Teaching Strategies Employee Spotlight: Kellyn, Senior Director of Business Systems

Meet Kellyn, a Senior Director of Business Systems.

Kellyn has been with Teaching Strategies for almost a decade, beginning as an Implementation Associate. When she began her career with Teaching Strategies, she was hosting webinars for new GOLD users, mailing out onboarding guides, and helping with renewals and PD scheduling. Now, a lot of those tasks are automated, and Kellyn manages a small team that supports all of those automations.

Recently, we asked Kellyn about her experience at Teaching Strategies. Here’s what she had to say.

What attracted you to Teaching Strategies?

I discovered The Developmental Continuum (predecessor to CreativeCurriculum.net and then GOLD) while I was getting my Master’s in Early Childhood Education. The tool was immediately useful to me in parent-teacher conferences, and I wanted to learn more. I was able to use Study Starters (specifically “Ants” and, more broadly, the concept of insects) as a jumping point for lesson planning in my kindergarten classroom, and I quickly learned that I had more fun and my students were more engaged when we could explore a tangible, accessible topic. I couldn’t believe how much I learned in the process. These resources were a game changer for me, and when I learned they were published by a company based out of Bethesda, Maryland—only miles from where I lived at the time—I started checking the Careers page weekly until openings came up.

What motivates you to work in the ed tech field?

There is so much momentum to digitize our resources and our interactions in the world. In early childhood contexts, this work should be done with respect for the professionalism of educators in the field and the realities they face. The same respect should be applied for children as learners and families as caregivers. I want to be a part of this shift, as I believe other educators should in whatever ways possible, to ensure the voices of people in the field are a key part of the process.

What do you feel sets our solutions apart from our competitors’?

One of the reasons I was drawn to Teaching Strategies’ solutions from that first moment with The Developmental Continuum was the immediate usefulness of the resource. I could show families what learning and development looked and sounded like along a progression. I could offer tips on what to do at home to build skills and abilities. I enjoyed learning alongside my students when we used Study Starters, and I saw the research I learned in my Master’s program reflected in the resources in a way that took my learning from an abstract concept to a usable concrete tool.

What do you think the future holds for Teaching Strategies?

This company has grown significantly since I first joined, and I’ve been lucky to observe our growth, as well as the impact our customers have had in their communities. I’m excited to see our continued investments in improving our digital offerings for customers, including our expansion into dedicated Social-Emotional resources for classroom experiences (Al’s Pals) and teachers (noni). We have an amazing opportunity to provide teachers with high-quality resources that are immediately applicable to their lives, and the lives of the families and children they serve. I see so much potential in our ability to make teachers’ day-to-day run more smoothly and effectively, and I’m excited to see us deliver against that promise.