enter into Amplify’s UT-NDPA, Version 1, please sign the General Offer of Privacy Terms
Vermont: To enter into Amplify’s MA-ME-MO-NH-NY-OH-RI-VT DPA, Version 1 (which includes the VT State Supplemental Terms), please sign the General Offer of Privacy Terms
Virginia: To enter into Amplify’s VA-DPA, please sign the General Offer of Privacy Terms
Washington: To enter into Amplify’s WA-NDPA, Version 1, please sign the General Offer of Privacy Terms
Wisconsin: To enter into Amplify’s WI SDPA, Version 1, please sign the General Offer of Privacy Terms
Wyoming: To enter into Amplify’s WY-NDPA-V1, please sign the General Offer of Privacy Terms
High Impact Tutoring: OH ESC Training of Trainers
What is mCLASS?
mCLASS is a best-in-class assessment platform that houses a suite of proven, gold-standard assessment measures and tools that can be flexibly combined to meet the unique literacy needs of both teachers and students across grades K–6, including:
- Universal screening
- Diagnostic assessment
- Dyslexia screening
- Text Reading and Comprehension (a.k.a. running records via mCLASS: Reading 3D)
- Progress monitoring
- Dual language reporting
- Targeted teacher-led instruction
What is the DIBELS 8th Edition assessment?
Developed by the University of Oregon, the DIBELS 8th Edition is the latest version of the DIBELS® (Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills) assessment.
With this latest version, the University of Oregon Center on Teaching and Learning (UO CTL) made significant efforts to ensure measures would meet state-level screening requirements for universal screening, diagnostic assessment, and dyslexia screening. To support this, measures were updated based on the latest research to meet increased standards of reliability and validity. In addition, adaptive procedures and discontinue rules focus on the assessment of priority skills and prevent over-testing.
Summary of changes:
- Consistent measures within grades will provide improved growth measurement.
- All subtests have been revised to be grade-specific and to increase in difficulty, covering a full progression of skills and minimizing floor and ceiling effects. This provides the opportunity for students to demonstrate what they know and further pinpoint what they don’t know.
- Phoneme Segmentation Fluency replaces First Sound Fluency. The expanded coverage minimizes floor effect and provides information about difficulty in Phonemic Awareness skills without the additional First Sound Fluency measure.
- A new subtest, Word Reading Fluency, helps identify students with poor sight word reading skills that other subtests miss.
- For all measures, the basic scoring procedures remain the same. For Nonsense Word Fluency, credit is given for recording words as whole words even if the student misses in the first attempt.
- Oral Reading Fluency is now only one passage, instead of three. Retell has been removed. Thus, Oral Reading Fluency assessment will take a third of the time.
Assessment measures by grade
| DIBELS measures at each grade level | |||||
| Measure | Grade K | Grade 1 | Grade 2 | Grade 3 | Grades 4–6 |
| Letter naming fluency | |||||
| Phonemic segmentation fluency | |||||
| Nonsense word fluency | |||||
| Word reading fluency | |||||
| Oral reading fluency | |||||
| Maze (basic comprehension) | |||||
| Amplify measures at each grade level | |||||
| Oral language | |||||
| Vocabulary | |||||
Assessment measures sample videos
DIBELS 8th Edition measure: Phonemic Segmentation Fluency (PSF)
DIBELS 8th Edition measure: Nonsense Word Fluency (NWF)
DIBELS 8th Edition measure: Letter Naming Fluency (LNF)
DIBELS 8th Edition measure: Word Reading Fluency (WRF)
DIBELS 8th Edition measure: Oral Reading Fluency (ORF)
What makes mCLASS with DIBELS 8th Edition different?
mCLASS with DIBELS 8th Edition combines the power of the mCLASS assessment platform and the effectiveness of the DIBELS 8th Edition assessment measures. As a result – educators are empowered with the latest and greatest assessment tool.
More than a test, mCLASS with DIBELS 8th Edition is an integrated system that closes the knowing-doing gap by helping teachers take immediate instructional action that’s right for each and every student.
Assessment systems must enable and compel educators to answer not just the “What” questions, but also the “So What” and “Now What” questions. These are the questions that are essential in transforming classroom instruction, and the questions that mCLASS with DIBELS 8th Edition helps teachers answer with confidence.
What makes mCLASS with DIBELS 8th Edition different?
- It gives teachers access to the latest digital version of the DIBELS assessment. Amplify is the only licensed provider of the digital DIBELS 8th Edition assessment. As such, our solution is the only one to enhance the DIBELS 8th Edition assessment with the power, reliability, and quickness of the mCLASS system.
- It makes it faster and easier to understand where every student is in their early literacy journey. By combining 1:1 observational diagnostic assessments, dyslexia screening, progress monitoring, instant scoring, rigorous reporting, automatic student grouping, and targeted instruction all in one place, it reduces the instructional delays associated with manual scoring, manual data analysis, and manual lesson planning.
- It makes every instructional minute count. In addition to one-minute measures that quickly gauge student progress toward reading proficiency, it leverages a teacher’s most powerful instructional tool — their own 1:1 observations.
- It drives growth more efficiently. Rather than relying on broad composite scores alone, granular data and in-depth insights for every student help teachers pinpoint exact skill gaps and areas of unfinished learning, making whole-group, small-group, and 1:1 instruction more targeted and effective.
- It saves teachers time. Instant reports, automatic student groups, and ready-to-teach lessons mean teachers spend less time cobbling together materials and more time working directly with students and responding to their needs.
How does mCLASS with DIBELS 8th Edition support screening for dyslexia risk?
DIBELS 8th Edition measures have been updated based on the latest research. They now offer stronger measures of processing speed, phonological awareness, and alphabetic principles for dyslexia screening purposes.
To support this, a new subtest in Word Reading Fluency was introduced and revisions were made to Letter Naming Fluency, Phonemic Segmentation Fluency, and Nonsense Fluency subtests to improve their ability to screen for deficits commonly associated with dyslexia risk, such as phonological awareness, rapid naming ability, and alphabetic principle. These measures provide early warning signs for neurological processing difficulties that contribute to risk for dyslexia (Wolf & Bowers, 1999; Denckla & Rudel, 1974).
Moreover, measures in Oral Language and Vocabulary are included to provide additional information to help evaluate additional risk areas associated with dyslexia risk.
How does mCLASS with DIBELS 8th Edition support the use of running records?
Track your students’ reading progress from every angle with the Text Reading and Comprehension (TRC) assessment. When TRC is paired with the DIBELS 8th Edition assessment, classroom teachers unlock the ability to record reading behaviors through running digital records. Available in English and Spanish, it measures reading comprehension and provides insight into how each student finds meaning in text.

Measures include:
- Lesson plans for whole class, small-group, and one-on-one instruction.
- Small-group advisor, which organizes students into groups based on strengths and gaps.
- Item-level advisor, which drills deep into student responses to uncover patterns, strengths, and gaps.
- Instructional resources for each student’s parent/guardian(s).
How does mCLASS with DIBELS 8th Edition turn data into instant action?
mCLASS with DIBELS 8th Edition 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.

Diagnostic assessment
mCLASS with DIBELS 8th Edition analyzes individual student response data through a proprietary scoring algorithm that pinpoints a student’s specific area(s) of growth and improvement, providing classroom teachers in-depth insight into a students’ instructional needs.
Ready-to-teach instruction
Immediately following the analysis of individual student responses, mCLASS with DIBELS 8th Edition provides an in-depth diagnostic report complete with suggested next steps, also known as “mCLASS Instruction.”
mCLASS Instruction evaluates each student’s responses on each individual subtest and instantly:
- Provides a list of specific needs by student, such as struggling with medial vowel sounds or difficulty reading words with consonant blends.
- Groups students automatically based on similar discrete skill needs, not simply composite scores like other assessment tools.
- Recommends a variety of ready-to-teach lessons that specifically target each individual student’s areas of need or common areas of need for small-group instruction.
Classroom skill and benchmark summary
The Classroom Skill Summary report is a dashboard showing benchmark performance on each skill. Teachers can use it to determine which skill areas need instructional focus at a classroom level.
The Classroom Benchmark Summary report is a classroom-wide view of overall reading performance. Teachers can use this report to determine if composite scores improved, declined, or remained the same each semester.
Detailed benchmark performance
Teachers can see each student’s performance during the current school year, on each subtest as well as the overall composite. The benchmark goal displays below the subtest name when applicable. The ability to sort the columns in this report gives teachers more flexibility to analyze data the way they prefer.
Dyslexia screening
Identify students who are at risk for reading difficulties, including dyslexia, based on their results from foundational skills measures and additional measures as needed by local policies.
Progress monitoring summary
See which subtests have been assessed since the most recent benchmark assessment, how students performed on the three most recent progress monitoring assessments for each measure, and which students have not been progress monitored since the benchmark assessment.
Goal setting tool
The Zones of Growth (ZoG) analysis uses a rich set of national data to determine student goals for the next benchmark period. Teachers can use the Goal Setting Tool to view these recommended goals or modify the default goals for individual students as they see fit, if the default goal is too challenging or not challenging enough.
Growth outcomes
Teachers and interventionists can see each student’s actual growth achieved and how it compares to the goal that was set for the student.
Caregiver supports
The mCLASS Home Connect website houses literacy resources for parents and caregivers, including at-home lessons organized by skill. Our mCLASS parent/caregiver letters in English and Spanish ensure that families know how to best support their child.

Self-guided tour
Our self-guided tour is a great way to orient yourself to the organization of our mCLASS platform. Click the button below to get started.

Demo access
Follow the instructions below to login to your demo account.
- Click the mCLASS Demo button below.
- Select Log in with Amplify.
- Enter the username: d8demoD
- Enter the password: 1234
- Click the Reading tile.
Once you are logged in:
- Find the Class/Group dropdown field and select Grade 1.
- Right above the Class Summary, click Beginning of Year or Middle of Year and explore the data.
- Scroll down to the class list. Each column within the class list is sortable by clicking the double arrow in the column header.
- Click on any score to see the measure transcript.
- Click on a student’s name to see historical data and progress monitoring graphs.
After exploring the Benchmark tab in the purple bar:
- Click on the Instruction tab.
- If you don’t see groups, click Updated recommendations.
- Explore freely! The Groups, Students, and All Activities tabs have rich information.
- Click the Progress tab.
- Click on Home Connect to see a sample of our caregiver letters.
What is mCLASS?
mCLASS is a best-in-class assessment platform that houses a suite of proven, gold-standard assessment measures and tools that can be flexibly combined to meet the unique literacy needs of both teachers and students across grades K–6, including:
- Universal screening
- Diagnostic assessment
- Dyslexia screening
- Progress monitoring
- Dual language reporting
- Targeted teacher-led instruction
What is the DIBELS 8th Edition assessment?
Developed by the University of Oregon, the DIBELS 8th Edition is the latest version of the DIBELS® (Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills) assessment.
With this latest version, the University of Oregon Center on Teaching and Learning (UO CTL) made significant efforts to ensure measures would meet state-level screening requirements for universal screening, diagnostic assessment, and dyslexia screening. To support this, measures were updated based on the latest research to meet increased standards of reliability and validity. In addition, adaptive procedures and discontinue rules focus on the assessment of priority skills and prevent over-testing.
Summary of changes:
- Consistent measures within grades will provide improved growth measurement.
- All subtests have been revised to be grade-specific and to increase in difficulty, covering a full progression of skills and minimizing floor and ceiling effects. This provides the opportunity for students to demonstrate what they know and further pinpoint what they don’t know.
- Phoneme Segmentation Fluency replaces First Sound Fluency. The expanded coverage minimizes floor effect and provides information about difficulty in Phonemic Awareness skills without the additional First Sound Fluency measure.
- A new subtest, Word Reading Fluency, helps identify students with poor sight word reading skills that other subtests miss.
- For all measures, the basic scoring procedures remain the same. For Nonsense Word Fluency, credit is given for recording words as whole words even if the student misses in the first attempt.
- Oral Reading Fluency is now only one passage, instead of three. Retell has been removed. Thus, Oral Reading Fluency assessment will take a third of the time.
Assessment measures by grade
| 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) | ||||
| Amplify measures at each grade level | ||||
| Oral language | ||||
| Vocabulary | ||||
Assessment measures sample videos
DIBELS 8th Edition measure: Phonemic Segmentation Fluency (PSF)
DIBELS 8th Edition measure: Nonsense Word Fluency (NWF)
DIBELS 8th Edition measure: Letter Naming Fluency (LNF)
DIBELS 8th Edition measure: Word Reading Fluency (WRF)
DIBELS 8th Edition measure: Oral Reading Fluency (ORF)
How is mCLASS with DIBELS 8th Edition different?
mCLASS with DIBELS 8th Edition combines the power of the mCLASS assessment platform and the effectiveness of the DIBELS 8th Edition assessment measures. As a result – educators across the state are empowered with the latest and greatest assessment tool.
More than a test, mCLASS with DIBELS 8th Edition is an integrated system that closes the knowing-doing gap by helping teachers take immediate instructional action that’s right for each and every student.
Assessment systems must enable and compel educators to answer not just the “What” questions, but also the “So What” and “Now What” questions. These are the questions that are essential in transforming classroom instruction, and the questions that mCLASS with DIBELS 8th Edition helps teachers answer with confidence.
How is mCLASS with DIBELS 8th Edition different?
- It gives teachers access to the latest digital version of the DIBELS assessment. Amplify is the only licensed provider of the digital DIBELS 8th Edition assessment. As such, our solution is the only one to enhance the DIBELS 8th Edition assessment with the power, reliability, and quickness of the mCLASS system.
- It makes it faster and easier to understand where every student is in their early literacy journey. By combining 1:1 observational diagnostic assessments, dyslexia screening, progress monitoring, instant scoring, rigorous reporting, automatic student grouping, and targeted instruction all in one place, it reduces the instructional delays associated with manual scoring, manual data analysis, and manual lesson planning.
- It brings more equity to the classroom. When used in conjunction with mCLASS Lectura, teachers have access to dual language reports that highlight a student’s strengths and weaknesses in both English and Spanish.
- It makes every instructional minute count. In addition to one-minute measures that quickly gauge student progress toward reading proficiency, it leverages a teacher’s most powerful instructional tool — their own 1:1 observations.
- It drives growth more efficiently. Rather than relying on broad composite scores alone, granular data and in-depth insights for every student help teachers pinpoint exact skill gaps and areas of unfinished learning, making whole-group, small-group, and 1:1 instruction more targeted and effective.
- It saves teachers time. Instant reports, automatic student groups, and ready-to-teach lessons mean teachers spend less time cobbling together materials and more time working directly with students and responding to their needs.
How does mCLASS with DIBELS 8th Edition support screening for dyslexia risk?
DIBELS 8th Edition measures have been updated based on the latest research. They now offer stronger measures of processing speed, phonological awareness, and alphabetic principles for dyslexia screening purposes.
To support this, a new subtest in Word Reading Fluency was introduced and revisions were made to Letter Naming Fluency, Phonemic Segmentation Fluency, and Nonsense Fluency subtests to improve their ability to screen for deficits commonly associated with dyslexia risk, such as phonological awareness, rapid naming ability, and alphabetic principle. These measures provide early warning signs for neurological processing difficulties that contribute to risk for dyslexia (Wolf & Bowers, 1999; Denckla & Rudel, 1974).
Moreover, measures in Oral Language and Vocabulary are included to provide additional information to help evaluate additional risk areas associated with dyslexia risk.
How does mCLASS with DIBELS 8th Edition turn data into instant action?
mCLASS with DIBELS 8th Edition 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.

Diagnostic assessment
mCLASS with DIBELS 8th Edition analyzes individual student response data through a scoring algorithm which aligns to the Colorado Department of Education’s stated purpose of a diagnostic assessment.
Our innovative approach to diagnostic assessment leverages an item-level evaluation of individual student responses in order to provide deeper insights into specific student weaknesses and areas of improvement. mCLASS with DIBELS 8th Edition analyzes individual student response data through a scoring algorithm which aligns to the Colorado Department of Education’s stated purpose of a diagnostic: “… to pinpoint a student’s specific area(s) of weakness and provide in-depth information about students’ skills and instructional needs.”
Ready-to-teach instruction
Immediately following the analysis of individual student responses, mCLASS with DIBELS 8th Edition provides an in-depth diagnostic report complete with suggested next steps, also known as “mCLASS Instruction.”
mCLASS Instruction evaluates each student’s responses on each individual subtest and instantly:
- Provides a list of specific needs by student, such as struggling with medial vowel sounds or difficulty reading words with consonant blends.
- Groups students automatically based on similar discrete skill needs, not simply composite scores like other assessment tools.
- Recommends a variety of ready-to-teach lessons that specifically target each individual student’s areas of need or common areas of need for small-group instruction.
Classroom skill and benchmark summary
The Classroom Skill Summary report is a dashboard showing benchmark performance on each skill. Teachers can use it to determine which skill areas need instructional focus at a classroom level.
The Classroom Benchmark Summary report is a classroom-wide view of overall reading performance. Teachers can use this report to determine if composite scores improved, declined, or remained the same each semester.
Detailed benchmark performance
Teachers can see each student’s performance during the current school year, on each subtest as well as the overall composite. The benchmark goal displays below the subtest name when applicable. The ability to sort the columns in this report gives teachers more flexibility to analyze data the way they prefer.
Dyslexia screening
Identify students who are at risk for reading difficulties, including dyslexia, based on their results from foundational skills measures and additional measures as needed by local policies.
Progress monitoring summary
See which subtests have been assessed since the most recent benchmark assessment, how students performed on the three most recent progress monitoring assessments for each measure, and which students have not been progress monitored since the benchmark assessment.
Goal setting tool
The Zones of Growth (ZoG) analysis uses a rich set of national data to determine student goals for the next benchmark period. Teachers can use the Goal Setting Tool to view these recommended goals or modify the default goals for individual students as they see fit, if the default goal is too challenging or not challenging enough.
Growth outcomes
Teachers and interventionists can see each student’s actual growth achieved and how it compares to the goal that was set for the student.
Colorado READ Plans
Amplify recommends that a student who is categorized by the DIBELS 8th Edition composite score as “At High Risk” (denoted in all reports as “red”) be considered as potentially having a “Significant Reading Deficiency,” then further diagnosed using mCLASS’ Instruction diagnostics.
When devising a READ Plan, teachers and instructional staff should first consider students at high risk on DIBELS 8th Edition as potentially having a “Significant Reading Deficiency,” and eligible for a READ Plan. Students are then further diagnosed using mCLASS’ Instruction diagnostics. When devising a READ Plan, teachers can rely on the relevant mCLASS Instruction and Reports to comply with the READ Act.
Caregiver supports
The mCLASS Home Connect website houses literacy resources for parents and caregivers, including at-home lessons organized by skill. Our mCLASS parent/caregiver letters in English and Spanish ensure that families know how to best support their child.

Explore our self-guided tour
Our self-guided tour is a great way to orient yourself to the organization of our mCLASS platform. Click the button below to get started.

Contact us
Looking to speak directly with your Colorado representative? Get in touch with a team member by emailing HelloColorado@amplify.com or by calling us directly.
| Enrollment over 2,500 students | Enrollment under 2,500 students |


| Monty LammersSenior Account Executive(719) 964-4501mlammers@amplify.com | Vanessa ScottAccount Executive(602) 690-9216vscott@amplify.com |
Buffalo Consultancy
What is mCLASS?
mCLASS is a best-in-class assessment platform that houses a suite of proven, gold-standard assessment measures and tools that can be flexibly combined to meet the unique literacy needs of both teachers and students across grades K–6, including:
- Universal screening
- Diagnostic assessment
- Dyslexia screening
- Text Reading and Comprehension (a.k.a. running records via mCLASS: Reading 3D)
- Progress monitoring
- Dual language reporting
- Targeted teacher-led instruction
What is the DIBELS 8th Edition assessment?
Developed by the University of Oregon, the DIBELS 8th Edition is the latest version of the DIBELS® (Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills) assessment.
With this latest version, the University of Oregon Center on Teaching and Learning (UO CTL) made significant efforts to ensure measures would meet state-level screening requirements for universal screening, diagnostic assessment, and dyslexia screening. To support this, measures were updated based on the latest research to meet increased standards of reliability and validity. In addition, adaptive procedures and discontinue rules focus on the assessment of priority skills and prevent over-testing.
Summary of changes:
- Consistent measures within grades will provide improved growth measurement.
- All subtests have been revised to be grade-specific and to increase in difficulty, covering a full progression of skills and minimizing floor and ceiling effects. This provides the opportunity for students to demonstrate what they know and further pinpoint what they don’t know.
- Phoneme Segmentation Fluency replaces First Sound Fluency. The expanded coverage minimizes floor effect and provides information about difficulty in Phonemic Awareness skills without the additional First Sound Fluency measure.
- A new subtest, Word Reading Fluency, helps identify students with poor sight word reading skills that other subtests miss.
- For all measures, the basic scoring procedures remain the same. For Nonsense Word Fluency, credit is given for recording words as whole words even if the student misses in the first attempt.
- Oral Reading Fluency is now only one passage, instead of three. Retell has been removed. Thus, Oral Reading Fluency assessment will take a third of the time.
Assessment measures by grade
| DIBELS measures at each grade level | |||||
| Measure | Grade K | Grade 1 | Grade 2 | Grade 3 | Grades 4–6 |
| Letter naming fluency | |||||
| Phonemic segmentation fluency | |||||
| Nonsense word fluency | |||||
| Word reading fluency | |||||
| Oral reading fluency | |||||
| Maze (basic comprehension) | |||||
| Amplify measures at each grade level | |||||
| Oral language | |||||
| Vocabulary | |||||
Assessment measures sample videos
DIBELS 8th Edition measure: Phonemic Segmentation Fluency (PSF)
DIBELS 8th Edition measure: Nonsense Word Fluency (NWF)
DIBELS 8th Edition measure: Letter Naming Fluency (LNF)
DIBELS 8th Edition measure: Word Reading Fluency (WRF)
DIBELS 8th Edition measure: Oral Reading Fluency (ORF)
What makes mCLASS with DIBELS 8th Edition different?
mCLASS with DIBELS 8th Edition combines the power of the mCLASS assessment platform and the effectiveness of the DIBELS 8th Edition assessment measures. As a result – educators are empowered with the latest and greatest assessment tool.
More than a test, mCLASS with DIBELS 8th Edition is an integrated system that closes the knowing-doing gap by helping teachers take immediate instructional action that’s right for each and every student.
Assessment systems must enable and compel educators to answer not just the “What” questions, but also the “So What” and “Now What” questions. These are the questions that are essential in transforming classroom instruction, and the questions that mCLASS with DIBELS 8th Edition helps teachers answer with confidence.
What makes mCLASS with DIBELS 8th Edition different?
- It gives teachers access to the latest digital version of the DIBELS assessment. Amplify is the only licensed provider of the digital DIBELS 8th Edition assessment. As such, our solution is the only one to enhance the DIBELS 8th Edition assessment with the power, reliability, and quickness of the mCLASS system.
- It makes it faster and easier to understand where every student is in their early literacy journey. By combining 1:1 observational diagnostic assessments, dyslexia screening, progress monitoring, instant scoring, rigorous reporting, automatic student grouping, and targeted instruction all in one place, it reduces the instructional delays associated with manual scoring, manual data analysis, and manual lesson planning.
- It brings more equity to the classroom. When used in conjunction with mCLASS Lectura, teachers have access to dual language reports that highlight a student’s strengths and weaknesses in both English and Spanish.
- It makes every instructional minute count. In addition to one-minute measures that quickly gauge student progress toward reading proficiency, it leverages a teacher’s most powerful instructional tool — their own 1:1 observations.
- It drives growth more efficiently. Rather than relying on broad composite scores alone, granular data and in-depth insights for every student help teachers pinpoint exact skill gaps and areas of unfinished learning, making whole-group, small-group, and 1:1 instruction more targeted and effective.
- It saves teachers time. Instant reports, automatic student groups, and ready-to-teach lessons mean teachers spend less time cobbling together materials and more time working directly with students and responding to their needs.
How does mCLASS with DIBELS 8th Edition support screening for dyslexia risk?
DIBELS 8th Edition measures have been updated based on the latest research. They now offer stronger measures of processing speed, phonological awareness, and alphabetic principles for dyslexia screening purposes.
To support this, a new subtest in Word Reading Fluency was introduced and revisions were made to Letter Naming Fluency, Phonemic Segmentation Fluency, and Nonsense Fluency subtests to improve their ability to screen for deficits commonly associated with dyslexia risk, such as phonological awareness, rapid naming ability, and alphabetic principle. These measures provide early warning signs for neurological processing difficulties that contribute to risk for dyslexia (Wolf & Bowers, 1999; Denckla & Rudel, 1974).
Moreover, measures in Oral Language and Vocabulary are included to provide additional information to help evaluate additional risk areas associated with dyslexia risk.
How does mCLASS with DIBELS 8th Edition support the use of running records?
Track your students’ reading progress from every angle with the Text Reading and Comprehension (TRC) assessment. When TRC is paired with the DIBELS 8th Edition assessment, classroom teachers unlock the ability to record reading behaviors through running digital records. Available in English and Spanish, it measures reading comprehension and provides insight into how each student finds meaning in text.

Measures include:
- Lesson plans for whole class, small-group, and one-on-one instruction.
- Small-group advisor, which organizes students into groups based on strengths and gaps.
- Item-level advisor, which drills deep into student responses to uncover patterns, strengths, and gaps.
- Instructional resources for each student’s parent/guardian(s).
How does mCLASS with DIBELS 8th Edition turn data into instant action?
mCLASS with DIBELS 8th Edition 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.

Diagnostic assessment
mCLASS with DIBELS 8th Edition analyzes individual student response data through a proprietary scoring algorithm that pinpoints a student’s specific area(s) of growth and improvement, providing classroom teachers in-depth insight into a students’ instructional needs.
Ready-to-teach instruction
Immediately following the analysis of individual student responses, mCLASS with DIBELS 8th Edition provides an in-depth diagnostic report complete with suggested next steps, also known as “mCLASS Instruction.”
mCLASS Instruction evaluates each student’s responses on each individual subtest and instantly:
- Provides a list of specific needs by student, such as struggling with medial vowel sounds or difficulty reading words with consonant blends.
- Groups students automatically based on similar discrete skill needs, not simply composite scores like other assessment tools.
- Recommends a variety of ready-to-teach lessons that specifically target each individual student’s areas of need or common areas of need for small-group instruction.
Classroom skill and benchmark summary
The Classroom Skill Summary report is a dashboard showing benchmark performance on each skill. Teachers can use it to determine which skill areas need instructional focus at a classroom level.
The Classroom Benchmark Summary report is a classroom-wide view of overall reading performance. Teachers can use this report to determine if composite scores improved, declined, or remained the same each semester.
Detailed benchmark performance
Teachers can see each student’s performance during the current school year, on each subtest as well as the overall composite. The benchmark goal displays below the subtest name when applicable. The ability to sort the columns in this report gives teachers more flexibility to analyze data the way they prefer.
Dyslexia screening
Identify students who are at risk for reading difficulties, including dyslexia, based on their results from foundational skills measures and additional measures as needed by local policies.
Progress monitoring summary
See which subtests have been assessed since the most recent benchmark assessment, how students performed on the three most recent progress monitoring assessments for each measure, and which students have not been progress monitored since the benchmark assessment.
Goal setting tool
The Zones of Growth (ZoG) analysis uses a rich set of national data to determine student goals for the next benchmark period. Teachers can use the Goal Setting Tool to view these recommended goals or modify the default goals for individual students as they see fit, if the default goal is too challenging or not challenging enough.
Growth outcomes
Teachers and interventionists can see each student’s actual growth achieved and how it compares to the goal that was set for the student.
Caregiver supports
The mCLASS Home Connect website houses literacy resources for parents and caregivers, including at-home lessons organized by skill. Our mCLASS parent/caregiver letters in English and Spanish ensure that families know how to best support their child.

What is mCLASS?
mCLASS is a best-in-class assessment platform that houses a suite of proven, gold-standard assessment measures and tools that can be flexibly combined to meet the unique literacy needs of both teachers and students across grades K–6, including:
- Universal screening
- Diagnostic assessment
- Dyslexia screening
- Text Reading and Comprehension (a.k.a. running records via mCLASS: Reading 3D)
- Progress monitoring
- Dual language reporting
- Targeted teacher-led instruction
What is the DIBELS 8th Edition assessment?
Developed by the University of Oregon, the DIBELS 8th Edition is the latest version of the DIBELS® (Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills) assessment.
With this latest version, the University of Oregon Center on Teaching and Learning (UO CTL) made significant efforts to ensure measures would meet state-level screening requirements for universal screening, diagnostic assessment, and dyslexia screening. To support this, measures were updated based on the latest research to meet increased standards of reliability and validity. In addition, adaptive procedures and discontinue rules focus on the assessment of priority skills and prevent over-testing.
Summary of changes:
- Consistent measures within grades will provide improved growth measurement.
- All subtests have been revised to be grade-specific and to increase in difficulty, covering a full progression of skills and minimizing floor and ceiling effects. This provides the opportunity for students to demonstrate what they know and further pinpoint what they don’t know.
- Phoneme Segmentation Fluency replaces First Sound Fluency. The expanded coverage minimizes floor effect and provides information about difficulty in Phonemic Awareness skills without the additional First Sound Fluency measure.
- A new subtest, Word Reading Fluency, helps identify students with poor sight word reading skills that other subtests miss.
- For all measures, the basic scoring procedures remain the same. For Nonsense Word Fluency, credit is given for recording words as whole words even if the student misses in the first attempt.
- Oral Reading Fluency is now only one passage, instead of three. Retell has been removed. Thus, Oral Reading Fluency assessment will take a third of the time.
Assessment measures by grade
| DIBELS measures at each grade level | |||||
| Measure | Grade K | Grade 1 | Grade 2 | Grade 3 | Grades 4–6 |
| Letter naming fluency | |||||
| Phonemic segmentation fluency | |||||
| Nonsense word fluency | |||||
| Word reading fluency | |||||
| Oral reading fluency | |||||
| Maze (basic comprehension) | |||||
| Amplify measures at each grade level | |||||
| Oral language | |||||
| Vocabulary | |||||
Assessment measures sample videos
DIBELS 8th Edition measure: Phonemic Segmentation Fluency (PSF)
DIBELS 8th Edition measure: Nonsense Word Fluency (NWF)
DIBELS 8th Edition measure: Letter Naming Fluency (LNF)
DIBELS 8th Edition measure: Word Reading Fluency (WRF)
DIBELS 8th Edition measure: Oral Reading Fluency (ORF)
What makes mCLASS with DIBELS 8th Edition different?
mCLASS with DIBELS 8th Edition combines the power of the mCLASS assessment platform and the effectiveness of the DIBELS 8th Edition assessment measures. As a result – educators are empowered with the latest and greatest assessment tool.
More than a test, mCLASS with DIBELS 8th Edition is an integrated system that closes the knowing-doing gap by helping teachers take immediate instructional action that’s right for each and every student.
Assessment systems must enable and compel educators to answer not just the “What” questions, but also the “So What” and “Now What” questions. These are the questions that are essential in transforming classroom instruction, and the questions that mCLASS with DIBELS 8th Edition helps teachers answer with confidence.
What makes mCLASS with DIBELS 8th Edition different?
- It gives teachers access to the latest digital version of the DIBELS assessment. Amplify is the only licensed provider of the digital DIBELS 8th Edition assessment. As such, our solution is the only one to enhance the DIBELS 8th Edition assessment with the power, reliability, and quickness of the mCLASS system.
- It makes it faster and easier to understand where every student is in their early literacy journey. By combining 1:1 observational diagnostic assessments, dyslexia screening, progress monitoring, instant scoring, rigorous reporting, automatic student grouping, and targeted instruction all in one place, it reduces the instructional delays associated with manual scoring, manual data analysis, and manual lesson planning.
- It brings more equity to the classroom. When used in conjunction with mCLASS Lectura, teachers have access to dual language reports that highlight a student’s strengths and weaknesses in both English and Spanish.
- It makes every instructional minute count. In addition to one-minute measures that quickly gauge student progress toward reading proficiency, it leverages a teacher’s most powerful instructional tool — their own 1:1 observations.
- It drives growth more efficiently. Rather than relying on broad composite scores alone, granular data and in-depth insights for every student help teachers pinpoint exact skill gaps and areas of unfinished learning, making whole-group, small-group, and 1:1 instruction more targeted and effective.
- It saves teachers time. Instant reports, automatic student groups, and ready-to-teach lessons mean teachers spend less time cobbling together materials and more time working directly with students and responding to their needs.
How does mCLASS with DIBELS 8th Edition support screening for dyslexia risk?
DIBELS 8th Edition measures have been updated based on the latest research. They now offer stronger measures of processing speed, phonological awareness, and alphabetic principles for dyslexia screening purposes.
To support this, a new subtest in Word Reading Fluency was introduced and revisions were made to Letter Naming Fluency, Phonemic Segmentation Fluency, and Nonsense Fluency subtests to improve their ability to screen for deficits commonly associated with dyslexia risk, such as phonological awareness, rapid naming ability, and alphabetic principle. These measures provide early warning signs for neurological processing difficulties that contribute to risk for dyslexia (Wolf & Bowers, 1999; Denckla & Rudel, 1974).
Moreover, measures in Oral Language and Vocabulary are included to provide additional information to help evaluate additional risk areas associated with dyslexia risk.
How does mCLASS with DIBELS 8th Edition support the use of running records?
Track your students’ reading progress from every angle with the Text Reading and Comprehension (TRC) assessment. When TRC is paired with the DIBELS 8th Edition assessment, classroom teachers unlock the ability to record reading behaviors through running digital records. Available in English and Spanish, it measures reading comprehension and provides insight into how each student finds meaning in text.

Measures include:
- Lesson plans for whole class, small-group, and one-on-one instruction.
- Small-group advisor, which organizes students into groups based on strengths and gaps.
- Item-level advisor, which drills deep into student responses to uncover patterns, strengths, and gaps.
- Instructional resources for each student’s parent/guardian(s).
How does mCLASS with DIBELS 8th Edition turn data into instant action?
mCLASS with DIBELS 8th Edition 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.

Diagnostic assessment
mCLASS with DIBELS 8th Edition analyzes individual student response data through a proprietary scoring algorithm that pinpoints a student’s specific area(s) of growth and improvement, providing classroom teachers in-depth insight into a students’ instructional needs.
Ready-to-teach instruction
Immediately following the analysis of individual student responses, mCLASS with DIBELS 8th Edition provides an in-depth diagnostic report complete with suggested next steps, also known as “mCLASS Instruction.”
mCLASS Instruction evaluates each student’s responses on each individual subtest and instantly:
- Provides a list of specific needs by student, such as struggling with medial vowel sounds or difficulty reading words with consonant blends.
- Groups students automatically based on similar discrete skill needs, not simply composite scores like other assessment tools.
- Recommends a variety of ready-to-teach lessons that specifically target each individual student’s areas of need or common areas of need for small-group instruction.
Classroom skill and benchmark summary
The Classroom Skill Summary report is a dashboard showing benchmark performance on each skill. Teachers can use it to determine which skill areas need instructional focus at a classroom level.
The Classroom Benchmark Summary report is a classroom-wide view of overall reading performance. Teachers can use this report to determine if composite scores improved, declined, or remained the same each semester.
Detailed benchmark performance
Teachers can see each student’s performance during the current school year, on each subtest as well as the overall composite. The benchmark goal displays below the subtest name when applicable. The ability to sort the columns in this report gives teachers more flexibility to analyze data the way they prefer.
Dyslexia screening
Identify students who are at risk for reading difficulties, including dyslexia, based on their results from foundational skills measures and additional measures as needed by local policies.
Progress monitoring summary
See which subtests have been assessed since the most recent benchmark assessment, how students performed on the three most recent progress monitoring assessments for each measure, and which students have not been progress monitored since the benchmark assessment.
Goal setting tool
The Zones of Growth (ZoG) analysis uses a rich set of national data to determine student goals for the next benchmark period. Teachers can use the Goal Setting Tool to view these recommended goals or modify the default goals for individual students as they see fit, if the default goal is too challenging or not challenging enough.
Growth outcomes
Teachers and interventionists can see each student’s actual growth achieved and how it compares to the goal that was set for the student.
Caregiver supports
The mCLASS Home Connect website houses literacy resources for parents and caregivers, including at-home lessons organized by skill. Our mCLASS parent/caregiver letters in English and Spanish ensure that families know how to best support their child.

Self-guided tour
Our self-guided tour is a great way to orient yourself to the organization of our mCLASS platform. Click the button below to get started.

Demo access
Follow the instructions below to login to your demo account.
- Click the mCLASS Demo button below.
- Select Log in with Amplify.
- Enter the username: d8demoD
- Enter the password: 1234
- Click the Reading tile.
Once you are logged in:
- Find the Class/Group dropdown field and select Grade 1.
- Right above the Class Summary, click Beginning of Year or Middle of Year and explore the data.
- Scroll down to the class list. Each column within the class list is sortable by clicking the double arrow in the column header.
- Click on any score to see the measure transcript.
- Click on a student’s name to see historical data and progress monitoring graphs.
After exploring the Benchmark tab in the purple bar:
- Click on the Instruction tab.
- If you don’t see groups, click Updated recommendations.
- Explore freely! The Groups, Students, and All Activities tabs have rich information.
- Click the Progress tab.
- Click on Home Connect to see a sample of our caregiver letters.
About the program
mCLASS offers teacher-administered assessment, intervention, and personalized instruction for grades K–6. Know exactly how to monitor and support every student in your classroom, with features like:
- Precise one-minute measures based on over three decades of predictive data.
- Universal and Reading Difficulties screening in one tool.
- Instruction that highlights observed patterns and recommends activities.
- Robust reports for teachers, specialists, administrators, and parents.

The right measures at the right time
With mCLASS DIBELS 8th Edition, you’ll assess students based on grade-specific curriculum and instructional standards, in accordance with International Dyslexia Association (IDA) guidelines.
mCLASS DIBELS 8th Edition offers one-minute, easy-to-administer measures of processing speed, phonological awareness, alphabetic principle, and word reading.
| DIBELS® 8th Edition subtest alignment with SB 114 requirements | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RDRP Screening Area | mCLASS DIBELS 8th Edition Measure | Grade K | Grade 1 | Grade 2 | Grade 3 | Grade 4–6 |
| Rapid naming ability | Letter Naming Fluency (LNF) | |||||
| Phonological awareness | Phoneme Segmentation Fluency (PSF) | |||||
| Alphabetic principle | Nonsense Word Fluency (NWF) | |||||
| Word reading | Word Reading Fluency (WRF) | |||||
| Word reading | Oral Reading Fluency (ORF) | |||||
| Comprehension | Maze | |||||
| Language Comprehension | Oral Language | |||||
| Vocabulary | Vocabulary | |||||
| RAN | Rapid Automatized Naming (Numbers) | |||||
| Encoding | Spelling | OPTIONAL | ||||
Validated as a universal screener and a dyslexia screener
Strong reliability and validity evidence shows that DIBELS 8th Edition can effectively assess students in key skills linked to both dyslexia and broader reading difficulty. The research supporting DIBELS 8th Edition, conducted by the University of Oregon, is rigorous, meets high technical standards, and empowers educators to make well-informed decisions.
Read the DIBELS 8th Edition Dyslexia White Paper.
A complete system for data-based decision making

mCLASS DIBELS 8th Edition provides rich data that helps you make informed instructional decisions and seek out further dyslexia screening evaluation if needed:
- Assess skills: mCLASS DIBELS 8th Edition and optional dyslexia screenings in Rapid Automatized Naming (RAN), Spelling, Vocabulary, and Oral Language accurately assess students’ abilities.
- Identify risk: The DIBELS 8 composite score shows each student’s risk level, with ‘Well Below Benchmark’ indicating a need for intensive support. Students who are also ‘Well Below Benchmark’ in RAN and/or Spelling have an additional Risk Indicator icon next to their name.
- Provide instruction: The mCLASS Instruction feature analyzes student error patterns to key dyslexia-related subtests, then recommends small groups and explicit, multi-sensory activities for reinforcing skills.
- Progress monitor: mCLASS includes progress-monitoring measures to track student growth in letter sounds, alphabetic principle, word reading, oral reading fluency, and comprehension, so that informed instructional decisions can be made.
- Adapt instruction: mCLASS displays indicators based on progress monitoring performance that indicate when a change in instruction may be needed. It also updates instruction recommendations using the latest data.
Differentiated literacy instruction
mCLASS DIBELS 8th Edition lays the groundwork for a strong Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS).
In addition to identifying students with symptoms of dyslexia, mCLASS DIBELS 8th Edition data recommends early intervention, personalized instruction, and core instruction within Amplify’s early literacy suite. Based on the Science of Reading, Amplify’s early literacy suite programs follow an explicit and systematic structure, build knowledge, and instruct on all of the foundational skills essential to literacy development.
- Intervene with mCLASS Intervention and Amplify Tutoring: Staff-led Tier 2 and 3 intervention for intensive support.
- Practice with Boost Reading: Personalized learning program to extend and reinforce core instruction.
- Instruct with Amplify Core Knowledge Language Arts (CKLA): Core curriculum to build foundational skills and knowledge.

Bilingual Reading Difficulties screening
By assessing with mCLASS DIBELS 8th Edition and its Spanish counterpart, mCLASS Lectura, you’ll know with confidence whether a student truly shows signs of of reading difficulties or is experiencing difficulties learning a new language.
When used together, mCLASS DIBELS 8th Edition and mCLASS Lectura feature a Dual Language Report that analyzes Reading Difficulties screening results in both languages. The report also details how each student can leverage their strengths from one language to support growth in the other.

Equal skill coverage in English and Spanish
mCLASS Lectura subtest alignment with SB114
| RDRP screening areas | English measure | Spanish measure | Description* |
|---|---|---|---|
| Letter Naming and RAN | Letter Naming Fluency (LNF) | Fluidez in nombrar letras (FNL) | Grades K–1: Naming letters in print. 1 minute, 1:1 administration. |
| Phonological Awareness (Segmentation) | Phonemic Segmentation Fluency (PSF) | Fluidez en la segmentación de sílabas (FSS) & Fluidez en la segmentación de fonemas (FSF) | Grades K–1: Hearing and using sounds or syllables in spoken words. 1 minute, 1:1 administration. |
| Phonological Awareness (Elision) | – | ¿Qué queda? (QQ) | Grades K–2: Produce the part of a word that remains after deleting a syllable or phoneme. 1 minute, 1:1 administration. |
| Letter Sound Correspondence Knowledge | Nonsense Word Fluency Correct Letter Sounds(NWF-CLS) | Fluidez en los sonidos de letras (FSL) | English: Grades K–3: Identify letter-sound correspondences in the context of pseudo-words. Spanish: Grades K-1: Identify letter-sounds in isolation. 1 minute, 1:1 administration. |
| Letter-Sound Knowledge (Receptive) | – | Fluidez en los sonidos de las letras K-Inicio (FSL K-Inicio) | Grade K: Identify (point to) which letter makes a certain sound. Untimed, 1:1 administration. |
| Decoding | Nonsense Word Fluency Words Recoded Correctly (NWF-WRC) | Fluidez en los sonidos de las sílabas (FSL) | Grades K–3: Identify letter-sound correspondences in the context of pseudo-words. Spanish: Grades K–1: Identify letter-sounds in isolation. 1 minute, 1:1 administration. |
| Word Reading | Word-Reading Fluency (WRF) | Fluidez en las palabras (FEP) | Grades K–3: Reading common words easily, quickly and correctly.1 minute, 1:1 administration. |
| Fluency | Oral Reading Fluency (ORF) | Fluidez en la lectura oral (FLO) | Grades 1–6: Reading connected text with accuracy and automaticity. 1 minute, 1:1 administration. |
| Reading Comprehension | Maze | ¿Cuál palabra? (CP) | Grades 2–6: Understanding meaning from texts. 3 minutes, group administration. |
| Vocabulary | Vocabulary | Vocabulario | Grades K–3: Arranging letters correctly to spell words with grade appropriate features. 15 minutes, group administration. |
| Encoding | Spelling | Ortografía | Grades K–3: Arranging letters correctly to spell words with grade-appropriate features. 15 minutes, group administration. |
| RAN (Numbers) | Rapid Automatized Naming | – | Grades K–3: Correctly and quickly naming visual symbols, such as numbers. 1-2 minutes, 1:1 administration. |
| Language Comprehension | Oral Language | Lenguaje oral | Grades K–2: Demonstrate the ability to use words and phrases acquired through conversations, reading and being read to, and responding to texts. 5 minutes, 1:1 administration. |
*Students can be assessed using off-grade measures when information on specific skills is needed.
Resources for families
Welcome California Caregivers! Please click here to learn more about mCLASS assessments.
Families play a crucial role in helping children overcome reading challenges. mCLASS DIBELS 8th Edition and mCLASS Lectura provide a Home Connect letter after each screening to explain the results in family-friendly language, recommend activities, and direct families to a free website for additional at-home support.

