Each year, as classrooms grow quiet and the school year winds down, we at EMC² Learning crank things up behind the scenes — planning, building, and dreaming up the next big wave of resources to help teachers everywhere engage their students like never before.
But before we create what’s next…
We listen.
And we don’t just listen for the sake of listening.
We listen to learn. And (with time, grace, and plenty of missteps along the way) we actually learn how to listen.
Because that’s what growth looks like — and we’re all works in progress.
Too often in education, feedback only flows in one direction — handed down from a once-a-year observations (if we’re lucky!) or delivered through a perfunctory district-wide initiative. But as teachers who are committed to student-centered instruction, if we want to model meaningful learning, we need to practice what we preach. And that starts by asking better questions and truly listening to those we serve.
It’s easy to put off the obligatory student survey until the waning days of the school year. But it’s equally important to recognize the power of new beginnings that can come as a direct result of the wise (and immediate!) feedback that the folks who know us best are more than willing to share our way if only we have the courage (or is it humility?) to ask them.
Real talk?
Every single class period is a chance to check in.
Every daily interaction is an opportunity to reflect, refine, and rise.
And as much as we might wish it were that easy, rarely do we rise to the level of our goals. Quite on the contrary, we typically fall to the levels of our systems.
Which is precisely why it can be so, so powerful to create a regular system of information gathering (and actual listening!) to help us keep our professional practices running smooth and steady no matter what obstacles might come our way. It’s precisely this approach that ensures our student-centered flywheel continues to open all kinds of new doors under the awesome force of its own feedback-powered inertia.
Here at EMC² Learning believe feedback isn’t a formality — it’s fuel.
So now, we’re turning the tables and asking YOU, the brilliant minds behind more than 10,000 EMC² Learning accounts across the globe, to help guide what we create next.
So what do you want to see more of?
- New resource types?
- Different content area coverage?
- Special projects?
- PD supports?
- Tips and tricks to stay authentic in age of such overwhelming artificiality?
- Something we haven’t even thought of yet?
Whether you’ve used one resource or one hundred, your voice matters — and we’re building this platform with you, not just for you.
And so, whether you’re a paying member (thank you, by the way!) or simply a newcomer who’s recently added their name to our weekly mailing list, please check your inbox! The 2025 EMC² Summer Planning Survey is live now, and it only takes a few minutes to complete. We’ll be collecting responses through the end of June — and we’re already making plans based on what we’re hearing.
Let us know what’s working.
Tell us what you wish we’d build.
And help shape the future of EMC² Learning.
Because teaching is, was, and always will be relational at heart. And the best classrooms — (and, if we both do our jobs right, the best platforms for teachers) — are built by listening.
The feedack-focused philosophy spotlighted in this blog post is the cornerstone of how we approach student-centered engagement and the 1,000+ resources available in the EMC² Learning library. This entire library is available to all members with an active Engagement Engineer or Engagement Engineer PLUS account, and is included with your annual site membership. We hope you’ll consider joining us as an Engagement Engineer to unlock a full year of site access. For complete details including our exclusive limited time offer for annual site membership, click here.
