In the sixth grade, I wrote a song about tornadoes for science class.

It was set to the tune of "Someday" by late-90s band Sugar Ray.

I failed to read the directions well and missed a key requirement. On the due date, my teacher Ms. Connors made me sing the song for the class. Then, she made me sing it to another class, too.

Truly mortifying for a kid who got sweaty when stressed. Back to 2020...

The other day my son asked me, "Dad, what do we do if there's a tornado?"

Instantly, my brain went to lyrics I wrote 20 years ago...under a staircase or a mattress is the safest place that you can be...

First, there was no tornado. Second, don't take my sixth-grade safety advice. But third, I remembered the lyrics over 20 years later!

It's because the learning was fun - and also, funny.

This is a lesson that Andy Rahden, CEO of Shmoop, shares in the latest episode of The EdTech Startup Show.

Fun and flair are part of Shmoop's approach to helping students learn content in less time, and with more enjoyment, than through traditional methods.

"From our foundation, we realized that the way that you could maybe engage a student was by providing a little bit of humor and flare into some of the content - even when you're learning E = MC²" Andy Rahden, CEO of Shmoop

Andy shared great stories about leadership and education. Here are a few highlights you can check out on LinkedIn and YouTube:

• Andy's approach to taking the CEO role at new company (he's done this 3X)

• Specific differences between private sector PD and K12 education

• What is Shmoop Heartbeat? Andy announces Shmoop's patent-pending product

You can read the full show notes here and click here for the "instant-listen" link.

News and fresh takes

School closures have "cracked open teaching & learning." This is the claim made by Santa Ana Unified School District Superintendent Dr. Daniel Allen in a recent feature on the Paper blog.

Three highlights: Allen explains how he quickly realized devices weren't the problem causing the "digital divide" for his students. He says remote learning creates new urgency for educators to make learning "enticing" for students. He believes the experience will help educators develop new skills that carry over to in-person teaching.

My take: As Allen notes, my hope is that as many districts and teachers as possible are taking a "do no harm" approach. Also, let's hope we'll see fewer classrooms of 25 students learning 1 thing at 1 time when school returns to some sense of normalcy.

This week, DonorsChoose launched Distance Learning Projects. This innovation on their traditional model allows teachers to get projects funded, and then have items shipped to an address of their choice.

In other words, teachers can get school supplies and basic essentials shipped to students' homes while schools are closed. NYC announced closures for the year today. And 30+ states are closed through June. There are countless kids missing the routine, attention, and basic necessities that school provides. Hopefully this brings a little light to their lives.

DonorsChoose CEO Charles Best explains his approach to making this rapid innovation here.

How to make content educators actually want

I know your company needs sales assets. You need content like case studies directly tied back to your product's value.

However...

There's also an opportunity for another kind of cotent. Some EdTech company will eventually create a marketing machine like WeAreTeachers, Edutopia, or EdSurge. It'll be for a smaller slice of the education community.

Let's say you have a STEM product for elementary teachers. All your content does not have to be about STEM for elementary teachers. BUT - it should definitely be entertaining and informative for the elementary community.

Just think of all of the...

• Guides
• Expert interviews
• Jokes/memes
• Free downloads
• Partnerships
• And more

You can make if you were trying to become the resource for cool stuff on the Internet for elementary teachers. Not easy, but powerful.

Create one "viral" meme about elementary school, shared from your company (or even better your CEO's) Twitter account, and I bet it would bring a nice bump in traffic to your website.

Until next time, thanks for reading, and have a great weekend.

Gerard Dawson

PS - Share The Business of Learning Letter with your team by sending them to this link.