Developmentally appropriate
Computer-based assessments that require students to complete tasks silently or independently may over-identify students for intervention services, especially young learners who are still developing focus and attention abilities.
mCLASS requires students to actively demonstrate their proficiency in producing letter sounds, forming words, and reading texts. This approach to assessment aligns with IDA guidelines for effective screening of reading challenges. By choosing mCLASS for universal screening, you’ll gain accurate information about a student’s risk for reading difficulties, and gain the capability to monitor every student’s path to reading proficiency.
Additional resources
mCLASS Resources
- mCLASS Research Hub
- mCLASS Program Guide
- mCLASS Digital Access Guide
- mCLASS Reporting Guide
- mCLASS Help Site
- mCLASS self-guided walkthrough
Dyslexia Resources
- mCLASS Dyslexia Toolkit
- Dyslexia Fact vs. Fiction ebook
- Blog post: 4 tools to help teachers better understand dyslexia
- Science of Reading: The Podcast, Season 7, Episode 7: Debunking the “gift” of dyslexia in children, with Dr. Tim Odegard
- Science of Reading: The Podcast, Season 1, Episode 6: The facts and myths of dyslexia, with Emily Lutrick
Multilingual and English learners Resources
Your California team
Looking to speak directly with your local representative?
Get in touch with a California team member to learn more about our early literacy suite or request a demo account.
Dan Pier
Vice President, West
(415) 203-4810
dpier@amplify.com
Erin King
Sales Director, CA
(512) 736-3162
eking@amplify.com
NORTHERN CA
Wendy Garcia
Senior Account Executive
(510) 368-7666
wgarcia@amplify.com
BAY AREA
Lance Burbank
Account Executive
(415) 830-5348
lburbank@amplify.com
CENTRAL VALLEY and CENTRAL COAST
Demitri Gonos
Senior Account Executive
(559) 355-3244
dgonos@amplify.com
VENTURA and L.A. COUNTY
Jeff Sorenson
Associate Account Executive
(310) 902-1407
jsorenson@amplify.com
ORANGE and L.A. COUNTY
Lauren Sherman
Senior Account Executive
(949) 397-5766
lsherman@amplify.com
SAN BERNARDINO and L.A. COUNTY
Michael Gruber
Senior Account Executive
(951) 520-6542
migruber@amplify.com
RIVERSIDE AND L.A. COUNTY
Brian Roy
Senior Account Executive
(818)967-1674
broy@amplify.com
SAN DIEGO COUNTY
Kirk Van Wagoner
Senior Account Executive
(760) 696-0709
kvanwagoner@amplify.com
BUTTE, DEL NORTE, HUMBOLDT, and SHASTA COUNTY and DISTRICTS UNDER 2250 ENROLLMENT
Kevin Mauser
Lead Account Executive
(815) 534-0148
kmauser@amplify.com
What is mCLASS?
mCLASS is a best-in-class assessment platform that houses a suite of proven, gold-standard assessment measures and tools that can be flexibly combined to meet the unique literacy needs of both teachers and students across grades K–6, including:
- Universal screening
- Diagnostic assessment
- Dyslexia screening
- Text Reading and Comprehension (a.k.a. running records via mCLASS: Reading 3D)
- Progress monitoring
- Dual language reporting
- Targeted teacher-led instruction
What is the DIBELS 8th Edition assessment?
Developed by the University of Oregon, the DIBELS 8th Edition is the latest version of the DIBELS® (Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills) assessment.
With this latest version, the University of Oregon Center on Teaching and Learning (UO CTL) made significant efforts to ensure measures would meet state-level screening requirements for universal screening, diagnostic assessment, and dyslexia screening. To support this, measures were updated based on the latest research to meet increased standards of reliability and validity. In addition, adaptive procedures and discontinue rules focus on the assessment of priority skills and prevent over-testing.
Summary of changes:
- Consistent measures within grades will provide improved growth measurement.
- All subtests have been revised to be grade-specific and to increase in difficulty, covering a full progression of skills and minimizing floor and ceiling effects. This provides the opportunity for students to demonstrate what they know and further pinpoint what they don’t know.
- Phoneme Segmentation Fluency replaces First Sound Fluency. The expanded coverage minimizes floor effect and provides information about difficulty in Phonemic Awareness skills without the additional First Sound Fluency measure.
- A new subtest, Word Reading Fluency, helps identify students with poor sight word reading skills that other subtests miss.
- For all measures, the basic scoring procedures remain the same. For Nonsense Word Fluency, credit is given for recording words as whole words even if the student misses in the first attempt.
- Oral Reading Fluency is now only one passage, instead of three. Retell has been removed. Thus, Oral Reading Fluency assessment will take a third of the time.
Assessment measures by grade
| DIBELS measures at each grade level | |||||
| Measure | Grade K | Grade 1 | Grade 2 | Grade 3 | Grades 4–6 |
| Letter naming fluency | |||||
| Phonemic segmentation fluency | |||||
| Nonsense word fluency | |||||
| Word reading fluency | |||||
| Oral reading fluency | |||||
| Maze (basic comprehension) | |||||
| Amplify measures at each grade level | |||||
| Oral language | |||||
| Vocabulary | |||||
Assessment measures sample videos
DIBELS 8th Edition measure: Phonemic Segmentation Fluency (PSF)
DIBELS 8th Edition measure: Nonsense Word Fluency (NWF)
DIBELS 8th Edition measure: Letter Naming Fluency (LNF)
DIBELS 8th Edition measure: Word Reading Fluency (WRF)
DIBELS 8th Edition measure: Oral Reading Fluency (ORF)
What makes mCLASS with DIBELS 8th Edition different?
mCLASS with DIBELS 8th Edition combines the power of the mCLASS assessment platform and the effectiveness of the DIBELS 8th Edition assessment measures. As a result – educators are empowered with the latest and greatest assessment tool.
More than a test, mCLASS with DIBELS 8th Edition is an integrated system that closes the knowing-doing gap by helping teachers take immediate instructional action that’s right for each and every student.
Assessment systems must enable and compel educators to answer not just the “What” questions, but also the “So What” and “Now What” questions. These are the questions that are essential in transforming classroom instruction, and the questions that mCLASS with DIBELS 8th Edition helps teachers answer with confidence.
What makes mCLASS with DIBELS 8th Edition different?
- It gives teachers access to the latest digital version of the DIBELS assessment. Amplify is the only licensed provider of the digital DIBELS 8th Edition assessment. As such, our solution is the only one to enhance the DIBELS 8th Edition assessment with the power, reliability, and quickness of the mCLASS system.
- It makes it faster and easier to understand where every student is in their early literacy journey. By combining 1:1 observational diagnostic assessments, dyslexia screening, progress monitoring, instant scoring, rigorous reporting, automatic student grouping, and targeted instruction all in one place, it reduces the instructional delays associated with manual scoring, manual data analysis, and manual lesson planning.
- It brings more equity to the classroom. When used in conjunction with mCLASS Lectura, teachers have access to dual language reports that highlight a student’s strengths and weaknesses in both English and Spanish.
- It makes every instructional minute count. In addition to one-minute measures that quickly gauge student progress toward reading proficiency, it leverages a teacher’s most powerful instructional tool — their own 1:1 observations.
- It drives growth more efficiently. Rather than relying on broad composite scores alone, granular data and in-depth insights for every student help teachers pinpoint exact skill gaps and areas of unfinished learning, making whole-group, small-group, and 1:1 instruction more targeted and effective.
- It saves teachers time. Instant reports, automatic student groups, and ready-to-teach lessons mean teachers spend less time cobbling together materials and more time working directly with students and responding to their needs.
How does mCLASS with DIBELS 8th Edition support screening for dyslexia risk?
DIBELS 8th Edition measures have been updated based on the latest research. They now offer stronger measures of processing speed, phonological awareness, and alphabetic principles for dyslexia screening purposes.
To support this, a new subtest in Word Reading Fluency was introduced and revisions were made to Letter Naming Fluency, Phonemic Segmentation Fluency, and Nonsense Fluency subtests to improve their ability to screen for deficits commonly associated with dyslexia risk, such as phonological awareness, rapid naming ability, and alphabetic principle. These measures provide early warning signs for neurological processing difficulties that contribute to risk for dyslexia (Wolf & Bowers, 1999; Denckla & Rudel, 1974).
Moreover, measures in Oral Language and Vocabulary are included to provide additional information to help evaluate additional risk areas associated with dyslexia risk.
How does mCLASS with DIBELS 8th Edition support the use of running records?
Track your students’ reading progress from every angle with the Text Reading and Comprehension (TRC) assessment. When TRC is paired with the DIBELS 8th Edition assessment, classroom teachers unlock the ability to record reading behaviors through running digital records. Available in English and Spanish, it measures reading comprehension and provides insight into how each student finds meaning in text.

Measures include:
- Lesson plans for whole class, small-group, and one-on-one instruction.
- Small-group advisor, which organizes students into groups based on strengths and gaps.
- Item-level advisor, which drills deep into student responses to uncover patterns, strengths, and gaps.
- Instructional resources for each student’s parent/guardian(s).
How does mCLASS with DIBELS 8th Edition turn data into instant action?
mCLASS with DIBELS 8th Edition 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.

Diagnostic assessment
mCLASS with DIBELS 8th Edition analyzes individual student response data through a proprietary scoring algorithm that pinpoints a student’s specific area(s) of growth and improvement, providing classroom teachers in-depth insight into a students’ instructional needs.
Ready-to-teach instruction
Immediately following the analysis of individual student responses, mCLASS with DIBELS 8th Edition provides an in-depth diagnostic report complete with suggested next steps, also known as “mCLASS Instruction.”
mCLASS Instruction evaluates each student’s responses on each individual subtest and instantly:
- Provides a list of specific needs by student, such as struggling with medial vowel sounds or difficulty reading words with consonant blends.
- Groups students automatically based on similar discrete skill needs, not simply composite scores like other assessment tools.
- Recommends a variety of ready-to-teach lessons that specifically target each individual student’s areas of need or common areas of need for small-group instruction.
Classroom skill and benchmark summary
The Classroom Skill Summary report is a dashboard showing benchmark performance on each skill. Teachers can use it to determine which skill areas need instructional focus at a classroom level.
The Classroom Benchmark Summary report is a classroom-wide view of overall reading performance. Teachers can use this report to determine if composite scores improved, declined, or remained the same each semester.
Detailed benchmark performance
Teachers can see each student’s performance during the current school year, on each subtest as well as the overall composite. The benchmark goal displays below the subtest name when applicable. The ability to sort the columns in this report gives teachers more flexibility to analyze data the way they prefer.
Dyslexia screening
Identify students who are at risk for reading difficulties, including dyslexia, based on their results from foundational skills measures and additional measures as needed by local policies.
Progress monitoring summary
See which subtests have been assessed since the most recent benchmark assessment, how students performed on the three most recent progress monitoring assessments for each measure, and which students have not been progress monitored since the benchmark assessment.
Goal setting tool
The Zones of Growth (ZoG) analysis uses a rich set of national data to determine student goals for the next benchmark period. Teachers can use the Goal Setting Tool to view these recommended goals or modify the default goals for individual students as they see fit, if the default goal is too challenging or not challenging enough.
Growth outcomes
Teachers and interventionists can see each student’s actual growth achieved and how it compares to the goal that was set for the student.
Caregiver supports
The mCLASS Home Connect website houses literacy resources for parents and caregivers, including at-home lessons organized by skill. Our mCLASS parent/caregiver letters in English and Spanish ensure that families know how to best support their child.

Self-guided tour
Our self-guided tour is a great way to orient yourself to the organization of our mCLASS platform. Click the button below to get started.

Demo access
Follow the instructions below to login to your demo account.
- Click the mCLASS Demo button below.
- Select Log in with Amplify.
- Enter the username: d8demoD
- Enter the password: 1234
- Click the Reading tile.
Once you are logged in:
- Find the Class/Group dropdown field and select Grade 1.
- Right above the Class Summary, click Beginning of Year or Middle of Year and explore the data.
- Scroll down to the class list. Each column within the class list is sortable by clicking the double arrow in the column header.
- Click on any score to see the measure transcript.
- Click on a student’s name to see historical data and progress monitoring graphs.
After exploring the Benchmark tab in the purple bar:
- Click on the Instruction tab.
- If you don’t see groups, click Updated recommendations.
- Explore freely! The Groups, Students, and All Activities tabs have rich information.
- Click the Progress tab.
- Click on Home Connect to see a sample of our caregiver letters.
What is mCLASS?
mCLASS is a best-in-class assessment platform that houses a suite of proven, gold-standard assessment measures and tools that can be flexibly combined to meet the unique literacy needs of both teachers and students across grades K–6, including:
- Universal screening
- Diagnostic assessment
- Dyslexia screening
- Progress monitoring
- Dual language reporting
- Quick 1-minute assessment measures
- Real-time results, instant analysis, automatic student grouping
- Targeted teacher-led instruction with ready-to-use mini-lessons
What is the DIBELS 8th Edition assessment?
Developed by the University of Oregon, the DIBELS 8th Edition is the latest version of the DIBELS® (Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills) assessment.
With this latest version, the University of Oregon Center on Teaching and Learning (UO CTL) made significant efforts to ensure measures would meet state-level screening requirements for universal screening, diagnostic assessment, and dyslexia screening. To support this, measures were updated based on the latest research to meet increased standards of reliability and validity. In addition, adaptive procedures and discontinue rules focus assessment on priority skills and prevent over-testing.
Summary of changes:
- Consistent measures within grades will provide improved growth measurement.
- All subtests have been revised to be grade-specific and to increase in difficulty, covering a full progression of skills and minimizing floor and ceiling effects. This provides the opportunity for students to demonstrate what they know and further pinpoint what they don’t know.
- Phoneme Segmentation Fluency replaces First Sound Fluency. The expanded coverage minimizes floor effect and provides information about difficulty in PA skills without the additional FSF measure.
- A new subtest, Word Reading Fluency, helps identify students with poor sight word reading skills that other subtests miss.
- For all measures, the basic scoring procedures remain the same. For NWF, credit is given for recording words as whole words even if the student misses in the first attempt.
- Oral Reading Fluency is now only one passage, instead of three. Retell has been removed. Thus, ORF assessment will take a third of the time.
Assessment measures by grade
| 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) | ||||
| Amplify measures at each grade level | ||||
| Oral language | ||||
| Vocabulary | ||||
Assessment measures sample videos
DIBELS 8th Edition measure: Phonemic Segmentation Fluency (PSF)
DIBELS 8th Edition measure: Nonsense Word Fluency (NWF)
DIBELS 8th Edition measure: Letter Naming Fluency (LNF)
DIBELS 8th Edition measure: Word Reading Fluency (WRF)
DIBELS 8th Edition measure: Oral Reading Fluency (ORF)
How is mCLASS with DIBELS 8th Edition different?
mCLASS with DIBELS 8th Edition combines the power of the mCLASS assessment platform and the effectiveness of the DIBELS 8th Edition assessment measures. As a result – educators across the state are empowered with the latest and greatest assessment tool.
More than a test, mCLASS with DIBELS 8th Edition is an integrated system that closes the knowing-doing gap by helping teachers take immediate instructional action that’s right for each and every student.
Assessment systems must enable and compel educators to answer not just the “What” questions, but also the “So What” and “Now What” questions. These are the questions that are essential in transforming classroom instruction, and the questions that mCLASS with DIBELS 8th Edition helps teachers answer with confidence.
How is mCLASS with DIBELS 8th Edition different?
- It gives teachers access to the latest digital version of the DIBELS assessment. Amplify is the only licensed provider of the digital DIBELS 8th Edition assessment. As such, our solution is the only one to enhance the DIBELS 8th Edition assessment with the power, reliability, and quickness of the mCLASS system.
- It makes it faster and easier to understand where every student is in their early literacy journey. By combining 1:1 observational diagnostic assessments, dyslexia screening, progress monitoring, instant scoring, rigorous reporting, automatic student grouping, and targeted instruction all in one place, it reduces the instructional delays associated with manual scoring, manual data analysis, and manual lesson planning.
- It brings more equity to the classroom. When used in conjunction with mCLASS Lectura, teachers have access to dual language reports that highlight a student’s strengths and weaknesses in both English and Spanish.
- It makes every instructional minute count. In addition to one-minute measures that quickly gauge student progress toward reading proficiency, it leverages a teacher’s most powerful instructional tool — their own 1:1 observations.
- It drives growth more efficiently. Rather than relying on broad composite scores alone, granular data and in-depth insights for every student help teachers pinpoint exact skill gaps and areas of unfinished learning, making whole-group, small-group, and 1:1 instruction more targeted and effective.
- It saves teachers time. Instant reports, automatic student groups, and ready-to-teach lessons mean teachers spend less time cobbling together materials and more time working directly with students and responding to their needs.
How does mCLASS with DIBELS 8th Edition support screening for dyslexia risk?
DIBELS 8th Edition measures have been updated based on the latest research. They now offer stronger measures of processing speed, phonological awareness, and alphabetic principles for dyslexia screening purposes.
To support this, a new subtest in Word Reading Fluency was introduced and revisions were made to Letter Naming Fluency, Phonemic Segmentation Fluency, and Nonsense Fluency subtests to improve their ability to screen for deficits commonly associated with dyslexia risk, such as phonological awareness, rapid naming ability, and alphabetic principle. These measures provide early warning signs for neurological processing difficulties that contribute to risk for dyslexia (Wolf & Bowers, 1999; Denckla & Rudel, 1974).
Moreover, measures in Oral Language and Vocabulary are included to provide additional information to help evaluate additional risk areas associated with dyslexia risk.
How does mCLASS with DIBELS 8th Edition turn data into instant action?
mCLASS with DIBELS 8th Edition 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.

Diagnostic assessment
mCLASS with DIBELS 8th Edition analyzes individual student response data through a innovative scoring algorithm that leverages an item-level evaluation of individual student responses in order to provide deeper insights into specific student weaknesses and areas of improvement.
Ready-to-teach instruction
Immediately following the analysis of individual student responses, mCLASS with DIBELS 8th Edition provides an in-depth diagnostic report complete with suggested next steps, also known as “mCLASS Instruction.”
mCLASS Instruction evaluates each student’s responses on each individual subtest and instantly:
- Provides a list of specific needs by student, such as struggling with medial vowel sounds or difficulty reading words with consonant blends.
- Groups students automatically based on similar discrete skill needs, not simply composite scores like other assessment tools.
- Recommends a variety of ready-to-teach lessons that specifically target each individual student’s areas of need or common areas of need for small-group instruction.
Classroom skill and benchmark summary
The Classroom Skill Summary report is a dashboard showing benchmark performance on each skill. Teachers can use it to determine which skill areas need instructional focus at a classroom level.
The Classroom Benchmark Summary report is a classroom-wide view of overall reading performance. Teachers can use this report to determine if composite scores improved, declined, or remained the same each semester.
Detailed benchmark performance
Teachers can see each student’s performance during the current school year, on each subtest as well as the overall composite. The benchmark goal displays below the subtest name when applicable. The ability to sort the columns in this report gives teachers more flexibility to analyze data the way they prefer.
Dyslexia screening
Identify students who are at risk for reading difficulties, including dyslexia, based on their results from foundational skills measures and additional measures as needed by local policies.
Progress monitoring summary
See which subtests have been assessed since the most recent benchmark assessment, how students performed on the three most recent progress monitoring assessments for each measure, and which students have not been progress monitored since the benchmark assessment.
Goal setting tool
The Zones of Growth (ZoG) analysis uses a rich set of national data to determine student goals for the next benchmark period. Teachers can use the Goal Setting Tool to view these recommended goals or modify the default goals for individual students as they see fit, if the default goal is too challenging or not challenging enough.
Growth outcomes
Teachers and interventionists can see each student’s actual growth achieved and how it compares to the goal that was set for the student.
Caregiver supports
The mCLASS Home Connect website houses literacy resources for parents and caregivers, including at-home lessons organized by skill. Our mCLASS parent/caregiver letters in English and Spanish ensure that families know how to best support their child.

Explore our self-guided tour
Our self-guided tour is a great way to orient yourself to the organization of our mCLASS platform. Click the button below to get started.

What is mCLASS?
mCLASS is a best-in-class assessment platform that houses a suite of proven, gold-standard assessment measures and tools that can be flexibly combined to meet the unique literacy needs of both teachers and students across grades K–6, including:
- Universal screening
- Diagnostic assessment
- Dyslexia screening
- Progress monitoring
- Dual language reporting
- Targeted teacher-led instruction
What is the DIBELS 8th Edition assessment?
Developed by the University of Oregon, the DIBELS 8th Edition is the latest version of the DIBELS® (Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills) assessment.
With this latest version, the University of Oregon Center on Teaching and Learning (UO CTL) made significant efforts to ensure measures would meet state-level screening requirements for universal screening, diagnostic assessment, and dyslexia screening. To support this, measures were updated based on the latest research to meet increased standards of reliability and validity. In addition, adaptive procedures and discontinue rules focus on the assessment of priority skills and prevent over-testing.
Summary of changes:
- Consistent measures within grades will provide improved growth measurement.
- All subtests have been revised to be grade-specific and to increase in difficulty, covering a full progression of skills and minimizing floor and ceiling effects. This provides the opportunity for students to demonstrate what they know and further pinpoint what they don’t know.
- Phoneme Segmentation Fluency replaces First Sound Fluency. The expanded coverage minimizes floor effect and provides information about difficulty in Phonemic Awareness skills without the additional First Sound Fluency measure.
- A new subtest, Word Reading Fluency, helps identify students with poor sight word reading skills that other subtests miss.
- For all measures, the basic scoring procedures remain the same. For Nonsense Word Fluency, credit is given for recording words as whole words even if the student misses in the first attempt.
- Oral Reading Fluency is now only one passage, instead of three. Retell has been removed. Thus, Oral Reading Fluency assessment will take a third of the time.
Assessment measures by grade
| 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) | ||||
| Amplify measures at each grade level | ||||
| Oral language | ||||
| Vocabulary | ||||
Assessment measures sample videos
DIBELS 8th Edition measure: Phonemic Segmentation Fluency (PSF)
DIBELS 8th Edition measure: Nonsense Word Fluency (NWF)
DIBELS 8th Edition measure: Letter Naming Fluency (LNF)
DIBELS 8th Edition measure: Word Reading Fluency (WRF)
DIBELS 8th Edition measure: Oral Reading Fluency (ORF)
How is mCLASS with DIBELS 8th Edition different?
mCLASS with DIBELS 8th Edition combines the power of the mCLASS assessment platform and the effectiveness of the DIBELS 8th Edition assessment measures. As a result – educators across the state are empowered with the latest and greatest assessment tool.
More than a test, mCLASS with DIBELS 8th Edition is an integrated system that closes the knowing-doing gap by helping teachers take immediate instructional action that’s right for each and every student.
Assessment systems must enable and compel educators to answer not just the “What” questions, but also the “So What” and “Now What” questions. These are the questions that are essential in transforming classroom instruction, and the questions that mCLASS with DIBELS 8th Edition helps teachers answer with confidence.
How is mCLASS with DIBELS 8th Edition different?
- It gives teachers access to the latest digital version of the DIBELS assessment. Amplify is the only licensed provider of the digital DIBELS 8th Edition assessment. As such, our solution is the only one to enhance the DIBELS 8th Edition assessment with the power, reliability, and quickness of the mCLASS system.
- It makes it faster and easier to understand where every student is in their early literacy journey. By combining 1:1 observational diagnostic assessments, dyslexia screening, progress monitoring, instant scoring, rigorous reporting, automatic student grouping, and targeted instruction all in one place, it reduces the instructional delays associated with manual scoring, manual data analysis, and manual lesson planning.
- It brings more equity to the classroom. When used in conjunction with mCLASS Lectura, teachers have access to dual language reports that highlight a student’s strengths and weaknesses in both English and Spanish.
- It makes every instructional minute count. In addition to one-minute measures that quickly gauge student progress toward reading proficiency, it leverages a teacher’s most powerful instructional tool — their own 1:1 observations.
- It drives growth more efficiently. Rather than relying on broad composite scores alone, granular data and in-depth insights for every student help teachers pinpoint exact skill gaps and areas of unfinished learning, making whole-group, small-group, and 1:1 instruction more targeted and effective.
- It saves teachers time. Instant reports, automatic student groups, and ready-to-teach lessons mean teachers spend less time cobbling together materials and more time working directly with students and responding to their needs.
How does mCLASS with DIBELS 8th Edition support screening for dyslexia risk?
DIBELS 8th Edition measures have been updated based on the latest research. They now offer stronger measures of processing speed, phonological awareness, and alphabetic principles for dyslexia screening purposes.
To support this, a new subtest in Word Reading Fluency was introduced and revisions were made to Letter Naming Fluency, Phonemic Segmentation Fluency, and Nonsense Fluency subtests to improve their ability to screen for deficits commonly associated with dyslexia risk, such as phonological awareness, rapid naming ability, and alphabetic principle. These measures provide early warning signs for neurological processing difficulties that contribute to risk for dyslexia (Wolf & Bowers, 1999; Denckla & Rudel, 1974).
Moreover, measures in Oral Language and Vocabulary are included to provide additional information to help evaluate additional risk areas associated with dyslexia risk.
How does mCLASS with DIBELS 8th Edition turn data into instant action?
mCLASS with DIBELS 8th Edition 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.

Diagnostic assessment
mCLASS with DIBELS 8th Edition analyzes individual student response data through a scoring algorithm which aligns to the Colorado Department of Education’s stated purpose of a diagnostic assessment.
Our innovative approach to diagnostic assessment leverages an item-level evaluation of individual student responses in order to provide deeper insights into specific student weaknesses and areas of improvement. mCLASS with DIBELS 8th Edition analyzes individual student response data through a scoring algorithm which aligns to the Colorado Department of Education’s stated purpose of a diagnostic: “… to pinpoint a student’s specific area(s) of weakness and provide in-depth information about students’ skills and instructional needs.”
For a full list of diagnostic observations, click the button below to download the Digital Assessment Materials navigation guide.
Ready-to-teach instruction
Immediately following the analysis of individual student responses, mCLASS with DIBELS 8th Edition provides an in-depth diagnostic report complete with suggested next steps, also known as “mCLASS Instruction.”
mCLASS Instruction evaluates each student’s responses on each individual subtest and instantly:
- Provides a list of specific needs by student, such as struggling with medial vowel sounds or difficulty reading words with consonant blends.
- Groups students automatically based on similar discrete skill needs, not simply composite scores like other assessment tools.
- Recommends a variety of ready-to-teach lessons that specifically target each individual student’s areas of need or common areas of need for small-group instruction.
Classroom skill and benchmark summary
The Classroom Skill Summary report is a dashboard showing benchmark performance on each skill. Teachers can use it to determine which skill areas need instructional focus at a classroom level.
The Classroom Benchmark Summary report is a classroom-wide view of overall reading performance. Teachers can use this report to determine if composite scores improved, declined, or remained the same each semester.
Detailed benchmark performance
Teachers can see each student’s performance during the current school year, on each subtest as well as the overall composite. The benchmark goal displays below the subtest name when applicable. The ability to sort the columns in this report gives teachers more flexibility to analyze data the way they prefer.
Dyslexia screening
Identify students who are at risk for reading difficulties, including dyslexia, based on their results from foundational skills measures and additional measures as needed by local policies.
Progress monitoring summary
See which subtests have been assessed since the most recent benchmark assessment, how students performed on the three most recent progress monitoring assessments for each measure, and which students have not been progress monitored since the benchmark assessment.
Goal setting tool
The Zones of Growth (ZoG) analysis uses a rich set of national data to determine student goals for the next benchmark period. Teachers can use the Goal Setting Tool to view these recommended goals or modify the default goals for individual students as they see fit, if the default goal is too challenging or not challenging enough.
Growth outcomes
Teachers and interventionists can see each student’s actual growth achieved and how it compares to the goal that was set for the student.
Colorado READ Plans
Amplify recommends that a student who is categorized by the DIBELS 8th Edition composite score as “At High Risk” (denoted in all reports as “red”) be considered as potentially having a “Significant Reading Deficiency,” then further diagnosed using mCLASS’ Instruction diagnostics.
When devising a READ Plan, teachers and instructional staff should first consider students at high risk on DIBELS 8th Edition as potentially having a “Significant Reading Deficiency,” and eligible for a READ Plan. Students are then further diagnosed using mCLASS’ Instruction diagnostics. When devising a READ Plan, teachers can rely on the relevant mCLASS Instruction and Reports to comply with the READ Act.
Caregiver supports
The mCLASS Home Connect website houses literacy resources for parents and caregivers, including at-home lessons organized by skill. Our mCLASS parent/caregiver letters in English and Spanish ensure that families know how to best support their child.

Explore our self-guided tour
Our self-guided tour is a great way to orient yourself to the organization of our mCLASS platform. Click the button below to get started.

Contact us
Looking to speak directly with your Colorado representative? Get in touch with a team member by emailing HelloColorado@amplify.com or by calling us directly.
Enrollment over 2,500 students

Monty Lammers
Senior Account Executive
(719) 964-4501
The answer is a big YES!
You’ve probably taken a look through your Teacher Guide and thought: Will my students even be able to understand these higher-level CKLA topics (e.g., Early World Civilizations in Grade 1)? Will my students even be interested in this?
The answer is a big YES!
Students can listen on a higher language level than they can read, so listening provides a way to improve student’s language skills <link open in new tab>, making complex ideas more accessible and exposing students to vocabulary and language patterns that are not part of their everyday speech.
Consider this new CKLA case study conducted in Hamilton Local School District, just outside of Columbus. You can observe these changes in their literacy growth since implementing CKLA, especially in students not just passing the state test, but placing at an Advanced level.
Watch this video with a few tips and a segment from the educator panel.
Watch the full panel on CKLA
You can also watch the full Amplify CKLA educators panel.
The topics in CKLA are powerful and help students build background knowledge on a variety of different subjects. Your students will love these topics, and you shouldn’t be afraid to make them your own. As Natalie Wexler states in The Knowledge Gap, “Kids love stories,” especially when referencing texts about science and social studies during core ELA instruction.
“These stories are such a fun, magical part of CKLA’s lessons. As a former K–2 CKLA teacher, I loved doing this with my students. It gives students the opportunity to read-to-learn early on to develop background knowledge that will directly impact comprehension.”
—Megan
CKLA’s instructional road map empowers teachers to deliver content-rich stories about science, history, literature, and art in a developmentally appropriate manner that engages the whole classroom. Students are then able to access and think critically about the wide range of texts they will encounter throughout their lives. The CKLA Knowledge Lesson video provides insight into how students are active, engaged participants during the read-aloud.
See some inspiration for making CKLA your own on Twitter with #CKLA, plus a few of my favorites in the Pictures section below!
Amplify Science professional development
Amplify Science blends hands-on investigations, literacy-rich activities, and interactive digital tools to empower students to think, read, write, and argue like real scientists and engineers. We’ve created a wide suite of professional development offerings that will help you meet your unique needs this school year. Find out more below!

Amplify CKLA, ELA, and Science professional development has been vetted by Rivet Education’s team through a rigorous three-step process and is listed in the Professional Learning Partner Guide.

Plan your professional development
We’re excited to partner with you on your Amplify journey. Flexible professional development pathways have been designed to meet your needs.

Recommended Professional Development Plan
Our team has curated a recommended professional learning path from initial launch to continuous support. Use the Professional Development Planning Guide below to discuss the plan that best meets your school or district needs with your Account Executive.
Sessions overview
| Audience | Title | Duration | Modality | Available |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Foundations | ||||
| K–5 instructional leaders | Administrators’ program overview | Half day | Onsite/Remote | 6/2022 |
| Administrators’ program overview for interactive classroom | Half day | Onsite/Remote | 6/2022 | |
| K–5 teachers | Initial training | 1 day onsite or 2 half days remote | Onsite/Remote | Yes* |
| Program overview | Half day | Onsite/Remote | Yes | |
| Initial training for Interactive Classroom | 1 day onsite or 2 half days remote | Onsite/Remote | 6/2022 | |
| Program overview for Interactive Classroom | Half day | Onsite/Remote | Yes | |
| 6–8 instructional leaders | Administrators’ program overview | Half day | Onsite/Remote | Yes |
| 6–8 teachers | Initial training | 1 day onsite or 2 half days remote | Onsite/Remote | 6/2022 |
| Program overview | Half day | Onsite/Remote | Yes | |
| Strengthening | ||||
| K–5 instructional leaders | Strengthening consultation session | 60 min. | Remote | 6/2022 |
| Strengthening consultation package | 3 1-hour sessions | Remote | 6/2022 | |
| K–5 teachers | Guided unit internalization | Half day | Onsite/Remote | Yes |
| Strengthening consultation session | 60 min. | Remote | 6/2022 | |
| Strengthening consultation package | 3 1-hour sessions | Remote | 6/2022 | |
| 6–8 instructional leaders | Strengthening consultation session | 60 min. | Remote | 6/2022 |
| Strengthening consultation package | 3 1-hour sessions | Remote | 6/2022 | |
| 6–8 teachers | Guided unit internalization | Half day | Onsite/Remote | Yes |
| Strengthening consultation session | 60 min. | Remote | 6/2022 | |
| Strengthening consultation package | 3 1-hour sessions | Remote | 6/2022 | |
| Coaching | ||||
| K–5 instructional leaders | Job-Embedded Coaching (JEC) | 1 day | Onsite | Yes |
| K–5 teachers | Job-Embedded Coaching (JEC) | 1 day | Onsite/Remote | Yes |
| 6–8 instructional leaders | Job-Embedded Coaching (JEC) | 1 day | Onsite | Yes |
| 6–8 teachers | Job-Embedded Coaching (JEC) | 1 day | Onsite/Remote | Yes |
Note for all workshops: Any single three-hour offering can be repeated on the same day with different audiences to make one full-day session.
*When delivered remotely, this full-day initial training session (6 hours) is split into two half-day sessions (3 hours each). Part 1 and Part 2 may be scheduled consecutively on the same day or on different days, ideally within ~2 weeks. The same participants should attend both sessions in order to receive all content. This flexible scheduling opportunity for remote sessions will be available starting 6/2022.
Launch sessions
For teachers
Initial training
1 day onsite (6 hours) or 2 half days remote (6 hours)*
Grade band: K–5 / 6–8
Grade level: K, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
In the first half of this session, participants learn the essentials necessary to implement Amplify Science with success. They learn to navigate the digital Amplify Science platform and become familiar with planning resources and strategies. Through a model lesson and guided reflection, participants build an understanding of the instructional approach to teaching and learning. In the second half of this session, participants dig deeper into unit resources to start planning for instruction for their first grade-level unit.
When delivered as a grade band session, Part 1 will feature an exemplar from the following units:
- K–5 workshops feature an exemplar from the grade 4 unit Energy Conversions.
- 6–8 workshops feature an exemplar from the Metabolism Core unit.
When delivered as a grade level session, Part 1 features the following units:
- K: Needs of Plants and Animals
- 1: Animal and Plant Defenses
- 2: Plant and Animal Relationships
- 3: Balancing Forces
- 4: Energy Conversions
- 5: Patterns of Earth and Sky
6–8 workshops feature one of the following units:
- Metabolism
- Ocean, Atmosphere, and Climate
- Phase Change
Available starting 6/2022.
Audience: Teachers (administrators welcome), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
*When delivered remotely, this full-day initial training session (6 hours) is split into two half-day sessions (3 hours each). Part 1 and Part 2 may be scheduled consecutively on the same day or on different days, ideally within two weeks. The same participants should attend both sessions in order to receive all content. This flexible scheduling opportunity for remote sessions will be available starting 6/2022.
Initial training for Interactive Classroom
1 day onsite (6 hours) or 2 half days remote (6 hours)*
Grade band: K–5
Grade level: K, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
In the first half of this session, participants learn to navigate with Amplify Science Interactive Classroom and prepare to start teaching. The session opens with a model lesson that introduces the functionality of the Interactive Classroom interface and highlights the Amplify Science instructional approach. Next, participants experience a guided navigation walkthrough that prepares them to use the full suite of Interactive Classroom features with their students. The session closes with time to reflect on implementation and a walkthrough of additional resources available to support further professional learning. In the second half of this session, participants dig deeper into unit resources to start planning for instruction for their first grade-level unit.
When delivered as a grade band session, Part 1 will feature an exemplar from the grade 4 unit Energy Conversions.
When delivered as a grade level session, Part 1 features the following units:
- K: Needs of Plants and Animals
- 1: Animal and Plant Defenses
- 2: Plant and Animal Relationships
- 3: Balancing Forces
- 4: Energy Conversions
- 5: Patterns of Earth and Sky
Audience: Teachers (administrators welcome), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
*When delivered remotely, this full-day initial training session (6 hours) is split into two half-day sessions (3 hours each). Part 1 and Part 2 may be scheduled consecutively on the same day or on different days, ideally within two weeks. The same participants should attend both sessions in order to receive all content. This flexible scheduling opportunity for remote sessions will be available starting 6/2022.
Program overview
Half day (3 hours)
Grade band: K–5 / 6–8
Grade level: 6, 7, 8
In this session, participants learn the essentials necessary to implement Amplify Science with success. They learn to navigate the digital Amplify Science platform and become familiar with planning resources and strategies. Through a model lesson and guided reflection, participants build an understanding of the instructional approach to teaching and learning.
When delivered as a grade band session, an exemplar will be featured from the following units:
- K–5 workshops feature an exemplar from the grade 4 unit Energy Conversions.
- 6–8 workshops feature an exemplar from Metabolism.
When delivered as a grade level session, the following units will be featured:
- K: Needs of Plants and Animals
- 1: Animal and Plant Defenses
- 2: Plant and Animal Relationships
- 3: Balancing Forces
- 4: Energy Conversions
- 5: Patterns of Earth and Sky
6–8 workshops feature one of the following units:
- Metabolism
- Ocean, Atmosphere, and Climate
- Phase Change
Audience: Teachers (administrators welcome), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Program overview for Interactive Classroom
Half day (3 hours)
Grand band: K–5
Grade level: K, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
In this session, participants learn to navigate with Amplify Science Interactive Classroom and prepare to start teaching. The session opens with a model lesson that introduces the functionality of the Interactive Classroom interface and highlights the Amplify Science instructional approach. Next, participants experience a guided navigation walkthrough that prepares them to use the full suite of Interactive Classroom features with their students. The session closes with time to reflect on implementation and a walkthrough of additional resources available to support further professional learning.
When delivered as a grade band session, the workshop features an exemplar from the Grade 4 unit Energy Conversions.
When delivered as a grade level session, the workshop features the following units:
- K: Needs of Plants and Animals
- 1: Animal and Plant Defenses
- 2: Plant and Animal Relationships
- 3: Balancing Forces
- 4: Energy Conversions
- 5: Patterns of Earth and Sky
Audience: Teachers (administrators welcome), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
For instructional leaders
Administrators’ program overview
Half day (3 hours)
Grade band: K–5 / 6–8
In this session, instructional leaders become familiar with the principles of phenomenon-based teaching and learning, and experience the instructional approach of Amplify Science units. Leaders consider their essential role supporting teachers and students with the implementation of a new science curriculum.
Available starting 6/2022.
Audience: Administrators, department chairs, coaches, maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Administrators’ program overview for Interactive Classroom
Half day (3 hours)
Grade band: K-5
In this session, instructional leaders become familiar with the functionality of Amplify Science with Interactive Classroom and are introduced to the instructional approach of Amplify Science units. Leaders consider their essential role supporting teachers and students with the implementation of a new science curriculum.
Available starting 6/2022.
Audience: Administrators, department chairs, coaches, maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Strengthening sessions
For teachers
Guided unit internalization
Half day (3 hours)
Grade band: K–5 / 6–8
Grade level: K, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
Prerequisite: Initial training or program overview
In this session, participants leverage a planning protocol to internalize an upcoming unit. They apply their understanding of how students engage in three-dimensional learning throughout the unit to plan for the diverse needs of their classrooms and students.
Audience: Teachers (administrators welcome), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Strengthening consultation session
60-minute session
Grade band: K–5 / 6–8
Grade level: K, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
Prerequisite: Initial training or program overview
This 60-minute session focuses on a specific topic that will deepen teachers understanding of Amplify Science. An Amplify facilitator will align with the school or district leadership team in advance on the topic (chosen from a menu of options) that will best meet teachers unique options.
Topics include supporting diverse learners (for K–8 teachers), Classwork/My Work/Assign/Reporting (for 6–8 teachers), and planning an Amplify Science lesson (for K–8 teachers).
Available starting 6/2022.
Audience: Teachers, maximum 30 participants
Modality: Remote
Strengthening consultation package
3 1-hour sessions
Grade band: K–5 / 6–8
Grade level: K, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
Prerequisite: Initial training or program overview
This package consists of three 60-minute sessions that can be delivered on the same day or on different days. Each session will focus on a specific topic that will deepen teachers understanding of Amplify Science. An Amplify facilitator will align with the school or district’s leadership team in advance on the topic from a menu of options that will best meet teachers unique needs.
Available starting 6/2022.
Audience: Teachers, maximum 30 participants
Modality: Remote
For instructional leaders
Strengthening consultation session
60-minute session
Grade band: K–5 / 6–8
Grade level: K, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
Prerequisite: Administrators’ program overview
These 60 minute sessions will focus on a specific topic that will deepen instructional leaders’ understanding in Amplify Science and equip them in driving towards stronger student outcomes. An Amplify facilitator will align with the school or district’s leadership team in advance on the topic from a menu of options that will best meet instructional leaders’ unique needs.
Topics include data analysis with Admin Reports (for 6-8 leaders), and Amplify Science classroom look-fors (for K-8 leaders).
Available starting 6/2022.
Audience: Administrators, department chairs, coaches, maximum 30 participants
Modality: Remote
Strengthening consultation package
3 1-hour sessions
Grade band: K–5 / 6–8
Prerequisite: Administrators’ program overview
This package consists of three 60-minute sessions that can be delivered on the same day or on different days. Each session will focus on a specific topic that will deepen leaders’ understanding of Amplify Science. An Amplify facilitator will align with the school or district’s leadership team in advance on the topic from a menu of options that will best meet leaders’ unique needs.
Available starting 6/2022.
Audience: Administrators, department chairs, coaches, maximum 30 participants
Modality: Remote
Coaching sessions
For teachers
Job-Embedded Coaching (JEC) services: Teachers
1 day (6 hours)
Grade band: K–5 / 6–8
Grade level: K, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
Prerequisite: Initial training or program overview
Strengthen your implementation of Amplify Science with a coaching onsite visit for your teachers. An Amplify Science Professional Learning Specialist can visit classrooms for observation and debriefs with focused feedback and/or facilitate PLC or grade-level meetings to support teachers with planning decisions. The flexible coaching design allows for a collaborative and personalized approach to support effective program implementation.
Audience: Teachers, maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
For instructional leaders
Job-Embedded Coaching (JEC): Administrators
1 day (6 hours)
Grade band: K–5 / 6–8
Prerequisite: Administrators’ program overview
In our Coaching sessions, instructional leaders engage in facilitated Professional Learning Walks (PLW)—non-evaluative classroom observations of Amplify Science classrooms that focus on building capacity to identify indicators of strong implementation of the program. Classroom look-fors focus on the use of instructional resources (material access/use and the Classroom Wall), instructional delivery (unpacking the unit phenomena and multimodal instruction), and monitoring of instruction (supporting all learners and use of the Assessment System). Leaders collaboratively analyze collected data in order to identify strengths and areas for growth specific to the implementation of Amplify Science for their teaching teams. Leaders leave with an action plan for supporting their teachers based on the analysis and reflection from the PLW.
Audience: Administrators, department chairs, coaches, maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite
Pricing
We offer the following pricing for training sessions and packages:
| Session type | Pricing |
|---|---|
| 2 consecutive full day onsite sessions | $4,800 |
| 1-day onsite session | $3,200 |
| 1-day remote session (2 half days) | $1,500 |
| 1-day remote coaching session | $1,200 |
| Half-day onsite session | $2,500 |
| Half-day remote session | $750 |
| 60-minute remote session | $350 |
| 3 1-hour remote sessions | $1,000 |
| Customized Amplify Science onsite or remote packages | Price will vary |
Please note that the prices are general ranges and may be subject to change.
Contact
Amplify welcomes the opportunity to partner with schools and districts to design professional development plans and answer your questions.
If you would like to order any of our professional development services, please contact your local Amplify sales representative or call (800) 823-1969.
Plan your professional development
We’re excited to partner with you on your Amplify journey. Flexible professional development pathways have been designed to meet your needs.

