Teaching Strategies Employee Spotlight: Jenn, Business Development Manager
Meet Jenn, the Business Development Manager
Before beginning her role as a Business Development Manager at Teaching Strategies, Jenn was a teacher working in an inclusion program for two-year-old’s that used The Creative Curriculum. When Jenn began exploring careers outside of the classroom, she was excited to learn that so many Teaching Strategies employees are former teachers devoted to bettering the world of early childhood education.
Today, in her role at Teaching Strategies, Jenn primarily supports school districts and Head Start programs by setting them up with resources to support their early learning initiatives. A typical day could include meeting with prospective customers to provide curriculum demonstrations, helping existing customers create staff professional development plans, or strategizing with a program on how to best use grant or COVID-relief funds. Jenn says, “Being surrounded by so many brilliant minds is one of my favorite parts of the job!”
Recently, we asked Jenn about her work at Teaching Strategies and her connection to our mission and solutions.
How does our mission resonate with you?
What resonates with me most is that Teaching Strategies believes in providing high-quality, developmentally appropriate solutions for all children, regardless of ability. As a former early intervention specialist and special education teacher, I love that Teaching Strategies helps teachers individualize small-group activities, document each child’s development, and then use a strengths-based approach to report on that progress!
What do you love most about the products and services we offer to our customers?
I love that our resources are rooted in the constructivist approach, in which children are active participants in their own learning. For example, at the beginning of each study within The Creative Curriculum, teachers guide children through exploring the study topic and discuss what they already know and what they want to find out. During the study, children use multiple senses to investigate their questions through play and experimentation, build on their prior knowledge, and finally reflect on what they’ve discovered with a celebration of learning. This approach allows children to be “co-creators” in the learning process, resulting in increased engagement and deeper understanding.
What is your favorite part about working with Teaching Strategies customers?
My favorite part about working with Teaching Strategies customers is seeing the passion they have for furthering the field of early childhood education. This year, many administrators I work with are experiencing a staffing shortage, often stepping into the classroom themselves to assist when needed. Even with all the tasks they are juggling, they remain committed to providing their teachers with the tools, training, and support necessary to create a high-quality classroom environment for our youngest learners.
What do you feel sets our products apart from our competitors’?
All of our early learning solutions include a family engagement component to extend classroom learning into the home setting. In the child development field, we often talk about the idea of parents and caregivers being a child’s first teachers, before that child enters a classroom setting. Teaching Strategies emphasizes the importance of ongoing family engagement by providing teachers and families with resources that can be used in the home setting, such as our The Creative Curriculum Investigation Playlists, At-Home Guided Learning Plans, ReadyRosie Modeled Moment videos, “Letters to Families,” and more.