Recommended Professional Development Plan
Our team has curated a recommended professional learning path from initial launch to continuous support. Use the Professional Development Planning Guide below to discuss the plan that best meets your school or district needs with your Account Executive.
mCLASS with DIBELS 8th Edition sessions overview
| Audience | Title | Duration | Modality |
|---|---|---|---|
| Launch | |||
| New mCLASS with DIBELS 8th Edition customers with limited time for PD | mCLASS with DIBELS 8th Edition program overview | Half day | Onsite/Remote |
| New mCLASS with DIBELS 8th Edition customers | Initial training | 1 day onsite or 2 half days remote | Onsite/Remote |
| Initial training: Train the Trainer | 1 day onsite or 2 half days remote | Onsite/Remote | |
| Initial training | Self-paced | Online course | |
| Strengthen | |||
| mCLASS with DIBELS 8th Edition customers with limited time for PD | Understanding your classroom data | Half day | Onsite/Remote |
| All mCLASS with DIBELS 8th Edition customers | Classroom data analysis and instructional planning | 1 day onsite or 2 half days remote | Onsite/Remote |
| Classroom data analysis and instructional planning: Train the Trainer | 1 day onsite or 2 half days remote | Onsite/Remote | |
| Classroom data analysis and instructional planning | Self-paced | Online course | |
| All mCLASS with DIBELS 8th Edition customers | Understanding your school or district data | Half day | Onsite/Remote |
| Data-driven leadership practices | 1 day onsite or 2 half days remote | Onsite/Remote | |
| Data-driven leadership practices: Train the Trainer | 1 day onsite or 2 half days remote | Onsite/Remote | |
| Data-driven leadership practices | Self-paced | Online course | |
| Strengthening consultation session | 60 min. | Remote | |
| Strengthening consultation session package | 3 60-min. sessions | Remote | |
| Coach | |||
| All mCLASS with DIBELS 8th Edition customers | Coaching session | 1 day | Onsite |
| Coaching session | Half day | Onsite/Remote | |
| Building readers | |||
| All mCLASS with DIBELS 8th Edition customers | Building readers for leaders | 2 half days | Onsite/Remote |
| Building readers for teachers | 3 half days | Onsite/Remote | |
Launch
mCLASS with DIBELS 8th edition program overview
Half day (3 hours)
This PD prepares participants to implement the assessment and collect reliable data using standardized guidelines.
Audience: Teachers (administrators welcome), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Initial training
1 day onsite (6 hours) or 2 half days remote (6 hours)
This PD prepares participants to implement the assessment, collect reliable data using standardized guidelines, and use the targeted lessons available on mCLASS to drive differentiated instruction.
Audience: Teachers (administrators welcome), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Initial training: Train the Trainer
1 day onsite (6 hours) or 2 half days remote (6 hours)
This PD prepares participants to implement the assessment, collect reliable data using standardized guidelines, and use the targeted lessons available on mCLASS to drive differentiated instruction. Participants receive annotated session materials to turnkey the session to colleagues.
Audience: Teachers (administrators welcome), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Initial training
Self-paced
This PD is an individual seat to our self-paced, on-demand online course that contains approximately 6 hours of training. Participants will learn how to implement the assessment, collect reliable data using standardized guidelines, and use the targeted lessons available on mCLASS to drive differentiated instruction. Participants will access and revisit the course anytime for up to one year as a refresher.
Audience: Teachers (administrators welcome)
Modality: Online
Strengthen
Understanding your classroom data
Half day (3 hours)
This PD prepares participants to understand their students’ data by utilizing the reports available on mCLASS. This session should be scheduled after the most recent benchmark window has closed so that participants can work with their own data.
Audience: Teachers (administrators welcome), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Classroom data analysis and instructional planning
1 day onsite (6 hours) or 2 half days remote (6 hours)
This PD prepares participants to deeply understand their students’ data and create actionable instructional plans by utilizing the reports and skills-focused lesson plans available on mCLASS.
Audience: Teachers (administrators welcome), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
*This session should be scheduled after the most recent benchmark window has closed so that participants can work with their own data.
Classroom data analysis and instructional planning: Train the Trainer
1 day onsite (6 hours) or 2 half days remote (6 hours)
This PD prepares participants to deeply understand their students’ data and create actionable instructional plans by utilizing the reports and skills-focused lesson plans available on mCLASS. Participants receive annotated session materials to turnkey the session to colleagues.
Audience: Teachers (administrators welcome), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
*This session should be scheduled after the most recent benchmark window has closed so that participants can work with their own data.
Classroom data analysis and instructional planning
Online course (self-paced)
This PD is an individual seat to our self-paced, on-demand online course that contains approximately 6 hours of training. Participants will learn how to deeply understand their students’ data and create actionable instructional plans by utilizing the reports and skills-focused lesson plans available on mCLASS. Participants will access and revisit the course anytime for up to one year as a refresher.
Audience: Teachers (administrators welcome)
Modality: Online
Understanding your school or district data
Half day (3 hours)
This PD prepares participants to use their data in making schoolwide decisions. This session should be scheduled after the most recent benchmark window has closed so that participants can work with their own data.
Audience: Administrators, maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Data-driven leadership practices
1 day onsite (6 hours) or 2 half days remote (6 hours)
This PD prepares participants to use their data in making school-wide decisions and build a schoolwide culture of data-driven instruction. This session should be scheduled after the most recent benchmark window has closed so that participants can work with their own data.
Audience: Administrators, maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Data-driven leadership practices: Train the Trainer
1 day onsite (6 hours) or 2 half days remote (6 hours)
This PD prepares participants to use their data in making school-wide decisions and build a schoolwide culture of data-driven instruction. This session should be scheduled after the most recent benchmark window has closed so that participants can work with their own data. Participants receive annotated session materials to turnkey the session to colleagues.
Audience: Administrators, maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Data-driven leadership practices
Online course (self-paced)
This PD is an individual seat to our self-paced, on-demand online course that contains approximately 6 hours of training. Participants will learn how to use their data in making school-wide decisions and build a schoolwide culture of data-driven instruction. Participants will access and revisit the course anytime for up to one year as a refresher.
Audience: Administrators
Modality: Online
Strengthening consultation session
(60-min.)
This 60-minute session will focus on a specific topic that will deepen educators’ understanding of mCLASS and equip them with the tools needed to drive stronger student outcomes. An Amplify facilitator will align with the school or district leadership team in advance of the session on the topic (chosen from a menu of options) that will best meet educators’ unique needs.
Topics include:
- Progress Monitoring
- Zones of Growth
- Data Walkthrough for Leaders
Audience: Teachers and/or administrators, maximum 30 participants
Modality: Remote
Strengthening consultation session package
(3 hours)
This package consists of three 60-minute sessions that can be delivered on the same day or on different days. Each session will focus on a specific topic that will deepen educators’ understanding of mCLASS and equip them in driving towards stronger student outcomes. An Amplify facilitator will align with the school or district’s leadership team in advance on the topics that will best meet educators’ unique needs.
Topics include:
- Progress Monitoring
- Zones of Growth
- Data Walkthrough for Leaders
Audience: Teachers and/or administrators, maximum 30 participants
Modality: Remote
Coach
Coaching session
1 day (6 hours)
This PD will deepen educators’ understanding of how to utilize mCLASS in order to accelerate data-driven student outcomes. An Amplify facilitator will visit one or two school sites for one day and work with teachers and/or leaders. Prior to the visit, the Amplify facilitator will align with each school’s leadership team on their needs and customize the visit schedule accordingly.
Audience: Teachers and/or administrators, maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite
Coaching session
Half day (3 hours)
This PD is up to 3 hours of training and will deepen educators’ understanding of how to utilize mCLASS in order to accelerate data-driven student outcomes. An Amplify facilitator will visit one school site for a half-day and work with teachers and/or leaders. Prior to the visit, the Amplify facilitator will align with each school’s leadership team on their needs and customize the visit schedule accordingly.
Audience: Teachers and/or administrators, maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Building readers
Building readers for leaders
2 half days (6 hours)
This training session is split into 2 half-day sessions (3 hours each). The same participants should attend both sessions in order to receive all content, which includes learning the Science of Reading and how to align this theory with schoolwide instruction. Part 2 should be scheduled two to three weeks after Part 1.
Audience: Administrators, maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite
Building readers for teachers
3 half days (9 hours)
This training series is split into three half-day sessions (3 hours each). The same participants should attend all sessions in order to receive all content, which includes learning the Science of Reading and how to align this theory with classroom instruction. Part 2 should be scheduled two to three weeks after Part 1, and Part 3 should be scheduled two to three weeks after Part 2.
Audience: Teachers (administrators welcome), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
mCLASS with DIBELS 8th Edition and TRC sessions overview
| Audience | Title | Duration | Modality |
|---|---|---|---|
| Launch | |||
| New mCLASS with DIBELS 8th Edition and TRC customers | Initial training | 1 day onsite or 2 half days remote | Onsite/Remote |
| Initial training: Train the Trainer | 1 day onsite or 2 half days remote | Onsite/Remote | |
| Initial training | Self-paced | Online course | |
| Strengthen | |||
| All mCLASS with DIBELS 8th Edition and TRC customers | Classroom data analysis and instructional planning | 1 day onsite or 2 half days remote | Onsite/Remote |
| Data-driven leadership practices | 1 day onsite or 2 half days remote | Onsite/Remote | |
| Coach | |||
| All mCLASS with DIBELS 8th Edition and TRC customers | Coaching session | 1 day | Onsite |
| Coaching session | Half day | Onsite/Remote | |
Launch
Initial training
1 day onsite (6 hours) or 2 half days remote (6 hours)
This PD prepares participants to implement the assessment, collect reliable data using standardized guidelines, and use the targeted lessons available on mCLASS to drive differentiated instruction.
Audience: Teachers (administrators welcome), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Initial training: Train the Trainer
1 day onsite (6 hours) or 2 half days remote (6 hours)
This PD prepares participants to implement the assessment, collect reliable data using standardized guidelines, and use the targeted lessons available on mCLASS to drive differentiated instruction. Participants receive annotated session materials to turnkey the session to colleagues.
Audience: Teachers (administrators welcome), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Initial training
Self-paced
This PD is an individual seat to our self-paced, on-demand online course that contains approximately 6 hours of training. Participants will learn how to implement the assessment, and collect reliable data using standardized guidelines and use the targeted lessons available on mCLASS to drive differentiated instruction. Participants will access and revisit the course anytime for up to one year as a refresher.
Audience: Teachers (administrators welcome)
Modality: Online
Strengthen
Classroom data analysis and instructional planning
1 day onsite (6 hours) or 2 half days remote (6 hours)
This PD prepares participants to deeply understand their students’ data and create actionable instructional plans by utilizing the reports and skills-focused lesson plans available on mCLASS.
Audience: Teachers (administrators welcome), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
*This session should be scheduled after the most recent benchmark window has closed so that participants can work with their own data.
Data-driven leadership practices
1 day onsite (6 hours) or 2 half days remote (6 hours)
This PD prepares participants to use their data in making schoolwide decisions and build a schoolwide culture of data-driven instruction. This session should be scheduled after the most recent benchmark window has closed so that participants can work with their own data.
Audience: Administrators, maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Coach
Coaching session
1 day onsite (6 hours)
This PD will deepen educators’ understanding of how to utilize mCLASS in order to accelerate data-driven student outcomes. An Amplify facilitator will visit one or two school sites for one day and work with teachers and/or leaders. Prior to the visit, the Amplify facilitator will align with each school’s leadership team on their needs and customize the visit schedule accordingly.
Audience: Teachers and/or administrators, maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Coaching session
Half day (3 hours)
This PD is up to 3 hours of training and will deepen educators’ understanding of how to utilize mCLASS in order to accelerate data-driven student outcomes. An Amplify facilitator will visit one school site for a half-day and work with teachers and/or leaders. Prior to the visit, the Amplify facilitator will align with each school’s leadership team on their needs and customize the visit schedule accordingly.
Audience: Teachers and/or administrators, maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
mCLASS Lectura sessions overview
| Audience | Title | Duration | Modality |
|---|---|---|---|
| Launch | |||
| New mCLASS Lectura Customers with limited time for PD | mCLASS Lectura program overview | Half day | Onsite/Remote |
| New mCLASS Lectura customers | mCLASS Lectura initial training | 1 day onsite or 2 half days remote | Onsite/Remote |
| mCLASS Lectura initial training: Train the Trainer | 1 day onsite or 2 half days remote | Onsite/Remote | |
| mCLASS Lectura Initial training | Self-paced | Online course | |
| Strengthen | |||
| All mCLASS Lectura customers with limited time for PD | Understanding your classroom data | Half day | Onsite/Remote |
| All mCLASS Lectura customers | Classroom data analysis and instructional planning | 1 day onsite or 2 half days remote | Onsite/Remote |
| Classroom data analysis and instructional planning: Train the Trainer | 1 day onsite or 2 half days remote | Onsite/Remote | |
| Understanding your school or district data | Half day | Onsite/Remote | |
| Data-driven leadership practices | 1 day onsite or 2 half days remote | Onsite/Remote | |
| Data-driven leadership practices: Train the Trainer | 1 day onsite or 2 half days remote | Onsite/Remote | |
| Strengthening consultation session | 60 min. | Remote | |
| Coach | |||
| All mCLASS Lectura customers | Coaching session | 1day | Onsite |
| Coaching session | Half day | Onsite/Remote | |
Launch
mCLASS Lectura program overview
Half day (3 hours)
This PD prepares participants to implement the assessment and collect reliable data using standardized guidelines.
Audience: Teachers (administrators welcome), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
mCLASS Lectura initial training
1 day onsite (6 hours) or 2 half days remote (6 hours)
This PD prepares participants to implement the assessment, collect reliable data using standardized guidelines, and use the targeted lessons available on mCLASS to drive differentiated instruction. While the assessment must be administered in Spanish, English-speaking educators educators who would like to learn about the program but will not be administering the assessment may attend.
Audience: Teachers (administrators welcome), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
mCLASS Lectura initial training: Train the Trainer
1 day onsite (6 hours) or 2 half days remote (6 hours)
This PD prepares participants to implement the assessment and collect reliable data using standardized guidelines. While the assessment must be administered in Spanish, English-only speaking educators who would like to learn about the program but will not be administering the assessment may attend. Participants receive annotated session materials to turnkey the session to colleagues.
Audience: Teachers (administrators welcome), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
mCLASS Lectura initial training
Online course (self-paced)
This PD is an individual seat to our self-paced, on-demand online course that contains approximately 6 hours of training. Participants will learn how to implement the assessment, collect reliable data using standardized guidelines, and use the targeted lessons available on mCLASS to drive differentiated instruction. Participants will access and revisit the course anytime for up to one year as a refresher.
Audience: Teachers (administrators welcome)
Modality: Online
Strengthen
Understanding your classroom data
Half day (3 hours)
This PD prepares participants to understand their students’ data by utilizing the reports available on mCLASS. This session should be scheduled after the most recent benchmark window has closed so that participants can work with their own data.
Audience: Teachers (administrators welcome), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Classroom data analysis and instructional planning
1 day onsite (6 hours) or 2 half days remote (6 hours)
This PD prepares participants to deeply understand their students’ data and create actionable instructional plans by utilizing the reports and skills-focused lesson plans available on mCLASS.
Audience: Teachers (administrators welcome), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
*This session should be scheduled after the most recent benchmark window has closed so that participants can work with their own data.
Classroom data analysis and instructional planning: Train the Trainer
1 day onsite (6 hours) or 2 half days remote (6 hours)
This PD prepares participants to deeply understand their students’ data and create actionable instructional plans by utilizing the reports and skills-focused lesson plans available on mCLASS. Participants receive annotated session materials to turnkey the session to colleagues.
Audience: Teachers (administrators welcome), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
*This session should be scheduled after the most recent benchmark window has closed so that participants can work with their own data.
Understanding your school or district data
Half day (3 hours)
This PD prepares participants to use their data in making schoolwide decisions. This session should be scheduled after the most recent benchmark window has closed so that participants can work with their own data.
Audience: Administrators, maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Data-driven leadership practices
1 day onsite (6 hours) or 2 half days remote (6 hours)
This PD prepares participants to use their data in making school-wide decisions and build a schoolwide culture of data-driven instruction. This session should be scheduled after the most recent benchmark window has closed so that participants can work with their own data.
Audience: Administrators, maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Data-driven leadership practices: Train the Trainer
1 day onsite (6 hours) or 2 half days remote (6 hours)
This PD prepares participants to use their data in making schoolwide decisions and build a schoolwide culture of data-driven instruction. This session should be scheduled after the most recent benchmark window has closed so that participants can work with their own data. Participants receive annotated session materials to turnkey the session to colleagues.
Audience: Administrators, maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Strengthening consultation session package
(3 hours)
This package consists of three 60-minute sessions that can be delivered on the same day or on different days. Each session will focus on a specific topic that will deepen educators’ understanding of mCLASS and equip them with the tools needed to drive stronger student outcomes. An Amplify facilitator will align with the school or district leadership team in advance of the session on the topic (chosen from a menu of options) that will best meet educators’ unique needs. Topics include progress monitoring, goal setting, and a data walkthrough for leaders.
Audience: Teachers (administrators welcome), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Remote
Coach
Coaching session
1 day (6 hours)
This PD will deepen educators’ understanding of how to utilize mCLASS in order to accelerate data-driven student outcomes. An Amplify facilitator will visit 1–2 school sites for one day and work with teachers and/or leaders. Prior to the visit, the Amplify facilitator will align with each school’s leadership team on their needs and customize the visit schedule accordingly.
Audience: Teachers and/or administrators, maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite
Coaching session
Half day (3 hours)
This PD is up to 3 hours of training and will deepen educators’ understanding of how to utilize mCLASS in order to accelerate data-driven student outcomes. An Amplify facilitator will visit 1 school site for a half-day and work with teachers and/or leaders. Prior to the visit, the Amplify facilitator will align with each school’s leadership team on their needs and customize the visit schedule accordingly.
Audience: Teachers and/or administrators, maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
| Launch | Strengthen | Ongoing | |
|---|---|---|---|
| BOY | After BOY or MOY | After BOY or MOY | |
| New customers | Program overview | Understanding your classroom data | Coaching session |
| Initial training | Understanding your school or district data | Building readers for teachers | |
| Strengthening consultation session/package | Building readers for leaders | ||
| Returning customers | Coaching session (refresher content) | Classroom data analysis and instructional planning | Coaching session |
| Data-driven leadership practices | Building readers for teachers | ||
| Strengthening consultation session/package | Building readers for leaders | ||
| *Note: If you are currently delivering instruction in a hybrid or remote model, we recommend that all of the sessions above be delivered remotely. | |||
mCLASS Express sessions overview
| Title | Duration | Modality |
|---|---|---|
| Launch | ||
| Initial training | Half day | Onsite/Remote |
| Initial training | Self-paced | Online course |
Launch
Initial training
Half day (3 hours)
Take the first step in launching mCLASS Express! The half-day initial training will help educators understand how mCLASS Express’ voice-recognition scoring generates immediate instructional recommendations for students reading below grade level. Educators will also learn how to utilize the teacher portal to assign assessments, review and correct scoring, track student growth over time, and leverage the program’s activities to create an action plan for a single classroom or across classes/grades.
Audience: Teachers (administrators welcome), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Initial training
Self-paced (2 hours)
Take the first step in launching mCLASS Express! The two-hour initial training will help educators understand how mCLASS Express’ voice-recognition scoring generates immediate instructional recommendations for students reading below grade level. Educators will also learn how to utilize the teacher portal to assign assessments, review and correct scoring, track student growth over time, and leverage the program’s activities to create an action plan for a single classroom or across classes/grades.
As this is a self-paced, on-demand online course, participants will be able to access the course anytime, move as quickly or slowly as needed through different sections, and revisit the course up to one year as a refresher in the future.
Audience: Teachers (administrators welcome), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Online
mCLASS: IDEL sessions overview
| Title | Duration | Modality |
|---|---|---|
| Launch | ||
| mCLASS IDEL program overview | Half day | Onsite/Remote |
| Initial training | 1 day | Onsite/Remote |
| Initial training: Train the Trainer | 1 day | Onsite/Remote |
| Initial training | Self-paced | Online course |
Launch
mCLASS IDEL program overview
Half day (3 hours)
This PD prepares participants to implement the assessment and collect reliable data using standardized guidelines.
Audience: Teachers (administrators welcome), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Initial training
1 day onsite (6 hours) or 2 half days remote (6 hours)
Prepare to implement your mCLASS:IDEL assessment with fidelity! Learn about the five basic early literacy skills that are crucial for reading development, and understand how they are assessed on the mCLASS:IDEL assessment. Then, practice administering and scoring each assessment measure and receive targeted feedback from a facilitator. Upon completion of this session, participants will be on their way to collecting reliable data to support all students.
Audience: Teachers and/or administrators, maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Initial training: Train the Trainer
1 day onsite (6 hours) or 2 half days remote (6 hours)
Prepare to implement your mCLASS:IDEL assessment with fidelity! Learn about the five basic early literacy skills that are crucial for reading development, and understand how they are assessed on the mCLASS:IDEL assessment. Then, practice administering and scoring each assessment measure and compare your responses to exemplars. As this is a Train the Trainer session, participants will receive annotated session materials in order to turnkey the session to colleagues.
Audience: Teachers and/or administrators, maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Initial training
Online course (self-paced)
This PD is an individual seat to our self-paced, on-demand online course that contains approximately 6 hours of training. Participants will learn how to implement the assessment, collect reliable data using standardized guidelines, and use the targeted lessons available on mCLASS to drive differentiated instruction. Participants will access and revisit the course anytime for up to one year as a refresher.
Audience: Teachers (administrators welcome)
Modality: Online
TRC Atlas Español
Launch
TRC Atlas Español program overview
Half day (3 hours)
This PD prepares participants to implement the assessment and collect reliable data using standardized guidelines.
Audience: Teachers (administrators welcome), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
mCLASS Math sessions overview
| Audience | Title | Duration | Modality |
|---|---|---|---|
| Launch | |||
| New mCLASS Math customers with limited time for PD | mCLASS Math program overview | Half day | Onsite/Remote |
| New mCLASS Math customers | Initial training | 1 day onsite or 2 half days remote | Onsite/Remote |
| Initial training: Train the Trainer | 1 day onsite or 2 half days remote | Onsite/Remote | |
| Strengthen | |||
| All mCLASS Math customers with limited time for PD | Understanding your classroom data | Half day | Onsite/Remote |
| All mCLASS Math customers | Classroom data analysis and instructional planning | 1 day onsite or 2 half days remote | Onsite/Remote |
| Classroom data analysis and instructional planning: Train the Trainer | 1 day onsite or 2 half days remote | Onsite/Remote | |
| Understanding your school or district data | Half day | Onsite/Remote | |
| Data-driven leadership practices | 1 day onsite or 2 half days remote | Onsite/Remote | |
| Data-driven leadership practices: Train the Trainer | 1 day onsite or 2 half days remote | Onsite/Remote | |
Launch
mCLASS Math program overview
Half day (3 hours)
This PD prepares participants to implement the assessment and collect reliable data using standardized guidelines.
Audience: Teachers (administrators welcome), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Initial training
1 day onsite (6 hours) or 2 half days remote (6 hours)
Learn the foundational research for mCLASS Math and how it supports students’ abilities in mathematical reasoning. Understand the various assessment components and develop techniques for interviewing students and documenting their thinking. Interpret assessment results, and brainstorm suggested instructional activities. Upon completion of this session, participants will be on their way to collecting reliable data.
Audience: Teachers (administrators welcome), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Initial training: Train the Trainer
1 day onsite (6 hours) or 2 half days remote (6 hours)
Learn the foundational research for mCLASS Math and how it supports students’ abilities in mathematical reasoning. Understand the various assessment components, and develop techniques for interviewing students and documenting their thinking. Interpret assessment results, and brainstorm suggested instructional activities. Upon completion of this session, participants will be on their way to collecting reliable data. Participants receive annotated session materials to turnkey the session to colleagues.
Audience: Teachers (administrators welcome), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Strengthen
Understanding your classroom data
Half day (3 hours)
This PD prepares participants to understand their students’ data by utilizing the reports available on mCLASS. This session should be scheduled after the most recent benchmark window has closed so that participants can work with their own data.
Audience: Teachers (administrators welcome), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Classroom data analysis and instructional planning
1 day onsite (6 hours) or 2 half days remote (6 hours)
This PD prepares participants to deeply understand their students’ data and create actionable instructional plans by utilizing the reports available on mCLASS.
Audience: Teachers (administrators welcome), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
*This session should be scheduled after the most recent benchmark window has closed so that participants can work with their own data.
Classroom data analysis and instructional planning: Train the Trainer
1 day Onsite (6 hours) or 2 half days Remote (6 hours)
This PD prepares participants to deeply understand their students’ data and create actionable instructional plans by utilizing the reports available on mCLASS. Participants receive annotated session materials to turnkey the session to colleagues.
Audience: Teachers (administrators welcome), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
*This session should be scheduled after the most recent benchmark window has closed so that participants can work with their own data.
Understanding your School or District Data
Half day (3 hours)
This PD prepares participants to use their data in making schoolwide decisions. This session should be scheduled after the most recent benchmark window has closed so that participants can work with their own data.
Audience: Administrators, maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Data-driven leadership practices
1 day onsite (6 hours) or 2 half days remote (6 hours)
This PD prepares participants to use their data in making schoolwide decisions and build a schoolwide culture of data-driven instruction. This session should be scheduled after the most recent benchmark window has closed so that participants can work with their own data.
Audience: Administrators, maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Data-driven leadership practice: Train the Trainer
1 day onsite (6 hours) or 2 half days remote (6 hours)
This PD prepares participants to use their data in making schoolwide decisions and build a schoolwide culture of data-driven instruction. This session should be scheduled after the most recent benchmark window has closed so that participants can work with their own data. Participants receive annotated session materials to turnkey the session to colleagues.
Audience: Administrators, maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Contact
Amplify welcomes the opportunity to partner with schools and districts to design professional development plans and answer your questions.
If you would like to order any of our professional development services, please contact your local Amplify sales representative or call (800) 823-1969.
Amplify Texas K-5 Elementary Literacy and ELAR Program
Plan your professional development
We’re excited to partner with you on your Amplify journey. Flexible professional development pathways have been designed to meet your needs.
Recommended professional development plan
Our team has curated a recommended professional learning path from initial launch to continuous support. Use the Professional Development Planning Guide below to discuss the plan that best meets your school or district needs with your Account Executive.
Sessions overview
Recommended sessions are highlighted below
| Title | Duration | Modality | Available |
|---|---|---|---|
| Launch | |||
| Comprehensive initial training for teachers | 2 days consecutive | Onsite | Yes |
| Initial training for teachers | 1 day | Onsite | Yes |
| Initial training for teachers | 2 half days | Remote | Yes |
| Program overview | Half day | Onsite/Remote | Yes |
| Initial training for instructional leaders | Half day | Onsite/Remote | Yes |
| Strengthen | |||
| Enhancing observations for leaders | Half day | Onsite/Remote | 09/01/22 |
| Enhancing planning and practice | Half day | Onsite/Remote | Yes |
| Analytic reading | Half day | Onsite/Remote | Yes |
| Supporting all learners | Half day | Onsite/Remote | Yes |
| Data-informed instruction | Half day | Onsite/Remote | Yes |
| Strengthen consultation session | 1 hour | Remote | Yes |
| Strengthen consultation package | 3 1-hour sessions | Remote | Yes |
| Coach | |||
| Coaching sessions | 2 days consecutive | Onsite | Yes |
| Coaching sessions | 1 day | Onsite/Remote | Yes |
| Half day | Onsite/Remote | Yes | |
Launch
Comprehensive initial training for teachers
2 days consecutive (6 hours per day, 12 hours total)
Prepare to implement and support Amplify ELA instruction in your schools! Learn how Amplify ELA supports students through rigorous and engaging ELA instruction. Participants will navigate the Amplify ELA platform, learn to give feedback on student work, and explore how to use Amplify ELA’s embedded supports and Reporting app to monitor student progress. Participants will engage in multiple opportunities to practice components of Amplify ELA and leave confident to begin teaching.
Audience: Teachers and coaches, maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Initial training for teachers
1 day (6 hours)
Prepare to implement and support Amplify ELA instruction in your schools! Learn how Amplify ELA supports students through rigorous and engaging ELA instruction. Participants will navigate the Amplify ELA platform, learn to give feedback on student work, and explore how to use Amplify ELA’s embedded supports and Reporting app to monitor student progress. Participants will leave with an action plan to begin teaching Amplify ELA.
Audience: Teachers and coaches, maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite
Initial training for teachers
Two half days (3 hours per day, 6 hours total)
This full-day initial training session (6 hours) is split into two half-day sessions (3 hours each). Part 1 and Part 2 may be scheduled consecutively on the same day or on different days, ideally within ~2 weeks. The same participants should attend both sessions in order to receive all content about key components of Amplify ELA, which includes learning how to navigate, teach, and monitor student progress.
Audience: Teachers and coaches, maximum 30 participants
Modality: Remote
Program essentials
Half day (3 hours)
Learn the program essentials including how to navigate the digital curriculum, print materials components and how to locate assessments, data reports and other features associated with the curriculum.
Audience: Teachers and coaches, maximum 30 participants.
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Initial training for instructional leaders
Half day (3 hours)
This training will provide district- and school-level instructional leaders with an overview of Amplify ELA so that they can support their staff in implementing Amplify. Learn basic navigation and gain an understanding of Amplify ELA’s approach to reading, writing, and language instruction. Participants will then have the opportunity to choose how to best support teachers by either developing a school-wide implementation plan or learning strategies for effective classroom observations.
Audience: Ideal for instructional leaders, principals, and district staff who oversee the implementation of the new curriculum, maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Strengthen
Enhancing observations for leaders
Half day (3 hours)
Elevate your program knowledge to support colleagues with effective ELA implementation! Practice analyzing ELA lessons and identify key instructional elements and next steps. Participants will be prepared to analyze data and enhance classroom observations.
Prerequisite training: Initial training for leaders
Audience: Ideal for instructional leaders, principals, and district staff who oversee the implementation of the new curriculum, maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Enhancing planning and practice
Half day (3 hours)
Dig into one unit to unpack standards, assessments, and student engagement. Through backward planning, this session guides teachers to think deeply about learning outcomes and key moments of formative assessments. Teachers will leave this session with a detailed plan of a unit of their choice that includes learning outcomes, key assessment moments, and aligned instructional strategies.
Audience: Ideal for new or experienced Amplify ELA teachers or coaches, maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Analytic reading
Half day (3 hours)
Participants will learn how close reading functions in Amplify ELA and which teacher moves support students as they tackle complex texts. Participants will learn how to facilitate a close reading session to support key reading routines, as well as promote academic discourse and the type of collaboration that drives analysis and deepens understanding.
Audience: Ideal for new or experienced Amplify ELA teachers, maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Supporting all learners
Half day (3 hours)
Participants will learn how to effectively use embedded and differentiated supports and the Classwork app to support all students, including English language learners (ELLs), students with learning disabilities, struggling readers and writers, and advanced students.
Audience: Ideal for new teachers or instructional leaders who want to learn more about included supports in Amplify ELA, maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Data-informed instruction
Half day (3 hours)
Participants will review their own student data using the Reporting and Classwork apps and align embedded supports to specific student needs. The goal of this session is to become proficient in turning Amplify ELA data into differentiated and targeted instruction.
Note: This course can be combined with the supporting all learners session to make a full day of training.
Prerequisite: 4–6 weeks of student data in Amplify’s Reporting app. It is recommended that teachers are in at least Unit B.
Audience: Ideal for teachers or support staff who want to learn how to use student data to inform instruction and provide differentiation, maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Strengthening consultation session
1 hour
This 60-minute session will focus on a specific topic that will deepen educators’ understanding of ELA and equip them with the tools needed to drive stronger student outcomes. An Amplify facilitator will align with the school or district leadership team in advance of the session on the topic (chosen from a menu of options) that will best meet educators’ unique needs. The menu includes sessions on engagement, pacing, and grading/assessment.
Audience: Teachers and coaches, maximum 30 participants
Modality: Remote
Strengthening consultation package
3 1-hour sessions
This package consists of three 60-minute sessions that can be delivered on the same day or on different days. Each session will focus on a specific topic that will deepen educators’ understanding in ELA and equip them with the tools needed to drive stronger student outcomes. An Amplify facilitator will align with the school or district leadership team in advance of the session on the topic (chosen from a menu of options) that will best meet educators’ unique needs. The menu includes sessions on: engagement, pacing and grading/assessment.
Audience: Teachers and coaches, maximum 30 participants
Modality: Remote
Coach
Coaching session
2 days consecutive (6 hours per day, 12 total)
Strengthen your implementation of Amplify ELA with an onsite Coaching visit for your teachers and/or leaders. Participants can choose from a variety of topics that include, but are not limited to: lesson modeling and debrief (conducted by an Amplify ELA coach), grade-level planning, classroom observations, and leadership consultation. The flexible onsite coaching design allows for a collaborative approach to support effective program implementation.
Audience: Teachers, coaches, and/or instructional leaders, maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Coaching session
1 day (6 hours)
Strengthen your implementation of Amplify ELA with an onsite Coaching visit for your teachers and/or leaders. Participants can choose from a variety of topics that include, but are not limited to: lesson modeling and debrief (conducted by an Amplify ELA coach), grade-level planning, classroom observations, and leadership consultation. The flexible onsite coaching design allows for a collaborative approach to support effective program implementation.
Audience: Teachers, coaches, and/or instructional leaders, maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Coaching session
Half day (3 hours)
Strengthen your implementation of Amplify ELA with a Coaching session for your teachers and/or leaders. Participants can choose from a variety of topics that include, but are not limited to: lesson modeling and debrief (conducted by an Amplify ELA coach), grade-level planning, classroom observations, and leadership consultation. The flexible coaching design allows for a collaborative approach to support effective program implementation.
Audience: Teachers, coaches, and/or instructional leaders, maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Pricing
We offer the following pricing for training sessions and packages:
| Session type | Pricing |
|---|---|
| 2-day onsite session | $4,800 |
| 1-day onsite session | $3,200 |
| 1-day remote session (2 half days remote) | $1,500 |
| Half-day onsite session | $2,500 |
| Half-day remote session | $750 |
| 1-hour remote session | $350 |
| 3 1-hour remote sessions | $1,000 |
Please note that the prices are general ranges and may be subject to change.
Contact
Amplify welcomes the opportunity to partner with schools and districts to design professional development plans and answer your questions.
If you would like to order any of our professional development services, please contact your local Amplify sales representative or call (800) 823-1969.
Amplify ELA CA Edition professional development
Amplify ELA is an engaging and rigorous curriculum designed specifically for grades 6–8. With Amplify ELA, students learn to tackle any complex text and make observations, grapple with interesting ideas, and find relevance for themselves.
We’ve created a wide suite of professional development offerings that will help you meet your unique needs this school year. Find out more below!

Amplify CKLA, ELA, and Science professional development has been vetted by Rivet Education’s team through a rigorous three-step process and is listed in the Professional Learning Partner Guide.

Plan your professional development
We’re excited to partner with you on your Amplify journey. Flexible professional development pathways have been designed to meet your needs.

Recommended professional development plan
Our team has curated a recommended professional learning path from initial launch to continuous support. Use the Professional Development Planning Guide below to discuss the plan that best meets your school or district needs with your Account Executive.
Sessions overview
Recomended sessions are highlighted below
| Title | Duration | Modality | Available |
|---|---|---|---|
| Launch | |||
| Comprehensive initial + ELD training for teachers | 2 days consecutive | Onsite | Yes |
| Initial training for teachers | 1 day | Onsite | Yes |
| Initial training for teachers | 2 half days | Remote | Yes |
| Program overview | Half day | Onsite/Remote | Yes |
| Initial training for instructional leaders | Half day | Onsite/Remote | Yes |
| Comprehensive ELD training for teachers | Half day | Remote | Yes |
| Basic ELD training for teachers | 90 min. | Remote | Yes |
| Strengthen | |||
| Enhancing observations for leaders | Half day | Onsite/Remote | 09/01/22 |
| Enhancing planning and practice | Half day | Onsite/Remote | Yes |
| Analytic reading | Half day | Onsite/Remote | Yes |
| Supporting all learners | Half day | Onsite/Remote | Yes |
| Data-informed instruction | Half day | Onsite/Remote | Yes |
| Writing: Improving through feedback | Half day | Onsite/Remote | Yes |
| Strengthening consultation package | 3 1-hour sessions | Remote | Yes |
| Strengthening consultation session | 1 hour | Remote | Yes |
| Coach | |||
| Coaching sessions | 2 days consecutive | Onsite | Yes |
| Coaching sessions | 1 day | Onsite/Remote | Yes |
| Half day | Onsite/Remote | Yes | |
Launch
Comprehensive initial and ELD training
2 consecutive days (12 hours)
Prepare to implement and support Amplify ELA and Amplify ELD instruction in your schools! Learn about the integrated and designated approaches to supporting language learners using our ELD and ELA programs. Participants will learn how to navigate the Amplify platform, practice giving feedback on student work, and explore how to use Amplify ELA’s reporting features and embedded supports to monitor student progress. Multiple opportunities to practice components of Amplify ELA and Amplify ELD are incorporated throughout this training. Participants will leave feeling confident to begin teaching Amplify ELA and Amplify ELD. Recommended for schools or districts that want embedded practice time. This session is designed for schools who have purchased Amplify ELD, Amplify’s English Language Development program.
Audience: Teachers and coaches, maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite
Initial training for teachers
1 day (6 hours)
Prepare to implement and support Amplify ELA instruction in your schools! Learn how Amplify ELA supports students through rigorous and engaging ELA instruction. Participants will navigate the Amplify ELA platform, learn how to give feedback on student work, and explore how to use Amplify ELA’s embedded supports and Reporting app to monitor student progress. Participants will leave with an action plan to begin teaching Amplify ELA.
Audience: Teachers and coaches, maximum 30 participants; Remote, maximum 15 participants
Modality: Onsite
Initial training for teachers
2 half days (3 hours per day, 6 hours total)
This full day initial training session (6 hours) is split into two half-day sessions (3 hours each). Part 1 and Part 2 may be scheduled consecutively on the same day or on different days, ideally within 2 weeks. The same participants should attend both sessions in order to receive all content about key components of Amplify ELA, which includes learning how to navigate, teach, and monitor student progress.
Audience: Teachers and coaches, maximum 30 participants
Modality: Remote
Program essentials
Half day (3 hrs)
Learn the program essentials, including how to navigate the digital curriculum and print materials components and how to locate assessments, data reports, and other features associated with the curriculum.
Audience: Teachers and coaches, maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Initial training for instructional leaders
Half day (3 hours)
This training will provide district-and school-level instructional leaders with an overview of Amplify ELA so that they can support their staff in implementing Amplify. Learn basic navigation and gain an understanding of Amplify ELA’s approach to reading, writing, and language instruction. Participants will then have the opportunity to choose how to best support teachers by either developing a school-wide implementation plan or learning strategies for effective classroom observations.
Audience: Ideal for instructional leaders, principals and district staff who oversee the implementation of the new curriculum, maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Comprehensive ELD training
Half day (3 hours)
This session is designed for schools who have purchased Amplify ELD, Amplify’s English Language Development program. It reviews the integrated and designated approaches to supporting language learners using our ELA and ELD programs. Participants will learn how to navigate the Amplify ELD platform, plan to teach a lesson, and monitor student progress. Multiple opportunities to practice components of Amplify ELD are incorporated throughout this training. Participants will leave feeling confident to begin teaching Amplify ELD.
Audience: This is an add-on for schools who have already been using or attended an ELA Initial training, maximum 30 participants
Modality: Remote
Basic ELD training
90 min.
This session is designed for schools that have purchased Amplify ELD, Amplify’s English Language Development program. It reviews the integrated and designated approaches to supporting language learners using our ELA and ELD programs. Participants will learn how to navigate the Amplify ELD platform, plan to teach a lesson, and monitor student progress. Participants will leave feeling prepared to begin teaching Amplify ELD.
Audience: This is an add-on for schools who have already been using or attended an ELA Initial training, maximum 30 participants
Modality: Remote
Strengthen
Enhancing observations for leaders
Half day (3 hours)
Prerequisite training: Initial training for leaders
Elevate your program knowledge to support colleagues with effective ELA implementation! Practice analyzing ELA lessons and identify key instructional elements and next steps. Participants will be prepared to analyze data and enhance classroom observations.
Audience: Ideal for instructional leaders, principals and district staff who oversee the implementation of the new curriculum, maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Enhancing planning and practice
Half day (3 hours)
Dig into one unit to unpack standards, assessments, and student engagement. Through backward planning, this session guides teachers to think deeply about learning outcomes and key moments of formative assessments. Teachers will leave this session with a detailed plan for a unit of their choice that includes learning outcomes, key assessment moments, and aligned instructional strategies.
Audience: Ideal for new or experienced Amplify ELA teachers or coaches, maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Analytic reading
half day (3 hours)
Participants will learn how close reading functions in Amplify ELA and which teacher moves support students as they tackle complex texts. Participants will learn how to facilitate a close reading session to support key reading routines, as well as promote academic discourse and the type of collaboration that drives analysis and deepens understanding.
Audience: Ideal for new or experienced Amplify ELA teachers, maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Supporting all learners
Half day (3 hours)
Participants will learn how to effectively use embedded and differentiated supports and the Classwork app to support all students, including ELLs, students with learning disabilities, struggling readers and writers, and advanced students.
Audience: Ideal for new teachers or instructional leaders who want to learn more about included supports in Amplify ELA, maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Data-informed instruction
Half day (3 hours)
Participants will review their own student data using the Reporting and Classwork apps and align embedded supports to specific student needs. The goal of this session is to become proficient in turning Amplify ELA data into differentiated and targeted instruction.
Note: This course can be combined with the supporting all learners session to make a full day of training.
Prerequisite: 4–6 weeks of student data in Amplify’s Reporting app. It is recommended that teachers are in at least Unit B.
Audience: Ideal for teachers or support staff who want to learn how to use student data to inform instruction and provide differentiation, maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Writing: Improving through feedback
Half day (3 hours)
Participants will learn how writing functions in Amplify ELA and which teacher moves support students as they build writing skills. Participants will learn how feedback supports student growth and will practice giving targeted feedback based on rubrics and assessment data.
Audience: This course tasks teachers to look at their students’ writing, so it is recommended for delivery after 4–6 weeks of curriculum use, maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Strengthening consultation package
3 1-hour sessions
This package consists of three 60-minute sessions that can be delivered on the same day or on different days. Each session will focus on a specific topic that will deepen educators’ understanding in ELA and equip them with the tools needed to drive stronger student outcomes. An Amplify facilitator will align with the school or district leadership team in advance of the session on the topic (chosen from a menu of options) that will best meet educators’ unique needs. The menu includes sessions on: engagement, pacing and grading/assessment.
Audience: Teachers and coaches, maximum 30 participants
Modality: Remote
Strengthening consultation session
1 hour
This 60-minute session will focus on a specific topic that will deepen educators’ understanding in ELA and equip them with the tools needed to drive stronger student outcomes. An Amplify facilitator will align with the school or district leadership team in advance of the session on the topic (chosen from a menu of options) that will best meet educators’ unique needs. The menu includes sessions on engagement, pacing, and grading/assessment.
Audience: Teachers and coaches, maximum 30 participants
Modality: Remote
Coach
Coaching session
2 days consecutive (6 hours per day, 12 total)
Strengthen your implementation of Amplify ELA with an Onsite coaching visit for your teachers and/or leaders. Participants can choose from a variety of topics that include, but are not limited to: lesson modeling and debrief (conducted by an Amplify ELA coach), grade-level planning, classroom observations, and leadership consultation. The flexible onsite coaching design allows for a collaborative approach to support effective program implementation.
Audience: Teachers, coaches, and/or instructional leaders, maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite
Coaching session
1 day (6 hours)
Strengthen your implementation of Amplify ELA with an Onsite coaching visit for your teachers and/or leaders. Participants can choose from a variety of topics that include, but are not limited to: lesson modeling and debrief (conducted by an Amplify ELA coach), grade-level planning, classroom observations, and leadership consultation. The flexible onsite coaching design allows for a collaborative approach to support effective program implementation.
Audience: Teachers, coaches, and/or instructional leaders
Modality: Onsite/Remote, maximum 30 participants
Coaching session
Half day (3 hours)
Strengthen your implementation of Amplify ELA with a Coaching session for your teachers and/or leaders. Participants can choose from a variety of topics that include, but are not limited to: lesson modeling and debrief (conducted by an Amplify ELA coach), grade-level planning, classroom observations, and leadership consultation. The flexible coaching design allows for a collaborative approach to support effective program implementation.
Audience: Teachers, coaches, and/or instructional leaders, maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Pricing
We offer the following pricing for training sessions and packages:
| Session type | Pricing |
|---|---|
| 2 consecutive days onsite session | $4,800 |
| 1-day onsite session | $3,200 |
| 1-day remote session (2 half days remote) | $1,500 |
| Half-day onsite session | $2,500 |
| Half-day remote session | $750 |
| 90-min. remote session | $500 |
| 1-hour remote session | $350 |
| 3 1-hour remote sessions | $1,000 |
Please note that the prices are general ranges and may be subject to change.
Contact
Amplify welcomes the opportunity to partner with schools and districts to design professional development plans and answer your questions.
If you would like to order any of our professional development services, please contact your local Amplify sales representative or call (800) 823-1969.
Plan your professional development
We’re excited to partner with you on your Amplify journey. Flexible professional development pathways have been designed to meet your needs.

Recommended Professional Development Plan
Our team has curated a recommended professional learning path from initial launch to continuous support. Use the Professional Development Planning Guide below to discuss the plan that best meets your school or district needs with your Account Executive.
Sessions overview
| Title | Duration | Modality |
|---|---|---|
| Elementary school sessions | ||
| Initial training (online course) | Self-paced (approximately 3 hours) | Online course |
| Initial training | 2 hours | Onsite/Remote |
| Initial training, 2 sessions in 1 day | 2 2-hour sessions | Onsite/Remote |
| Initial training, 3 sessions in 1 day | 3 2-hour sessions | Onsite/Remote |
| Initial training (add-on session) | 2 hours, scheduled consecutively with another Amplify training | Onsite |
| Initial training: Train the Trainer | 2½ hours | Onsite/Remote |
| mCLASS® Initial training with Boost Reading Texas overview | This Boost Reading Texas session occurs during the last hour of a 1-day mCLASS initial training. | Onsite/Remote |
| Teacher dashboard reporting and analysis (online course) | Self-paced (approximately 3 hours) | Online course |
| Teacher dashboard reporting and analysis | 2 hours | Onsite/Remote |
| Comprehensive implementation PD package | 2 2-hour sessions, scheduled separately | Remote |
| Administrator reporting | 2 hours | Onsite/Remote |
| Middle school sessions | ||
| Initial training | 2 hours | Onsite/Remote |
| Initial training, 2 sessions in 1 day | 2 2-hour sessions | Onsite/Remote |
| Initial training, 3 sessions in 1 day | 3 2-hour sessions | Onsite/Remote |
| Initial training: Train the Trainer | 2½ hours | Onsite/Remote |
| Deeper dive | 1 hour | Remote |
| Elementary and middle school sessions | ||
| Initial training package | 2 2-hour sessions | Remote |
Elementary school sessions
Initial training (online course)
Self-paced
Our self-paced, on-demand online course contains approximately three hours of training. Teachers in grades K-5 who are new to Boost Reading Texas will learn how to implement the program by learning about the structure of the program, the student experience, data reporting, and implementation setup.
As this is a self-paced, on-demand online course, participants will be able to access the course anytime, move as quickly or slowly as needed through different sections, and revisit the course up to one year as a refresher in the future.
Audience: Teachers (administrators welcome)
Modality: Online course
Initial training
2 hours
Teachers in grades K-5 who are new to Boost Reading Texas will prepare to implement the program in their classrooms by learning about the student experience, data reporting, and implementation setup.
Audience: Teachers (administrators welcome), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Initial training
2 sessions in one day
Teachers in grades K-5 who are new to Boost Reading Texas will prepare to implement the program in their classrooms by learning about the student experience, data reporting, and implementation setup. Two training sessions will be scheduled consecutively in one day to accommodate a larger number of teachers (up to 60 teachers, with 30 participants per session.)
Audience: Teachers (administrators welcome), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Initial training
3 sessions in one day
Teachers in grades K-5 who are new to Boost Reading Texas will prepare to implement the program in their classrooms by learning about the student experience, data reporting, and implementation setup. Three training sessions will be scheduled consecutively in one day to accommodate a larger number of teachers (up to 90 teachers, with 30 participants per session).
Audience: Teachers (administrators welcome), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Initial training (add-on session)
2 hours
Scheduled consecutively with another Amplify training.
Teachers in grades K-5 who are new to Boost Reading Texas will prepare to implement the program in their classrooms by learning about the student experience, data reporting, and implementation setup.
Audience: Teachers (administrators welcome), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite
Initial training: Train the Trainer
2½ hours
Educators in grades K-5 who are new to Boost Reading Texas will prepare to implement the program in their classrooms by learning about the student experience, data reporting, and implementation setup. As this is a Train the Trainer session, participants will have increased time to deepen their knowledge and receive greater hands-on support from an Amplify facilitator. Participants will also receive annotated session materials in order to turnkey the session to colleagues.
Audience: Teachers (administrators welcome), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
mCLASS initial training with Boost Reading overview
6 hours
This training includes both mCLASS® and Boost Reading training. The first five hours are mCLASS Texas initial training, where educators will learn how to administer the mCLASS assessment. The last hour is a Boost Reading Texas overview, where educators will receive an overview of Boost Reading Texas and how it connects with their mCLASS data in grades K-5. This Boost Reading Texas session occurs during a one-day mCLASS Texas initial training.
Audience: Teachers (administrators welcome), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Teacher dashboard reporting and analysis (online course)
Self-paced
Our self-paced, on-demand online course contains approximately three hours of training. After teachers in grades K-5 have used Boost Reading Texas for at least six weeks, they will learn how to analyze data on the Teacher dashboard and use that data to identify small groups and target instruction.
As this is a self-paced, on-demand online course, participants will be able to access the course anytime, move as quickly or slowly as needed through different sections, and revisit the course up to one year as a refresher in the future.
Audience: Teachers (administrators welcome)
Modality: Online course
Teacher dashboard reporting and analysis training
2 hours
Delivered after teachers in grades K-5 have used Boost Reading Texas for at least six weeks, this training will help teachers analyze the data on their teacher dashboard and use that data to identify small groups and target instruction.
Audience: Teachers (administrators welcome), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Comprehensive implementation PD package
2 2-hour sessions
This package is intended for schools and/or districts that want the highest level of support in launching Boost Reading Texas! The first session is an initial training session and prepares teachers in grades K-5 to implement the program in their classrooms by learning about the student experience, data reporting, and implementation setup. The second session is the Boost Reading Teacher dashboard session and is delivered after at least six weeks of usage. This session will support K-5 teachers in analyzing the data on their teacher dashboard and using that data to identify small groups and target instruction.
Audience: Teachers (administrators welcome), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Remote
Administrator reporting
2 hours
This training supports K-5 administrators in accessing and leveraging Boost Reading Texas reports.
Audience: Administrators, maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Middle school sessions
Initial training
2 hours
Teachers in grades 6-8 who are new to Boost Reading Texas will prepare to implement the program in their classrooms by learning about the student experience, data reporting, and implementation setup.
Audience: Teachers (administrators welcome), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Initial training
2 sessions in one day
Teachers in grades 6-8 who are new to Boost Reading Texas will prepare to implement the program in their classrooms by learning about the student experience, data reporting, and implementation setup. Two training sessions will be scheduled consecutively in one day to accommodate a larger number of teachers (up to 60 teachers, with 30 participants per session.)
Audience: Teachers (administrators welcome), maximum 30 participants per session
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Initial training
3 sessions in one day
Teachers in grades 6-8 who are new to Boost Reading Texas will prepare to implement the program in their classrooms by learning about the student experience, data reporting, and implementation setup. Three training sessions will be scheduled consecutively in one day to accommodate a larger number of teachers (up to 90 teachers, with 30 participants per session.)
Audience: Teachers (administrators welcome), maximum 30 participants per session
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Initial training: Train the Trainer
2½ hours
Educators in grades 6-8 who are new to Boost Reading will prepare to implement the program in their classrooms by learning about the student experience, data reporting, and implementation setup.
As this is a Train the Trainer session, participants will have increased time to deepen their knowledge and receive greater hands-on support from an Amplify facilitator. Participants will also receive annotated session materials in order to turnkey the session to colleagues.
Audience: Teachers (administrators welcome), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Initial training
3 sessions in one day
Teachers in grades 6-8 who are new to Boost Reading Texas will prepare to implement the program in their classrooms by learning about the student experience, data reporting, and implementation setup. Three training sessions will be scheduled consecutively in one day to accommodate a larger number of teachers (up to 90 teachers, with 30 participants per session.)
Audience: Teachers (administrators welcome), maximum 30 participants per session
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Deeper dive
1 hour
This training supports educators in grades 6-8 in understanding how Boost Reading Texas was designed to benefit students and how to leverage data to inform instructional next steps.
Audience: Teachers (administrators welcome), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Remote
Elementary and middle school sessions
Initial training package
2 2-hour sessions
This package consists of two 2-hour remote sessions and is intended to support schools or districts launching Boost Reading Texas in grades K–8. One session will be geared toward K–5 teachers, and the other session will be geared toward 6–8 teachers. In each session, teachers who are new to Boost Reading Texas will prepare to implement their respective program (either elementary or middle school) in their classrooms by learning about the student experience, data reporting, and implementation setup.
Audience: Teachers (administrators welcome), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Remote
Pricing
We offer the following pricing for training sessions and packages:
| Session type | Pricing |
|---|---|
| Online course | $49 per individual seat |
| 1-hour remote session | $500 |
| 2-hour remote session | $750 |
| 2 sessions in 1 day, remote | $1,200 |
| 3 sessions in 1 day, remote | $1,500 |
| 2-hour onsite session | $2,200 |
| 2 sessions in 1 day, onsite | $2,800 |
| 3 sessions in 1 day, onsite | $3,200 |
| 2-hour add-on to onsite training | $1,200 |
| 2 ½-hour Train the Trainer session, remote | $950 |
| 2 ½-hour Train the Trainer session, onsite | $2,400 |
| 1-day mCLASS initial training with Boost Reading Texas overview, remote | $1,200 |
| 1-day mCLASS initial training with Boost Reading Texas overview, onsite | $3,200 |
| Comprehensive implementation PD package | $1,500 |
| Elementary and middle school initial training package | $750 |
Please note that the prices are general ranges and may be subject to change.
Contact
Amplify welcomes the opportunity to partner with schools and districts to design professional development plans and answer your questions.
If you would like to order any of our professional development services, please contact your local Amplify sales representative or call (800) 823-1969.
Plan your professional development
We’re excited to partner with you on your Amplify journey. Flexible professional development pathways have been designed to meet your needs.

Recommended professional development plan
Our team has curated a recommended professional learning path from initial launch to continuous support. Use the Professional Development Planning Guide below to discuss the plan that best meets your school or district needs with your Account Executive.
Sessions overview
Launch
Amplify ELAR Texas 6–8 Comprehensive initial training for teachers
2 days consecutive (6 hours per day, 12 hours total)
Prepare to implement and support Amplify ELAR Texas instruction in your schools! Learn how Amplify ELAR Texas supports students through rigorous and engaging instruction. Participants will navigate the Amplify ELAR Texas platform, learn to give feedback on student work, and explore how to use the embedded supports and the Reporting app to monitor student progress. Participants will engage in multiple opportunities to practice components of Amplify ELAR Texas and leave confident to begin teaching.
Audience: Teachers and coaches, maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite
Amplify ELAR Texas 6–8 Initial training for teachers
1 day (6 hours)
Prepare to implement and support Amplify ELAR Texas instruction in your schools! Learn how Amplify ELAR Texas supports students through rigorous and engaging instruction. Participants will navigate the Amplify ELAR Texas platform, learn to give feedback on student work, and explore how to use the embedded supports and the Reporting app to monitor student progress. Participants will leave with an action plan to begin teaching Amplify ELAR Texas.
Audience: Teachers and coaches, maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite
Amplify ELAR Texas 6–8 Initial training for teachers
2 half days (3 hours per day, 6 hours total)
This full day initial training session (6 hours) is split into two half-day sessions (3 hours each). Part 1 and Part 2 may be scheduled consecutively on the same day or on different days, ideally within ~2 weeks. The same participants should attend both sessions in order to receive all content about key components of Amplify ELAR Texas, which includes learning how to navigate, teach, and monitor student progress.
Audience: Teachers and coaches, maximum 30 participants
Modality: Remote
Amplify ELAR Texas 6–8 Initial training for instructional leaders
Half day (3 hours)
This training will provide district and school-level instructional leaders with an overview of Amplify ELAR Texas so that they can support their staff in implementing Amplify. Learn basic navigation and gain an understanding of Amplify’s approach to reading, writing, and language instruction. Participants will then have the opportunity to choose how to best support teachers by either developing a school-wide implementation plan or learning strategies for effective classroom observations.
Audience: Ideal for instructional leaders, principals, and district staff who oversee the implementation of the new curriculum, maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Amplify ELAR Texas 6–8 Getting started package
Participants will review the foundational elements of the program, including the structure of materials, and engage in a structured planning process. This 90 minute consultation session will focus on the upcoming unit participants are preparing to teach. This package includes 90 minutes of remote PD and two 60 minute follow-up remote sessions.
Audience: Teachers, coaches, and/or instructional leaders, maximum 30 participants
Modality: Remote
Strengthen
Amplify ELAR Texas 6–8 Enhancing observations for leaders
Half day (3 hours)
Prerequisite Training: Initial training for leaders
Elevate your program knowledge to support colleagues with effective ELAR implementation! Practice analyzing Amplify ELAR Texas lessons and identify key instructional elements and next steps. Participants will be prepared to analyze data and enhance classroom observations.
Audience: Ideal for instructional leaders, principals, and district staff who oversee the implementation of the new curriculum, maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Amplify ELAR Texas 6–8 Enhancing planning and practice
Half day (3 hours)
Dig into one unit to unpack standards, assessments, and student engagement. Through backward planning, this session guides teachers to think deeply about learning outcomes and key moments of formative assessments. Teachers will leave this session with a detailed plan of a unit of their choice, that includes learning outcomes, key assessment moments, and aligned instructional strategies.
Audience: Ideal for new or experienced Amplify ELAR Texas teachers or coaches, maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Amplify ELAR Texas 6–8 Analytic Reading
Half day (3 hours)
Participants will learn how analytic reading functions in Amplify ELAR Texas and which teacher moves support students as they tackle complex texts. Participants will learn how to facilitate a close reading session to support key reading routines and promote academic discourse and the type of collaboration that drives analysis and deepens understanding.
Audience: Ideal for new or experienced Amplify ELAR Texas teachers, maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Amplify ELAR Texas 6–8 Supporting all learners
Half day (3 hours)
Participants will learn how to effectively use embedded and differentiated supports and the Classwork app to support all students, including English language learners (ELL), students with learning disabilities, struggling readers, and writers, and advanced students.
Audience: Ideal for new teachers or instructional leaders who want to learn more about included supports in Amplify ELAR Texas, maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Amplify ELAR Texas 6–8 Data-informed instruction
Half day (3 hours)
Prerequisite: 4–6 weeks of student data in Amplify’s Reporting app. It is recommended that teachers are in at least Unit B.
Participants will review their own student data using the Reporting and Classwork apps and align embedded supports to specific student needs. The goal of this session is to become proficient in turning Amplify ELAR Texas data into differentiated and targeted instruction. Note: This course can be combined with the Supporting All Learners session to make a full day of training.
Audience: Ideal for teachers or support staff who want to learn how to use student data to inform instruction and provide differentiation, maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Amplify ELAR Texas 6–8 Strengthening consultation session
1 hour
This 60-minute session will focus on a specific topic that will deepen educators” understanding in Amplify ELAR Texas and equip them with the tools needed to drive stronger student outcomes. An Amplify facilitator will align with the school or district leadership team in advance of the session on the topic (chosen from a menu of options) that will best meet educators unique needs. The menu includes sessions on engagement, pacing, and grading/assessment.
Audience: Teachers and coaches, maximum 30 participants
Modality: Remote
Amplify ELAR Texas 6–8 Strengthening consultation package
3 1-hour sessions
This package consists of three 60-minute sessions that can be delivered on the same day or on different days. Each session will focus on a specific topic that will deepen educators’ understanding in ELA and equip them with the tools needed to drive stronger student outcomes. An Amplify facilitator will align with the school or district leadership team in advance of the session on the topic (chosen from a menu of options) that will best meet educators’ unique needs. The menu includes sessions on engagement, pacing, and grading/assessment.
Audience: Teachers and coaches, maximum 30 participants
Modality: Remote
Coach
Amplify ELAR Texas 6–8 Coaching session
2 days consecutive (6 hours per day, 12 total)
Strengthen your implementation of Amplify ELAR Texas with an onsite Coaching visit for your teachers and/or leaders. Participants can choose from a variety of topics that include, but are not limited to: lesson modeling and debrief (conducted by an Amplify coach), grade-level planning, classroom observations, and leadership consultation. The flexible onsite coaching design allows for a collaborative approach to support effective program implementation.
Audience: Teachers, coaches, and/or instructional leaders, maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite
Amplify ELAR Texas 6–8 Coaching session
1 day (6 hours)
Strengthen your implementation of Amplify ELAR Texas with an onsite Coaching visit for your teachers and/or leaders. Participants can choose from a variety of topics that include, but are not limited to: lesson modeling and debrief (conducted by an Amplify coach), grade-level planning, classroom observations, and leadership consultation. The flexible onsite coaching design allows for a collaborative approach to support effective program implementation.
Audience: Teachers, coaches, and/or instructional leaders, maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Amplify ELAR Texas 6–8 Coaching session
Half day (3 hours)
Strengthen your implementation of Amplify ELAR Texas with a Coaching session for your teachers and/or leaders. Participants can choose from a variety of topics that include, but are not limited to lesson modeling and debrief (conducted by an Amplify coach), grade-level planning, classroom observations, and leadership consultation. The flexible coaching design allows for a collaborative approach to supporting effective program implementation.
Audience: Teachers, coaches, and/or instructional leaders, maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Pricing
We offer the following pricing for training sessions and packages:
| Session type | Pricing |
|---|---|
| 2-day onsite session | $4,800 |
| 1-day onsite session | $3,200 |
| 1-day remote session (2 half days remote) | $1,500 |
| Half-day onsite session | $2,500 |
| Half-day remote session | $750 |
| 1-hour remote session | $350 |
| Remote getting started package | $1,000 |
| 3 1-hour remote sessions | $1,000 |
Please note that the prices are general ranges and may be subject to change.
Contact
Amplify welcomes the opportunity to partner with schools and districts to design professional development plans and answer your questions.
If you would like to order any of our professional development services, please contact your local Amplify sales representative or call (800) 823-1969.
Amplify Texas, K–5
Built on a systematic scope and sequence, Amplify Texas, K–5 programs offer the explicit instruction needed in today’s classrooms. Amplify Texas includes both English and Spanish curriculums. The print version of the English curriculum is titled Amplify Texas ELAR (English Language Arts and Reading). The digital version of the English curriculum is titled Amplify Texas Elementary Literacy Program. The print version of the Spanish curriculum is titled Amplify Texas SLAR (Spanish Language Arts and Reading). The digital version of the Spanish curriculum is titled Amplify Texas Lectoescritura.
We’ve created a wide suite of professional development offerings that will help you meet your unique needs this school year. Find out more below!

Amplify CKLA, ELA, and Science professional development has been vetted by Rivet Education’s team through a rigorous three-step process and is listed in the Professional Learning Partner Guide.

Plan your professional development
We’re excited to partner with you on your Amplify journey. Flexible professional development pathways have been designed to meet your needs.

Recommended Professional Development Plan
Our team has curated a recommended professional learning path from initial launch to continuous support. Use the Professional Development Planning Guide below to discuss the plan that best meets your school or district needs with your Account Executive.
ELAR
SLAR
Session overview
Launch
K–5 instructional leaders
Amplify Texas Elementary Literacy Program (digital) and ELAR (print) initial training for K–5 instructional leaders
Half day (3 hours)
Prepare to implement and support Amplify Texas instruction in your schools! Learn how Amplify Texas supports students as they build literacy skills in the early grades and move among reading, writing, speaking and listening, and language activities in the upper grades. Understand the purpose of the Amplify Texas program (Skills, Knowledge, and Integrated Strands) and identify components of the Amplify Texas design principles within lessons. Participants will begin creating an action plan to support communication and change management related to Amplify Texas to staff, parents, and other stakeholders.
Audience: Instructional leaders (principals and coaches), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
K–2 teachers
Amplify Texas Elementary Literacy Program (digital) and ELAR (print) initial training for K–2 teachers
1 day onsite (6 hours) or 2 half days remote (6 hours)
Prepare to implement the Amplify Texas K–2 program in your classroom! Learn the foundational elements of Amplify Texas, including the structure of materials, key lesson elements, and how to deliver specific lesson types successfully.
Audience: Teachers (instructional leaders welcome), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Amplify Texas Elementary Literacy Program (digital) and ELAR (print) program overview for K–2 teachers
Half day (3 hours)
Prepare to implement the Amplify Texas K–2 program in your classroom! Learn the foundational elements of the curriculum, including the structure of materials, key lesson elements, and how to deliver specific lesson types successfully.
Audience: Teachers (instructional leaders welcome), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Amplify Texas Elementary Literacy Program (digital) and ELAR (print) Skills Strand initial training for K–2 teachers
1 day onsite (6 hours) or 2 half days remote (6 hours)
Prepare to implement the Amplify Texas Skills Strand program in your classroom! Learn the foundational elements of Amplify Texas, including the structure of materials, key lesson elements, and how to deliver specific lesson types successfully. Participants will begin planning for the first unit and lessons.
Audience: Teachers (instructional leaders welcome), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Amplify Texas Elementary Literacy Program (digital) and ELAR (print) Skills Strand program overview for K–2 teachers
Half day (3 hours)
Prepare to implement the Amplify Texas Skills Strand in your classroom! Learn the foundational elements of the curriculum, including the structure of materials, key lesson elements, and how to deliver specific lesson types successfully.
Audience: Teachers (instructional leaders welcome), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Amplify Texas Elementary Literacy Program (digital) and ELAR (print) Knowledge Strand initial training for K–2 teachers
1 day onsite (6 hours) or 2 half days remote (6 hours)
Prepare to implement the Amplify Texas Knowledge Strand program in your classroom! Learn the foundational elements of Amplify Texas, including the structure of materials, key lesson elements, and how to deliver specific lesson types successfully. Participants will begin planning for the first unit and lessons.
Audience: Teachers (instructional leaders welcome), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Amplify Texas Elementary Literacy Program (digital) and ELAR (print) Knowledge Strand program overview for K–2 teachers
Half day (3 hours)
Prepare to implement the Amplify Texas Knowledge Strand in your classroom! Learn the foundational elements of the curriculum, including the structure of materials, key lesson elements, and how to deliver specific lesson types successfully.
Audience: Teachers (instructional leaders welcome), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Amplify Texas Lectoescritura (digital) and SLAR (print) initial training for K–2 teachers
1 day onsite (6 hours) or 2 half days remote (6 hours)
Prepare to implement Amplify Texas program in your classroom! Learn the foundational elements of Amplify Texas, including the structure of materials, key lesson elements, and how to deliver specific lesson types successfully. Participants will begin planning for the first unit and lessons.
Audience: Teachers (instructional leaders welcome), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Amplify Texas Elementary Lectoescritura (digital) and SLAR (print) program overview for K–2 teachers
Half day (3 hours)
Prepare to implement Amplify Texas in your classroom! Learn the foundational elements of the curriculum, including the structure of materials, key lesson elements, and how to deliver specific lesson types successfully.
Audience: Teachers (instructional leaders welcome), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Amplify Texas Lectoescritura (digital) and SLAR (print) Skills Strand (Habilidades y destrezas) initial training for K–2 teachers
1 day onsite (6 hours) or 2 half days remote (6 hours)
Prepare to implement Amplify Texas Skills Strand (Habilidades y destrezas) program in your classroom! Learn the foundational elements of Amplify Texas, including the structure of materials, key lesson elements, and how to deliver specific lesson types successfully. Participants will begin planning for the first unit and lessons.
Audience: Teachers (instructional leaders welcome), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Amplify Texas Elementary Lectoescritura (digital) and SLAR (print) Skills Strand (Habilidades y destrezas) program overview for K–2 teachers
Half day (3 hours)
Prepare to implement Amplify Texas Skills Strand (Habilidades y destrezas) in your classroom! Learn the foundational elements of the curriculum, including the structure of materials, key lesson elements, and how to deliver specific lesson types successfully.
Audience: Teachers (instructional leaders welcome), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Amplify Texas Lectoescritura (digital) and SLAR (print) Knowledge Strand (Conocimiento) initial training for K–2 teachers
1 day onsite (6 hours) or 2 half days remote (6 hours)
Prepare to implement Amplify Texas Knowledge Strand (Conocimiento) program in your classroom! Learn the foundational elements of Amplify Texas, including the structure of materials, key lesson elements, and how to deliver specific lesson types successfully. Participants will begin planning for the first unit and lessons.
Audience: Teachers (instructional leaders welcome), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Amplify Texas Elementary Lectoescritura (digital) and SLAR (print) Knowledge Strand (Conocimiento) program overview for K–2 teachers
Half day (3 hours)
Prepare to implement Amplify Texas Knowledge Strand (Conocimiento) in your classroom! Learn the foundational elements of the curriculum, including the structure of materials, key lesson elements, and how to deliver specific lesson types successfully.
Audience: Teachers (instructional leaders welcome), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
3-5 Teachers
Amplify Texas Elementary Literacy Program (digital) and ELAR (print) initial training for 3–5 teachers
1 day onsite (6 hours) or 2 half days remote (6 hours)
Prepare to implement the Amplify Texas 3–5 program in your classroom! Learn the foundational elements of Amplify Texas, including the structure of materials, key lesson elements, and how to deliver specific lesson types successfully.
Audience: Teachers (instructional leaders welcome), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Amplify Texas Elementary Literacy Program (digital) and ELAR (print) program overview for 3–5 teachers
Half day (3 hours)
Prepare to implement the Amplify Texas 3–5 program in your classroom! Learn the foundational elements of the curriculum, including the structure of materials, key lesson elements, and how to deliver specific lesson types successfully.
Audience: Teachers (instructional leaders welcome), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Amplify Texas Lectoescritura (digital) and SLAR (print) initial training for 3–5 teachers
1 day onsite (6 hours) or 2 half days remote (6 hours)
Prepare to implement the Amplify Texas 3–5 program in your classroom! Learn the foundational elements of Amplify Texas, including the structure of materials, key lesson elements, and how to deliver specific lesson types successfully.
Audience: Teachers (instructional leaders welcome), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Amplify Texas Lectoescritura (digital) and SLAR (print) program overview for 3–5 teachers
Half day (3 hours)
Prepare to implement the Amplify Texas 3–5 program in your classroom! Learn the foundational elements of the curriculum, including the structure of materials, key lesson elements, and how to deliver specific lesson types successfully.
Audience: Teachers (instructional leaders welcome), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Strengthen
K–5 leaders
Amplify Texas ELAR enhancing observations for K–5 leaders
Half day (3 hours)
Prerequisite training: Initial training for instructional leaders
Elevate program knowledge to support colleagues with effective Amplify Texas implementation! Practice analyzing Amplify Texas lessons and identify key instructional elements and next steps. Participants will be prepared to collect data and enhance classroom observations.
Audience: Instructional leaders (principals and coaches), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
K–2 teachers
Amplify Texas ELAR enhancing planning & practice for K–2 teachers
Half day (3 hours)
Prerequisite training: Initial training for K–2 teachers
Elevate program knowledge to strengthen your Amplify Texas K–2 implementation! Understand the progression of foundational skills and focus on high-quality questioning and discussion techniques through lesson study and practice. Participants will practice implementing key instructional elements and leave with annotated lessons.
Audience: K–2 teachers (instructional leaders welcome), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Amplify Texas ELAR writing for K–2 teachers
Half day (3 hours)
Prerequisite training: Initial training for K–2 teachers and 2–3 months of Amplify Texas instruction
Dig into Amplify Texas writing instruction and student work in grades K–2! Identify writing opportunities in the Amplify Texas Skills and Knowledge Strand through analysis of a unit and daily lessons and analyze student writing using a program-aligned rubric. Participants will leave with an annotated unit highlighting the writing opportunities and student grouping suggestions.
Audience: K–2 teachers (instructional leaders welcome), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Amplify Texas SLAR enhancing planning & practice for K–2 teachers
Half day (3 hours)
Prerequisite training: Initial training for K–2 teachers
Elevate program knowledge to strengthen your Amplify Texas K–2 implementation! Understand the progression of foundational skills and focus on high-quality questioning and discussion techniques through lesson study and practice. Participants will practice implementing key instructional elements and leave with annotated lessons.
Audience: K–2 teachers (instructional leaders welcome), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Amplify Texas SLAR writing for K–2 teachers
Half day (3 hours)
Prerequisite training: Initial training for K–2 teachers and 2–3 months of Amplify Texas instruction
Dig into Amplify Texas writing instruction and student work in grades K–2! Identify writing opportunities in the Amplify Texas curriculum through analysis of a unit and daily lessons and analyze student writing using a program-aligned rubric. Participants will leave with an annotated unit highlighting the writing opportunities and student grouping suggestions.
Audience: K–2 teachers (instructional leaders welcome), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
3–5 teachers
Amplify Texas ELAR enhancing planning & practice for
3–5 teachers
Half day (3 hours)
Prerequisite training: Initial training for 3–5 teachers
Elevate program knowledge to strengthen your Amplify Texas 3–5 implementation! Understand the progression of foundational skills and focus on high-quality questioning and discussion techniques through lesson study and practice. Participants will practice implementing key instructional elements and leave with annotated lessons.
Audience: K–2 teachers (instructional leaders welcome), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Amplify Texas ELAR writing for 3–5 teachers
Half day (3 hours)
Prerequisite training: Initial training for K–2 teachers and 2–3 months of Amplify Texas instruction
Dig into Amplify Texas writing instruction and student work in grades 3–5! Identify writing opportunities in the Amplify Texas curriculum through analysis of a unit and daily lessons and analyze student writing using a program-aligned rubric. Participants will leave with an annotated unit highlighting the writing opportunities and student grouping suggestions.
Audience: K–2 teachers (instructional leaders welcome), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Amplify Texas SLAR enhancing planning & practice for
3–5 teachers
Half day (3 hours)
Prerequisite training: Initial training for 3–5 teachers
Elevate program knowledge to strengthen your Amplify Texas 3–5 implementation! Understand the progression of foundational skills and focus on high-quality questioning and discussion techniques through lesson study and practice. Participants will practice implementing key instructional elements and leave with annotated lessons.
Audience: K–2 teachers (instructional leaders welcome), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Amplify Texas SLAR writing for 3–5 teachers
Half day (3 hours)
Prerequisite training: Initial training for K–2 teachers and 2–3 months of Amplify Texas instruction
Dig into Amplify Texas writing instruction and student work in grades 3–5! Identify writing opportunities in the Amplify Texas curriculum through analysis of a unit and daily lessons and analyze student writing using a program-aligned rubric. Participants will leave with an annotated unit highlighting the writing opportunities and student grouping suggestions.
Audience: K–2 teachers (instructional leaders welcome), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
K–5 teachers
Amplify Texas ELAR enhancing planning & instruction for English language learners for K–5 teachers
Half day (3 hours)
Prerequisite training: Initial training
Develop a strong understanding of how to support English language learners (ELLs) with Amplify Texas instruction! Identify program-embedded instructional supports and strategies for ELL students of varying proficiency levels and plan how to adjust instruction based on formative check points. Participants will begin to develop a plan for using program supports and strategies for ELL instruction.
Audience: K–5 classroom teachers and ELL specialists (instructional leaders welcome), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Amplify Texas enhancing planning & instruction for students with special needs for K–5 teachers
Half day (3 hours)
Develop a strong understanding of how to support students with special needs! Identify program-embedded instructional supports and strategies for students with special needs, including connections to IEP goals, and plan how to adjust instruction. Participants will leave with an accommodation plan aligned to Amplify Texas instruction and IEP goals.
Audience: K–5 classroom teachers and special education specialists (instructional leaders welcome), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Amplify Texas ELAR Strengthening consultation session
1 hour or 3 1-hour sessions
These 60-minute sessions will focus on a specific topic that will deepen educators’ understanding of Amplify Texas and equip them with the support they need to drive toward stronger student outcomes. An Amplify facilitator will align with the school or district leadership team in advance of the session on the topic (chosen from a menu of options) that will best meet educators’ unique needs. The menu includes sessions on engagement, pacing, and supporting all learners.
Audience: K–5 classroom teachers (instructional leaders welcome), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Remote
Amplify Texas SLAR Strengthening consultation session
1 hour or 3 1-hour sessions
These 60-minute sessions will focus on a specific topic that will deepen educators’ understanding of Amplify Texas and equip them with the support they need to drive toward stronger student outcomes. An Amplify facilitator will align with the school or district leadership team in advance of the session on the topic (chosen from a menu of options) that will best meet educators’ unique needs. The menu includes sessions on engagement, pacing, and supporting all learners.
Audience: K–5 classroom teachers (instructional leaders welcome), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Remote
Coach
K–5 educators (leaders, principals, coaches, teachers)
Amplify Texas ELAR Coaching for K–5 educators
2 days consecutive (6 hours per day, 12 total)
Prerequisite training: Initial training
Strengthen your implementation of Amplify Texas with a Coaching onsite visit for your teachers and/or leaders! An Amplify facilitator will visit 1–4 school sites for two days. Participants can choose from a variety of topics that include, but are not limited to: lesson modeling (conducted by an Amplify Texas facilitator) and debriefing, grade-level planning, classroom observations, and leadership consultation. The flexible onsite coaching design allows for a collaborative approach to support effective program implementation.
Audience: Teachers and/or instructional leaders (principals and coaches), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite
Amplify Texas ELAR Coaching for K–5 educators
1 day onsite (6 hours) or 2 half days remote (6 hours)
Prerequisite training: Initial training
Strengthen your implementation of Amplify Texas with a Coaching onsite visit for your teachers and/or leaders! An Amplify facilitator will visit 1–2 school sites for one day. Participants can choose from a variety of topics that include, but are not limited to: lesson modeling (conducted by an Amplify Texas facilitator) and debriefing, grade-level planning, classroom observations, and leadership consultation. The flexible onsite coaching design allows for a collaborative approach to support effective program implementation.
Audience: Teachers and/or instructional leaders (principals and coaches), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Amplify Texas ELAR Coaching for K–5 educators
Half day (3 hours)
Prerequisite training: Initial training
Strengthen your implementation of Amplify Texas with a Coaching onsite visit for your teachers and/or leaders! An Amplify facilitator will virtually visit for a half day. Participants can choose from a variety of topics that include, but are not limited to: lesson modeling (conducted by an Amplify Texas facilitator) and debriefing, grade-level planning, classroom observations, and leadership consultation.
Audience: Teachers and/or instructional leaders (principals and coaches)
Modality: Remote
Amplify Texas SLAR Coaching for K–5 educators
2 days consecutive (6 hours per day, 12 total)
Prerequisite training: Initial training
Strengthen your implementation of Amplify Texas with a Coaching onsite visit for your teachers and/or leaders! An Amplify facilitator will visit 1–4 school sites for two days. Participants can choose from a variety of topics that include, but are not limited to: lesson modeling (conducted by an Amplify Texas facilitator) and debriefing, grade-level planning, classroom observations, and leadership consultation. The flexible onsite coaching design allows for a collaborative approach to support effective program implementation.
Audience: Teachers and/or instructional leaders (principals and coaches), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite
Amplify Texas SLAR Coaching for K–5 educators
1 day onsite (6 hours) or 2 half days remote (6 hours)
Prerequisite training: Initial training
Strengthen your implementation of Amplify Texas with a Coaching onsite visit for your teachers and/or leaders! An Amplify facilitator will visit 1–2 school sites for one day. Participants can choose from a variety of topics that include, but are not limited to: lesson modeling (conducted by an Amplify Texas facilitator) and debriefing, grade-level planning, classroom observations, and leadership consultation. The flexible onsite coaching design allows for a collaborative approach to support effective program implementation.
Audience: Teachers and/or instructional leaders (principals and coaches), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Amplify Texas SLAR Coaching for K–5 educators
Half day (3 hours)
Prerequisite training: Initial training
Strengthen your implementation of Amplify Texas with a Coaching onsite visit for your teachers and/or leaders! An Amplify facilitator will virtually visit for a half day. Participants can choose from a variety of topics that include, but are not limited to: lesson modeling (conducted by an Amplify Texas facilitator) and debriefing, grade-level planning, classroom observations, and leadership consultation.
Audience: Teachers and/or instructional leaders (principals and coaches)
Modality: Remote
Pricing
We offer the following pricing for training sessions and packages:
| Session type | Pricing |
|---|---|
| 2-day onsite session | $4,800 |
| 1-day onsite session | $3,200 |
| 1-day remote session | $1,200 |
| Half day onsite session | $2,500 |
| Half day remote session | $750 |
| 1-hour Strengthening consultation session | $350 |
| 3 1-hour Strengthening consultation sessions | $1000 |
| Customized onsite or remote session | Price will vary |
Please note that the prices are general ranges and may be subject to change.
Contact
Amplify welcomes the opportunity to partner with schools and districts to design professional development plans and answer your questions.
If you would like to order any of our professional development services, please contact your local Amplify sales representative or call (800) 823-1969.
Plan your professional development
We’re excited to partner with you on your Amplify journey. Flexible professional development pathways have been designed to meet your needs.

Recommended Professional Development Plan
Our team has curated a recommended professional learning path from initial launch to continuous support. Use the Professional Development Planning Guide below to discuss the plan that best meets your school or district needs with your Account Executive.
Sessions overview
| Recommended sessions are highlighted below. |
| Audience | Title | Duration | Modality |
|---|---|---|---|
| mCLASS Texas Edition Launch | |||
| All mCLASS Texas Edition customers | Initial training | 2 half days or self-paced | Remote/Online course |
| New mCLASS Texas Edition customers | Initial training | 1 day | Onsite |
| Initial training: Train the Trainer | 1 day onsite or 2 half days remote | Onsite/Remote | |
| New mCLASS Texas Edition customers with limited time for PD | mCLASS program overview, English measures only | Half day | Onsite/Remote |
| mCLASS program overview, Spanish measures only | Half day | Onsite/Remote | |
| Experienced mCLASS Texas Edition customers | Refresher training | Half day | Onsite/Remote |
| mCLASS Texas Edition and Amplify Reading Launch | |||
| New mCLASS Texas Edition and Amplify Reading customers | Initial training with Amplify Reading overview | 1 day onsite or 2 half days remote | Onsite/Remote |
| Initial training with Amplify Reading overview: Train the Trainer | 1 day onsite or 2 half days remote | Onsite/Remote | |
| mCLASS Texas Edition and TRC Launch | |||
| New mCLASS Texas Edition and TRC customers | Initial training with TRC overview | 1 day onsite or 2 half days remote | Onsite/Remote |
| Initial training with TRC overview: Train the Trainer | 1 day onsite or 2 half days remote | Onsite/Remote | |
| Experienced mCLASS Texas Edition customers | TRC initial training | Half day | Onsite/Remote |
| TRC initial training: Train the Trainer | Half day | Onsite/Remote | |
| mCLASS Express Launch | |||
| New mCLASS Express customers | Initial training | Half day | Onsite/Remote |
| Initial training | Self-paced | Online course | |
| mCLASS Texas Edition Strengthen | |||
| All mCLASS Texas Edition customers with limited time for PD | Understanding your classroom data | Half day | Onsite/Remote |
| All mCLASS Texas Edition customers | Classroom data analysis and instructional planning | 1 day | Onsite |
| All mCLASS Texas Edition customers | Classroom data analysis and instructional planning | 2 half days | Remote |
| Classroom data analysis and instructional planning: Train the Trainer | 1 day onsite or 2 half days remote | Onsite/Remote | |
| Classroom data analysis and instructional planning | Self-paced | Online | |
| All mCLASS Texas Edition customers | Data-driven leadership practices | 1 day onsite | Onsite |
| All mCLASS Texas Edition customers | Data-driven leadership practices | 2 half days | Remote |
| Data-driven leadership practices: Train the Trainer | 1 day onsite or 2 half days remote | Onsite/Remote | |
| Data-driven leadership practices | Self-paced | Online | |
| Understanding your school or district data | Half day | Onsite/Remote | |
| Strengthening consultation session | 1-hour session | Remote | |
| All mCLASS Texas Edition customers | Strengthening consultation session package | 3 1-hour sessions | Remote |
| mCLASS Texas Edition Coach | |||
| All mCLASS Texas Edition customers | Coaching session | 1 day | Onsite |
| All mCLASS Texas Edition customers | Coaching session | Half day | Onsite/Remote |
Launch
mCLASS Texas Edition
Initial training
1 day onsite (6 hours) or 2 half days remote (6 hours)
This PD prepares participants to implement the assessment, collect reliable data using standardized guidelines, and use the targeted lessons available on mCLASS to drive differentiated instruction.
Audience: Teachers (administrators welcome), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Initial training: Train the Trainer
1 day onsite (6 hours) or 2 half days remote (6 hours)
This PD prepares participants to implement the assessment, collect reliable data using standardized guidelines, and use the targeted lessons available on mCLASS to drive differentiated instruction. Participants receive annotated session materials to turnkey the session to colleagues.
Audience: Teachers (administrators welcome), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
mCLASS program overview, English measures only
Half day (3 hours)
This PD prepares participants to implement the English measures of the mCLASS Texas assessment and collect reliable data using standardized guidelines. Only English measures are covered in this half-day training.
Audience: Teachers (administrators welcome), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
mCLASS program overview, Spanish measures only
Half day (3 hours)
This PD prepares participants to implement the Spanish measures of the mCLASS Texas assessment and collect reliable data using standardized guidelines. Only Spanish measures are covered in this half-day training.
Audience: Teachers (administrators welcome), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Refresher training
Half day (3 hours)
The half-day refresher training is designed for teachers and instructional leaders who are experienced with any version of DIBELS® and/or Acadience Reading and are invested in successfully implementing mCLASS Texas Edition. This session will help educators focus on what’s new to the assessment and understand mCLASS Texas Edition’s potential to impact all students through improved measures, stronger insight into students’ instructional needs, and bolstered skills-focused lessons to support instructional planning. Upon completion of this session, participants will be prepared to implement the new assessment, collect reliable data using standardized guidelines, and use the targeted lessons available on mCLASS Texas Edition to drive differentiated instruction as part of their regular classroom practice.
Audience: Teachers (administrators welcome), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
mCLASS Texas Edition and Amplify Reading
Initial training with Amplify Reading overview
1 day onsite (6 hours) or 2 half days remote (6 hours)
Take the first step in launching mCLASS Texas Edition and Amplify Reading! The initial training will help educators understand how mCLASS Texas Edition assesses the basic early literacy skills that are crucial for reading development, gain hands-on experience administering and scoring the assessment using standardized guidelines, and access the Instruction page in order to find skills-focused lessons that will support instructional planning. A high-level overview of how to get started with Amplify Reading will also be provided at the end of the training along with supplementary, on-demand resources. Upon completion of this session, participants will be prepared to implement the new assessment, collect reliable data using standardized guidelines, use the targeted lessons available on mCLASS Texas Edition to drive differentiated instruction as part of their regular classroom practice, and understand key Amplify Reading features.
Audience: Teachers (administrators welcome), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Initial training with Amplify Reading overview: Train the Trainer
1 day onsite (6 hours) or 2 half days remote (6 hours)
Take the first step in launching mCLASS Texas Edition and Amplify Reading! The initial training will help educators understand how mCLASS Texas Edition assesses the basic early literacy skills that are crucial for reading development, gain hands-on experience administering and scoring the assessment using standardized guidelines, and access the Instruction page in order to find skills-focused lessons that will support instructional planning. A high-level overview of how to get started with Amplify Reading will also be provided at the end of the training along with supplementary, on-demand resources. Upon completion of this session, participants will be prepared to implement the new assessment, collect reliable data using standardized guidelines, use the targeted lessons available on mCLASS Texas Edition to drive differentiated instruction as part of their regular classroom practice, and understand key Amplify Reading features. Participants receive annotated session materials to turnkey the session to colleagues.
Audience: Teachers (administrators welcome), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
mCLASS Texas Edition and TRC
Initial training with TRC overview
1 day onsite (6 hours) or 2 half days remote (6 hours)
Take the first step in launching mCLASS Texas Edition and Amplify Reading! The initial training will help educators understand how mCLASS Texas Edition assesses the basic early literacy skills that are crucial for reading development, gain hands-on experience administering and scoring the assessment using standardized guidelines, and access the Instruction page in order to find skills-focused lessons that will support instructional planning. A high-level overview of how to get started with Amplify Reading will also be provided at the end of the training along with supplementary, on-demand resources. Upon completion of this session, participants will be prepared to implement the new assessment, collect reliable data using standardized guidelines, use the targeted lessons available on mCLASS Texas Edition to drive differentiated instruction as part of their regular classroom practice, and understand key Amplify Reading features.
Audience: Teachers (administrators welcome), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Initial training with TRC overview: Train the Trainer
1 day onsite (6 hours) or 2 half days remote (6 hours)
Take the first step in launching mCLASS Texas Edition and TRC! The initial training will help educators understand how mCLASS Texas Edition assesses the basic early literacy skills that are crucial for reading development, gain hands-on experience administering and scoring the assessment using standardized guidelines, and access the Instruction page in order to find skills-focused lessons that will support instructional planning. A high-level overview of how to get started with TRC will also be provided at the end of the training along with supplementary, on-demand resources. Upon completion of this session, participants will be prepared to implement the new assessment, collect reliable data using standardized guidelines, use the targeted lessons available on mCLASS Texas Edition to drive differentiated instruction as part of their regular classroom practice, and understand key TRC features. Participants receive annotated session materials to turnkey the session to colleagues.
Audience: Teachers (administrators welcome), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
TRC initial training
Half day (3 hours)
Take the first step in launching TRC! The half-day initial training will help educators understand how TRC assesses the basic early literacy skills that are crucial for reading development, gain hands-on experience administering and scoring the assessment using standardized guidelines, and access the Instruction page in order to find skills-focused lessons that will support instructional planning.
Audience: Teachers (administrators welcome), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Remote
TRC initial training: Train the Trainer
Half day (3 hours)
Take the first step in launching TRC! The half-day initial training will help educators understand how TRC assesses the basic early literacy skills that are crucial for reading development, gain hands-on experience administering and scoring the assessment using standardized guidelines, and access the Instruction page in order to find skills-focused lessons that will support instructional planning. Participants receive annotated session materials to turnkey the session to colleagues.
Audience: Teachers (administrators welcome), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Remote
mCLASS Express
Initial training
Half day (3 hours)
Take the first step in launching mCLASS Express! The half-day initial training will help educators understand how mCLASS Express’ voice-recognition scoring generates immediate instructional recommendations for students reading below grade level. Educators will also learn how to utilize the teacher portal to assign assessments, review and correct scoring, track student growth over time, and leverage the program’s activities to create an action plan for a single classroom or across classes/grades.
Audience: Teachers (administrators welcome), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Remote
Initial training
Self-paced
Take the first step in launching mCLASS Express! The two-hour initial training will help educators understand how mCLASS Express’ voice-recognition scoring generates immediate instructional recommendations for students reading below grade level. Educators will also learn how to utilize the teacher portal to assign assessments, review and correct scoring, track student growth over time, and leverage the program’s activities to create an action plan for a single classroom or across classes/grades. As this is a self-paced, on-demand online course, participants will be able to access the course anytime, move as quickly or as slowly as needed through different sections, and revisit the course for up to one year as a refresher in the future.
Audience: Teachers (administrators welcome)
Modality: Remote
Strengthen
Understanding your classroom data
Half day (3 hours)
This PD prepares participants to understand their students’ data by utilizing the reports available on mCLASS. This session should be scheduled after the most recent benchmark window has closed so that participants can work with their own data.
Audience: Teachers (administrators welcome), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Classroom data analysis and instructional planning
1 day onsite (6 hours) or 2 half days remote (6 hours)
This PD prepares participants to deeply understand their students’ data and create actionable instructional plans by utilizing the reports and skills-focused lesson plans available on mCLASS.
Audience: Teachers (administrators welcome), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
*This session should be scheduled after the most recent benchmark window has closed so that participants can work with their own data.
Classroom data analysis and instructional planning: Train the Trainer
1 day onsite (6 hours) or 2 half days remote (6 hours)
This PD prepares participants to deeply understand their students’ data and create actionable instructional plans by utilizing the reports and skills-focused lesson plans available on mCLASS. Participants receive annotated session materials to turnkey the session to colleagues.
Audience: Teachers (administrators welcome), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
*This session should be scheduled after the most recent benchmark window has closed so that participants can work with their own data.
Classroom data analysis and instructional planning
Self-paced
This PD is an individual seat to our self-paced, on-demand online course that contains approximately 6 hours of training. Participants will learn how to deeply understand their students’ data and create actionable instructional plans by utilizing the reports and skills-focused lesson plans available on mCLASS. Participants will access and revisit the course anytime for up to one year as a refresher. Note: The online course focuses on the English measures only.
Audience: Teachers (administrators welcome)
Modality: Online
Understanding your school or district data
Half day (3 hours)
This PD prepares participants to use their data in making schoolwide decisions. This session should be scheduled after the most recent benchmark window has closed so that participants can work with their own data.
Audience: Administrators, maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Data-driven leadership practices
1 day onsite (6 hours) or 2 half days remote (6 hours)
This PD prepares participants to use their data in making schoolwide decisions and build a schoolwide culture of data-driven instruction. This session should be scheduled after the most recent benchmark window has closed so that participants can work with their own data.
Audience: Administrators, maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Data-driven leadership practices: Train the Trainer
1 day onsite (6 hours) or 2 half days remote (6 hours)
This PD prepares participants to use their data in making schoolwide decisions and build a schoolwide culture of data-driven instruction. This session should be scheduled after the most recent benchmark window has closed so that participants can work with their own data. Participants receive annotated session materials to turnkey the session to colleagues.
Audience: Administrators, maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Data driven leadership practices
Self-paced
This PD is an individual seat to our self-paced, on-demand online course that contains approximately 6 hours of training. Participants will learn how to use their data in making schoolwide decisions and build a schoolwide culture of data-driven instruction. Participants will access and revisit the course anytime for up to one year as a refresher. Note: The online course focuses on the English measures only.
Audience: Administrators
Modality: Online
Strengthening consultation session
60 minutes
This 60-minute session will focus on a specific topic that will deepen educators’ understanding of mCLASS and equip them in driving towards stronger student outcomes. An Amplify facilitator will align with the school or district’s leadership team in advance on the topic from a menu of options that will best meet educators’ unique needs. Topics include progress monitoring, zones of growth, and a data walkthrough for leaders.
Audience: Teachers and/or administrators, maximum 30 participants
Modality: Remote
Strengthening consultation session package
3 hours
This package consists of three 60-minute sessions that can be delivered on the same day or on different days. Each session will focus on a specific topic that will deepen educators’ understanding of mCLASS and equip them in driving towards stronger student outcomes. An Amplify facilitator will align with the school or district’s leadership team in advance on the topics that will best meet educators’ unique needs. Topics include progress monitoring, zones of growth, and a data walkthrough for leaders.
Audience: Teachers and/or administrators, maximum 30 participants
Modality: Remote
Coach
Coaching session
1 day onsite (6 hours)
This PD will deepen educators’ understanding of how to utilize mCLASS in order to accelerate data-driven student outcomes. An Amplify facilitator will visit one or two school sites for one day and work with teachers and/or leaders. Prior to the visit, the Amplify facilitator will align with each school’s leadership team on their needs and customize the visit schedule accordingly.
Audience: Teachers and/or administrators, maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Coaching session
Half day (3 hours)
This PD is up to 3 hours of training and will deepen educators’ understanding of how to utilize mCLASS in order to accelerate data-driven student outcomes. An Amplify facilitator will visit one school site for a half-day and work with teachers and/or leaders. Prior to the visit, the Amplify facilitator will align with each school’s leadership team on their needs and customize the visit schedule accordingly.
Audience: Teachers and/or administrators, maximum 30 participants
Modality: Remote
Pricing
We offer the following pricing for training sessions and packages:
| Session type | Pricing |
|---|---|
| 1-day onsite session | $3,200 |
| 1-day onsite session: Train the Trainer | $3,500 |
| 2 half-day remote sessions | $1,500 |
| 2 half-day remote sessions: Train the Trainer | $2,000 |
| Half-day onsite session | $2,500 |
| Half-day remote session | $750 |
| 2-hour self-paced online course | $20 per individual seat |
| 6-hour self-paced online course | $49 per individual seat |
Please note that the prices are general ranges and may be subject to change.
Contact
Amplify welcomes the opportunity to partner with schools and districts to design professional development plans and answer your questions.
If you would like to order any of our professional development services, please contact your local Amplify sales representative or call (800) 823-1969.
Amplify Science – West Virginia – state review
Amplify Science professional development
Amplify Science blends hands-on investigations, literacy-rich activities, and interactive digital tools to empower students to think, read, write, and argue like real scientists and engineers. We’ve created a wide suite of professional development offerings that will help you meet your unique needs this school year. Find out more below!

Amplify CKLA, ELA, and Science professional development has been vetted by Rivet Education’s team through a rigorous three-step process and is listed in the Professional Learning Partner Guide.

Plan your professional development
We’re excited to partner with you on your Amplify journey. Flexible professional development pathways have been designed to meet your needs.

Recommended professional development plan
Our team has curated a recommended professional learning path from initial launch to continuous support. Use the Professional Development Planning Guide below to discuss the plan that best meets your school or district needs with your Account Executive.
Sessions overview
| Audience | Title | Duration | Modality | Available |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Launch | ||||
| K–5 instructional leaders | Administrators’ program overview | Half day | Onsite/Remote | Yes^ |
| TK teachers | Transitional kindergarten program overview | Half day | Onsite/Remote | Yes |
| K–5 teachers | Initial training | 1 day onsite or 2 days remote |
Onsite/Remote | Yes*^ |
| K–5 teachers | Program overview | Half day | Onsite/Remote | Yes |
| Interactive Classroom consultation | 90 min. | Remote | Yes | |
| 6–8 instructional leaders | Administrators’ program overview | Half day | Onsite/Remote | Yes |
| 6–8 teachers | Initial training | 1 day onsite or 2 days remote |
Onsite/Remote | Yes* |
| 6–8 teachers | Program overview | Half day | Onsite/Remote | Yes |
| Strengthen | ||||
| K–5 instructional leaders | Strengthening consultation session | 60 min. | Remote | 6/2022 |
| Strengthening consultation package | 3 1-hour sessions | Remote | 6/2022 | |
| K–5 teachers | Guided unit internalization | Half day | Onsite/Remote | Yes |
| K–5 teachers | The Assessment System | Half day | Onsite/Remote | Yes |
| Supporting all learners with complex texts | Half day | Onsite/Remote | Yes | |
| Writing in science | Half day | Onsite/Remote | Yes | |
| Supporting English learners | Half day | Onsite/Remote | Yes | |
| Strengthening consultation session | 60 min. | Remote | 6/2022 | |
| Strengthening consultation package | 3 1-hour sessions | Remote | 6/2022 | |
| 6–8 instructional leaders | Strengthening consultation session | 60 min. | Remote | 6/2022 |
| Strengthening consultation package | 3 1-hour sessions | Remote | 6/2022 | |
| 6–8 teachers | Guided unit internalization | Half day | Onsite/Remote | Yes |
| 6–8 teachers | The Assessment System | Half day | Onsite/Remote | Yes |
| Supporting all learners with complex texts | Half day | Onsite/Remote | Yes | |
| Writing in science | Half day | Onsite/Remote | Yes | |
| Supporting English learners | Half day | Onsite/Remote | Yes | |
| Engineering Internships | Half day | Onsite/Remote | Yes | |
| Science Seminar | Half day | Onsite/Remote | Yes | |
| Strengthening consultation session | 60 min. | Remote | 6/2022 | |
| Strengthening consultation package | 3 1-hour sessions | Remote | 6/2022 | |
| Coach | ||||
| K–5 instructional leaders | Job-Embedded Coaching (JEC) | 1 day | Onsite | Yes |
| K–5 teachers | Job-Embedded Coaching (JEC) | 1 day | Onsite/Remote | Yes |
| 6–8 instructional leaders | Job-Embedded Coaching (JEC) | 1 day | Onsite | Yes |
| 6–8 teachers | Job-Embedded Coaching (JEC) | 1 day | Onsite/Remote | Yes |
| Note for all workshops: Any single three-hour offering can be repeated on the same day with different audiences to make one full-day session. | ||||
| *When delivered remotely, this full-day initial training session (6 hours) is split into two half-day sessions (3 hours each). Part 1 and Part 2 may be scheduled consecutively on the same day or on different days, ideally within ~2 weeks. The same participants should attend both sessions in order to receive all content. This flexible scheduling opportunity for remote sessions will be available starting 6/2022. | ||||
^Session will be available for IC customers after June 1, 2022.
Launch
For teachers
Initial training
1 day onsite (6 hours) or 2 half days remote (6 hours)*
Grade band: K–1 / K–5 / 6–8
Grade level: K, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
In the first half of this session, participants learn the essentials necessary to implement Amplify Science with success. They learn to navigate the digital Amplify Science platform and become familiar with planning resources and strategies. Through a model lesson and guided reflection, participants build an understanding of the instructional approach to teaching and learning. In the second half of this session, participants dig deeper into unit resources to start planning for instruction for their first grade-level unit.
When delivered as a grade band session, Part 1 will feature an exemplar from the following units:
- K–1 workshops feature an exemplar from the grade 1 unit Animal and Plant Defenses.
- K–5 workshops feature an exemplar from the grade 4 unit Energy Conversions.
- 6–8 workshops feature an exemplar from the Metabolism Core unit.
When delivered as a grade level session, Part 1 features the following units:
- K: Needs of Plants and Animals
- 1: Animal and Plant Defenses
- 2: Plant and Animal Relationships
- 3: Balancing Forces
- 4: Energy Conversions
- 5: Patterns of Earth and Sky
6–8 workshops feature one of the following units:
- Metabolism
- Plate Motion
- Force and Motion
Interactive Classroom customers: Select K-5 grade band or K, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 grade level sessions (available starting 6/2022)
Audience: Teachers (administrators welcome), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
*When delivered remotely, this full-day initial training session (6 hours) is split into two half-day sessions (3 hours each). Part 1 and Part 2 may be scheduled consecutively on the same day or on different days, ideally within two weeks. The same participants should attend both sessions in order to receive all content. This flexible scheduling opportunity for remote sessions will be available starting 6/2022.
Interactive Classroom consultation
90 minutes
Grade band: K–5
Prerequisite: Initial training or program overview
In this remote consultation session, participants prepare to leverage Amplify Science’s new K-5 Interactive Classroom experience. The session includes a walkthrough of new digital features available to teachers and an opportunity for participants to experience these enhancements through modeled activities from an exemplar K-5 unit. The session closes with time for participants to explore the digital features and ask questions to support their planning.
*This session is designed for experienced Amplify Science users who are new to adding Interactive Classroom.
Audience: Teachers, maximum 30 participants
Modality: Remote
Program overview
Half day (3 hours)
Grand band: K–1, K–5, 6–8
Grade level: K, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
In this session, participants learn the essentials necessary to implement Amplify Science with success. They learn to navigate the digital Amplify Science platform and become familiar with planning resources and strategies. Through a model lesson and guided reflection, participants build an understanding of the instructional approach to teaching and learning.
When delivered as a grade band session, an exemplar will be featured from the following units:
- K–1 workshops feature an exemplar from the grade 1 unit Animal and Plant Defenses.
- K–5 workshops feature an exemplar from the grade 4 unit Energy Conversions.
- 6–8 workshops feature an exemplar from Metabolism.
When delivered as a grade level session, the following units will be featured:
- K: Needs of Plants and Animals
- 1: Animal and Plant Defenses
- 2: Plant and Animal Relationships
- 3: Balancing Forces
- 4: Energy Conversions
- 5: Patterns of Earth and Sky
6–8 workshops feature one of the following units:
- Metabolism
- Plate Motion
- Force and Motion
Interactive Classroom customers: Select K-5 grade band or K, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 grade level sessions
Audience: Teachers (administrators welcome), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Transitional kindergarten program overview
Half day (3 hours)
Grade level: TK
In this session, participants dive into exploring and planning for the first TK unit, Wondering About Noises in Trees. They engage with model activities, experience key instructional routines, and plan how they’ll implement this flexible curriculum in their classrooms. Participants collaborate to build a deep understanding of the TK instructional approach and structure. They will leave ready to start instruction in their classrooms, and take away a suite of additional resources to support their preparation for other TK units.
Audience: Teachers (administrators welcome), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remotewelcome), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
For instructional leaders
Administrators’ program overview
Half day (3 hours)
Grade band: K–5 / 6–8
In this session, instructional leaders become familiar with the principles of phenomenon-based teaching and learning, and experience the instructional approach of Amplify Science units. Leaders consider their essential role supporting teachers and students with the implementation of a new science curriculum.
Interactive Classroom customers: Select K-5 grade band session (available starting 6/2022)
Audience: Administrators, department chairs, coaches, maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Strengthen
For teachers
The Assessment System
Half day (3 hours)
Grade band: K–5 / 6–8
Prerequisite: Initial training or program overview
In this session, participants learn about the structure and purpose of the varied formative and summative opportunities in the Amplify Science Assessment System. Participants experience and analyze a sample formative assessment, deepen their understanding of unit learning progressions, and acquire strategies for collecting, analyzing, and responding to student assessment data. Collaborative reflections and discussions support participants’ understanding of the relationships among different types of assessments and their unit’s learning goals.
Audience: Teachers (administrators welcome), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Supporting all learners with complex texts
Half day (3 hours)
Grade band: K–5 / 6–8
Prerequisite: Initial training or program overview
In this session, participants learn strategies to support all students as they access the complex texts in Amplify Science units. They explore the connections among the ways professional scientists read and how Amplify Science lessons build students’ capacity as science readers. The workshop includes a model reading sequence, collaborative problem-solving around common student reading challenges, and planning time for upcoming reading lessons in participants’ units.
Audience: Teachers (administrators welcome), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Writing in science
Half day (3 hours)
Grade band: K–5 / 6–8
Prerequisite: Initial training or program overview
K–5: In this session, participants develop an understanding of how the Amplify Science writing approach supports students to engage in science practices, make sense of science ideas, and develop as writers. Participants experience an example multimodal instructional sequence that demonstrates the connections among informal daily writing and the more structured formal scientific explanations and arguments students write in each Amplify Science unit. They dig into resources for analyzing student writing then apply their learning to plan for supporting student writing in their unit.
6-8: In this session, participants develop an understanding of how the Amplify Science writing approach supports students to engage in science practices, make sense of science ideas, and develop as writers. Participants experience an example instructional sequence that demonstrates the varied purposes for frequent small, informal writing opportunities in multimodal science instruction, then they analyze how each core unit’s culminating Science Seminar experience works as a scaffold to support students as they write sophisticated scientific arguments. The session closes with a guided reflection on strategies for supporting student writing.
Audience: Teachers (administrators welcome), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Supporting English learners
Half day (3 hours)
Grade band: K–5 / 6–8
Prerequisite: Initial training or program overview
In this session, participants explore strategies to support English learners’ ability to do, talk, read, write, visualize, and construct arguments like scientists. By engaging in model activities, participants deepen their knowledge of the critical role that language and literacy play in developing scientific understanding. Participants become familiar with the research-based principles underlying the embedded supports and strategies in Amplify Science, which aid in students’ development of disciplinary literacy in science.
Audience: Teachers (administrators welcome), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Guided unit internalization
Half day (3 hours)
Grade band: K–5 / 6–8
Grade level: TK, K, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
Prerequisite: Initial training or program overview
In this session, participants leverage a planning protocol to internalize an upcoming unit. They apply their understanding of how students engage in three-dimensional learning throughout the unit to plan for the diverse needs of their classrooms and students.
Audience: Teachers (administrators welcome), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Engineering Internships
Half day (3 hours)
Grade level: 6, 7, 8
Prerequisite: Initial training or program overview
In this session, participants explore and plan for the first Engineering Internship of their grade-level course. Participants are oriented to the Futura Workspace and other digital tools used with students in the internship experience. Participants also dive deeper into how students apply science concepts from core units to construct design solutions, learning engineering concepts and practices throughout the process.
Workshop will feature one of the following units:
- Metabolism Engineering Internship
- Plate Motion Engineering Internship
- Force and Motion Engineering Internship
Audience: Teachers (administrators welcome), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Science Seminar
Half day (3 hours)
Grade band: 6–8
Prerequisite: Initial training or program overview
This session focuses on the culminating Science Seminar sequence at the end of the grades 6–8 core units, in which students apply the conceptual understanding built throughout the unit to engage in argumentation about a unique but related phenomenon. Participants experience a Science Seminar sequence from an exemplar unit as students do, then dive into a unit at their grade level to internalize the Science Seminar sequence and plan for instruction.
Audience: Teachers (administrators welcome), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Strengthening consultation session
60-minute session
Grade band: K–5 / 6–8
Grade level: K, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
Prerequisite: Initial training or program overview
This 60-minute session focuses on a specific topic that will deepen teachers understanding of Amplify Science. An Amplify facilitator will align with the school or district leadership team in advance on the topic (chosen from a menu of options) that will best meet teachers’ unique options.
Topics include:
- Supporting Diverse Learners: Exploring the resources (for K–8 teachers)
- Supporting Diverse Learners: Leveraging and Building upon Embedded Supports A: Teacher modeling and student discourse (for K–8 teachers)
- Supporting Diverse Learners: Leveraging and Building upon Embedded Supports B: Multimodal instruction
- Planning an Amplify Science lesson (for K–8 teachers)
- Unit kits and materials prep (for K–5 teachers)
- Grading with Amplify Science (for K–8 teachers)
- Analyzing Student Work (for K–8 teachers)
Available starting 6/2022.
Audience: Teachers, maximum 30 participants
Modality: Remote
Strengthening consultation package
3 1-hour sessions
Grade band:K–5 / 6–8
Grade level:K, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
Prerequisite:Initial training or program overview
This package consists of three 60-minute sessions that can be delivered on the same day or on different days. Each session will focus on a specific topic that will deepen teachers understanding of Amplify Science. An Amplify facilitator will align with the school or district’s leadership team in advance on the topic from a menu of options that will best meet teachers’ unique needs.
Available starting 6/2022.
Audience:Teachers, maximum 30 participants
Modality: Remote
For instructional leaders
Strengthening consultation session
60-minute session
Grade band: K–5 / 6–8
Grade level: K, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
Prerequisite: Administrators’ program overview
These 60 minute sessions will focus on a specific topic that will deepen instructional leaders’ understanding in Amplify Science and equip them in driving towards stronger student outcomes. An Amplify facilitator will align with the school or district’s leadership team in advance on the topic from a menu of options that will best meet instructional leaders’ unique needs.
Topic available for summer 2022: Amplify Science classroom look-fors (for K-8 leaders).
Available starting 6/2022.
Audience: Administrators, department chairs, coaches, maximum 30 participants
Modality: Remote
Strengthening consultation package
3 1-hour sessions
Grade band: K–5 / 6–8
Prerequisite: Administrators’ program overview
This package consists of three 60-minute sessions that can be delivered on the same day or on different days. Each session will focus on a specific topic that will deepen leaders’ understanding of Amplify Science. An Amplify facilitator will align with the school or district’s leadership team in advance on the topic from a menu of options that will best meet leaders’ unique needs.
Available starting 6/2022.
Audience: Administrators, department chairs, coaches, maximum 30 participants
Modality: Remote
Coach
For teachers
Job-Embedded Coaching (JEC) services: Teachers
1 day (6 hours)
Grade band: K–5 / 6–8
Grade level: K, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
Prerequisite: Initial training or program overview
Strengthen your implementation of Amplify Science with a coaching onsite visit for your teachers. An Amplify Science Professional Learning Specialist can visit classrooms for observation and debriefs with focused feedback and/or facilitate PLC or grade-level meetings to support teachers with planning decisions. The flexible coaching design allows for a collaborative and personalized approach to support effective program implementation.
Audience: Teachers, maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
For instructional leaders
Job-Embedded Coaching (JEC): Administrators
1 day (6 hours)
Grade band: K–5 / 6–8
Prerequisite: Administrators’ program overview
In our Coaching sessions, instructional leaders engage in facilitated Professional Learning Walks (PLW)—non-evaluative classroom observations of Amplify Science classrooms that focus on building capacity to identify indicators of strong implementation of the program. Classroom look-fors focus on the use of instructional resources (material access/use and the Classroom Wall), instructional delivery (unpacking the unit phenomena and multimodal instruction), and monitoring of instruction (supporting all learners and use of the Assessment System). Leaders collaboratively analyze collected data in order to identify strengths and areas for growth specific to the implementation of Amplify Science for their teaching teams. Leaders leave with an action plan for supporting their teachers based on the analysis and reflection from the PLW.
Audience: Administrators, department chairs, coaches, maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite
Pricing
We offer the following pricing for training sessions and packages:
| Session type | Pricing |
|---|---|
| 2 consecutive full day onsite sessions | $4,800 |
| 1-day onsite session | $3,200 |
| 1-day remote session (2 half days) | $1,500 |
| 1-day remote coaching session | $1,200 |
| Half-day onsite session | $2,500 |
| Half-day remote session | $750 |
| 90-minute remote session | $500 |
| 60-minute remote session | $350 |
| 3 1-hour remote sessions | $1,000 |
| Customized Amplify Science onsite or remote packages | Price will vary |
Please note that the prices are general ranges and may be subject to change.
Contact
Amplify welcomes the opportunity to partner with schools and districts to design professional development plans and answer your questions.
If you would like to order any of our professional development services, please contact your local Amplify sales representative or call (800) 823-1969.
mCLASS Intervention professional development
mCLASS® Intervention (formerly known as Burst: Reading) is a staff-led reading intervention that does the heavy lifting of data analysis and lesson sequencing, freeing up teachers to teach the reading skills each student needs.
We’ve created a wide suite of professional development offerings that will help you meet your unique needs this school year. Find out more below!

Plan your professional development
We’re excited to partner with you on your Amplify journey. Flexible professional development pathways have been designed to meet your needs.

Recommended Professional Development Plan
Our team has curated a recommended professional learning path from initial launch to continuous support. Use the Professional Development Planning Guide below to discuss the plan that best meets your school or district needs with your Account Executive.
Do you also use Amplify CKLA, mCLASS, and/or Boost Reading?
View the planning guide below to explore learning plans for teachers and leaders who are either new to or currently using multiple early literacy products.
mCLASS intervention overview
What’s the difference between mCLASS Intervention and mCLASS Intervention Universal?
An mCLASS Intervention school screens with mCLASS with DIBELS® 8th Edition.* An mCLASS Intervention Universal school screens with any other screener on the market. Some of the most common are iReady, iStation, MAP, AIMSweb, and paper/pencil DIBELS.
What else is different?
Here are a few other areas in which the programs differ:
| Area | mCLASS Intervention | mCLASS Intervention Universal |
|---|---|---|
| Onboarding process | Does not require Amplify’s Implementation team to explain staff and student enrollment because staff and students are already enrolled in our system. | Requires Amplify’s implementation team to explain staff and student enrollment since the tech coordinator hasn’t yet enrolled any students in mCLASS. |
| Professional development | Facilitator does not spend time practicing DIBELS measures with staff because they’re already familiar with these measures. | Facilitator spends time practicing DIBELS measures with staff because they usually haven’t administered them before. |
| Assessments | These schools administer DIBELS to all students because they have paid to use mCLASS as a screener. | These schools administer DIBELS only to intervention students because they haven’t paid to use mCLASS as a screener. |
*Utah and Colorado schools screen with mCLASS: Acadience Reading (formerly called mCLASS:DIBELS Next).
Getting optimal results with mCLASS Intervention
There are two critical roles at a school that need to work together in order for mCLASS Intervention to deliver optimal results. At some schools, an individual may hold both roles.
- Intervention Coordinator
Oversees the mCLASS Intervention program, groups students, determines group assignments and adjusts schedules, and works closely with your school’s Interventionists. - Interventionist
Teaches mCLASS Intervention lessons to small groups of students based on the assignments and schedules provided by your school’s Intervention Coordinator and progress monitors students every two weeks.
mCLASS Intervention sessions overview
| Audience | Title | Duration | Modality |
|---|---|---|---|
| Launch packages | |||
| New mCLASS + mCLASS Intervention customers | mCLASS + mCLASS Intervention initial training bundle | 4 half days, non-consecutive | Remote |
| New mCLASS + mCLASS Intervention customers | mCLASS + mCLASS Intervention initial training bundle | 2 days of onsite training, consecutive | Onsite |
| Launch | |||
| New mCLASS Intervention customers (mCLASS has been trained in the past) | mCLASS Intervention initial training | 1 day onsite or 2 half days remote | Onsite/Remote |
| Interventionists online course | Self-paced | Online | |
| Coach | |||
| All mCLASS Intervention customers | Coaching session | 1 day | Onsite |
| All mCLASS Intervention customers | Coaching session | Half day | Onsite/Remote |
| Coaching session | 60 mins | Remote | |
Launch packages
mCLASS initial training + mCLASS Intervention initial training
2 days (12 hours); consecutive
Prepare to launch mCLASS Intervention with fidelity! This bundle is intended for schools or districts who are implementing mCLASS Intervention for the first time and want the highest levels of support.
The first day will prepare all educators to administer the mCLASS assessment.
The second day will prepare all educators (including Intervention Coordinators) to implement mCLASS Intervention, including instruction on how to prepare for lessons, practice lesson delivery, administer the diagnostic and progress monitoring measures, and configure grouping and scheduling for maximum effectiveness.
Audience: Intervention Coordinators and Interventionists, maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite
mCLASS initial training + mCLASS Intervention initial training
2 days (12 hours) or 4 half days (12 hours); non-consecutive
Prepare to launch mCLASS Intervention with fidelity! This bundle is intended for schools or districts who are implementing mCLASS Intervention for the first time and want the highest levels of support.
The first part will prepare all educators to administer the mCLASS assessment.
The second part will prepare all educators (including Intervention Coordinators) to implement mCLASS Intervention: how to prepare for lessons, practice lesson delivery, administer the diagnostic and progress monitoring measures, and configure grouping and scheduling for maximum effectiveness.
Audience: Intervention Coordinators and Interventionists, maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Launch
mCLASS Intervention initial training
1 day onsite (6 hours) or 2 half days (6 hours)
This session is intended for those schools or districts that have been trained in mCLASS in the past.
This training will prepare all educators (including Intervention Coordinators) to implement mCLASS Intervention: how to prepare for lessons, practice lesson delivery, administer the diagnostic and progress monitoring measures, and configure grouping and scheduling for maximum effectiveness.
Audience: Intervention Coordinators and Interventionists, maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Interventionists online course
Self-paced
This PD is an individual seat to our self-paced, on-demand online course that contains approximately 3 hours of training. Participants will learn how to prepare for lessons and administer the diagnostic and progress monitoring measures. Participants will access and revisit the course anytime for up to one year as a refresher.
Audience: Interventionists
Modality: Online course
Coach
Coaching session
1 day (6 hours)
Strengthen your implementation of mCLASS Intervention with a Coaching session for your teachers and/or leaders! A certified mCLASS Intervention facilitator can visit 1–2 school sites per day. Participants may choose from a variety of topics that include, but are not limited to: observing lessons and providing feedback, analyzing mCLASS Intervention data and planning instruction, refining groups and schedules, or co-planning and modeling lessons.
Audience: Intervention Coordinators and/or Interventionists, maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite
Coaching session
Half day (3 hours)
Strengthen your implementation of mCLASS Intervention with a Coaching session for your teachers and/or leaders! A certified Intervention facilitator will visit one school site. Participants may choose from a variety of topics that include, but are not limited to: observing lessons and providing feedback; analyzing mCLASS Intervention data, reviewing student progress, and planning next steps; refining groups and schedules; or co-planning and modeling lessons.
Audience: Intervention Coordinators and/or Interventionists, maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite
Coaching session
60 min.
Strengthen your implementation of mCLASS Intervention with a quick Coaching session to improve implementation or student outcomes. During this remote hourly session, a certified mCLASS Intervention facilitator will help school leaders and/or Intervention Coordinators review usage, student progress data, and work to define an opportunity and develop a solution.
Audience: Intervention Coordinators and/or Interventionists, maximum 30 participants
Modality: Remote
mCLASS Intervention Universal sessions overview
| Title | Duration | Modality |
|---|---|---|
| Launch packages | ||
| Hybrid PD package | Half day, then 1 day | Hybrid (remote, then onsite) |
| Remote PD package | Half day, then 2 half days | Remote |
| Launch sessions | ||
| Training for Interventionists | 1 day or 2 half days | Onsite/Remote |
| Training for Intervention Coordinators | Half day | Remote |
| Coach | ||
| Coaching session | 1 day | Onsite |
| Coaching session | Half day | Onsite |
| Coaching session | Hourly | Remote |
Launch packages
Hybrid PD Package
Half day, then 1 day (9 hours)
Prepare to launch mCLASS Intervention Universal with fidelity! This package is intended for schools or districts implementing mCLASS Intervention Universal for the first time and want the highest levels of support.
Session 1 will prepare Intervention Coordinators to develop the school’s mCLASS Intervention Universal implementation plan, learn how to strategically group students, and schedule intervention supports.
Session 2 will prepare Interventionists to do an in-depth exploration of lesson activities and engage in real-time practice with diagnostic and progress monitoring measures.
Both sessions should be scheduled at least two weeks apart so the Intervention Coordinator has time to group students, draft schedules, and select the team of interventionists.
Audience:
Session 1: Intervention Coordinators, maximum 30 participants
Session 2: Interventionists, maximum 30 participants
Modality: Hybrid
Remote PD Package
3 half days (9 hours)
Prepare to launch mCLASS Intervention Universal with fidelity! This package is intended for schools or districts implementing mCLASS Intervention Universal for the first time.
Session 1 will prepare Intervention Coordinators to develop the school’s mCLASS Intervention Universal implementation plan, learn how to strategically group students, and schedule intervention supports.
Both sessions should be scheduled at least two weeks apart so the Intervention Coordinator has time to group students, draft schedules, and select the team of interventionists.
Audience:
Session 1: Intervention Coordinators, maximum 30 participants
Session 2: Interventionists, maximum 30 participants
Modality: Remote
Launch
Training for Interventionists
1 day onsite (6 hours) or 2 half days remote (6 hours)
This one-day training will ensure that Interventionists are prepared to teach mCLASS Intervention Universal with fidelity and accurately progress monitor students with the mCLASS platform throughout the year. Participants will do an in-depth exploration of lesson activities and engage in real-time practice with diagnostic and progress monitoring measures.
This session is ideal for new Interventionists at a school or district that has been previously implementing mCLASS Intervention Universal. We encourage the Coordinator to attend this session as well.
Audience: Interventionists (Intervention Coordinators welcome), maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Training for Intervention Coordinators
Half day (3 hours)
This half-day training will ensure that Intervention Coordinators are prepared to launch mCLASS Intervention Universal at their school site(s) with fidelity and best practice. Participants will consider grouping and scheduling configurations to make the most of the program, and create launch plans.
This session is paired with the Training for Interventionists full-day session.
Audience: Intervention Coordinators, maximum 30 participants
Modality: Remote
Coach
Coaching session
1 day onsite (6 hours)
Strengthen your implementation of mCLASS Intervention Universal with a Coaching session for your teachers and/or leaders! A certified mCLASS Intervention Universal facilitator can visit 1–2 school sites per day. Participants may choose from a variety of topics that include, but are not limited to: observing lessons and providing feedback, analyzing mCLASS Intervention Universal data and planning instruction, refining groups and schedules, or co-planning and modeling lessons, maximum 30 participants.
Audience: Intervention Coordinators and/or Interventionists, maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite
Coaching session
Half day onsite (3 hours)
Strengthen your implementation of mCLASS Intervention with a Coaching session for your teachers and/or leaders! A certified Intervention facilitator will visit one school site. Participants may choose from a variety of topics that include, but are not limited to: observing lessons and providing feedback; analyzing mCLASS Intervention data, reviewing student progress, and planning next steps; refining groups and schedules; or co-planning and modeling lessons.
Audience: Intervention Coordinators and/or Interventionists, maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Coaching session
60 min.
Strengthen your implementation of mCLASS Intervention with a quick Coaching session to improve implementation or student outcomes. During this remote hourly session, a certified mCLASS Intervention facilitator will help school leaders and/or Intervention Coordinators review usage, student progress data, and work to define an opportunity and develop a solution.
Audience: Intervention Coordinators and/or Interventionists, maximum 30 participants
Modality: Remote
Pricing
We offer the following pricing for training sessions and packages:
| Session type | Pricing |
|---|---|
| mCLASS + mCLASS Intervention initial training bundle, 2 days onsite, consecutive | $4,800 |
| mCLASS + mCLASS Intervention initial training bundle, 2 days onsite, non-consecutive | $6,400 |
| mCLASS + mCLASS Intervention initial training bundle, 4 half days remote | $3,000 |
| mCLASS Intervention initial training, onsite | $3,200 |
| mCLASS Intervention initial training, remote, 2 half-days | $1,500 |
| Interventionists self-paced online course | $49 per individual seat |
| Intervention Coordinators self-paced online course | $49 per individual seat |
| mCLASS Intervention Universal hybrid PD package | $3,950 |
| mCLASS Intervention Universal remote PD package | $2,250 |
| mCLASS Intervention Universal training for Interventionists, onsite | $3,200 |
| mCLASS Intervention Universal training for Interventionists, remote | $1,500 |
| 1-day coaching session, onsite | $3,200 |
| Half-day coaching session, onsite | $2,500 |
| Remote coaching, hourly | $350 |
Please note that the prices are general ranges and may be subject to change.
Contact
Amplify welcomes the opportunity to partner with schools and districts to design professional development plans and answer your questions.
If you would like to order any of our professional development services, please contact your local Amplify sales representative or call (800) 823-1969.
Amplify ELA professional development
Amplify ELA is an engaging and rigorous curriculum designed specifically for grades 6–8. With Amplify ELA, students learn to tackle any complex text and make observations, grapple with interesting ideas, and find relevance for themselves.
We’ve created a wide suite of professional development offerings that will help you meet your unique needs. Find out more below!

Amplify CKLA, ELA, and Science professional development has been vetted by Rivet Education’s team through a rigorous three-step process and is listed in the Professional Learning Partner Guide.

Plan your professional development
We’re excited to partner with you on your Amplify journey. Flexible professional development pathways have been designed to meet your needs.

Recommended Professional Development Plan
Our team has curated a recommended professional learning path from initial launch to continuous support. Use the Professional Development Planning Guide below to discuss the plan that best meets your school or district needs with your Account Executive.
Sessions overview
Recomended sessions are highlighted below
| Title | Duration | Modality | Available |
|---|---|---|---|
| Launch | |||
| Comprehensive initial training for teachers | 2 days consecutive | Onsite | Yes |
| Initial training for teachers | 1 day | Onsite | Yes |
| Initial training for teachers | 2 half days | Remote | Yes |
| Program overview | Half day | Onsite/Remote | Yes |
| Initial training for leaders | Half day | Onsite/Remote | Yes |
| Strengthen | |||
| Enhancing observations for leaders | Half day | Onsite/Remote | 09/01/22 |
| Enhancing planning and practice | Half day | Onsite/Remote | Yes |
| Analytic reading | Half day | Onsite/Remote | Yes |
| Supporting all learners | Half day | Onsite/Remote | Yes |
| Data-informed instruction | Half day | Onsite/Remote | Yes |
| Writing: Improving through feedback | Half day | Onsite/Remote | Yes |
| Strengthening consultation session | 1 hour | Remote | Yes |
| Strengthening consultation package | 3 1-hour sessions | Remote | Yes |
| Coach | |||
| Coaching sessions | 2 days consecutive | Onsite | Yes |
| Coaching sessions | 1 day | Onsite/Remote | Yes |
| Half day | Onsite/Remote | Yes | |
Launch
Comprehensive initial training for teachers
2 days consecutive (6 hours per day, 12 hours total)
Prepare to implement and support Amplify ELA instruction in your school! Learn how Amplify ELA supports students through rigorous and engaging ELA instruction. Participants will navigate the Amplify ELA platform, learn to give feedback on student work, and explore how to use Amplify ELA’s embedded supports and Reporting app to monitor student progress. Participants will have multiple opportunities to practice components of Amplify ELA and leave confident to begin teaching.
Audience: Teachers and coaches
Modality: Onsite, maximum 30 participants
Initial training for teachers
1 day (6 hours)
Prepare to implement and support Amplify ELA instruction in your schools! Learn how Amplify ELA supports students through rigorous and engaging ELA instruction. Participants will navigate the Amplify ELA platform, learn to give feedback on student work, and explore how to use Amplify ELA’s embedded supports and Reporting app to monitor student progress. Participants will leave with an action plan to begin teaching Amplify ELA.
Audience: Teachers and coaches, maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite
Initial training for teachers
2 half days (3 hours per day, 6 hours total)
This full day initial training session (6 hours) is split into two half-day sessions (3 hours each). Part 1 and Part 2 may be scheduled consecutively on the same day or on different days, ideally within ~2 weeks. The same participants should attend both sessions in order to receive all content about key components of Amplify ELA, which includes learning how to navigate, teach, and monitor student progress.
Audience: Teachers and coaches, maximum 30 participants
Modality: Remote
Program essentials
Half day (3 hours)
Learn the program essentials, including how to navigate the digital curriculum and print materials and where to locate features like assessments and data reports.
Audience: Teachers and coaches, maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Initial training for instructional leaders
Half day (3 hours)
This training will provide district- and school-level instructional leaders with an overview of Amplify ELA so that they can support their staff in implementing Amplify.
Learn basic navigation and gain an understanding of Amplify ELA’s approach to reading, writing, and language instruction. Participants will then have the opportunity to choose how to best support teachers by either developing a school-wide implementation plan or learning strategies for effective classroom observations.
Audience: Ideal for instructional leaders, principals, and district staff who oversee the implementation of the new curriculum, maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Strengthen
Enhancing observations for leaders
Half day (3 hours)
Elevate your program knowledge to support colleagues with effective ELA implementation! Practice analyzing ELA lessons and identify key instructional elements and next steps. Participants will be prepared to analyze data and enhance classroom observations.
Prerequisite training: Initial training for leaders
Audience: Ideal for instructional leaders, principals, and district staff who oversee the implementation of the new curriculum, maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Enhancing planning and practice
Half day (3 hours)
Dig into one unit to unpack standards, assessments, and student engagement. Through backward planning, this session guides teachers to think deeply about learning outcomes and key moments of formative assessments. Teachers will leave this session with a detailed plan of a unit of their choice that includes learning outcomes, key assessment moments, and aligned instructional strategies.
Audience: Ideal for new or experienced Amplify ELA teachers or coaches, maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Analytic reading
Half day (3 hours)
Participants will learn how close reading functions in Amplify ELA and which teacher moves will support students tackling complex texts. Participants will also learn how to facilitate a close reading session to develop key reading routines, promote academic discourse, and encourage the type of collaboration that drives analysis and deepens understanding.
Audience: Ideal for new or experienced Amplify ELA teachers, maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Supporting all learners
Half day (3 hours)
Participants will learn how to effectively use embedded and differentiated supports and the Classwork app to support all students, including ELLs, students with learning disabilities, struggling readers and writers, and advanced students.
Audience: Ideal for new teachers or instructional leaders who want to learn more about included supports in Amplify ELA, maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Data-informed instruction
Half day (3 hours)
Participants will review their own student data using the Reporting and Classwork apps and align embedded supports to specific student needs. The goal of this session is to become proficient in turning Amplify ELA data into differentiated and targeted instruction.
Note: This course can be combined with the supporting all learners session to make a full day of training.
Prerequisite: 4–6 weeks of student data in Amplify’s Reporting app. It is recommended that teachers are in at least Unit B.
Audience: Ideal for teachers or support staff who want to learn how to use student data to inform instruction and provide differentiation, maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Writing: Improving through feedback
Half day (3 hours)
Participants will learn how writing functions in Amplify ELA and which teacher moves support students as they build writing skills. Participants will learn how feedback supports student growth and will practice giving targeted feedback based on rubrics and assessment data.
Audience: This course asks teachers to look at their students’ writing, so it is recommended for delivery after 4–6 weeks of curriculum use, maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Strengthening consultation session
1 hour
This 60-minute session will focus on a specific topic that will deepen educators’ understanding in Amplify ELAR Texas and equip them with the tools needed to drive stronger student outcomes. An Amplify facilitator will align with the school or district leadership team in advance of the session on the topic (chosen from a menu of options) that will best meet educators’ unique needs. The menu includes sessions on: engagement, pacing and grading/assessment.
Audience: Teachers and coaches, maximum 30 participants
Modality: Remote
Strengthening consultation package
3 1-hour sessions
This package consists of three 60-minute session that can be delivered on the same day or on different days. Each session will focus on a specific topic that will deepen educators’ understanding in ELA and equip them with the tools needed to drive stronger student outcomes. An Amplify facilitator will align with the school or district leadership team in advance of the session on the topic (chosen from a menu of options) that will best meet educators’ unique needs. The menu includes sessions on: engagement, pacing and grading/assessment.
Audience: Teachers and coaches, maximum 30 participants
Modality: Remote
Coach
Coaching session
2 days consecutive (6 hours per day, 12 total)
Strengthen your implementation of Amplify ELA with an onsite coaching visit for your teachers and/or leaders. Participants can choose from a variety of topics that include, but are not limited to: lesson modeling and debrief (conducted by an Amplify ELA coach), grade-level planning, classroom observations, and leadership consultation. The flexible onsite coaching design allows for a collaborative approach to support effective program implementation.
Audience: Teachers, coaches, and/or instructional leaders, maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite
Coaching session
1 day (6 hours)
Strengthen your implementation of Amplify ELA with an onsite coaching visit for your teachers and/or leaders. Participants can choose from a variety of topics that include, but are not limited to: lesson modeling and debrief (conducted by an Amplify ELA coach), grade-level planning, classroom observations, and leadership consultation. The flexible onsite coaching design allows for a collaborative approach to support effective program implementation.
Audience: Teachers, coaches, and/or instructional leaders, maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Coaching session
Half day (3 hours)
Strengthen your implementation of Amplify ELA with a coaching session for your teachers and/or leaders. Participants can choose from a variety of topics that include, but are not limited to: lesson modeling and debrief (conducted by an Amplify ELA coach), grade-level planning, classroom observations, and leadership consultation. The flexible coaching design allows for a collaborative approach to support effective program implementation.
Audience: Teachers, coaches, and/or instructional leaders, maximum 30 participants
Modality: Onsite/Remote
Pricing
We offer the following pricing for training sessions and packages:
| Type | Pricing |
| 2-day onsite session | $4,800 |
| 1-day onsite session | $3,200 |
| 1-day remote session (2 half days remote) | $1,500 |
| Half-day onsite session | $2,500 |
| Half-day remote session | $750 |
| 1-hour remote session | $350 |
| 3 1-hour remote sessions | $1,000 |
Please note that the prices are general ranges and may be subject to change.
Contact
Amplify welcomes the opportunity to partner with schools and districts to design professional development plans and answer your questions.
If you would like to order any of our professional development services, please contact your local Amplify sales representative or call (800) 823-1969.
9
Vulnerability Disclosure Policy
As a provider of technology solutions to schools, Amplify’s commitment to data privacy and security is essential to our organization. Amplify demonstrates that commitment in part through the physical, technical, and administrative safeguards we maintain to protect student data and other sensitive information entrusted to our care.
Amplify looks forward to working with the security community to find security vulnerabilities and support our efforts to keep our data and systems safe and secure.
Before reporting a vulnerability, please read our program rules, eligibility overview, report submission rules and guidelines, legal terms, and out-of-scope list set out below.
General Rules
- We appreciate reports on any Amplify-owned asset, but only vulnerabilities that prove to be outside of expected behavior are eligible for acceptance.
- Reports involving third party services or providers not under Amplify’s control are out-of-scope for submission.
- Amplify places a high priority on privacy. Vulnerabilities in the areas of inadvertent exposure of our customers’ personally identifiable information (PII) are considered to be of Critical severity.
- We classify vulnerability severity per CVSS (the Common Vulnerability Scoring Standard). These are general guidelines, and the ultimate decision over a reward – whether to give one and in what amount – is a decision that lies entirely within our discretion on a case-by-case basis.
- In order to receive an award for validated reports, you must have a HackerOne account. Please note reward decisions are subject to the discretion of Amplify. Please note these are general guidelines, and that reward decisions are subject to the discretion of Amplify.
- Only interact with test accounts that you created via self sign-up or were provided by Amplify. The use of any credentials outside of these areas for testing purposes, including legacy credentials supplied through the program and leaked credentials from third parties is strictly prohibited.
- Do not contact Amplify’s customer support for questions or to submit a vulnerability report.
- Amplify may, in its sole discretion, disqualify you if you breach this policy or fail to comply with any of the program’s rules and terms.
- Amplify reserves the right to cancel or modify this program without notice at any time.
Eligibility
- You are not eligible for participation if you 1) are employed by Amplify or any of its affiliates 2) are an immediate family member of a person employed by Amplify or any of its affiliates or 3) left the employment of Amplify or its affiliates or subsidiaries within the past (12) months.
- You are not eligible for participation if you have been prohibited in writing from participating in the Bug Bounty Program by Amplify at any time.
- You may not be in violation of any national, state, or local law or regulation with respect to any activities directly or indirectly related to conducting your tests.
- You may not compromise the privacy or safety of our customer and the operation of our services;
- You may not cause harm to Amplify, our customers, or others;
- You must follow the policy guidelines to responsibly disclose vulnerabilities to Amplify.
Vulnerability Submission Rules & Guidelines
- Any testing conducted on customer data or accounts is strictly prohibited and will result in removal from the program.
- If during the course of testing you encounter any sensitive data outside of your test accounts (including student or teacher names, login info, assessment data, activity data, and student work, etc.), please cease testing immediately and report what you have found. DO NOT include any text, screenshots, etc. with PII in the report. This action safeguards both potentially vulnerable data and yourself.
- Do not access, download, or share any data you encounter in your testing.
- Only interact with test accounts that you created or that we provided. The use of any credentials outside of these areas for testing purposes is strictly prohibited.
- Provide detailed reports with reproducible steps. If the report is not detailed enough to reproduce the issue, the issue will not be eligible for a reward.
- In some cases, you may not have all of the context information to assess the impact of a vulnerability. If you’re unsure of the direct impact but are reasonably certain that you have identified a vulnerability, we encourage you to submit a detailed report and state the open questions on impact.
- When duplicate submissions for the same vulnerability occur, we only award the first report that was received, provided that it can be fully reproduced.
- Multiple reports describing the same vulnerability against multiple assets or endpoints must be submitted within a single report.
- Avoid destruction of data and interruption or degradation of our service.
- Proof of Concept (POC) videos that do not include PII are highly recommended to help verify the issue, provide clarity, and save time on triage.
- Please provide timely responses to any follow-up questions and requests for additional information.
- Understand that there could be submissions for which we accept the risk, have other compensating controls, or will not address in the manner expected. When this happens, we will act as transparently as we can to provide you with the necessary context as to how the decision was made.
- Reports submitted using methods that violate policy rules will not be accepted and may result in account suspension from/denial of entrance to the program.
- Please refer to any noted out-of-scope areas listed under Out-of-Scope Vulnerabilities.
Out-of-Scope Vulnerabilities
When reporting vulnerabilities, please consider (1) attack scenario / exploitability, and (2) security impact of the bug. The following issues are considered out-of scope. In addition, please refer to any noted Out of Scope areas listed under the program assets.
- Social engineering (e.g. phishing, vishing, smishing) is prohibited.
- Clickjacking on pages with no sensitive actions.
- Unauthenticated/logout/login CSRF.
- Attacks requiring MITM or physical access to a user’s device.
- Previously known vulnerable libraries without a working Proof of Concept.
- Comma Separated Values (CSV) injection without demonstrating a vulnerability.
- Missing best practices in SSL/TLS configuration.
- Any activity that could lead to the disruption of our service (DoS).
- Content spoofing and text injection issues without showing an attack vector/without being able to modify HTML/CSS.
- XSRF that requires the knowledge of a secret.
- Automated tools that could generate significant traffic and possibly impair the functioning of our services.
- Testing or demonstrating the ability to upload unlimited audio/video files to exhaust resources.
- Leaked credentials from third party providers, including invalid or stale employee credential dumps, and/or leaked personal information of Amplify staff.
- Leaked credentials for Amplify customers not caused by vulnerabilities in our systems.
- Vulnerabilities identified via third party services or providers where Amplify is not the owner.
- Issues that merely result in spam/annoyance without additional impact (e.g sending emails without sufficient rate limiting)
- Attempts to access our offices or data centers.
- Any activity that could contribute to the disruption of our service (DoS). Automated scanning tests should be kept to 10 requests per second or less.
- Self XSS.
- Broken links and/or crashes in general.
- Issues that require unlikely user interaction.
- Issues that do not affect the latest version of modern browsers
- Issues that require physical access to a victim’s computer/device.
- Disclosure of information that does not present a significant risk
- Please refer to any noted out-of-scope areas listed under program assets.
Legal
- Any information you receive or collect about us, our affiliates or any of our users, employees or agents in connection with the Bug Bounty Program (“Confidential Information”) must be kept confidential and only used in connection with the Bug Bounty Program. You may not use, disclose or distribute any such Confidential Information, including without limitation any information regarding your Submission, without our prior written consent. You must get written consent by submitting a disclosure request through the HackerOne platform.
- Researchers must follow HackerOne’s disclosure guidelines. Public disclosure or disclosure to other third parties without the explicit permission of Amplify is prohibited.
- We will not take legal action against you if vulnerabilities are found and responsibly reported in compliance with all of the terms and conditions outlined in this policy.
- Amplify reserves the right to modify the terms and conditions of this program without notice at any time, and your participation in the Program constitutes acceptance of all terms.
Submit Vulnerability Report
The High Impact Tutoring Implementation Workshop Series
How can your community get involved in the science classroom?

In a recent episode of Science Connections: The Podcast, veteran middle school science teacher Ryan Renee Rudkin sat down with host Eric Cross to discuss ways educators can get community members involved in the science classroom.
You can access the full episode here, but we’ve pulled out Ryan’s top three teacher takeaways for you to use in your classroom today!
1. Ask your community to get involved.
Ryan’s creative instructional approach extends beyond the walls of her classroom. She finds value in enlisting the support of community members as featured classroom guest speakers. These valued guest speakers share their real-world experiences to help students relate to science content.
Some examples of Ryan’s community partnerships:
- A local meteorologist’s hometown celebrity status helped students transfer the knowledge learned during a sixth-grade weather unit.
- A cardiac nurse practitioner led an actual heart dissection with Ryan’s students.
- A nutritionist joined as a guest speaker during the metabolism unit.
When Eric asked how Ryan was able to identify so many willing community members and parents to come speak to her students, she said, “People want to come and talk to kids. It doesn’t hurt to ask.” Ryan utilizes social media, PTA groups, and family surveys. “You just have to get creative. Look in your community and see what you have.”
2. Increase caregiver engagement.
Ryan understands there are various barriers that may affect her students’ attendance and classroom engagement. Because of this understanding, she extends grace to her students and prioritizes making them feel valued. This is exemplified by Ryan calling students’ caregivers every Friday. Students are able to listen to the positive conversations and look forward to them every Friday. These positive touchpoints establish a strong caregiver-teacher relationship and open the door for dialogue between students and families as they celebrate student success.
3. Get students excited about showcasing their knowledge of science content.
One of Ryan’s top goals in her classroom is to create an enjoyable learning environment and to do so, she encourages educators to be resourceful. “Don’t reinvent the wheel,” she says. “There are so many things out there that you can borrow and make it your own.”
To keep students excited about science content, Ryan implements activities like Science Olympiad, an in-person or remote science competition that provides standards-based challenges; and March Mammal Madness, an annual tournament of simulated combat competition among animals that utilize scientific information to educate students about inter-species interactions.
With over a decade of experience in the classroom, Ryan exemplifies how creativity, resourcefulness, and passion for learning can positively affect student engagement in the classroom.
For a more in-depth look, listen to the full episode to hear Eric and Ryan discussing the importance of connecting with students and caregivers in the science classroom:
Science Connections: The Podcast featuring veteran middle school teacher Ryan Renee
Introducing our 2023 Science of Reading Star Award finalists!

Roll out the red carpet and shine those spotlights—it’s time to meet the 25 finalists for our 2023 Science of Reading Star Awards!
These educators and leaders help light the way for the next generation. They’ve implemented Science of Reading principles and guided their students toward lifelong literacy. They’ve demonstrated expert change management and professional development. Get ready to meet some of the brightest minds in education as we celebrate their achievements and see what makes them truly stellar!
Join our virtual event and awards program on May 23.
But first…meet our 2023 finalists! Below, you’ll hear from the nominees themselves, as well as the colleagues who nominated them, about what makes them stars.
The Changemaker Award
For exemplary leadership in guiding a district through a shift to the Science of Reading.
And the finalists are…
Heather Campbell
Learning Coach, Sunset Elementary, Washington County District, UT
Why she’s a star: “Heather’s philosophy that all students can learn to read if given proper instruction has changed the data. Our school made the change and the data is showing our students are thriving.” —Shelli Campbell, Learning Coach
Javonna Mack
Lead Content Teacher, Caddo Parish School, LA
Why she’s a star: “Whether working with students or teachers, Mrs. Mack keeps best practices grounded in the Science of Reading at the forefront. She constantly strives to build teachers’ expertise in teaching students to read through content-rich professional learning communities, often on Saturdays or after the workday has ended.” —Shannon Southwell, Lead Content Teacher
Aaron Jura
Reading Interventionist, Bloomingdale, IL School District
Why he’s a star: “Aaron has been the catalyst for our entire district embracing this shift to the Science of Reading, and we are just at the beginning of this amazing journey.” —Nicole Gabany, Reading Interventionist
Nicole Peterson
Director of PreK–8 Education, Sampson County Schools, NC
Why she’s a star: “She has created, initiated, implemented, monitored, evaluated, and adjusted processes and systems to ensure that teachers have access to resources, training, materials, and professional development to ensure that all students gain equitable access to high-quality, evidence-based instruction.” —Matthew McLean, Director, PreK–8th Grade Education
Virginia Quinn-Mooney
Teacher, Northville Elementary School, CT
Why she’s a star: “Virginia has gone from one person with a personal commitment to advancing her literacy knowledge. She has now impacted countless educators, parents, etc., with her tenacity and learning journey.” —Nicole Gregory, Teacher
The Data Dynamo Award
For commendable use of data to align a literacy system and maximize student achievement
Shennoy Barnett
Kindergarten Teacher, South Smithfield Elementary, NC
Why she’s a star: “My objective is to help as many children as I can become fluent readers and critical thinkers. As a literacy specialist here for just four months, I made great strides with literacy with my students.” —Shennoy Barnett, Kindergarten Teacher
Anne Elizabeth Carter
Kindergarten Teacher, Wake County District, NC
Why she’s a star: “Through systematic and explicit phonics instruction as well as targeted language comprehension instruction—using texts that incorporate science and social studies content as well as build knowledge systematically—my kiddos were TRULY learning how to read accurately and fluently.” —David Gaudet, Principal
Bethani Ploegstra
Kindergarten Teacher, Union Colony Elementary, CO
Why she’s a star: “She takes data from mCLASS® DIBELS®, Lexia, and SchoolPace (part of our reading curriculum), as well as formative feedback from what she hears and sees students doing daily in the classroom, to immediately adjust what she presents next to students, whether individually, in small groups, or whole class.” —Mandy Bailey, Assistant Principal
The Knowledge Builder Award
For showing the world that the Science of Reading is more than just phonics, and empowers students with knowledge from elementary to middle school
Corey Beil
Instructional Interventionist, Quakertown Community School District, PA
Why he’s a star: “He incorporated literacy into his daily math instruction by providing our students with opportunities to understand and connect with the content more deeply. Our students were exposed to practicing literacy concepts while expanding their mathematical knowledge and foundational understanding.” —Julianne Pennabaker, Teacher
Kim Smaw
Principal, Rosalyn Yalow Charter School, NY
Why she’s a star: “She was able to persuade the learning community to adopt the Science of Reading, firmly convincing them that this curriculum could empower students to gain rich learning experiences.” —Deirdre Frost, Reading Intervention Specialist
Angie Dutton
Instructional Coach, Onslow County Schools, NC
Why she’s a star: “Her positive attitude about the Science of Reading is contagious and is most likely why other educators feel comfortable reaching out to her for questions and guidance.” —Stacey Horne, Instructional Coach
Nicole Brodie
ELA Grade 7 Teacher, Long Middle School, GA
Why she’s a star: “She encourages her students to use their [voices] for change and impact and supports them in their learning process academically, [socially, and emotionally].”
—Renee Dawson, Grade 7 English Language Arts Teacher
The Intervention Innovator Award
For admirable use of intervention strategies to get at-risk readers back on track
Suzanne Maddox
RTI Teacher, Robertson County Schools, TN
Why she’s a star: “Mrs. Maddox reviewed individual student data, worked with teachers, and began using CKLA Skills and the intervention materials provided with this curriculum to continue a sounds-first approach to meeting the individual needs of students.” —Brooke Callis, RTI Teacher
Sara Thornton
Reading Interventionist, Senior Team Lead, Schmitt Elementary, CO
Why she’s a star: “Sara’s enthusiasm for and dedication to her work has been an inspiration to all involved and has resulted in a successful transition to the Science of Reading—as evidenced by our students’ amazing academic growth!” —Hayley Gunter, Reading Interventionist, Senior Team Lead
Markaya Aga
Reading Interventionist, Merit Academy, CO
Why she’s a star: “Since she has come on board at our school, the mindset around literacy and the growth of our programming [has improved] ten-fold. We need more educators like Markaya!” —Allison Hanson, Reading Interventionist
The Language Luminary Award
For outstanding success in developing the skills and strengths of emergent bilingual students
Wanda Ramirez
Grade 2 Teacher, El Sol Science and Arts Academy, CA
Why she’s a star: “We used to emphasize to students that what they know in one language cannot be used in the other language. Now, as a dual-immersion educator, I have the opportunity to change that mindset, teach my students to embrace their native [language], and empower them to use their entire linguistic ability. It’s a very powerful thing to be able to do.” —Wanda Ramirez, Grade 2 Teacher
Esmeralda Martinez
Kindergarten Teacher, Compass Community Schools, TN
Why she’s a star: “She has consistently worked on improving her teaching methods, tried new ways to engage the class, and worked diligently to support all of our students.” —Rachel, Marinari, Teacher
Christine Black
ESL Teacher, North Dover Elementary School, NJ
Why she’s a star: “We have a rapidly expanding ESL population, and Mrs. Black works tirelessly to ensure that her students are expanding their ELA skills in accordance with the major tenets of the Science of Reading.” —Dawn Gawalis, ESL Teacher
Rookie of the Year Award
For showing the world that the Science of Reading is more than just phonics, and empowers students with knowledge from elementary to middle school
Caitlyn Cockram
Teacher, Patrick County Schools, VA
Why she’s a star: “We have offered professional development in vocabulary and implementing SOR strategies, and Caitlyn is always one of the first teachers to sign up. She is dedicated to improving student achievement through research and evidence-based practices.” —Callie Wheeler, Teacher
Andrea Mason
Academic Interventionist, County Line Elementary School, GA
Why she’s a star: “Making the shift from balanced literacy to the Science of Reading hasn’t always been easy. But I continue to research and implement these best practices with my students because I can see that they are now on a path to becoming strong readers.” —Jennifer Ezell, Academic Interventionist
Mallory Pendergast
Phonics Teacher, Literacy Interventionist, Circle City Prep, IN
Why she’s a star: “As a kindergarten teacher, she led 100% of her scholars to be reading on grade level in the first quarter and maintained that momentum through the first semester.” —Sami Hyde, Senior Instructional Coach
ESSER Ace Award
For notable and innovative use of stimulus funds to help kids rediscover the joy of reading
Stephanie Hurst
District Literacy Specialist, Maple Avenue Elementary, NH
Why she’s a star: “She is also a voice on the utilization of [the] ESSER Fund—using the distribution of funds per federal protocol to ensure that the district’s lowest-performing schools have access to quality instructional materials and professional development all grounded in the Science of Reading.” —Mark Blount, K–12 Literacy Specialist
Callie Wheeler and Sara Vernon
Instructional Coaches, Patrick County Schools, VA
Why Callie’s a star: “Mrs. Wheeler played a key role in creating a culture of literacy within our schools, where the Science of Reading is central to the education of our students.” —Sara Vernon, Instructional Coach
Why Sara’s a star: “Sara has worked tirelessly to make the shift from the vision that was grounded in balanced literacy to one that is now making waves in Southwest Virginia with its Know Better, Do Better, Be Better approach to reading instruction.” —Callie Wheeler, Instructional Coach
Edie Bostic
Literacy Coach, Gallia Local, OH
“As a teacher, district Title I coordinator, elementary principal, and now district literacy coach, she continually champions the students under her care and is passionate about those students receiving the highest levels of instruction.” —Leslie Henry, Principal
Inspired? We are! Register to join our May 23 Science of Reading Star Awards virtual ceremony!
More to explore
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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 Ambassadors: What 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
mCLASS® with DIBELS® 8th Edition for Colorado
S2-02: Developing your own teaching style: Tips from a veteran teacher.

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.
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.
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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.

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 to Amplify Desmos Math California!
California educators, welcome to math that motivates. Introducing Amplify Desmos Math California, a new, curiosity-driven TK–12 program that builds lifelong math proficiency. Each lesson poses problems that invite a variety of approaches before guiding students to synthesize their understanding of the learning goals. Students encounter math problems they are eager to solve; teachers spend more time where it’s most impactful: creating a collaborative classroom of learners.
Scroll to learn more about the program and explore sample materials.
About the program
Amplify Desmos Math California is a TK–12 core math program designed to meet the CA Math Framework and the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics. Offered in English and Spanish, Amplify Desmos Math California thoughtfully combines conceptual understanding, procedural fluency, and application through a structured approach to problem-based learning. Through engaging activities, Amplify Desmos Math California invites curiosity and math discourse into the classroom to create lifelong math proficiency.
Please scroll to learn more about the K–8 program and explore sample materials. (TK and high school materials are in development and will be available soon.)
A powerful math suite
Amplify Desmos Math California combines the best of assessment, problem-based core lessons, personalized practice, and intervention into a coherent and engaging experience for both students and teachers.

Assessment
mCLASS benchmark assessments, along with daily formative checks, measure not only what students know, but also how they think. The asset-based assessment system provides teachers with targeted, actionable insights, linked to core instruction and intervention resources. Unit- and lesson-level core assessments give teachers data at their fingertips to guide and differentiate instruction. In grades 3–8, core assessments and performance tasks are designed to prepare students for success on the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium (SBAC) testing.
Core instruction
Amplify Desmos Math California core lessons pair problems students are eager to solve with clear instructional moves for teachers. Each lesson is designed to tell a story by posing problems that invite a variety of approaches before guiding students to synthesize their understanding of the learning goals. With built-in differentiation and Multilingual / English Learner support, Amplify Desmos Math California will allow every student to find success in the math classroom.


Personalized learning
Boost Personalized Learning activities help students access grade-level math through engaging, independent digital practice. Responsive Feedback adjusts to students’ work, providing item-level adaptivity to further support their learning.
Intervention
Integrated resources like Mini-Lessons, Fluency Practice, and Math Adventures provide targeted intervention on a specific concept or skill connected to the daily lesson. Extensions are also available to stretch students’ understanding.


Big Ideas
The CA Mathematics Framework encourages a shift from power standards to thinking about math as a series of connected Big Ideas. Each Amplify Desmos Math California lesson supports one or more Big Ideas and the connections between Big Ideas. The grade-level diagram changes through the course based on the math concepts being addressed.
Focus, coherence, and rigor
Each lesson highlights why the content being covered is important, how students will engage with the mathematics, and what students will do with the learning. Our lesson opener helps teachers understand the most important concepts of the lesson, and includes the Drivers of Investigation (DI), Content Connections (CC), and Standards for Mathematical Practice (SMP) that drive learning in each lesson.


Built-in authentic tasks
Mathematics is not learning in isolation. Students are connected to each other’s thinking and can use math to understand the world. With accessible invitations to authentic tasks, all students can experience mathematical success. Amplify Desmos Math California provides these authentic invitations in a variety of ways:
Each unit begins with an “Explore” lesson, which allows students to engage with authentic exploration in low-floor, high-ceiling tasks. These tasks are designed in such a way that all students can access the basic mathematical concepts, but they also offer possibilities for advanced exploration and problem-solving for those ready for more complex work, promoting an inclusive and differentiated learning environment.
Our innovative course-level investigations are designed to facilitate multipart exploration. Students grapple with Big Ideas, diving deep into key concepts that encourage comprehensive understanding. Data science is infused into the approach, equipping students with a strong foundation in interpreting and applying data-driven solutions. The Environmental Principles and Concepts (EP&Cs) are also a focus of our investigations, enabling students to understand and appreciate the coherence and interrelationship of Earth’s environmental systems.
A focus on multilingual and English learners

In building Amplify Desmos Math California, we partnered with the English Learner Success Forum (ELSF) to provide guidance on our multilingual/English learner support for teachers. ELSF is a national nonprofit organization that advocates for high-quality instructional materials that are inclusive of multilingual learners. ELSF’s guiding documents reflect research-based instructional strategies that are critical to curriculum design and were created by researchers, linguists, and practitioners from across the country. ELSF reviewed our materials and provided directional guidance and feedback to ensure that the program fully supports multilingual/English learners.
A component of our K–5 curriculum is the engaging unit stories that interweave mathematics with real-life situations and relatable narratives. These unit stories are specifically crafted to inspire curiosity and foster a deep connection between the learner and the math concepts being explored. This unique approach not only makes learning fun and interesting, but also allows our young learners to see themselves in the math.
To help students grow their domain-specific and academic vocabulary, Amplify Desmos Math California provides embedded vocabulary routines, such as prompting teachers to use a Frayer Model. These routines allow students to make connections to new language and offer repeated opportunities to develop and refine language.
Amplify Desmos Math California recognizes the diverse language needs of our students and is designed to be inclusive. Each lesson in the program features a parallel language activity, designed to be available to all students, in the form of teacher guidance and student activities. The activities in the Math Language Development Resource has leveled ELD (Emerging, Expanding, Bridging) differentiation to support all levels of Multilingual and English Learners. This approach ensures that all students, regardless of their language skills, can participate fully, grasp the material, and excel in their mathematical journey.
Uploaded digital glossary for languages other than Spanish. Up to nine languages of translations will be provided for.
Amplify Desmos Math California will include support resources for Spanish-speaking students across TK–Algebra 1/Integrated I beginning in the 20262027 school year.

K–5 sample materials
Click the links in the drop-down sections below to explore sample materials from each grade.
For helpful navigation tips and more program information, download the Amplify Desmos Math Program Guide.
You can also watch a product expert walk through a lesson and the available program components.

Program structure
Get to know the content and structure of Kindergarten Amplify Desmos Math California.

Teacher Edition pages
Planning and instructional guidance is visual, organized, and easy-to-follow. To help you review the program, we have included samples from a complete sub-unit on this site: Unit 2, Sub-Unit 1: Counting and Comparing Objects.

Digital experience
Explore our digital experience! Every lesson in Amplify Desmos Math California has student print materials and digital recommendations.

Student Edition pages
Motivate students with mathematics that is both rigorous and delightful.

Centers Resources
Engaging, hands-on games for students to play collaboratively to strengthen their understanding of key skills and concepts.

Intervention and Extension Resources
Additional resources to reinforce and extend key concepts, including Mini-Lessons and Extensions.

Featured digital lesson: Forest Friends
In this lesson, students apply their understanding of how to compare groups of images as they determine which group has more or fewer and then compare their strategies by guiding a bear through a path that has more mushrooms than the other.

Hands-on manipulative kit
An optional add-on to your Amplify Desmos Math California program, the manipulative kit provides hands-on learning tools designed to simplify and illustrate complex mathematical concepts.

Program structure
Get to know the content and structure of Grade 1 Amplify Desmos Math California.

Teacher Edition pages
Planning and instructional guidance is visual, organized, and easy-to-follow. To help you review the program, we have included samples from a complete sub-unit on this site: Unit 2, Sub-Unit 1: Story Problems in Maui.

Digital experience
Explore our digital experience! Every lesson in Amplify Desmos Math California has student print materials and digital recommendations.

Student Edition pages
Motivate students with mathematics that is both rigorous and delightful.

Centers Resources
Engaging, hands-on games for students to play collaboratively to strengthen their understanding of key skills and concepts.

Intervention and Extension Resources
Additional resources to reinforce and extend key concepts, including Mini-Lessons and Extensions.

Featured digital lesson: Leaping Lily Pads!
In this lesson, students find differences when subtracting 1 and 2 from the same number by helping a frog reach a lily pad where it can eat a bug.

Hands-on manipulative kit
An optional add-on to your Amplify Desmos Math California program, the manipulative kit provides hands-on learning tools designed to simplify and illustrate complex mathematical concepts.

Program structure
Get to know the content and structure of Grade 2 Amplify Desmos Math California.

Teacher Edition pages
Planning and instructional guidance is visual, organized, and easy-to-follow. To help you review the program, we have included samples from a complete sub-unit on this site: Unit 2, Sub-Unit 1: Adding and Subtracting.

Digital experience
Explore our digital experience! Every lesson in Amplify Desmos Math California has student print materials and digital recommendations.

Student Edition pages
Motivate students with mathematics that is both rigorous and delightful.

Centers Resources
Engaging, hands-on games for students to play collaboratively to strengthen their understanding of key skills and concepts.

Intervention and Extension Resources
Additional resources to reinforce and extend key concepts, including Mini-Lessons and Extensions.

Featured digital lesson: Ways to Make 10
Students continue to develop fluency by finding the number that makes 10 by helping a millipede reach its favorite food – a clump of leaves!

Hands-on manipulative kit
An optional add-on to your Amplify Desmos Math California program, the manipulative kit provides hands-on learning tools designed to simplify and illustrate complex mathematical concepts.

Program structure
Get to know the content and structure of Grade 3 Amplify Desmos Math California.

Teacher Edition pages
Planning and instructional guidance is visual, organized, and easy-to-follow. To help you review the program, we have included samples from a complete sub-unit on this site: Unit 2, Sub-Unit 1: Concepts of Area Measurement.

Digital experience
Explore our digital experience! Every lesson in Amplify Desmos Math California has student print materials and digital recommendations.

Student Edition pages
Motivate students with mathematics that is both rigorous and delightful.

Centers Resources
Engaging, hands-on games for students to play collaboratively to strengthen their understanding of key skills and concepts.

Intervention and Extension Resources
Additional resources to reinforce and extend key concepts, including Mini-Lessons and Extensions.

Featured digital lesson: Puppy Pile
Students compare data represented on bar graphs with different scales by using animal stickers to create scaled bar graphs.

Hands-on manipulative kit
An optional add-on to your Amplify Desmos Math California program, the manipulative kit provides hands-on learning tools designed to simplify and illustrate complex mathematical concepts.

Program structure
Get to know the content and structure of Grade 4 Amplify Desmos Math California.

Teacher Edition pages
Planning and instructional guidance is visual, organized, and easy-to-follow. To help you review the program, we have included samples from a complete sub-unit on this site: Unit 2, Sub-Unit 1: Size and Location of Fractions.

Digital experience
Explore our digital experience! Every lesson in Amplify Desmos Math California has student print materials and digital recommendations.

Student Edition pages
Motivate students with mathematics that is both rigorous and delightful.

Centers Resources
Engaging, hands-on games for students to play collaboratively to strengthen their understanding of key skills and concepts.

Intervention and Extension Resources
Additional resources to reinforce and extend key concepts, including Mini-Lessons and Extensions.

Featured digital lesson: Hamster Homes
Students choose tube lengths to connect to platform heights for hamster homes, identifying possible heights using what they know about multiples.

Hands-on manipulative kit
An optional add-on to your Amplify Desmos Math California program, the manipulative kit provides hands-on learning tools designed to simplify and illustrate complex mathematical concepts.

Program structure
Get to know the content and structure of Grade 5 Amplify Desmos Math California.

Teacher Edition pages
Planning and instructional guidance is visual, organized, and easy-to-follow. To help you review the program, we have included samples from a complete sub-unit on this site: Unit 2, Sub-Unit 1: Fractions as Quotients.

Digital experience
Explore our digital experience! Every lesson in Amplify Desmos Math California has student print materials and digital recommendations.

Student Edition pages
Motivate students with mathematics that is both rigorous and delightful.

Centers Resources
Engaging, hands-on games for students to play collaboratively to strengthen their understanding of key skills and concepts.

Intervention and Extension Resources
Additional resources to reinforce and extend key concepts, including Mini-Lessons and Extensions.

Featured digital lesson: Figures Made of Prisms
Students decompose a figure into rectangular prisms and determine the volume of the figure by adding the volumes of the individual prisms.

Hands-on manipulative kit
An optional add-on to your Amplify Desmos Math California program, the manipulative kit provides hands-on learning tools designed to simplify and illustrate complex mathematical concepts.
6–A1 sample materials
Click the links in the drop-down sections below to explore sample materials from each grade.
For helpful navigation tips and more program information, download the Amplify Desmos Math Program Guide.
You can also watch a product expert walk through a lesson and the available program components.


Program structure
Get to know the content and structure of Grade 6 Amplify Desmos Math California.

Teacher Edition pages
Planning and instructional guidance is visual, organized, and easy-to-follow. To help you review the program, we have included samples from three sub-units on this site: Unit 1, Sub-Unit 1: Area; Unit 3, Sub-Unit 1: Units and Measurement; and Unit 6, Sub-Unit 1: Solving Equations.

Digital experience
Explore our digital experience! Every lesson in Amplify Desmos Math California has student print materials and digital recommendations.

Student Edition pages
Motivate students with mathematics that is both rigorous and delightful.

Intervention and Extension Resources
Additional resources to reinforce and extend key concepts, including Mini-Lessons and Extensions.

Featured digital lesson: Weight for It
Students use equations and tape diagrams to represent seesaw situations and to determine unknown animal weights, helping them make connections between diagrams that represent equations of the form `x+p=q` or `px=q`.

Hands-on manipulative kit
An optional add-on to your Amplify Desmos Math California program, the manipulative kit provides hands-on learning tools designed to simplify and illustrate complex mathematical concepts.

Program structure
Get to know the content and structure of Grade 7 Amplify Desmos Math California.

Teacher Edition pages
Planning and instructional guidance is visual, organized, and easy-to-follow. To help you review the program, we have included samples from three sub-units on this site: Unit 1, Sub-Unit 1: Scaled Copies; Unit 4, Sub-Unit 1: Percentages as Proportional Relationships; and Unit 6, Sub-Unit 1: Equations and Tape Diagrams.

Digital experience
Explore our digital experience! Every lesson in Amplify Desmos Math California has student print materials and digital recommendations.

Student Edition pages
Motivate students with mathematics that is both rigorous and delightful.

Intervention and Extension Resources
Additional resources to reinforce and extend key concepts, including Mini-Lessons and Extensions.

Featured digital lesson: Shira the Sheep
Students solve inequalities with positive and negative coefficients to solve a variety of challenges featuring a fictional sheep who eats grass according to an inequality.

Hands-on manipulative kit
An optional add-on to your Amplify Desmos Math California program, the manipulative kit provides hands-on learning tools designed to simplify and illustrate complex mathematical concepts.

Program structure
Get to know the content and structure of Grade 7 Amplify Desmos Math California.

Teacher Edition pages
Planning and instructional guidance is visual, organized, and easy-to-follow. To help you review the program, we have included samples from three sub-units on this site: Unit 1, Sub-Unit 1: Rigid Transformations; Unit 3, Sub-Unit 2: Linear Relationships; and Unit 6, Sub-Unit 2: Analyzing Numerical Data.

Digital experience
Explore our digital experience! Every lesson in Amplify Desmos Math California has student print materials and digital recommendations.

Student Edition pages
Motivate students with mathematics that is both rigorous and delightful.

Intervention and Extension Resources
Additional resources to reinforce and extend key concepts, including Mini-Lessons and Extensions.

Featured digital lesson: Robots
Students connect points on a scatter plot with individuals in a population and rows of data in a table. The analysis of scatter plots continues with data about the eye distances and heights of robots.

Hands-on manipulative kit
An optional add-on to your Amplify Desmos Math California program, the manipulative kit provides hands-on learning tools designed to simplify and illustrate complex mathematical concepts.

Program structure
Get to know the content and structure of Algebra 1 Amplify Desmos Math California.

Teacher Edition pages
Planning and instructional guidance is visual, organized, and easy-to-follow. To help you review the program, we have included samples from two complete sub-units on this site: Unit 2, Sub-Units 1–2: One-Variable Equations and Multi-Variable Equations.

Digital experience
Explore our digital experience! Every lesson in Amplify Desmos Math California has student print materials and digital recommendations.

Student Edition pages
Motivate students with mathematics that is both rigorous and delightful.

Featured digital lesson: Shelley the Snail
Students represent the solutions of a situation using a table, a graph, and multiple forms of an equation to identify multiple combinations of blocks that can help Shelley the Snail cross a gap.
Contact us
For questions, samples, or more information, please contact your local Amplify Account Executive:
Erin King
Sales Director, CA
(512) 736-3162
eking@amplify.com
Northern CA
Wendy Garcia
Senior Account Executive
(510) 368-7666
wgarcia@amplify.com
Bay Area
Lance Burbank
Account Executive
(415) 830-5348
lburbank@amplify.com
Central Valley and Central Coast
Demitri Gonos
Senior Account Executive
(559) 355-3244
dgonos@amplify.com
Ventura and L.A. County
Jeff Sorenson
Associate Account Executive
(310) 902-1407
jsorenson@amplify.com
Orange and L.A. County
Lauren Sherman
Senior Account Executive
(949) 397-5766
lsherman@amplify.com
San Bernardino and L.A. County
Michael Gruber
Senior Account Executive
(951) 520-6542
migruber@amplify.com
Riverside and L.A. County
Brian Roy
Account Executive
(818) 967-1674
broy@amplify.com
San Diego County
Kirk Van Wagoner
Senior Account Executive
(760) 696-0709
kvanwagoner@amplify.com
Under 2300 students in Bay Area, Sacramento Valley, and Northern Counties
Kevin Mauser
Lead Account Executive
(815) 534-0148
kmauser@amplify.com
Under 2300 students in Southern CA, Central Coast, and Southern Central Valley Counties
Charissa Snyder
Account Executive
(720) 936-6802
chsnyder@amplify.com
Welcome, California educators!
Thank you for taking the time to review Amplify’s complete early literacy system for TK–5.
Our curriculum, assessment, practice, and intervention solutions work in tandem to ensure classroom teachers have what they need to provide multi-tiered literacy support to every student.
On this site, you’ll find a variety of resources designed to support your review and evaluation, including links to sample materials, demo access, and additional materials.

Complete literacy system
Strong core instruction is crucial–but in isolation, even that’s not enough. A truly effective literacy system needs to bring together assessment, core instruction, personalized practice, targeted intervention, and ongoing professional development.
Together with leading experts in reading instruction, Amplify has built a proven early literacy system grounded in the latest reading research and designed to ensure every student receives the multi-tiered support they need to grow as a reader. Our partners include:
- The University of Oregon
- Core Knowledge Foundation
- Recognized language, literacy, and biliteracy experts such as Dr. Lillian Durán, Dr. Desiree Pallais, Dr. Catherine Snow, and others.

Assessment
Not only should an assessment systems include universal screening, dyslexia screening, diagnostic assessments, and progress monitoring, it must also be easy and efficient to administer, and provide classroom teachers with actionable data that guides instruction.
The mCLASS® Assessment System delivers all that and more!
When the DIBELS® 8th Edition assessment is paired with:
- The Text Reading and Comprehension (TRC) assessment, teachers unlock the ability to record reading behaviors through running digital records.
- The Vocabulary, Encoding, and Rapid Automatized Naming (RAN) measures, teachers are empowered to screen for dyslexia risk.
- mCLASS Lectura, teachers gain a holistic view of their students with biliteracy insights that support students in both English and Spanish.
Ready to learn more? Click the buttons below to review mCLASS with DIBELS 8th Edition with TRC and mCLASS Lectura.
Core instruction
Core instruction should include explicit, systematic lessons in foundational skills and a coherent approach to building background knowledge, developing vocabulary, and reading complex text with confidence.
With Amplify Core Knowledge Language Arts® (CKLA) and Amplify Caminos, all students have the opportunity to become strong readers, writers, speakers, and thinkers. Through a powerful combination of proven, evidence-based practices and engaging, interactive content, these core curricula enable students to develop a deep mastery of foundational skills as well as a robust knowledge base–both of which are necessary for accessing and comprehending complex texts.
Ready to learn more? Click the buttons below to review Amplify CKLA and Amplify Caminos.
Personalized practice
Student needs are multidimensional, which is precisely why practice must be personalized and provide opportunities for remediation and acceleration across multiple dimensions.
Through its integration with mCLASS and Amplify CKLA, Boost Reading’s adaptive personalized pathway makes practice more purposeful and productive. mCLASS automatically places students on an adaptive path within Boost Reading, which provides them the exact practice they need. That very practice follows the same approach and scope and sequence as Amplify CKLA, which further reinforces the core instruction.
Ready to learn more? Click the button below to review Boost Reading.
Targeted intervention
Getting students caught up on reading skills requires more than just “extra help” in small groups. It requires data-informed instruction focused directly on the specific skills each group needs to learn next.
mCLASS® Intervention is a staff-led reading intervention that does the heavy lifting of data analysis and lesson sequencing, freeing up teachers to teach the reading skills each student needs. mCLASS Intervention connects directly to mCLASS data, automatically groups students with similar needs, follows a research-based skills progression, includes ready-to-teach engaging lessons, and updates skill profiles and groups every ten days.
Ready to learn more? Click the button below to review mCLASS Intervention.
Review resources
- Amplify’s Early Literacy Suite
- Science of Reading Roadmap
- Making the Shift to the Science of Reading
- Science of Reading: The Podcast
Program-specific review resources can be found within each of the review microsites referenced above.

Your California team
Looking to speak directly with your local representative? Get in touch with a California team member to learn more about our early literacy suite or request a demo account. Simply email HelloCalifornia@amplify.com or email a team member directly.

Dan Pier
Vice President, West
(415) 203-4810
dpier@amplify.com

Erin King
Sales Director
(512) 736-3162
eking@amplify.com

NORTHERN CA
Wendy Garcia
Senior Account Executive
(510) 368-7666
wgarcia@amplify.com

BAY AREA
Lance Burbank
Account Executive
(415) 830-5348
lburbank@amplify.com

CENTRAL VALLEY and CENTRAL COAST
Demitri Gonos
Senior Account Executive
(559) 355-3244
dgonos@amplify.com

VENTURA and L.A. COUNTIES
Jeff Sorenson
Associate Account Executive
(310) 902-1407
jsorenson@amplify.com

ORANGE and L.A. COUNTIES
Lauren Sherman
Senior Account Executive
(949) 397-5766
lsherman@amplify.com

SAN BERNARDINO and L.A. COUNTIES
Michael Gruber
Senior Account Executive
(951) 520-6542
migruber@amplify.com

RIVERSIDE and L.A. COUNTIES
Brian Roy
Senior Account Executive
(818) 967-1674
broy@amplify.com

SAN DIEGO COUNTIES
Kirk Van Wagoner
Senior Account Executive
(760) 696-0709
kvanwagoner@amplify.com

BUTTE, DEL NORTE, HUMBOLDT, and SHASTA COUNTY and DISTRICTS UNDER 2250 ENROLLMENT
Kevin Mauser
Lead Account Executive
(815) 534-0148
kmauser@amplify.com
Welcome, Oregon educators!
Thank you for taking the time to explore Amplify’s early literacy system for K–5.
Our core curriculum, assessment, practice, and intervention solutions work in tandem to ensure classroom teachers have a multi-tiered literacy support system for every Oregon student. All of Amplify’s early literacy resources can be used to support Oregon’s Early Literacy Success School District Grants, including our Science of Reading professional development offerings. This website will provide you information about each grant-applicable resource and the Application Guidance document can assist you in applying for the grant. The grant due date is January 8, 2024.

Literacy System Overview
Strong core instruction is crucial–but in isolation, even that’s not enough. A truly effective literacy system needs to bring together assessment, core instruction, personalized practice, targeted intervention, and ongoing professional development.
Together with leading experts in reading instruction, Amplify has built a proven early literacy system grounded in the latest reading research and designed to ensure every student receives the multi-tiered support they need to grow as a reader. Our partners include:
- The University of Oregon
- Core Knowledge Foundation
- Recognized language, literacy, and biliteracy experts such as Dr. Lillian Durán, Dr. Desiree Pallais, Dr. Catherine Snow, and others.

Assessment
Not only should an assessment systems include universal screening, dyslexia screening, diagnostic assessments, and progress monitoring, it must also be easy and efficient to administer, and provide classroom teachers with actionable data that guides instruction.
The mCLASS® Assessment System delivers all that and more!
When the DIBELS® 8th Edition assessment is paired with:
- The Text Reading and Comprehension (TRC) assessment, teachers unlock the ability to record reading behaviors through running digital records.
- The Vocabulary, Encoding, and Rapid Automatized Naming (RAN) measures, teachers are empowered to screen for dyslexia risk.
- mCLASS Lectura, teachers gain a holistic view of their students with biliteracy insights that support students in both English and Spanish.
Ready to learn more? Click the buttons below to review mCLASS with DIBELS 8th Edition with TRC and mCLASS Lectura.
Core instruction
Core instruction should include explicit, systematic lessons in foundational skills and a coherent approach to building background knowledge, developing vocabulary, and reading complex text with confidence.
With Amplify Core Knowledge Language Arts® (CKLA) and Amplify Caminos, all students have the opportunity to become strong readers, writers, speakers, and thinkers. Through a powerful combination of proven, evidence-based practices and engaging, interactive content, these core curricula enable students to develop a deep mastery of foundational skills as well as a robust knowledge base–both of which are necessary for accessing and comprehending complex texts.
Ready to learn more? Click the buttons below to review Amplify CKLA and Amplify Caminos.
Personalized practice
Student needs are multidimensional, which is precisely why practice must be personalized and provide opportunities for remediation and acceleration across multiple dimensions.
Through its integration with mCLASS and Amplify CKLA, Boost Reading’s adaptive personalized pathway makes practice more purposeful and productive. mCLASS automatically places students on an adaptive path within Boost Reading, which provides them the exact practice they need. That very practice follows the same approach and scope and sequence as Amplify CKLA, which further reinforces the core instruction.
Ready to learn more? Click the button below to review Boost Reading.
Targeted intervention
Getting students caught up on reading skills requires more than just “extra help” in small groups. It requires data-informed instruction focused directly on the specific skills each group needs to learn next.
mCLASS® Intervention is a staff-led reading intervention that does the heavy lifting of data analysis and lesson sequencing, freeing up teachers to teach the reading skills each student needs. mCLASS Intervention connects directly to mCLASS data, automatically groups students with similar needs, follows a research-based skills progression, includes ready-to-teach engaging lessons, and updates skill profiles and groups every ten days.
Ready to learn more? Click the button below to review mCLASS Intervention.

Science of Reading PD
Interested in helping your district make the shift to the Science of Reading? If so, grant funds can also be used for professional development. Amplify offers Science of Reading (SoR) professional development to districts that are ready to begin or progress their SoR journey. These synchronous and asynchronous courses will build and deepen teacher knowledge around SoR and give them practical tips for effective instruction.
Ready to learn more? Click the button below to review our product-agnostic Science of Reading professional learning opportunities.
Lastly, here are additional links to helpful Science of Reading resources:
Your Oregon team
Looking to speak directly with your local representative? Get in touch with an Oregon team member to learn more about our early literacy suite and how it can be used in applying for the Early Literacy Success School District Grants. See below to find your Amplify Account Executive.
Welcome, Arizona educators!
Thank you for taking the time to review Amplify’s complete early literacy system for PreK–5.
Our curriculum, assessment, practice, and intervention solutions work in tandem to ensure classroom teachers have what they need to provide multi-tiered literacy support to every student.
On this site, you’ll find a variety of resources designed to support your review and evaluation. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact us. Contact information is at the bottom of the page.

Complete literacy
system
Strong core instruction is crucial–but in isolation, even that’s not enough. A truly effective literacy system needs to bring together assessment, core instruction, personalized practice, targeted intervention, and ongoing professional development.
Together with leading experts in reading instruction, Amplify has built a proven early literacy system grounded in the latest reading research and designed to ensure every student receives the multi-tiered support they need to grow as a reader. Our partners include:
- The University of Oregon
- Core Knowledge Foundation
- Recognized language, literacy, and biliteracy experts such as Dr. Lillian Durán, Dr. Desiree Pallais, Dr. Catherine Snow, and others.

Assessment
Not only should an assessment systems include universal screening, dyslexia screening, diagnostic assessments, and progress monitoring, it must also be easy and efficient to administer, and provide classroom teachers with actionable data that guides instruction.
The mCLASS® Assessment System delivers all that and more!
When the DIBELS® 8th Edition assessment is paired with:
- The Text Reading and Comprehension (TRC) assessment, teachers unlock the ability to record reading behaviors through running digital records.
- The Vocabulary, Encoding, and Rapid Automatized Naming (RAN) measures, teachers are empowered to screen for dyslexia risk.
- mCLASS Lectura, teachers gain a holistic view of their students with biliteracy insights that support students in both English and Spanish.
Ready to learn more? Click the buttons below to review mCLASS with DIBELS 8th Edition with TRC and mCLASS Lectura.
Core instruction
Core instruction should include explicit, systematic lessons in foundational skills and a coherent approach to building background knowledge, developing vocabulary, and reading complex text with confidence.
With Amplify Core Knowledge Language Arts® (CKLA) and Amplify Caminos, all students have the opportunity to become strong readers, writers, speakers, and thinkers. Through a powerful combination of proven, evidence-based practices and engaging, interactive content, these core curricula enable students to develop a deep mastery of foundational skills as well as a robust knowledge base–both of which are necessary for accessing and comprehending complex texts.
Ready to learn more? Click the buttons below to review Amplify CKLA and Amplify Caminos.
Personalized practice
Student needs are multidimensional, which is precisely why practice must be personalized and provide opportunities for remediation and acceleration across multiple dimensions.
Through its integration with mCLASS and Amplify CKLA, Boost Reading’s adaptive personalized pathway makes practice more purposeful and productive. mCLASS automatically places students on an adaptive path within Boost Reading, which provides them the exact practice they need. That very practice follows the same approach and scope and sequence as Amplify CKLA, which further reinforces the core instruction.
Ready to learn more? Click the button below to review Boost Reading.
Targeted intervention
Getting students caught up on reading skills requires more than just “extra help” in small groups. It requires data-informed instruction focused directly on the specific skills each group needs to learn next.
mCLASS® Intervention is a staff-led reading intervention that does the heavy lifting of data analysis and lesson sequencing, freeing up teachers to teach the reading skills each student needs. mCLASS Intervention connects directly to mCLASS data, automatically groups students with similar needs, follows a research-based skills progression, includes ready-to-teach engaging lessons, and updates skill profiles and groups every ten days.
Ready to learn more? Click the button below to review mCLASS Intervention.
Your Arizona team
Looking to speak directly with your local representative? Get in touch with an Arizona team member to learn more about our early literacy suite or request a demo account.
EASTERN, WESTERN, SOUTHERN AZ
Tommy Gearhart
Senior Account Executive
(505) 206-7661
Desmos Math
Desmos Math 6–8 and Algebra 1 is based on the highly rated IM K–12™ curricula from Illustrative Mathematics. What’s more, our 6–8 curriculum also received a perfect, all-green rating by EdReports.
About Desmos Math
Desmos Math 6–A1 delivers the instructional power of student-centered learning packaged in a lesson format that is teacher-friendly and manageable.
With easy-to-follow instructional supports, implementing a problem-based program becomes more effective and enjoyable for both you and your students. Delivered through the Desmos Classroom digital experience, math class becomes fun and dynamic, with plenty of opportunities for students to talk through their reasoning, work with their peers, and gain new understandings.
Desmos Classroom technology
Math lessons should be powerful in their ability to surface student thinking and spark interesting and productive discussions. The Desmos Classroom platform brings this vision to life. It even includes a complete library of interactive, collaborative lessons made by your math colleagues.

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.

Visibility into student thinking
Imagine having more visibility into your students’ mathematical thinking. Now imagine students have access to this same information. With our collaborative lesson interface and teacher dashboard, students can’t hide. What’s more, they have visibility into the thinking of their peers—exposing them to a wider variety of approaches to solving the same problem.

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 also control what slides students see, giving teachers the ability to control the pace of the lesson to suite the needs of the class.

A Lesson with Dr. Dan Meyer
Desmos Math has been extensively tested by math educators across the nation…including Dr. Dan Meyer.
In this 8-minute video, Dr. Dan Meyer puts a Desmos Math lessons to the test, and shares how the Desmos Math teacher tools empower all teacher to deliver engaging and interactive lessons.
Access demo
Ready to explore the program? Follow these instructions to access your demo account.
- Click the Access demo button.
- Click the Sign In link.
- Enter the email address and password provided by your Account Executive.
- Select your grade level.
- Explore any of the eight units.

Contact us
Looking to speak directly with your local Account Executive? Get in touch with a California team member to learn more about Desmos Math or to request a demo account.

CENTRAL VALLEY and CENTRAL COAST
Demitri Gonos
Senior Account Executive
(559) 355-3244

ORANGE and L.A. COUNTIES
Lauren Sherman
Senior Account Executive
(949) 397-5766

SAN BERNARDINO and L.A. COUNTIES
Michael Gruber
Senior Account Executive
(951) 520-6542

SAN DIEGO and IMPERIAL COUNTIES
Kirk Van Wagoner
Senior Account Executive
(760) 696-0709
S3-05: Thinking is power

Join us as we sit down with Melanie Trecek-King, college professor and creator of Thinking is Power, to explore how much of an asset science can truly be in developing the skills students need to navigate the real world. You’ll learn about “fooling” students and the importance of developing critical thinking, information literacy, and science literacy in the classroom. We’ll also share real strategies and lesson examples that help build these essential skills and engage students in learning.
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!
Melanie Trecek-King (00:00):
We say knowledge is power, but it’s not enough to know things. And there’s too much to know. So being able to think and not fall for someone’s bunk is my goal for my students.
Eric Cross (00:12):
Welcome to Science Connections. I’m your host, Eric Cross. On this third season, we’ve been talking about science’s underdog status. And just this past March at the NSTA conference in Atlanta, I had the chance to speak with science educators from around the country about this very topic.
Hermia Simanu (00:28):
Right now, there’s only two teachers in our high school teaching science.
Shane Dongilli (00:32):
I have 45 minutes once a week with each class. The focus is reading and math.
Alexis Tharpe (00:38):
Oftentimes science gets put by the wayside. And you know, I love math and I love my language arts, but I also think science needs to place be placed on that high pedestal as well.
Askia Little (00:46):
In fifth grade, oh, they teach science, because that’s the only grade that it’s tested.
Eric Cross (00:50):
That was Hermia Simanu from American Samoa. Her team flew for three days to make it to the conference. You also heard from Shane Dongilli from North Carolina, Alexis Tharpe from Virginia, and Askia Little from Texas. All of these teachers were excited to be at the conference and had a lot to say about the state of science education in their local schools. Throughout this season, we’ve been trying to make the case for science, showing how science can be utilized more effectively in the classroom. We’ve explored the evidence showing that science supports literacy instruction. We’ve talked about science and the responsible use of technology like AI. My hope is that all of you listeners out there can use some of this evidence to feel empowered to make the case for science in your own communities. And on this episode, we’re going to examine how science can help develop what might be the most important skill that we try to develop in our students: Good thinking. On this episode, I’m joined by a biologist who actually advocated for eliminating the Intro to Bio course at her college. Instead, Professor Trecek-King created a new course focused on critical thinking, information literacy, and science literacy skills. In this conversation, we discuss why the science classroom is such a good environment for helping students become better thinkers. Now, I don’t think that you can make a much stronger argument for science than using it to develop the skills that Melanie describes in this conversation. So, without further ado, I’m thrilled to bring you this conversation with Melanie Trecek-King, Associate Professor of Biology at Massasoit Community College, and creator of Thinking Is Power. Here’s Melanie.
Eric Cross (02:29):
Well, Melanie, thank you for joining us on the show. It’s so good to have you.
Melanie Trecek-King (02:34):
I am so happy to be here.
Eric Cross (02:35):
Now, I went to your session at NSTA in Chicago … I think it was two years ago. A couple years ago. And I was listening to your session, and as I was listening to you, I started Reverse Engineering in my mind what you were doing with your college students. I started reverse engineering the K–8. I was like, “This is amazing.” Where has what you’ve been doing been hiding? We need this not just in the college, higher ed. We need this all the way up and down. Because I hadn’t seen it before. So I think a good place for us to start is gonna be like the story of how and why you as a biologist wound up making the case to actually eliminate the Intro to Biology course at your college. So can you start off and tell us a little bit about that story?
Melanie Trecek-King (03:20):
Sure. So I started teaching at a community college in Massachusetts. And I absolutely love teaching at a community college. And I was teaching the courses that people who don’t wanna be scientists when they grow up have to take to fulfill their science requirement. And that course was Intro Bio. And I tried every way I could figure out to make that class be useful,] relevant to students. I mean, the thing is, our world is based on science and you have to understand science to be a good consumer of information, to make good decisions. And I’m a biologist, so it pains me to say this, but you know, somewhere in the middle of teaching students about the stages of mitosis and protein synthesis, I thought, “Is this really — like, if I have one semester that’s gonna be the last chance that someone’s gonna get a science education, is this really what they need?” And I just decided, “No.” So, to my college’s credit, they were very supportive. I went to them and said, “You know, I think we should assess the non-majors courses. Like, why do we teach non-majors science?” And we all agreed, well, it was for science literacy. OK, great. Do our existing non-majors courses do that? And so we evaluated each of the courses. I made a case that Intro Bio was not doing it. And so we actually replaced it with a course that I call Science for Life. And the whole course is designed to teach science literacy, critical thinking, and information literacy skills.
Eric Cross (04:48):
And so you did this while you were looking at mitosis. And you’re looking at students who may or may not be science majors. And then kind of asking that question. I know every educator asks this, and whether or not it’s welcomed or supported is a different question: “Is what I’m teaching actually gonna be relevant and useful later on down the road for this group of students?” And you actually got to run with it and then create this course, this new course. So, what were the skills that you were hoping to achieve with the new course you developed, and and why were those skills so important?
Melanie Trecek-King (05:21):
Well, if I just go back for a second to what you said, ’cause it, really hit me: I remember the actual moment — it had been building up to that point, but the actual moment that it hit me — I was teaching students the stages of mitosis. And I was applying it to cancer, because the thought is that if we use issues that are relevant to students to teach concepts, that it will be more meaningful to them. They’ll learn it better; they’ll be able to apply it. And they just looked absolutely deflated. They didn’t wanna be there. And I had this moment where I thought, “You know, if, if these students ever have cancer somewhere in their lives, is what I taught them going to be something that they remember? Is it going to be useful to them?” And quite frankly, like, no. <Laugh> They’re not gonna remember proto-oncogenes. And quite frankly, is that really what they need to know at that moment? What they need to know is, “What does this mean? Who is a reliable source of information here? If these treatments are recommended, what is the evidence for them? What are the cost-benefit analyses? Where do I go to find reliable information?” And in that space, cancer in particular, we have this whole field of — I wanna say charlatans, ’cause they may not actually be lying, but they’re pedaling false cures, false hopes. And people need that kind of hope, and so in their time of need, they’re more likely to fall for that kind of thing. Which leads me to the skills that I teach students. I call them this tree of skills. And the order is important. I start — and there’s a lot of overlap to be fair — but critical thinking, and then information literacy, and science literacy. The idea is that students carry in their pockets access to basically all of human’s knowledge at this moment in time. And if they needed to access it, they could. The question is, do they know what they’re looking for? Are they aware of their own biases that are leading them to certain sources, or certain false hopes? Are there certain things that are making them more vulnerable to the people that might prey on them? Are they able to use that information to make good decisions? There’s a great Carl Sagan quote, and it’s something like, “If we teach people only the findings of science, no matter how useful or even inspiring they may be, without communicating the method, then how is anyone to be able to tell the difference between science and pseudoscience?” So yes, the process of science is a process of critical thinking. However, we do tend to present science most of the time. Like, here’s what science has learned. And to be fair, those things that we’ve learned from science are really useful and inspiring. But if we don’t teach the process, so you’ve got somebody now who let’s say has been diagnosed with cancer and is on their phone and they’re scrolling through social media and everything looks the same. And of course the algorithms learn who you are. Next thing you know, there’s all of these like pseudo-treatments popping up. It all looks the same. Somebody who says that acupuncture can be used to cure cancer can feel the same, from someone who doesn’t understand the process of science, as a medical fact. And so the process is the process of critical thinking. My class everything is open note. The quizzes are open note. The exams — and I say open note, they’re also open online, because I know for the rest of their life they’re gonna have resources available to them; I want them to be good consumers with that information, which to me requires metacognition and critical thinking and information literacy and all those skills that I’m trying to teach them.
Eric Cross (08:58):
You’re basically taking what … we’ve taught science for so long. And more recently, it’s changed to more focusing on skills. At least in K through 12. But a lot of it was just memorization of a ton of different things that now we can pull up our phone, go on the internet. You can pull up a lot of those facts. But those facts don’t necessarily translate to actual real-world skills. When I listen to… I kind of make this analogy sometimes: students say … it’s funny, I have 12-year-olds that say this. They go, “How come they don’t teach us how to do our taxes?” And you know they’re regurgitating what they hear from adults, right? “Teach us real-world skills!” And I was like, really, if we taught you right now how to do your taxes, how many of you would really be like, “Oh, this is an awesome lesson! We’re really engaged!” But their point is that “I wanna learn something that I could actually use later on, that’s that I’m gonna carry on.” And in your course, you’re talking about these skills that actually can apply. Like you said, if I had cancer and I’m looking at different types of medical procedures, do I have the skills to really be able to evaluate and make informed decisions on that? And that’s, that’s not something that I’ve seen explicitly taught really anywhere. And I hadn’t heard anybody talk about it, really, until I heard your session, where you’ve kind of unpacked this, and over the last couple of years, have created some programs or resources for educators, where they can take this into their classroom. So what were some of those skills, again? What were were some of the skills that you thought, “I wanna make sure that my students can walk out and they know how to do this and apply it to maybe several different fields”?
Melanie Trecek-King (10:35):
Oh, that’s a really good question. Because the whole thing was a process for me. Like, when I finally let go of Intro Bio, I was so glad to see that class go, by the way. ‘Cause I just felt like I was beating a dead horse. So when I let go of it, I thought, “What do they need instead?” And for me, what I realized was I was trying to make the class I would’ve wanted to take. I realized the things that I personally didn’t know, that my own education maybe let me down a bit. But things that I thought were important. So then I took all of those, synthesized them, tried to figure out the best order. The class is currently in its third iteration. And I hope every iteration is an improvement. But I’m thinking about the students that I taught before the pandemic. It was Intro Bio. Up to just maybe the couple years before the pandemic, and during the pandemic, we had a new virus and we had a new vaccine and we had new treatments. There was hydroxychloroquine and there was ivermectin and then there’s masks. Are masks effective? Well, you know, in what circumstances? What kind of mask? There are all of these questions. And that whole thing was we saw science playing out in real time.
Eric Cross (11:50):
Absolutely.
Melanie Trecek-King (11:51):
And so were my students able to follow that? And then what happened in that process is that science became politicized. And in a time where things are uncertain and we need answers, ’cause it’s scary, people want certainty and science doesn’t tend to provide that. Especially when it’s just starting out. And then when it becomes politicized, people decide that they’re going to — it’s not necessarily a conscious decision — but they retreat into what people in their camps are saying or their groups are saying. Which actually leads me to one of the more important parts of information literacy skills in there, which is most of our knowledge is shared. We tend to have overinflated senses of what we individually know. And studies actually show that with Google, if you have access to Google, you think you’re smarter than if you don’t have access to Google. But we all have access to knowledge in our communities, and that’s one of the reasons humans are so successful, is that we can each specialize in different things and share our expertise and become greater than the sum of our parts. The problem with that, of course, is that we forget what we don’t know, and we assume that we know what the community knows. And so recognizing the limits of your own knowledge and how different communities produce knowledge, like the different epistemic processes that communities use to come to knowledge. When it comes down to it, an important part of knowing is knowing who to trust, right? Knowing where the source of knowledge lives. And in order to do that, you have to understand the processes that they’re using to come to that knowledge and the limits of your own knowledge. And then how to find who has that knowledge so that you can use that to make better decisions.
Eric Cross (13:38):
So, when I hear what you’re doing with your college students, and I think about what I’m doing in the classroom, in the middle school, we are really focusing on literacy as skills. Reading, writing, speaking, listening. And then when I think of the next step of the journey, your information literacy and the literacy you’re teaching is really the application of those things in the real world. And the examples that you gave are very critical examples. Evaluating claims about Covid. Making informed decisions about a medical procedure that you might need. And we all get that applied to us. We’re scrolling through social media and somehow social media is listening. It’s figuring out exactly what I’m doing, because all of a sudden the ads are telling me … how did you know I was alking about KitchenAid mixers now? I just said KitchenAid mixers and it’s gonna show up in my feed! But <laugh> I take that in the same way from the same place that I take in maybe an oncologist. So it’s it’s coming through the same channels. So now I kind of wanna pivot. So we’ve talked about what you’re doing, why you’re doing it, the connection between “am I really teaching the skills that my students need in the science class? Is it really critical thinking explicitly or is it just kind of implied?” Now I wanna ask you how you do it. What’s the annotated, abbreviated kind of syllabus of your course?
Melanie Trecek-King (15:03):
So the course is called Science for Life. And the premise behind it is the kinds of skills and understanding of the process of science that they would need to make good decisions to be empowered in a world based on science. And so the very first lecture, I say, “OK, I’m gonna tell you a story and I just want you to listen to the story. And at the end I’m gonna ask you why I told the story.” And the story that I tell them is some of the history of the witchcraft trials in Europe. And I start with the Malleus Maleficarum, or the Hammer of Witches, from the Pope, and about how people would accuse witches of causing birth defects or storms or crops dying. And, the best evidence that they had to absolutely know somebody was a witch was if somebody accused them, and then if they were accused, if they confessed. OK? But the problem is, to get them to confess, they would torture them. Roasting over coals, or splitting until somebody broke. And so I tell my students, “OK, this was absolute proof that someone was guilty of witchcraft. I don’t know about you; I would confess to anything, right? Make it stop!” So this is where I get to ask students, “Why would I ask you this? Why would I tell you this story? And traumatize you on the very first day of lecture?” And they see the reasoning, right? They thought they had evidence. The question was, is that good evidence? And so, you know, I’m getting students to have a basic understanding of epistemology, right? Without calling it that, or without going into all of the philosophical background of epistemology. Apply this to your own reasoning. What are you wrong about? Well, you probably wouldn’t know. OK, how would you know if you were wrong? Like what kinds of things do you feel that you’re so right about? How good is your evidence for that? So what I want them to do is internalize the thinking about thinking, and analyzing how they come to conclusions, and proportioning how strongly they believe. Their confidence in how right they are. So I think starting with that kind of misinformation, and getting students to internalize that process is important. But I think the example is really useful, because most of my students don’t believe in witchcraft. Right? So it’s not an issue that would immediately threaten them in some way. So when, when a belief is tied to identity or how we see ourselves or is really important to us, then it’s very difficult to be objective about that belief. And so by starting with witchcraft, it’s not triggering. I get them to think about thinking and practice that muscle so that when we get to those more important issues, they have the skills they need to evaluate them.
Eric Cross (17:55):
So would it be fair to say that your Science for Life class is really applied scientific thinking for the real world?
Melanie Trecek-King (18:01):
Absolutely. That’s the idea. I mean, science is too good to keep to ourselves, right? And it’s everywhere. So how can you understand the world through a scientific lens?
Eric Cross (18:10):
What are the nuts and bolts of how you teach your students these strategies? What do you do? What are some strategies and techniques that we can maybe share with listeners? And then where I want to go after that is I wanna ask you, how early do you think this can be started? So lemme start off first with, what do you do?
Melanie Trecek-King (18:28):
So I use three different strategies. One is, I provide students with a toolkit. And the toolkit is one that I created and it is like my one toolkit to rule them all. It is trying to apply critical thinking and science reasoning all together in one place. So that if students are met with a claim, they’ve got the toolkit with an acronym. They can now start and have somewhere to go. In that if I gave you a claim and said, “Just critically think through this claim,” I mean, that’s a mighty task. But if you have a structured toolkit, then it’s hopefully a systemic way that’s helpful. The toolkit is summarized by FLOATER. I have published it on Skeptical Inquirer. It’s free. So it’s Falsifiability, Logical, Objectivity, Alternative Explanations, Tentative Conclusions, Evidence, and Reproducibility. So I provide students with a toolkit. The next thing I do is I use a lot of misinformation in class. Back to what Carl Sagan says: What I heard was we should use pseudoscience to teach students the difference between a pseudo-scientific process and a scientific process. So, I use science denial, conspiracy theories, and give my students a lot of opportunities to practice evaluating claims with the toolkit. And the other thing I do is, I use inoculation activities. So inoculation theory is based on William McGuire’s original research in the ’60s, which is basically like a vaccine analogy. Where you can inject a small amount of a virus or bacterium into the body, so that it creates an immune response, so that it can learn the real thing. And so in the real world, it can fight it off. Inoculation theory does the same thing, but with misinformation. So, what we can do is, in controlled environments, expose students to little bits of misinformation so that they can recognize it in the real world. There’s different kinds of inoculation, but I’m a big fan of what’s called active and technique-based inoculation. So technique-based means that students are learning not the facts of misinformation, not factually why this thing is wrong, but about the technique used to deceive. So maybe the use of fake experts. Or maybe the use of anecdotes. Or the use of logical fallacies. The other part of that is active, which is where students create the misinformation. So for example, my students, just now, we finished covering pseudoscience. And I teach students the characteristics of pseudoscience. And basically we have fun with it. Where they pretend to be grifters and they sell a pseudoscience product. And so they have to make an ad like they’d see on social media, using the different techniques. And the point there is that it’s supposed to be funny, right? And lighthearted. But in a real way, by using the techniques used to sell something like pseudoscience, it’s opening their eyes. You can’t unsee how every alternative product has, “it’s an all-natural and used for centuries and millions use it and look at this person who says, ‘Wow, it worked for me!’ And it’s certified by some society that doesn’t exist, but this doctor behind it says that it’s really great!” I mean, it’s all the same stuff. So they create the misinformation using their own techniques.
Eric Cross (22:02):
That’s one of my favorite things that you’ve talked about, and I want to dive in that a little bit more. But when you’re teaching the toolkit, FLOATER, what does that look like in the classroom, when you’re actually breaking all of those things down? What does it look like as you’re walking your students through this, and you’re kind of coaching them on all of those different things? ‘Cause I feel like some things might be like, “Oh yeah, I got that.” And then some of them might be, “Oh, what is that?”
Melanie Trecek-King (22:24):
Yeah, it takes me probably a good solid lecture to get through the basis of the toolkit. But then over the rest of the semester, I’ll spend more time going into different parts, different rules, a bit more in-depth. So, for example, logical fallacies and objectivity. So the rule of objectivity basically states that you need to be honest with yourself. I’m gonna quote Feynman here, so: “The first principle is that you must not fool yourself — and you are the easiest person to fool.” We don’t tend to think that we can be fooled. But of course we can. So actually, if you wanna talk about it, I start class by fooling my students.
Eric Cross (23:03):
Wait, what do you do? What do you do for that?
Melanie Trecek-King (23:05):
Oh, so this is really fun. Day 1 of class, after the syllabus, I tell my … so you’re in my class now, Eric. “So I have a friend, and she’s a psychic. She’s an astrologer and she’s pretty good at what she does. I mean, she’s got books and she’s been on TV and stuff. She knows I teach this course about skepticism. And so she’s agreed to test how effective she is by providing personality assessments to students in class. So if you wanna participate, what I need from you is your birthday, your full name, answer a few questions. Like, if your house was on fire and you could take one thing, what would it be? Or if you could get paid for anything to do anything for a living, what would it be? Um, there’s a third one. Oh! If you could have any superpower, what would it be?” So the next class, it’s usually over a weekend. The next class I say, “OK, I’ve got your personality assessments back, but remember, we wanna test how effective she is. So in order to do that, I need you to read your profile as quietly as possible. And then I’m gonna have you rate her accuracy on a scale of 1 to 5. OK? So close your eyes; rate her.” Over the years doing this, it’s about a 4.3 to 4.5 out of 5. They think she’s pretty accurate. OK? “So now, if you feel comfortable, get with a person next to you. And I want you to talk about what parts of the personality assessment really spoke to you and, and why, and why you thought she was accurate or not.” And it takes them 5, 10 minutes before they realize they all got the same one. So, this is not my original experiment. It was first done by Bertram Forer in … I think it was the ’50s. And it’s done in psychology classrooms. James Randi made it famous. But the personality assessment itself is full of what are called Barnum statements. So, named after P.T. Barnum. These are statements that are very generic. So, “You have a need to be liked and admired by people. You are often quiet and reserved, but there are times where you can be the life of the party.”
Eric Cross (25:13):
How do you know this about me, by the way? This is a — I feel like you know me right now.
Melanie Trecek-King (25:17):
“There are times where you’ve wondered whether you’ve done the right thing.”
Eric Cross (25:19):
This is getting weird.
Melanie Trecek-King (25:21):
I’m just on fire, right? So these are Barnum statements. They’re the basis of personality assessment.
Eric Cross (25:29):
Mel, can I pause you right there? You said Barnum. Is that the same Barnum, like Barnum & Bailey Circus?
Melanie Trecek-King (25:34):
Yeah. P.T. Barnum, who didn’t actually say “There’s a sucker born every minute,” but we attribute him with that kind of ethos. These statements though, if you read a horoscope or even like personality indicators, like the MBTI, it is basically pseudo-scientific. And it ends up with lots of these Barnum statements. They produce what’s called the Barnum Effect, which is, “Wow, that’s so me! How did you know me?” I could even do more. Like, you have a box of photos in your house that need to be sorted. Or unused prescriptions. And these can apply to nearly everyone, but they produce this effect where we go, “Wow, that is so me!” Right? So by fooling them this way, I get to … well, so the next thing is, “Yes, I lied to you. And I’d like to tell you I won’t do that again. But I’m not going to, ’cause I might. So be on your guard.” But I did it for free. And why did I do it? “I did it because I could tell you ‘I could fool you,’ but you wouldn’t necessarily believe me. So I fooled you, so that you would learn what it feels like to be fooled.” It’s not fun. But we’re gonna make a joke outta this. And students are almost never upset about this ’cause it’s a fun process and they’re all fooled. And again, the point is, I didn’t disprove psychic powers. I didn’t just disprove psychics with this exercise. But I did show you how easy it was to fake. So if somebody is gonna tell you that they can know these things about you through some way, hopefully the evidence they provide should be stronger than something that’s easily faked. Right? Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. If you claim to be able to read my personality based on my birthdate, then I need more than something that you can be taught to do in 15 minutes. So, I fool them to convince them that they could be fooled.
Eric Cross (27:27):
You’re giving them a practice scenario for thinking. And I was thinking about basketball. I grew up playing basketball. And my coach would have our own team be the defenders of the next team we were gonna play, so that we can be prepared for the defense. We were gonna see. Now, when I’m thinking about education, and what you just said reminded me of this, it’s like we’re often just teaching offense. We’re always teaching the plays. We’re always teaching what to do. But we rarely teach defense. What happens when someone comes towards you and, and they challenge you or they come at you with claims? How do we evaluate this? And I think in pockets we do it. We do claim-evidence-reasoning. We present claims and evidence and reasoning. But we don’t always have practice defending them. And I think there’s great resources. There’s Argumentation Toolkit and there’s all these awesome resources that do this. But does that fit? You’re kind of having them practice defense?
Melanie Trecek-King (28:26):
Yeah. You know, that’s brilliant. I never considered that analogy. But, yeah, in the real world, you don’t just get to always try to score all the time. Someone’s gonna challenge you and give you a claim that maybe you haven’t heard before. So how do you think through it?
Eric Cross (28:41):
Yeah. And you become better. So now I’m thinking about how early could we start doing this? For one, I love the idea of lying to your students, because I do that. And it’s just such a fun scenario. How early could we start implementing these strategies or these ideas or these toolkits? In your mind, what do you imagine? How early could we start this with young people?
Melanie Trecek-King (29:07):
Yeah. I’m so glad you asked that question, ’cause honestly, by the time they get to me, it’s almost too late. And I don’t wanna say it’s too late, ’cause it’s never too late. But, oh, we need to start so much earlier! That example that I gave about the selling pseudoscience argument? I have a wonderful colleague, Bertha Vasquez, who’s a middle school teacher in Miami and the director of TIES at CFI. She did this with her middle school students. And quite frankly, their examples were just as good, or in some cases better, than my college students. And they had so much fun with it, too. And she just said that, you know, <laugh>, they actually are more savvy with the kinds of things that they see online than we — I don’t wanna say give them credit for. But almost that we want to believe. My students give me examples of things that are from corners of the internet that I didn’t know existed. And quite frankly, that’s probably a good thing for my own mental health. But students are on there too, like middle school students, and we need to prepare them for the kinds of things that they see in the wild.
Eric Cross (30:13):
So in middle school, definitely. Now, you’ve also done some work in high school as well, right? In Oklahoma? Did you do some. …?
Melanie Trecek-King (30:17):
Yeah.
Eric Cross (30:18):
…some work with high schoolers? What was that like? Did you see any impact there?
Melanie Trecek-King (30:21):
So I didn’t actually do it in Oklahoma. I have taught the course … actually, you were talking about younger kids. I’ve taught the course to high schoolers in my area that are parts of dual enrollment. And they absolutely ate up the curriculum. And they were wonderful, wonderful students. And it was completely appropriate for … they were juniors, actually. But the course has also been taught in Oklahoma, through a dual enrollment program as well. And it was a small sample size. But we have pre-post testing that showed that it improved their critical thinking, their acceptance of science. But anecdotally the head of the program there said that in his years doing this, he’d never seen a course that helped them improve in their other courses so well. So, I felt very rewarded by hearing this. But apparently their critical thinking skills and information literacy skills helped them succeed in their other courses that they were taking. And I love that the students were transferring those skills to other classes. That’s the whole point.
Eric Cross (31:23):
And that’s a big … I think that what you just said is really the core, especially of what we’ve been talking about this season: What you’re talking about and what you’re teaching can transfer and supports literacy. And this is an example of science doing that across all other content areas. So I think that that’s huge, that that was said. What do people say about this course? I know I went on your website, and I looked at some of the comments that some folks were saying, and I know it’s just a snippet, but what do you hear from the education world about this? Because I don’t see it in many places. I see it kind of embedded, sprinkled into different content areas. But you’re actually teaching it explicitly. Do you tend to find positive feedback, overwhelmingly? Or do you get pushback on on some of this? What’s it been like for you?
Melanie Trecek-King (32:16):
I think the biggest pushback — and it’s good pushback, and I would agree entirely — is with inoculation activities, you do need to be careful to, when you debrief students, you wanna tell them why you did what you did and to use their powers for good and not for fooling other people. And I think importantly, for not putting misinformation out into the wild without having context around it. So if you do these kinds of inoculation activities, like if you have your students create pseudoscience ads, don’t just let them put them on social media. Obviously, you can’t control everything that they’re doing. But explain to them why you wouldn’t wanna do that. As far as everything else, I’ve heard really great feedback. You’re referencing my website. So, when I put together the course, I was trying to find resources for students to read. Textbooks are ridiculously expensive and I couldn’t find anything that I really wanted students to buy. So I just started writing, and I put it on my site. I have a site that’s basically the core of the curriculum. More in progress. And then I’ve got some of the topics that we explore and those are all assigned readings. My students are captive, in that I know they want a grade, and for four months they have to sit with me for the entire semester, in that I’ve specifically ordered the content in a way that would be most conducive to them learning these things. On the internet, though, and on social media, ’cause I post on there as well, people come in from all kinds of entry points, and so the goal would be to have them start at the beginning and go to the end. But people … I’m pleasantly surprised that there is an audience for critical thinking and science literacy content out there. And so that really warms my heart. But I am doing more and more for educators. And so I have a section for educators. I put content on there. I put assignments, the assignments that we’ve talked about and more, are on there. And the educators that I’ve had use it have just been really wonderful. Like, I hear great things. If I might, the biggest issue that I’m having is actually reaching educators. I’ve gone to — I met you at NSCA, actually, that was only last summer.
Eric Cross (34:30):
Oh, wow. Wow.
Melanie Trecek-King (34:32):
Right?
Eric Cross (34:32):
Yeah, you’re right. It wasn’t even a year.
Melanie Trecek-King (34:35):
Yeah, I think it was like July last year. So, um, you’ve been to the conferences. And I just went to the last one as well. But I have yet to figure out a way to really get in front of enough educators to share the content. So if anybody’s listening and is interested in learning more, please let me know! <Laugh>
Eric Cross (34:52):
Yes. And we talked about your website, but I didn’t say what the website was. So it’s ThinkingIsPower.com.
Melanie Trecek-King (34:57):
Yes.
Eric Cross (34:58):
And on there, there’s tons of resources. There is the toolkit. And it’s all free.
Melanie Trecek-King (35:06):
Yes.
Eric Cross (35:07):
And there’s a dope t-shirt on there that I just bought today, that Melanie’s actually wearing right now. It says, “Be curious, be skeptical, and be humble.” And I love that. Because I think one of the things that we can’t forget about teaching people how to think and critically evaluating information, sometimes those conversations can become very dehumanizing. And what I mean by that is it sometimes can become, like, intellectual sport, where we forget that there’s a human being on the other other side. And we lose that empathy and compassion. We can kind of see that. It just becomes this intellectual jousting and arguing. And one of the things I know about you, and when you talk about this or you talk about the work that you do, and even the shirt that you’re wearing, there’s this, “be humble.” There’s this human that is never lost in this. And you said it, too: When you’re teaching your students and you’re equipping them with all of these intellectual skills and all of these tools, to use it for good. So to maintain your humanity, to maintain your character, and then to use it to edify and lift people up, not to go out and do harm. That balance, I think, is so, so important. So it’s something that I really appreciate about you and how you teach.
Melanie Trecek-King (36:19):
I appreciate those kind words. Actually—
Eric Cross (36:21):
Oh, of course!
Melanie Trecek-King (36:22):
—and if I might, I sometimes see people using critical thinking like a weapon. It’s like, “I have learned fallacies and I’m just gonna use the tools of critical thinking to tell you why you’re stupid, or why you’re wrong, and why my position is right!” But real critical thinking involves applying those same standards to your own thought processes. And even something like argumentation: the goal of our argumentation is not to BE right; it’s to GET it right. And so we’re on the same team. If we’re arguing about something, if the idea is in scientific argumentation we’re trying to find the truth, which one of us is making a better argument based on the evidence? Can your perspective help me see my own blind spots and vice versa? And the more different perspectives that we have, the more able we are to find whatever reality is. But we are in this together. And so, yeah, I think … I’m glad to hear that that’s coming through. But if you don’t have the kind of humility that says, “You know, I could be wrong,” then you’re never gonna change your mind anyway. So having the humility to say, I’m wrong. <Laugh>
Eric Cross (37:33):
Yeah. You end up just seeing people just defend turf, as opposed to support “look for truth.” And I know for me, my own education journey, I end up with more questions than answers anyways. So I go in trying to find an answer for something and I end up with 10 more questions. And I go, “OK, this is kind of how it is.” You go down this rabbit hole and you just end up with all these different questions. And it forces the humility, because you’re like, “I don’t know! I think this is what it could be, but it could also be these other answers or explanations. So this is just where I’m at, based on what we know right now, at this present time, which might shift.”
Melanie Trecek-King (38:07):
And that sounds reasonable. Yes. Which might shift. Yes.
Eric Cross (38:11):
And especially for us as life-science biology teachers, our content is something that definitely shifts. I know some of the things I teach now are not things that I learned when I was even in middle school. Just because things evolve. They change. We learn, we get new data. That’s just the way it is.
Melanie Trecek-King (38:24):
<Sighs> And Pluto is no longer a planet.
Eric Cross (38:26):
I know. Rest in — well, no, Pluto’s still there. Yeah. It’s no longer a planet. But that was one part of my kindergarten memorizations <laugh> is Pluto being in there.
Melanie Trecek-King (38:36):
Gotta change your mind.
Eric Cross (38:38):
I know. Any words of advice for science educators out there who want to focus more on honing these critical thinking skills and strategies with their own students, but they don’t know where to start? Where would you point them? Or what advice would you give them?
Melanie Trecek-King (38:52):
I think start with what you want the students to know. And not necessarily the FACTS that you want students to know, but start with the skills that you want them to know. And then really be honest with your process. When I designed Science for Life, I started with, “these are the skills that I want students to know.” And everything was in service of that. So this sort of backwards design, I think, helped me follow a path that was more likely to be useful, if that makes any sense. But it really required doing it all over again. So don’t be afraid to question the things that you’re currently doing, even if that’s all you’ve been taught or all you know.
Eric Cross (39:41):
What I’m hearing is, don’t be afraid to question your own assumptions about what you’re doing. And don’t be afraid to adapt or change or modify. Kinda, pivot. Be flexible.
Melanie Trecek-King (39:51):
Yes, be flexible and pivot. And this is where I’m in a different position than middle school and high school educators. Because I have complete freedom over what I teach in my class.
Eric Cross (40:01):
Sure.
Melanie Trecek-King (40:01):
At the end of the semester, I always joke with non-majors that there’s nothing they have to know, which actually gives me a lot of flexibility, because I could teach ’em a lot of different things. So if there are things that you have to teach students, obviously that’s one thing. But I personally think that the way that we’ve been teaching science needs a refresher. A rethinking. And so I would say, “If you want your students to learn science literacy, honestly ask, what does that mean to you? And what would that look like to get to that point?” For me, though, it was also keeping in mind that maybe I didn’t already know the best way to do that.
Eric Cross (40:43):
One of the things you mentioned earlier is trying to reach out to educators. And I know that when we work together, it’s a force multiplier. And what you’re doing is developing skills. And there’s these skills that are happening right now in academia that you’re doing. And then how do we transfer that into middle and high school. Or, I’m sorry, middle and elementary school, high school. We need to get more people into this conversation to kind of brainstorm and figure that out. We have a Facebook group, Science Connections: The Community, where we have educators that gather. That can be one place we start the conversation. And again, I know on your website you’ve been super active on social media; you’ve grown your presence on Twitter and all these different places, engaging with folks. Which is awesome. ‘Cause I know I see your posts and I’m saving the things that you’re posting and I’m thinking of ways that I can do it in my classroom. I’m gonna take that product. By the way, is that on your website, the lesson that you do with the product?
Melanie Trecek-King (41:43):
No, actually. So the article, “How to Sell Pseudoscience” is … I know Bertha Vasquez wrote up a version of it.
Eric Cross (41:50):
Maybe we can grab that. ‘Cause we might be able to put that into the show notes for folks, because she’s a middle school educator. If there’s already something that’s been done for teachers like us, we’re like, “Yeah, let me get that and let me remix it and make it my own!” if there’s already a exemplar out there.
Melanie Trecek-King (42:04):
Yeah, she’s done it. And so I will absolutely share that with you.
Eric Cross (42:08):
So, all season long, we’ve been talking about science as the underdog. We kind of framed it, you know, science oftentimes takes a back seat to math and English. It’s kinda the first thing to go. Or the first area where time can get cut. Because of what gets tested gets focused on, oftentimes. And then in addition to that, when you’re a multi-subject teacher, elementary science isn’t just one thing — it’s every field. You know, you’re a biologist, which is different than a geologist. And when you’re teaching every subject, that’s a lot. And you might not have had a science class for years. And the realities that we’re seeing over and over with different researchers and practitioners is that science could actually enhance literacy, and building those skills. And I think you really talked about it with the critical thinking skills. Those can transfer. Or the administrator that said, “This is one of the only courses I’ve seen where it transfers to other areas.” Could you share maybe with our listeners, just any advice for advocating for science in their own world?
Melanie Trecek-King (43:13):
Wow, I’m not sure I’m qualified to answer that question! One of the things that comes to mind though — because I was listening to your last episode and educators … I honestly didn’t realize how little time they had for science. And how often science was then the first to go, to allow room for other subjects. But science overlaps with a lot of other issues. And so I feel like there could be a way to bring in science when teaching these other subjects. So, for example, argumentation and logical fallacies are easy to apply to reading and writing. Information literacy, and being able to find good information online, teaching students how to laterally read, to be able to check a source, or how to use Google effectively, to put in neutral search terms to find sources, or teaching students how to recognize the characteristics of conspiratorial thinking: All of these things can overlap with so many other subjects. So the scientist in me is a little biased towards science being important enough to do this. But try to bring it into the other subjects. It doesn’t have to be completely separate.
Eric Cross (44:43):
So integrating science into other things. And I … big believer. And a hundred percent agree with you. Now I’m gonna ask a question that kinda like takes us backwards. You shared an app with me when we first met that I thought was really cool. And I know it’s a friend or colleague of yours. But as a middle school teacher, I thought it was great, because it was something that my students could download and practice some of the skills that you’re talking about. Would you talk a little bit about the cranky uncle? Is it the Cranky Uncle app?
Melanie Trecek-King (45:17):
Cranky Uncle.
Eric Cross (45:18):
Could you share a little bit about that?
Melanie Trecek-King (45:20):
Yeah. Cranky Uncle is awesome. So, Cranky Uncle is the brainchild of John Cook, who is the founder of Skeptical Science and the author of the 97% Consensus study on climate change. Cranky Uncle … so he’s also a cartoonist. And Cranky Uncle is a cartoon game where … I don’t even have to explain who Cranky Uncle is to my students. Everybody inherently gets the, the character, right? So he’s like the guy at Thanksgiving that you don’t wanna talk to because he denies climate change and he’s just really cranky. But Cranky Uncle uses the techniques of science denial, which are summarized by the acronym FLICC: So it’s Fake experts, Logical fallacies, Impossible expectations, Cherry-picking, and Conspiratorial thinking. So he uses those techniques. Again, this is technique-based inoculation. So they recognize the techniques in the game, and you earn cranky points. And as you make Cranky crankier and crankier because you’re recognizing his techniques, you learn the techniques of science denial, and level up and open up other techniques. This is another one of those examples where climate change has a lot of science behind it, right? And if you wanted to get to the science behind climate change for any particular issue … so let’s say it’s cold today, so I’m gonna say there’s no climate change. OK? If I’m gonna unpack that at a factual level, and with science, we could be here for a while. But if I told you, “That’s like saying, ‘I just ate a sandwich so there’s no global hunger.’” OK? So that’s a parallel argument. Humorous. Love to use this kind of argumentation, ’cause it makes for some … I mean, it’s funny, but you get the point. It’s an anecdote. And anecdotes aren’t good evidence. So just like that, you could teach the technique of using an anecdotal fallacy for climate-change denial. So, I have my students play this game. You could do it when you’re studying argumentation. You could do it for science denial. I use an inoculation extension with that, where I have my students pretend that … um, actually, back up for a second. So I teach a class on critical thinking. And at the end of semesters I would get emails from students on, well, they’re failing the class, but they really shouldn’t, for all of these reasons. And reading these emails, I’m like, “If you think that’s a good argument, you clearly didn’t learn what I was hoping you would learn.” So I now have my students, early in the semester, after they play Cranky, pretend that it is the end of the semester and you’re failing the class and you’re failing because you didn’t do the work. Use at least four of the fallacies from class to argue for why you should pass. So they have to put it on a discussion forum, and they’ll say things like, “Well, if you fail me, then I won’t get into graduate school and then people will die and it will all be your fault.” Or, “My dog died, and so I was really sad.” Or, um, “You’re just a terrible teacher. And you’re short. So I don’t like you.” Or that kind of thing. So, oh, they love to attack my character. It’s really funny. But it’s supposed to be funny. And the point is, the students are using those arguments, they’re using the fallacies, to argue for something. And so by creating that misinformation themselves, they learn how those fallacies work. But taken together, I mean, everything that we just talked about there, Cranky Uncle, and the fallacy assignment, or whatever iteration you want that to be in, that doesn’t have to be in a purely science unit. Right? That could be sociology. It could be argumentation. It could be English.
Eric Cross (49:01):
Absolutely. That could be totally a prompt in an English class. And practiced in there. And then this could be an interdisciplinary thing, going back and forth between English and and science. Just having these discussions and looking at it from different angles. And you’re practicing the skills in two different contexts. So you get into argumentation. And then that app, I know I had fun with it. And the questions on there definitely resonate with people in my own family. I’m like, “I feel like I’m talking to exactly somebody that I’m related to right now.” <Laugh> Melanie, anything else that you wanna share, or discuss or highlight, before we wrap up?
Melanie Trecek-King (49:39):
So we could talk about lateral reading, if you like. ‘Cause I know a lot of educators use the crap test.
Eric Cross (49:45):
Please, please, please talk about that.
Melanie Trecek-King (49:47):
So, when evaluating sources, a lot of educators teach what’s called the CRAP test. And I wish I remembered what it stood for. But basically what you do, a lot of us have been taught when you go to a website, to figure out if it’s reliable, you wanna go to the about page. Read the mission; see who they are; maybe read some of the content; evaluate the language. So is it inflammatory? Are they making logical arguments? Are the links to reputable sources as well? And the problem is that if a site wants to mislead you, they’re not going to tell you that it’s a bunk site, right? They’re just gonna do a good job of misleading you. And so, what you wanna do instead … the CRAP test basically is an evaluation of a site. And that’s what’s called vertical reading. So you’re looking through a site to determine if it’s reliable. Uh, I think his name’s Sam Wineberg at Stanford, proposed something called lateral reading. Where, instead of on the site, what you wanna do is literally open a new tab and into the search engine type the source. You could do the claim, too. And then something like Reliability or FactCheck or whatever it’s that you’re checking, and then see what other reputable sites have to say about it. So, in their study, actually, they did a really interesting study where they compared professional fact checkers to PhD historians to Stanford undergrads. And they evaluated — I wish you could … um, there’s two pediatrician organizations. One’s like the American Association of Pediatrics and the American Academy of Pediatricians, something like that. They’re very similar sounding. So you give them to students. I do this with my students as well, the same study. So I give my students those two websites. And I say, “Which one of these is more reliable?” And they do exactly what most of us do, which is spend time on the site looking around. And most of the time, if not nearly all the time, they come to the wrong conclusion. And so then I tell them what lateral reading is: “OK, instead of looking through the site, open a new tab, search the organization and reliability.” Something like that. And it takes probably 30 seconds before they realize one of them has been dubbed by the Southern Poverty Law Center as a hate group. As opposed to the other one, which is like a hundred year old huge pediatrician organization that produces their own journals and so on. But nearly all my students are fooled. And in the study, none of the fact checkers were fooled. I’m gonna get the number right. It’s something like 50% of the historians and 20% of the Stanford undergraduates got the correct answer. And they spent a lot more time on it. So it’s a great way to teach students how to use the power of the internet to evaluate sources much more quickly and, effectively. And yes, use Wikipedia, right? Wikipedia is not a final answer, but Wikipedia is actually pretty accurate. So if Wikipedia is the first place you stop, then yes, go there, see what Wikipedia says, and then follow some of their sources.
Eric Cross (52:47):
What popped in my head was like, Yelp reviews for websites. That almost sounds like what it was. It’s like when I search for a product, I don’t go and read the product description marketing. ‘Cause that’s all designed to sell me on something. But I’ll go and look in Reliability, if it’s like a car, or just other sites to cross-reference. And that sounds like what you were talking about is like cross-referencing. Seeing what FactChecker [sic] said about this site, versus seeing what a site says about itself.
Melanie Trecek-King (53:14):
Well, that’s a great analogy. Because if I wanted to know if a product was effective, what the manufacturer says about the product, clearly there’s a strong chance of bias. Right? They’re going to be on their best, um, put their best foot forward. Versus, what do independent reviewers say about this product?
Eric Cross (53:35):
Yep. And I am known to research something to death. And I get something called “paralysis by analysis.”
Melanie Trecek-King (53:42):
Ohhhh, yeah.
Eric Cross (53:44):
And it’s so bad that even if I’m trying to buy, like, towels, I need to find the best-bang-for-the-buck towel. I have to defer some of these decisions out, because I’m on the internet for three hours now. I’ll be a pseudo-expert in towels, and thread count, and all of that stuff. But yeah, that maybe that’s just the science person.
Melanie Trecek-King (54:03):
I mean, I feel your pain. I do the same thing. <Laugh> It’s annoying. Like, it’s just towels. What does it really matter? But yeah.
Eric Cross (54:10):
Coffee! It doesn’t matter what it is. I just need to go, “OK, I have to use these powers for good. Otherwise I’m gonna be researching forever.”
Melanie Trecek-King (54:16):
I wanna say one other thing. So, again, this is a college class and I have a lot of freedom. But one of the driving philosophies behind the class is a wonderful quote in a book, Schick and Vaughn, How to Think about Weird Things. And they said, “The quality of your life is determined by the quality of your decisions, and the quality of your decisions is determined by the quality of your thinking.” And I know my students want a grade. But I’m really trying to teach them how to be empowered through better thinking. That’s where the name “Thinking is Power” came from. I mean, we say “Knowledge is Power,” but it’s not enough to know things. And there’s too much to know. So being able to think and be empowered to have your own agency and not fall for someone’s bunk is my goal for my students.
Eric Cross (55:07):
And doing that is gonna help them through the rest of their lives. Not be swindled, not be taken advantage of, be able to make better decisions. There’s so many benefits to building that skill. And I know your students have definitely grown and benefited. I’m sure you’ve heard, long after you’ve taught them, heard back from them and how they’ve applied that course to their lives. Melanie, thank you so much for being here. For a few things. One, for providing and filling this space where there’s such a need. Again, the critical thinking resources, the tools that you used, are so, so important. If we ever lived in a time where they were critical, it was really what we experienced during the pandemic in the last few years. We watched people’s information literacy and science literacy play out in real time. And we literally saw life-and-death decisions being made based off those skills. That highlighted, I think how important this is. And then, taking the time to generate resources for educators like myself, that we can take and adapt and put into our classroom and start teaching our students. ‘Cause like you said, by the time they get to you, they’re, they’re so far downstream or so far in a system that, depending on the teachers that they’ve had and the education system they’ve been in, may or may not have even touched on these things. They might have learned a lot of facts, but they may not have built their muscle to be able to critically analyze and interpret the world around them. And you’ve just — even the last year, it hasn’t even been a year since we talked the first time — I’ve watched your resources continue to grow, and you share them. And so I, on behalf of those of us in K–12, thank you. And thank you for being here.
Melanie Trecek-King (56:49):
Oh, well, thank you so much for this opportunity. Thank you for everything that you do, reaching out to other educators and for giving me a platform to hopefully reach other educators.
Eric Cross (57:00):
Thanks so much for listening to my conversation with Melanie Trecek-King, Associate Professor of Biology at Massasoit Community College and creator of Thinking Is Power. Make sure you don’t miss any new episodes of Science Connections by subscribing to the show, wherever you get podcasts. 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. You can find more information on all of Amplify shows at our podcast hub, Amplify.com/Hub. Thanks again for listening.
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Meet the guest
Melanie Trecek-King is the creator of Thinking is Power, an online resource that provides critical thinking education to the general public. She is currently an associate professor of biology at Massasoit Community College, where she teaches a general-education science course designed to equip students with empowering critical thinking, information literacy, and science literacy skills. An active speaker and consultant, Trecek-King loves to share her “teach skills, not facts” approach with other science educators, and help schools and organizations meet their goals through better thinking. Trecek-King is also the education director for the Mental Immunity Project and CIRCE (Cognitive Immunology Research Collaborative), which aim to advance and apply the science of mental immunity to inoculate minds against misinformation.


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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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.
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.
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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 website, YouTube channel, and Facebook account!

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
S1-08: The importance of risk-taking in the science classroom, a conversation with Valeria Rodriguez

In this episode, our host Eric Cross sits down with Miami-based educator Valeria Rodriguez. Valeria shares her journey of serving in the Peace Corps, working a corporate job, and eventually finding her passion as a middle-school science teacher. Listen in as Valeria explains how sketchnoting, a form of note-taking that utilizes illustrations, encourages student choice and creativity in her classroom. Eric and Valeria also discuss the importance of risk-taking within the science classroom, and how their own mistakes can be crucial in modeling resilience for students. Lastly, Valeria shares experiences she had with several teachers who inspired her throughout her career. Explore more from Science Connections by visiting our main page.
Valeria Rodriguez (00:00):
There’s so many things that drawing to me makes an essential connection to. It tells me no matter what, I can continue placing lines on my paper and creating the image I want. Some people will say they messed up the drawing. You know what? They gave it character.
Eric Cross (00:19):
Welcome to Science Connections. I’m your host, Eric Cross. My guest today is Valeria Rodriguez. Valeria is a science educator, instructional technologist, and illustrator, who is currently part of a steam team where she teaches third through fifth graders in Miami, Florida. Valeria has presented and led workshops at education conferences like NSTA, ISTI, and SXSWEdu. In this episode, we discuss how she uses real-world projects to make lessons more meaningful, and why teaching students how to sketchnote increases their conceptual understanding in science. I hope you enjoy this pun-filled conversation with Valeria Rodriguez.
New Speaker (00:58):
Now you’re in Miami and you have a biology background. We’re like kindred spirits. Like we do the same thing. I teach biology here in San Diego at a middle school called Albert Einstein Academy. So I’m in a seventh grade classroom teaching life science.
Valeria Rodriguez (01:11):
That’s so cool. That’s how I started.
Eric Cross (01:13):
Is it?
Valeria Rodriguez (01:13):
Mm-Hmm <affirmative> I started teaching middle school science for seven years, doing life science in my biology background.
Eric Cross (01:20):
How’d you get started? Like where did you kind of begin?
Valeria Rodriguez (01:22):
Well, I went to UF for undergrad as a runner, and I thought I was gonna go to the Olympics, but you know, running in college is hard. And you quickly like realize a path as a full-time athlete is really hard. And one of the days that I was having one of those, like “come Jesus moments” of what am I gonna do with my life, I walked by a sign that said life is calling. And I’m like, okay, <laugh>
Eric Cross (01:52):
You literally had a sign.
Valeria Rodriguez (01:53):
There was a sign. So I was like, I’m reading the sign. I’m following the arrows. And it was for the Peace Corps. And so I went to this meeting and everything that I’ve ever done student government, athletics school education, my backgroundmy family’s from Columbia–everything in that meeting came together and they’re like, we need all these skills. And I’m like, I have those. Those are my skills. And they’re like every Peace Corps volunteer teaches. And so I went in as an agriculture volunteer to Panama because of my major and my background in biology. And while I was in the Peace Corps doing the work, I was teaching at the local school. And I realized that the most sustainable way to create any change is through education. When I came back, I was like, well, what do you do if your first job in the world is in the Peace Corps? Like my background was, you know, managing a machete in a field and teaching second through eighth grade in one classroom, on a chalkboard, you know, in English and in Spanish, while teaching the teacher and the students. So I found that going into teaching allowed me to put some of those skills, that wide array of skills that I had collected until that moment, into practice. And it allowed me to do the arts, do the running, do the science, do the connecting with the community in one place here in the states.
Eric Cross (03:34):
I don’t know if I’m just romanticizing, but you were in Panama and you were doing this amazing teaching. I don’t know. Do you compare it to teaching now in the classroom? Is there anything that ever like makes you wish that you were kind of in that environment again? Or are you kind of, do you like the more kind of technology side of things?
Valeria Rodriguez (03:48):
I tell my students all the time that I miss it, because when I was in Panama, I was in Licencia. They looked at me like this, all knowing being. If they couldn’t come to class because the kids literally had to work, they would bring me their assignment, like run it to me and then run back to their parents. Like, “I had to turn it in, but I have to go to work.” And I’m like, oh my gosh. And like here, sometimes I feel like, you know, I have to negotiate and convince my students to want to give me their work. And maybe it’s because we take a lot of things for granted. I mean, I didn’t have running water in my community. Here, you know, we have everything. I miss how we appreciated — like, my parents would send suitcases of materials for me to hand out to my students, like color and stuff, notebooks, things like that — and the kids would like, hold that notebook, like pristine and here sometimes my students aren’t as careful with materials. And I’m like, why are you breaking the crayon box? <Laugh>
Eric Cross (04:54):
I’m thinking about that. Just even just bringing pens and crayons and how that’s valued. And then a culture that’s built around esteeming teachers, and you’re this essential member of the community — and you feel that. It’s palpable.
Valeria Rodriguez (05:08):
Yeah. And here, sometimes I ask students like, what do you wanna be when you grow up? And you get all sorts of answers, but in my community, it’s gonna sound funny, but they were like, we wanna be a teacher. Like, that means that we would know a lot of stuff and they would put their hair up in a bun, ‘cause I always have it in a bun, and they would write stuff when they were playing and they would act me out <laugh> and I’m like, do I, do I do that? <Laugh> I genuinely got a very rich experience in the time that I was there. And what I learned the most was how to try to not do as much, it’s like a lesson that I’m still trying to learn because like I’m here with the U.S. Mentality of go, go, go.
Valeria Rodriguez (05:58):
And they’re like, but we already did, you know, two things like now we stop. And I’m like, but, but why? And they’re like, you can do that tomorrow. And I’m like, but no, like we’re gonna run out of time. For me. It was a lot of struggle of like slow down. And as a teacher, I feel like I’m always like on the treadmill at a thousand speed. And sometimes I have to tell myself like slow down, be in this moment, like a parent texted me today that her daughter was walking with her dad and said, daddy, let’s talk about the layers of the soil. And I was like, I need to stop right now and acknowledge that this happened. She’s in third grade and she’s asking her dad, you know, she could ask him about anything, and she’s asking him about soil. That’s essential for everything. And we don’t even think about soil here. Like my community had tons of erosion and every year there were less and less crops being able to be produced. We’re not talking about that here. And yet, my student asked her dad here in Miami, <laugh> about soil. And that conversation happened because of our class.
Eric Cross (07:03):
And you allowed yourself to be present and experience and feel that that communication came to you.
Valeria Rodriguez (07:09):
Yeah. We put so much stuff out there and we don’t know where it lands. If it lands on dirt or soil, <laugh>
Eric Cross (07:16):
There you go. I like it. Yeah. Bringing it back. But you’re, I think you’re what you’re saying. Resonates with a lot of educators that’ll be listening to this is that there’s so much that you do. And there’s even times when we do get the feedback, there might be a letter or a card or something, but like, to your point, like we look to the next thing instead of stopping, being present and allowing yourself to absorb it. I think I need to put that up on my, like on my wall, like this, just be present. Now you came back and then you went into the classroom here and you started off teaching science.
Valeria Rodriguez (07:46):
I didn’t go straight into the classroom. I knew that I wanted to continue teaching. But I wasn’t back here in Miami. When I moved back, I moved to Austin. And I ended up getting married and there, I started teaching Spanish as a second language like corporate classes. And I was kind of like tiptoeing around, like, do you dive into education? ‘Cause The idea of a teacher here is very different than the teacher idea that I had while in the peace Corps. So he, a lot of people were like, you can do so many things. Why would you teach? And I was like insulted <laugh>. I was like, wait, what do you mean? Like even to this day, I’ve started a blog post, maybe 20 times with that statement because people all the time are like, you’re so talented. Why do you teach? And it drives me crazy because it makes me feel like they’re looking down on my choice <laugh> but I came to terms with it that it’s just like a societal thing. Cause of that quote, like those who can’t do teach. And I was like, let me let this go.
Eric Cross (09:01):
I find though that educators who come in as a second career, come in with a, a, a variety of skill sets that I, I think you can only get when you’re outside of academia. I mean, you can, you can develop them, you know, going kind of K12 education college and then into the classroom. But those soft skills, the business skills, a lot of those things you really develop. And it’s funny ‘cause your, your story almost sounds like some of the people that I know that work in big tech firms, they have this eclectic story and then now they’re, you know, working for Google or Facebook or something, but that actually was a as set to them because they are able to see the world through multiple perspectives. And I’m hearing kind of a distinguish between art of teaching and the science of teaching. Like you had the, maybe the art connecting ideas, these things, and then the science, like the quote unquote like formal teaching. Okay. That had to get built on later. Like am I hearing that right?
Valeria Rodriguez (09:55):
Yeah. The that’s what rocks I’m teaching the rock cycle right now. So I’m, I’m under a lot of heat and pressure <laugh>
Eric Cross (10:02):
We got the funds, we got the funds rolling. All right. All right. So bringing in the, so the, the art side or the science side we have, and then we just have this amazing illustrator. Now you mentioned your website and we’re gonna post it somewhere, but just so we have it here to, and you say, what is your website where all your majors and sketch notes can be found,
Valeria Rodriguez (10:21):
Www dot Valia, sketches.com.
Eric Cross (10:23):
Okay. So folks that are listening, if you wanna check out the art, there’s some awesome stuff on there, as well as Twitter and Instagram. And we’ll make sure we have it handles in the, the bio of the podcast and the notes. Your art’s amazing. I looked, I checked it. I saw inauguration. I saw astronauts. I saw all kinds of different things. How do you use that in the classroom
Valeria Rodriguez (10:45):
To draw connections? The ones? So what I do is I airplay my iPad onto the board. And sometimes as I’m talking, I’ll draw things, draw things I’m saying, or assignments I’ll sketch out different ideas, or maybe like the schedule I’ll have an icon of some sort that represents things. I use it for everything and anything, because just the way that I tell my students that science is everywhere. I, we don’t realize how programmed we are to use images to for, for information they’re in the street. Bathroom signs, we see the zoom little link, like the image, the icon of zoom. And we know that it’s a call the apps. You know, our phone doesn’t have the words for everything that we’re opening. We just have a list of images that represent information. So we’re programs for this. And all I’m doing is showing my students how we’re programmed for it because we’re so used to seeing images, to represent things that we’re taking it for granted again.
Valeria Rodriguez (12:03):
And sometimes my students will like, I’ll write something and I ask them, make your own visual vocabulary. So I give them the word of the definition for every unit, the younger ones, I give them the definition they have to plug in the word and an image, the older ones, I give them the word they have to plug in the definition and an image. But I don’t tell them what to draw because they need to create an image that will help them to remember the definition. Not me. I tell them, I wrote the list. I know the words, you’re the one that needs to think of something that’s going to help you to remember this. You need to draw a connection to this information. Like I use it and I mess up all the time. And I, I scratch things out because I feel that my students or the student that I’ve had in general are risk averse.
Valeria Rodriguez (12:57):
They don’t want to make mistakes. And drawing is one of those things that it taught me that it’s okay to make mistakes. Like people won’t buy commit to buying houses or they won’t commit to things because they’re gonna make a, I’m like, you can sell the house. You can move again. I mean, I’ve lived in a lot of cities. I’ve been married, divorce, gone out with people. It’s worked out it hasn’t you know, there’s, there’s so many things that drawing to me makes an essential connection to <affirmative> that it tells me no matter what I can continue placing lines on my paper and creating the image I want. And if a line doesn’t necessarily go in the direction, I want it to, I can continue shaping it so that the overall image is in the direction I want. And I can look past those line here and there that some people will say they messed up the drawing. You know what? They gave it character. I, I cycle and I have scars everywhere. They give me character and I keep writing. The overall image in my head is I’m a cyclist, not I’m banged up. <Laugh>
Eric Cross (14:14):
I feel like there’s so much to mind in what you just said. This was like a mini-Ted talk. And I couldn’t write fast enough because there were so many gems of the things that you said, but let me say something worse. And this is I’m gonna be surface with this because, and it’s your fault because you got me thinking in puns and you said, take it for granted. And I said, take it for granted because you’re talking about the rock cycle. So that’s what I heard way back. Anyways, you have your students creating what, but it’s low tech, which is really cool because a lot of times we think of creating content and it’s kind of high tech, but they’re creating something. And this is for us, like as biology folks, like you’re using kind of like this neuroscience that exists about students, creating an art to help them learn.
Eric Cross (14:55):
And this is something that I, I feel gets missed a lot in. When we talk about the quote unquote, the formal teacher training is the element of how creating an art can actually lead to improved learning in the classroom. It’s something you have to go to like a conference to kind of go and see or something, but it’s not as, it’s not as pervasive everywhere. And that thing about risk averse. I feel like I, you spoke to my own life. What I see ‘cause with my own seventh graders, I see the same fear or anxiety when I ask them to draw. As I do, when I ask them to give me a hypothesis about a phenomenon that I’m gonna teach and I say, it’s okay to be wrong, but I see them drift to the Chromebook and want to Google it. You know what you just said about just try it and you can always change and giving character, I feel like is just a great message for everybody to hear
Valeria Rodriguez (15:48):
Today. Students made fossil, right? ‘Cause They’re learning about rocks and we made using plaster, but then I put the green screen up and not only did they make it and they excavated them, but then we put it on the green screen. And they’re like all of a sudden at a dig site,
Eric Cross (16:04):
What I’m seeing right now for those of you who are listening is, is students who are on, is this on IMO?
Valeria Rodriguez (16:10):
This is on we video
Eric Cross (16:12):
Video and they’re holding up fossils that they made. But in the background, because there was a green screen, there’s an overlay of like a, a rock dig site. So the students legitimately look like they’re paleontologists or something somewhere.
Valeria Rodriguez (16:24):
Exactly. And so it’s, it’s not just creating lines, right? The sketching transfers to so much be because even the want, not wanting to make a mistake with their fossil. One of the kids today, when he took off the, the Plato, ‘cause we put the Plato at the base. Then we put in either a shell or some sort of artifact that they were going to fossilize. And then we put in the plaster when he took off the Plato, a piece broke off and everybody’s like, I can’t believe you broke your fossil. And I’m like, not the first. Okay. Do you know how many of these guys and girls have been out there? And all of a sudden they find a dinosaur bone and they’re walking and they fall. And this fossil that took billions of years is all of a sudden broken. I’m like this selfie, the original selfies, these animals died in commitment to their selfies.
Valeria Rodriguez (17:19):
And here you are dropping the bone. So they were all laughing, but it was to go away from the fact that, oh my God, you broke it. You made a mistake. You drew the wrong line. You asked the wrong question. Like no big deal. Keep digging, shout out to the teachers that try doing the projects that they have. They don’t feel completely comfortable with or you know, that they take risks doing. Because even though in theory, it’s like suggested and schools want that or communities want that when it comes down to it, people also expect us to do things at work. But part of our job is also taking risks. Like we did a tethered weather balloon launch the other day because we couldn’t get approval to release the weather balloon in the atmosphere since we’re near an airport. And it was too short of a time.
Valeria Rodriguez (18:14):
And I remember a parent said, oh, you’re not releasing the balloon. And I was like, well, this is a lot of work too. <Laugh> we, you know, we’re, we’re doing the tethered launch. This is a hard project. So the other day when I heard that comment, like I went back to my class and I was like, you know what? I took a risk to do this project. I could have played it safe with a handout of a weather balloon <laugh> or you know, a YouTube video. It’s it’s the, the fact that we’re continuing to push. And so I wanna like really thank the teachers that keep trying to do the hard things that aren’t like tried and tested because it’s scary. Yeah.
Eric Cross (18:57):
Yeah. There aren’t a lot of opportunities for them to have adults that they see in positions of authority or that they respect or admire model failure. And I don’t mean failure in the, like the negative pejorative sense, but like things just not working out and then seeing how you respond to it, ‘cause you’re modeling, taking a risk. But like with real stakes, it’s authentic. I had students swab the campus and we put it in auger dishes and Petri sealed it up and then let it grow room temperature, but we kept it you know, cool enough at 75 degrees. So it wouldn’t be able to survive any, anything pathogenic. And then students, you know, I took pictures of them and then showed them the results. So the students never interacted with it and some things grew and some things didn’t, it was mostly, you know, fungi and some bacteria, but I showed them like, how come mine didn’t grow? And I was like, well, you know, it could have been how we swabbed. It could have been some things don’t grow the temperature, we kept it at, but some of the experiments didn’t yield the cool results. And that was okay. But I front loaded the expectation so that if everything did go great, sweet, but managing expectation, I found really helps to mitigate the pressure.
Valeria Rodriguez (20:01):
Yeah. Well another project that we’ve participated in is growing beyond earth where we’re planting seeds that contribute to like a huge set of data for cultivars that are being considered for growth on the international space station. And my students are like, well, you know, we just have six little pots, like what is this? And I’m like, yeah, we have two little seeds in each of these pots. And we are one data set in like hundreds of data sets that they’re collecting. But we are contributing two research on the international space station. You don’t have to be the next bill gates or the next, you know, Steve jobs. Like everyone thinks they’re gonna be the next big thing. Like you can also be a seed. That’s part of a really big project and that is okay. Like everyone can’t be the next big thing
Eric Cross (20:48):
And the other. And the other thing, I think what Gladwell talks about this in outliers and there’s another book called bounce, but a lot of the people that we see is successful or famous, we don’t realize that their background and their exposure to things was one of the things that led them there, both jobs and gates had access, you know, gates had access at, at the university of Washington to like one of the first computers and then jobs at, at Hewlett Packard. The story go goes on and on, but we don’t see the lineage of some of these people and where they come from. We just see the end result. You just see LeBron James winning a championship or something. We just want the, the end result the, the glory, but not the sweat that it takes to get there. They don’t, we don’t really see that as much, which leads me to like the next thing I wanted to ask you is how do you, and I kind of saw it just now, but how do you engage your kids in the classroom?
Valeria Rodriguez (21:36):
Well, I think I’m funny. Some of them don’t do
Eric Cross (21:38):
They like the puns
Valeria Rodriguez (21:39):
<Laugh> some of them do. And some of them don’t get them. They get them later. And I see when they get it, I like to engage them by bringing in real people, real examples of things, real research when possible. Right. I can’t put them in a real dig site. So the green screen helps me do that. But one of my students yesterday, other day before was like, you have such cool friends because I’ll say, oh, one of my friends does blah, blah, blah. Or, or, oh, when we go to Kennedy space center, we’re gonna, you know, talk to one of my friends. Who’s doing research on, you know, chilies in space and they’re like, wow, your friends are so cool. And I took that moment to tell them, be mindful of the people that you collect as friends in your life, like make good choices, surround yourself with awesome people, people so that you can share ideas. Like you connect with friends who you inspire you to do more. I try to engage them by giving them examples of things that people around me are doing that connect to what we’re doing. Do
Eric Cross (22:43):
You, do you explicitly or intentionally teach soft skills or is it just something that you just kind of organically do natural or are you mindful about making sure that you’re doing that
Valeria Rodriguez (22:52):
A hundred percent? You have to be explicit about it with amplify? Actually, we, we did a poster for incorporating social, emotional skills and other soft skills into the classroom because sometimes we just like other things like writing and, and reading, you know, we silo all these things in education and the school counselor, can’t be the one to deal with everything. You know, you have to deal with things as they surface. And sometimes my kids ha are frustrated because I ask them to think I don’t have yes or no answers. I have, you know, we are gonna launch a high altitude weather balloon. We don’t know how high it’s gonna go. We don’t know what’s gonna happen. We don’t, we don’t know if we’re gonna find it when the <laugh>, when the balloon bursts and it lands in the ocean, are we gonna find it? Is the GPS tracker gonna work?
Valeria Rodriguez (23:47):
Are we gonna lose all that money? I don’t know, but we have to do all the steps and find out. But with kids, they don’t have the skills yet. And I can’t wait for the counselor to come in and talk about handle the frustration that they’re feeling over. Not knowing the correct question to ask, because by the time they go meet with her, the moments pass, I have to stop and say, Hey, like check in with, with what you’re doing. It’s okay to be frustrated. You can’t take it out on a classmate. You can’t take it out on me.
Eric Cross (24:14):
So you were, you, you were intentional about teaching these skills to your students and you had the relationship. So it makes sense that you were the one to bring it across ‘cause you see them more than anybody does. You know, we’ve, we’ve, we’ve imagined. Teaching is for a long time. It’s been okay, you’re the science content expert. You’re the English expert, but so much as teaching evolves, there are these skills or like EQ emotional intelligence that you kind of have to have kind of coming in. Because like those moments, like no having the presence of mind to stop and why a young person through identifying how they feel, why, where it came from. Those aren’t always covered in those aren’t really covered in your methods classes when you’re in college, getting your, your degree or something. Now when you’re you’re sketch noting and for teachers who are, or one, could you just maybe give like a brief explanation of sketch, noting for somebody who may not be familiar with it, like how I was sketch any different than just drawing a picture randomly or something.
Valeria Rodriguez (25:10):
Okay. So you’re creating visual summaries. You’re using text and images combined in different ways to take notes. And before you know how we had like these shorthand things that the squiggly meant an indent and something else meant something else. And we had these lists of things when they would edit our papers, that represented things. It’s kind of like that for your brain. So you’re making a list of maybe icons or small sketches that represent things for you. So as you’re taking notes, you hear things. And when people talk now and they, they say, you know, I’m on the fence about this. Like I literally see a fence. And when they’re talking, I write the note, it’s almost like a T toe with pointy tops and I put a stick figure on top of it. And so later when I look at it, I think, oh, that’s right. My friend is on the fence about that decision
Eric Cross (26:08):
For a new teacher or even a, a, a experienced teacher. That’s interested in sketch noting, where, where would you recommend? They start like the structurize? Like, do you give creative freedom? Are they doing this paper and pencil vocabulary words? Are they up? Like, what are some just kind of maybe three basic things to kind of get started for someone who was just curious about it.
Valeria Rodriguez (26:29):
So it has to be simple because if it requires a lot of energy to go in, then you’re gonna be more hesitant to do it. For example, I wouldn’t start summarizing a video because it’s moving really fast or a live presentation is really hard. So with students, I would start with here’s a paragraph, make a visual summary of it, or here’s a vocabulary list, make an image to represent each word. Then you would move into, well, you know, here’s a unit summarize the three main topics in unit. Then you can move onto like a little YouTube video. That’s like 10 minutes a Ted talk, make a visual summary of the Ted talk because they can pause it.
Eric Cross (27:11):
Mm. Okay.
Valeria Rodriguez (27:13):
The hardest thing is live presentations, ‘cause in conversations you can say, oh, can you say that again? Sketch, noting. You start seeing how people organize or don’t their thoughts when they speak. Because when you start writing things down and all the information is about one thing and then like two blue ORPS about something else. You’re like, wow, that was really unbalanced. So then when you start teaching, you tell them what you’re gonna tell them, you tell them and then you tell them what you told them. So they can check that they put the notes in the right places and you tell them what you’re gonna tell. So they can prep the pathway that they’re gonna set up their notes and I have to be explicit. And I have to say like, I’m gonna talk about the rock cycle. So if I were you, I would put, you know, these four boxes. Oh, but there’s three types of rocks. See? I’m like, yeah, but magma. So let’s put it in the cycle, you know? And, and then I’m like, if I were you, I would put an arrow from here to here because this is how, you know, after erosion and then, you know, heat and pressure. But then it connects like this. So the arrows are gonna help me to remember the directions
Eric Cross (28:13):
As we wind down. There’s there’s one question I wanna ask you there, you are bringing together this science, the, the art, the social, emotional learning, the relationships with your students outside content, like there’s so many different things that you bring in the classroom that is clearly gonna make you a memorable educator for your kids. It just, it’s just, I’m just listening to your learning environment. And it’s so rich who is one teacher that really expired you. So
Valeria Rodriguez (28:38):
There’s a few people that stand out overall. I had very encouraging teachers. I had that one teacher that didn’t like my drawing <laugh> she also stands out <laugh>
Eric Cross (28:49):
We have those too.
Valeria Rodriguez (28:49):
Yeah. So I have colleagues that stand out to me that inspire me every day to like keep trying. And then I had a teacher in high school who I actually work with her daughter now at the school that I work at. And I didn’t even know her mom would make us write almost the whole class. And it was world history. And I remember hearing her say when she was talking about the Roman empire that it fell because it reached more than it can grab. So it kept extending too far out. And I heard that, like I think about, yes, I can keep reaching for things in education and reaching for things in my classroom. But I have to come back to like, what can I hold? I don’t wanna reach further than what I can hold. And yes, I have to believe in myself. And I tell my students to believe in themselves,
Eric Cross (29:38):
I’m in this, I’m in this sketch noting mindset. Because when you said what Ms. Brown shared with you, I thought of a hand reaching out, but then things kind of slipping through it. And I another hand with like a fist right next to it. So even in our conversation here last hour, I I’m thinking in pictures now. And so I’m like, if I can do it, they can do it. Like if you know, ‘cause I am just not the person who spends a lot of time committing to draw. Because a lot of times when I was that student who tried to draw and we get frustrated and look around and now I feel like this is, I wanna try this again. I wanna share this with my students and encourage them. This is gonna be a lot of fun. I look forward to continuing to see the sketch notes that you do. And maybe I’ll, I’ll show you one of mine. Like eventually I don’t know if you can see that there that’s my stick figures. Those of you who are listening right now, I drew, I was drawing stick figures and taking notes while Blair was dropping all of this, these like gems and wisdom in here. So
Valeria Rodriguez (30:31):
Maybe we can do a challenge that once people hear this podcast, they can tag us somehow in the sketch note that they create I’m in. So we see what they a take from it. Because that’s the other thing about sketch noting, you think you’re emphasizing something and all of a sudden people are walking away with something else that resonated to them. And you’re like, wow. And here I was thinking that this was what we were talking about. And this is what really jumped out at them.
Eric Cross (30:57):
Your kids are lucky that you’re in front of them, not just because of how you teach, but how you access all of these different parts of their creativity and their thinking and apply, integrate all of these soft skills and social, emotional skills and just life skills and your experience connecting them to the outside world. They, and like you said, and how we started, you know, where you started in Panama, the students realized what you represent and what you meant to them. And I feel like your students, when they get older, they may not realize it in the time, but as they get older and reflect back, they’ll be telling stories about you. So yeah. Thanks for making time and thanks for being here.
Valeria Rodriguez (31:34):
Well thank you too, ‘cause I know you’re in the classroom and making time to do other things outside the classroom. Isn’t always easy, but it’s what keeps us going in different ways.
Eric Cross (31:49):
Thanks so much for joining me in Valer today. We wanna hear more about you. If you have any great lessons or ways to keep student engagement high, please email us@stemamplifycom.wpengine.com. That’s TM five.com. Make sure to click, subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts and join our brand new Facebook group science connections, the community for some extra content.
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Meet the guest
Valeria is an educator, instructional technologist, graphic facilitator, and dreamer. She currently works as a Science teacher as part of a STEAM Team in Miami, Florida teaching third through fifth graders as a free-lance graphic facilitator. She loves to connect with passionate educators she meets around the country. Valeria has presented and led workshops at educational conferences like SXSWEdu, ISTE, NSTA, NSTA STEM Forum, SHIFTinEDU, FAST, FCIS, and SEEC. When she is not teaching or sketching, Valeria can be found adventuring with her family around the world, training for triathlons, and creating opportunities to empower kids in all kinds of communities.
You can check Valeria’s work on her website and follow her on Twitter & Instagram.

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!
S3 – 06. Bethany and Dan take on Twitter!

In this episode, Bethany and Dan take a look at several tweets that caught the most fire on Twitter during the 2021-2022 school year. The pair answer questions about viral teaching methods, the best teaching advice you can give in three words, and if students should use pencils or pens in class. Join them as they take on those questions and several others in a fast-paced episode.
Explore more from Math Teacher Lounge by visiting our main page.
Dan Meyer (00:02):
Hey folks. Welcome back to the Math Teacher Lounge. I’m your co-host, Dan Meyer.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (00:07):
And I am Bethany Lockhart Johnson. And I’m your co-host, Dan! Hi!
Dan Meyer (00:12):
We’re co-hosts! Hey! Great to see you.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (00:13):
Dan, this is the last episode of Season 3. Three seasons!
Dan Meyer (00:19):
It’s gotta have a cliffhanger. What will the cliffhanger be? You know?
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (00:22):
The cliffhanger is that we love having guests! It’s one of our most favorite things, because selfishly, we love to talk to all of these amazing folks who are doing this interesting research and thinking about amazing things. But for this last episode, it’s just you and I, Dan. Cliffhanger!
Dan Meyer (00:40):
Yeah. I like this. I like this. So the cliffhanger was last episode, and people are all like, “So who’s the last guest gonna be of the season before we roll out into summer?” And yes, as Bethany said, we love all the fascinating guests we’ve had on throughout these last few seasons. And we realized…who is more fascinating to each other than both of us? You know, let’s talk to each other about things, right? <Laughs> You get that! You get that! Or am I alone here in this? We had this idea about what we should talk about here, and that’s this: I am on Twitter a lot. I’m @DDMeyer on Twitter; throw me a follow; might follow back; who knows? I don’t tweet much. Bethany, what’s your handle on Twitter? Let ’em know.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (01:22):
I’m @LockhartEdu, and I was much more active pre-mamahood. But I’m still up in there. Go ahead.
Dan Meyer (01:30):
Yep. In there. Yeah, great. So I’ve been keeping track of the hottest conversations in math education Twitter, the conversations that the most people who kind of describe themselves as math teachers in their bios and whatnot have been replying to. We’ve got some little things working in the background, keeping track of this sort of thing. And so we are gonna bring you folks some of those extremely hot conversations, and even better than the questions—which we hope you’ll reply to and tag us in your replies—even more than those questions, we’ll bring you our answers—our answers!—to those questions. Can you believe that? We’ll fully settle these questions! Won’t we, Bethany? My gosh, won’t we?
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (02:15):
Jeez Louise! No! Dan Meyer, the point is not our final word on it! The point is this episode, we’re furthering the conversation. We wanna hear from listeners about what do you think?
Dan Meyer (02:25):
Right. You’re right. You all need someone in your life like Bethany who will help you become the best version of yourself. So here’s the deal. We have several questions in a few different categories. We’re gonna bust through some quick ones, pretty quick. And, uh, there’s some meaty ones as well. Let’s get into it! The first questions come to you all, and us, courtesy of MTL guest Howie Hua, who has a renowned knack for just creating math memes, but also conversation starters that really capture the curiosity and answers of of a grateful nation. So Howie’s first question, which I’ll pose to Bethany, is, “What’s your favorite number?” Bethany? And why is it your favorite number?
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (03:14):
Oh, I love it. OK. Well, the first thing that came to my mind is 12. ‘Cause It’s a highly divisible number. I mean, 2, 6, 3, 4—I love it. And it coincides with the day and month of my birth. Which, like, the double-digit…come on, 12, 12, 12, 12. I dunno, am I giving away, like, my bank security code <laugh> or anything by saying that?
Dan Meyer (03:41):
Yeah. What’s your favorite PIN?
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (03:43):
Let me change my PIN. Yeah, it’s just such a happy, happy number. Well, 12 is, you know, 10 and 2. Two more. Anyway. Love it. What about you, Dan? What’s your favorite number and why?
Dan Meyer (03:55):
I’m into it. I’m into it. I think I would choose 16. Because it’s the first number for me when it was like, “Oh, you can keep on making numbers forever!” Where I’m like, OK, 2times 2 is 4. Great. That’s kind of an elemental expression in mathematics. Four times 2 is 8. OK. But then, 8 times 2 is 16, and it’s like, “Oh, you can just keep doubling that thing over and over and over again!” And I can recall feeling pretty excited that numbers are just like, out there for the finding. For the taking. Cool stuff.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (04:33):
I’m sorry. Wait, I have to interrupt. You went 2 times 4 is 8 and you didn’t go 4 times 4 is 16? You went 8 times 2 is 16? You wanted to keep the 2 the same?
Dan Meyer (04:49):
Yup. Yup. You can keep on doubling. You can keep on doubling numbers and it just keeps on going.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (04:53):
More evidence that our brain works very differently.
Dan Meyer (04:56):
We learn more about each other…let me keep this rolling with Howie questions. OK? Howie says, “If you could co-teach with one teacher from Twitter, who would you choose?”
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (05:06):
Oh, oh, it has to be a teacher?
Dan Meyer (05:11):
Or anybody, I guess. I mean, like, I know you love Oprah.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (05:15):
Can I co-teach with Oprah?
Dan Meyer (05:16):
Yup, yeah, so there we are. <Laugh> Yup. OK. Fair enough. We have to work Oprah into every single episode.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (05:23):
I’d just love to sit and like, we’d read together, we’d read to the students, and then we’d talk…I mean, obviously it’d be Oprah. But if we’re thinking more of like MTBoS, like math Twitter blogosphere-land, I suppose the person I would wanna co-teach with honestly would probably be Allison Hintz. One of our former guests as well. Her book, Mathematizing Children’s Literature, with Antony Smith, that book—I just love the idea of sitting and doing a read-aloud and then diving into some juicy math that’s inspired by what comes out of that read-aloud. So yes, that’s who I pick. Allison! Let’s co-teach!
Dan Meyer (06:00):
<Laugh> Shout-out to Allison.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (06:01):
What about you?
Dan Meyer (06:03):
I would choose MTL guest Idil Abdulkadir—because, and this relates to Allison and also Elham Kazemi—they talked about, in our episode about teacher time-outs. And I’m choosing someone who I think is—like I’ve never seen Idil teach, but I work with Idil at Desmos and think she’s fantastic. But what I really want in a co-teacher is someone that I can say, “Whoa, time out, do you see what’s going on here? This is really interesting. What should we do next about this?” And have a little strategy sesh in front of the kids and no one gets freaked out by that. And I think that that’d be a pile of fun. Idil seems like she’d be receptive to that kind of interaction, teacher to teacher. So that’s my vote right there.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (06:48):
Opportunity for you to grow your own practice, Dan.
Dan Meyer (06:52):
Yeah, yeah, exactly. 100%.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (06:56):
So Dan, I actually have a question for you from Howie. If we’re on the Howie tweet train, I have one from Howie too.
Dan Meyer (07:04):
Howie had some fire tweets, some fire tweets this current year. Yep.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (07:08):
Dan, I wanna know: Do you prefer doing math in pen or pencil?
Dan Meyer (07:16):
Ooh, yeah. Oh, I see that Howie says, “I don’t mean to start any drama, BUT,” and then asks the question–
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (07:23):
But!
Dan Meyer (07:24):
I think that Howie lives for drama. I think he knows he’s messy. He lives for drama. He knows what he’s doing this with this question here. He knows.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (07:32):
DRAAAAMAAAA!
Dan Meyer (07:32):
He knows what he’s doing. Yup. So I would just say it depends. Is that cheating? Like if I’m doing math to learn, or if we are learning in that process, then I want to use pen, actually. I wanna see the tracks of the thinking. And if we’re doing it for presentation, like if I’m presenting something, I wanna…I guess that’s an area where I’d be fine to not erase things. I don’t wanna prep it so it’s, you know…I guess you could use pen for presentation also. Just pen. Period. But I wanna see the tracks of the thinking if we’re doing some learning versus presentation. What about you?
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (08:09):
Well, I heard the voice in my head telling one of my kindergartners, “No, you cannot do that in sparkly pen. You need to do it in pencil.” And I was like, “Wait, whose voice is that?” It was one of my math teachers telling me I couldn’t do it in pen! Why couldn’t this kid do it in pen? Sure! Do it in a sparkly pen! So I wanna say do it in pen. And since usually pen is what I have around…I mean, I do crosswords in pen, Dan.
Dan Meyer (08:36):
Wow, wow. With a piece of paper and math, you have lots of room to re-revise and cross off…but those little, little boxes on the crossword, that says a lot about your commitment to pen.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (08:46):
I got really good at making an A into an H or a P or whatever we need. So I would say, “Hey, if you’re in the room with your kiddos and you’re doing math, if somebody wants to do pen, let them do pen.” But I do know that I’ve seen teachers say you need to do pen so that I can see all of your thinking. So I think I hear what you’re saying. But do you think it should be like a classroom rule or something?
Dan Meyer (09:13):
Oh, no, no, no. I mean, I’m gonna ask you like, “How’d you get to this destination?” And I wanna know process somehow, and I think you’ll get tired of having to explain it verbally rather than just, like, showing. Just don’t erase stuff. Don’t scratch stuff off. Let’s let’s see how you’re getting there. That is what I’m into.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (09:30):
Thanks, Howie, for that trio of thought-provoking tweets, because I genuinely wanted to know what Dan thought and what our listeners think. I mean, Dan, I gotta say: Howie, you say you don’t wanna cause drama, but I gotta say I’m with Dan on that—
Dan Meyer (09:50):
Got the gift. Got the gift for drama. We’re still friends though. So I’m happy about that. Our next section, I got a few more questions queued up here and these ones relate to advice for educators, advice for yourself. Good advice, bad advice, that kind of thing. So let’s jump in. I would love to know—this one’s from Pernille Ripp—I’m very curious, Bethany, what is the worst teaching advice you have gotten in your life, ever?
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (10:19):
<Laugh> Ooh. OK. Um, worst teaching advice was: “That’s OK, just move on anyway.” And that was in terms of pacing. It was like, students needed to do a deeper dive and the teacher who I was chatting with said, “No, no, it’s fine; it’s fine; just move on. Just move on to the next chapter.” That was probably the worst advice, because no, I don’t think that’s what I should have done at all! <Laugh>
Dan Meyer (10:48):
Right.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (10:48):
But I was a first-year teacher and I was trying to figure it out. And I learned that that was not good advice. And I understand the pressure of pacing. But it was totally antithetical to the type of listening to my students that I want to do in my craft. And this teacher meant well, but that was not good advice, teacher! <Laugh> What about you, Dan? What is the worst teaching advice?
Dan Meyer (11:13):
I dig that. That feels similar to one of the replies to Pernille here. Frances Klein says, “Never let them know you’ve made a mistake” being particularly bad advice. You know, just this like idea of like moving along, covering your tracks, not backtracking or admitting mistakes, those all feel kind of a piece. The worst advice I think I’ve ever received, and I wasn’t given this often, but it’s echoed by a lot of the commenters here on this tweet, which is “Don’t smile until X, Y, or Z,” where X, Y, and Z are like Christmas, October, December, January. Just the idea that you’ve gotta develop—
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (11:54):
Wait, what?
Dan Meyer (11:55):
<Laugh> Did you never hear this from anybody? Don’t smile until Christmas? Perhaps this is more—
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (11:59):
I’m a kindergarten teacher! Can you imagine? If I don’t smile the second they walk in? The tears?! The parents’ tears?! The kids’ tears?! If I’m just like, stoic?
Dan Meyer (12:07):
Yeah. Well.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (12:08):
So explain it to me.
Dan Meyer (12:10):
Well, the idea is, is that, you know, for older kids, they’re scoping you, they’re clocking you for weakness, they’re looking at you, they’re looking to take advantage. And so “don’t smile until Christmas” is like, hey, you can always relax. You can always relax your discipline, but you can’t UN-relax it if you start out, you know, Mr. Happy Pants Meyer. Which—
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (12:33):
Smile perceived as weakness.
Dan Meyer (12:36):
Yeah. Very obviously poor advice. Eventually you come to realize that like having a rapport and a relationship that is trusting and warm and demanding, that has high expectations, that’s the best kind of classroom management. Not some kind of persona built around intimidation or stoicism, that kinda thing. So, terrible, terrible advice!
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (13:01):
I feel like I did have a few of those math classes. Yeah.
Dan Meyer (13:04):
Yeah, exactly. <Laugh> You loved them, right? They were like your favorite math classes. It was a blast, right?
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (13:11):
<Laugh> So we have to ask the opposite. Thank you, Daniel Willingham, who said, “What’s the best advice you got?” But hold on, Dan, he didn’t just want the best advice. He wanted the best advice in three words.
Dan Meyer (13:26):
Oh yeah. He doesn’t, he doesn’t want a book or dissertation or even a blog post or even a tweet. He wants just three words.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (13:32):
I think maybe that might have been to me. <Laugh>
Dan Meyer (13:34):
This is someone who’s doesn’t have much time for this advice, wants it distilled down. I’m just obviously stalling here as I try to think about this. I don’t know, there’s just like so much nuance lost here. I would say, listen to students, listen to students. I can’t say more that, I guess. I guess I’m done. I can’t say more than that there. But you’re in a bad place if you’re not listening carefully to students. How about you?
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (14:04):
- Mine is “Ask…lots…questions.”
Dan Meyer (14:11):
Nice. ‘Cause I filled in the word! I filled in the word! I was able to kinda infer that. I did that. I got that.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (14:17):
Wait, wait, wait, wait! I could have said many! Wait, I could have said “Ask many questions.”
Dan Meyer (14:22):
Strong, strong.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (14:25):
So yeah. You know, no isolation, like don’t put yourself in a bubble. Ask, not just, not just your students, but the teachers! Ask a lot of questions. You don’t have to have it all figured out.
Dan Meyer (14:34):
Into it. Very much into it.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (14:37):
Thanks. Daniel. Thanks, Pernille.
Dan Meyer (14:40):
Yeah. Daniel and Pernille, Both great questions there about advice, best and worst. Another fire tweet popped up earlier this year from Dr. Khristopher Childs, which was “Name one thing every educator should stop doing.”
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (14:57):
Oh, I don’t know. This kind of ties into my best advice about asking questions.
Dan Meyer (15:03):
Stop not asking questions?
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (15:06):
<Laugh> Avoid the isolation. I really love this idea of when we can, popping into each others’ classrooms, co-teaching, building this collaborative nature. Elham Kazemi, in our interview, talked about this idea of, like you said, the teacher time-outs, learning from each other. So I feel like if we could stop isolating ourself…and I don’t mean at lunch—sometimes you need to not be in the teacher lounge at lunch. Like if you need a minute, take the minute! But in general, as a practice, how can we not be isolated and instead be learning with, and from, each other? How can we stop the isolation? That’s what I would hope every educator would stop doing. What about you, Dan?
Dan Meyer (15:54):
I think that educators should…this is gonna require a little bit of elaboration. I think educators should stop taking responsibility for things that are not in their zone of influence. I think that as a society we are asking teachers to do more and more, to become more and more of a central fixture holding together with chewing gum and twine all the various parts of a student’s life. From their health, their fitness, emotional health, that we feed students at school. It becomes very tempting, I think, there’s a lot of pressures to blame outcomes, disparate and unjust outcomes later on in life, on teachers. And teachers should just flatly refuse. And to yeah, understand what the job has been set up to do. What it’s good for. And do that with excellence and intent and a lot of effort. And then not take responsibility for the rest of it.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (16:53):
If I asked five different people about the definition of what a teacher should be doing, I would get five different answers. So I think it’s really interesting that you say that because yeah, many, many hats, which I think, yes, can lead to burnout. Can lead to all sorts of things. We’re asking schools to be all things to all, all people. Interesting. I’m gonna think about that more. I need to hear folks’ response on that, Dan.
Dan Meyer (17:18):
Mm-Hmm. I’m curious too. I mean, yeah, there are definitely things that are in teachers’ responsibility and some that are not. That’s a tough one.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (17:26):
OK, for help, name an example of each. And what’s something that you think every teacher should not and should be doing. ‘Cause I feel like my brain goes to some things like, you know, I had teachers who were saying, “Well, I don’t wanna have my kids have to have breakfast in my classroom in the morning. That shouldn’t be my responsibility to serve breakfast in the morning.” But I’m like, “But then your kids are eating and they’re gonna be able to learn and be more focused.” Should that be the teacher’s responsibility? I’m not saying it necessarily should, but I’m saying…I don’t know. It gets murky for me.
Dan Meyer (18:06):
Yeah, for sure. I mean, I think that we should, as a country, have a really generous social welfare net so that everyone has food at home. Where a school is not the place where some students have to go to in order to receive nutrition and nourishment. That seems sad to me. And uncommon in developed nations. I think that teachers should watch out for, should be responsible for, the mathematical development of the students they teach, up to a point, they should be responsible for learning math and creating relationships in their classes. I don’t think that teachers should accept responsibility for larger kinds of outcomes, like the health of a democracy or international competition, who goes to the moon first. That kind of thing has historically been placed at the feet of teachers. And it’s tempting when you’re a teacher, I think, to take on that responsibility because it kind of develops your social importance. And I just say, we should say no to that. And get compensation, not in terms of social importance, but rather like in spendable dollars and monies.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (19:10):
I’m learning more about you, Dan. And you know, this is what I’ve gotten from that answer: If you’re gonna dream, dream big. Right?
Dan Meyer (19:17):
Is that what you got from that? I don’t know. I think I’m trying to dream realistically.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (19:23):
No, like if we’re gonna say, “Maybe teachers shouldn’t be responsible for serving breakfast in the morning,” well, because we want every child to have access to nutritious and filling food at home and time to eat it in the morning, right? It’s bigger than just, “I don’t want the teacher to have to do this.” So we’re dreaming big. We’re saying this should be the LEAST that students have access to, right?
Dan Meyer (19:53):
Yeah. Yeah. I’m here now. I’m with you. I like that dream. Where we take care of folks in their lives outside of schools. So schools don’t have to be the one linchpin for every kind of social outcome. Like currently a lot of them run through a school ’cause we don’t do a good job of setting up other ways to meet those needs. And we should.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (20:16):
And we’re also recording this in, what, two weeks, a week, after a tragedy where students and teachers were killed in the classroom. And I think both of us are taking some deep breaths and recognizing that there’s a lot of debate that is happening about what teacher’s role should be in preventing this in the future. And I don’t know if you’ve done drills in your classroom that are supposed to help mitigate disaster, but you know—collective deep breaths— <laugh> is where we’re at right now.
Dan Meyer (20:52):
Yep. The idea of “we should arm teachers” is another example of no, we should not do that. We should solve the tendency towards violence outside of the classroom so that teachers and students can teach and learn. That sounds awesome to me.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (21:06):
Collective deep breath. Whew. OK. So what else you got for me, Dan?
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (21:33):
Ooh. So I feel like I’ve heard that in many teaching PDs. “I Do, you do, we do.” Actually I feel like I’ve seen like more “I do, we do, you do.” Like graduated release. I do it, then we’ll do it a little bit together, and then now you have permission to do it. And I feel like in directed draw, that’s a hundred percent true. Like I’m gonna show you this and then you draw it. And then you cut here and then you do it. If we’re trying to create this, like I’m teaching this new art technique. But in mathematics, I feel like that’s really not what I want my classroom to look like. I want to support my students and set them up for sense-making, and then I want them to try it out and I don’t want them to solve it the way it first comes to mind for me. I wanna see how they make sense of it and how they solve it. And then I want us to share it with each other so we can grow together. So I think time and place for “I do, you do, we do,” or “I do, we do, you do.” Or shoo-be-doo-be-doo-be. Yeah. You?
Dan Meyer (22:44):
I’ve got nothing. I have nothing to add. I thought that was just an excellent summary of a classroom I would love to be a part in, love to teach. I think it’s a certain tool in the toolbox that I think is overused. But it’s also a tool that can be useful in the case of certain kinds of operations. There are some operations that do benefit from “let me just show you how, like one way you might do this.” I don’t know. I’m like helping my kid whack a nail into a board and there’s a moment where it’s like, “Hey, actually, lemme just show you one way you can do this,” and do it, and then that’s helpful in some moments. But for so much of math, a lot of math does not relate to the operational kinds of fluency. And in those instances, it’s a little bit…it’s not a useful tool, I don’t think, for those kinds of skills and ideas.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (23:34):
I’m thinking of tool talks in my classroom. So in kindergarten, many of the tools that we use in math and just in class in general, are new to the students. And if I tell them, this is exactly how you should use this tool, then I feel like I’m taking a lot of the sense-making away from them. But if I introduce the tool, show them how to use the tool safely, show them this is not a safe way to use the tool, chewing on this is not safe. That’s not how we use this tool. This is how we take care of it, et cetera. But then support different modes of using the tool that are gonna help them use it to solve problems and make sense, I think…but I guess—Dan, have you heard “I do, you do, we do,” or is it “I do, we do, you do”?
Dan Meyer (24:22):
I’m with you. And I think that it got clarified post-tweet. But yeah, it typically is “I do, we do, you do,” the gradual release of responsibility it’s often called. And I, I have heard people do what you described, which is…what is it? It’s “You do, we do, I do”? Like an inversion of that? Like have people do a thing that I can do that’s not too, too abstract for them, and then like “We all do something together, and then I’ll offer a summary of what we learned,” is one way that goes. I like that tool as well.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (24:53):
I think particularly, at least I’ve seen in elementary classrooms, there’s sometimes this fear of letting students just try it out before I’ve really showed them, “but this is how it has to be.” And what I am most excited about is supporting students and creating a classroom environment where students don’t need my permission or need my direct “this is the only way to do it.” Instead, it’s like, yes, there’s lots of things we model. But there’s also like, “Hey, what do you think? How do you think this should be used?” And the joy of that exploration.
Dan Meyer (25:30):
Yeah. There’s a feeling of efficiency that comes from “I do, we do, you do,” for some kinds of math, but it’s undercut in my experience by what it cultivates in the students, which is “I’ve gotta wait until the teacher does before I can do anything.” So it pays off real diminishing returns over time. And it’s, just for me, an exhausting way to teach. Always being the bottleneck for new learning is a total drag.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (25:55):
Ooh, what a great way to describe it. You do not wanna be the bottleneck. You want to be…what’s the other thing? The facilitator? What’s the opposite of a bottleneck? The flowing river? The…The…Help me!
Dan Meyer (26:10):
Hit us up in the replies. I dunno. The opposite of a bottleneck. That’s what you wanna…you wanna not be the opposite? No, you want, yeah. We got this here. We’ll figure it out. We’ll get back to you. <Laugh> OK. Well, folks, those were a few of this year’s fire tweets. It’s been fantastic chatting with you—
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (26:29):
Dan.
Dan Meyer (26:29):
—Bethany, About all those—
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (26:32):
Dan. You know, my favorite thing to do is interrupting you, Dan. I have to interrupt you because we can’t end fire tweets, Dan, without including a tweet from you.
Dan Meyer (26:43):
Oh, that’s true. I do have my moments. Yeah, we should. We really should. <Laugh> Do you have one in mind?
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (26:50):
No. Dan. Yes. I loved…you tweeted recently, “How many years have you been teaching?” Which, OK. “What Has been like the most influential? Like, what, OK, blah, blah, blah.” <blathering noises> You tweeted, “How many years have you been teaching? And at this point, what has most influenced how you teach?” And you gave some ideas: A methods course, PD sessions, curriculum, TV and movies, et cetera, et cetera. And I love that you put that out there because this episode is coming out as we’re wrapping up another school year. And it also got me thinking about summer and what teachers sometimes do during the summer, but what we might need to do this summer for self-care. But I’m really curious. I love that tweet. And I’m curious, Dan, what did folks say was the thing that had most influenced their teaching and what’s most influenced your teaching?
Dan Meyer (27:49):
Ooh, yeah. People’s responses to this one were really fantastic. I came into this, I was flying to the Association of Mathematics Teacher Educators conference. And I just found myself wondering, so, the pre-service year, the one year of, like, you’re learning how to teach, is how we did it in California. Like how much of that has still infused my practice? And in what ways? I don’t think I think about that stuff consciously, but I think that did like set me up with a lot of images that I would be unpacking for going on two decades now working in education. I think conversations with people, I think observing classes, I don’t think that like the one-day PDs, the one-day development days throughout the year, four times per year, I don’t think those stuck to me much. I think that this summer, I have learned so much, just an embarrassment of riches, from non-educational sources. From other disciplines. From storytelling, for instance. From how people have constructed movies I like. I am proud of the way…one of the aspects of my character that I’m proud of—it takes a lot to admit this, as I’m sure you understand, Bethany—but to integrate lots of wacky stuff and pick from it and use that to affect my practice and teaching has been really positive. So for this summer, I hope that people read a good beach book and just kinda let your teaching mind rest a little bit. And in doing so, create some openings for new ideas about education from other parts of the world. Kids! Having kids has been helpful. I don’t know! Just everything! It’s such a big job, education. Everything has so helpful. What about you? What’s an influence on your practice that might surprise me or other folks out there in MTL land?
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (29:52):
Well, I don’t know about surprise. I mean, I definitely feel similarly, like methods courses absolutely impacted my teaching. But I feel like opportunities where I was able to observe other teachers and where I was able to have conversations with folks about their practice, that has deeply impacted me. And books I’ve read. I mean, honestly, I’ve learned so much from sharing with other teachers. Like, for example, maybe I’ll bring student work and we’ll talk about it. And we kind of create this conversation together about how we wanna come back to the students based on the work we see. Those type of moments where we’re collaborating and we’re bringing multiple perspectives to the table, that I think, has really often shifted me out of my first initial reaction or what I thought I was going to do in the classroom the next day. So that continues to surprise and delight me. And thinking about this summer, I think there’s a lot of creativity and joy that can come out of the marination process, when you’re just kind of sitting back and healing yourself, whether through sleep or sunshine or time with friends and family or whatever that looks like for you. I think there’s a lot of creativity that can come from that place of fertile, you know, wellness. I never think of that as wasted time. I think of that as getting the soil ready for all that’s gonna come in the fall. And that being said, I also think it could be a fun time to dip your toes into something that you are excited to read, that you might not have a chance to read during the school year that could be teaching-related. So it’s like very low pressure, like, “Oh, I’ve really wanted to read more by this author. I’ve wanted to read this article. I’ve wanted to dip into this topic.” And not with a pressure, but just with a curiosity. And, yeah, I think so often we as teachers love learning, and to give yourself space to learn in whatever that looks like can be a real gift.
Dan Meyer (32:09):
Yes. And if you need book recommendations, hit the MTL back catalog of episodes. Loads of folks that we interviewed have real good books out.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (32:16):
Yes!
Dan Meyer (32:16):
Think about it. Think about it.
Bethany Lockhart Johnson (32:22):
One quick recommendation: Again, gotta plug Antony Smith and Allison Hintz’s book. I read Mathematizing Children’s Literature before we did the interview, but this summer I wanna read all the children’s books that they mention. I just wanna go to the library and read all those children’s books. I wanna read them to my son. I wanna read ’em to myself. So, you know, diving into some good YA, children’s books, just, like, TLC. Dan, thank you for such a rich season and a chance to have so many interesting conversations. It is genuinely a joy to learn with and from you.
Dan Meyer (33:00):
Likewise. And always hope to see you folks on Twitter now and then. Let us know what you’re up to this summer at MTLShow on Twitter or in our Facebook group, Math Teacher Lounge. We’ll be there tuning in now and then. It’s been a treat interacting with you folks over this last season. Take care and until the new season, so long.
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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.


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.
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