Going Into Year 4: A Conversation with Ms. Herron

As the new school year begins, it’s always important to look at it as a fresh start and an exciting new beginning. I had the opportunity to speak with a young teacher about her experience in education. 

Chelsea Herron, 25, is looking forward to what her fourth year of teaching will bring. 

What do you teach, where do you teach, and how long have you been teaching? 

I teach English at West Cabarrus High School, and I am going into my fourth year!

What is your ‘why’?

As a teacher, I have a unique opportunity to shape the future through my students, the future of the world literally sits in my classroom. It's so exciting to see a student master a standard, like how to cite a text or determine a theme, but it is a different, more rewarding feeling to see them open up and become compassionate towards their classmates, people who they might not have ever spoken to if it weren’t for my classroom. It is my greatest hope that through creating an inclusive culture in my classroom, it will have a ripple effect on the world. 

School starts this coming week, how are you preparing for another school year?

Now that I’m in my fourth year of teaching and considered a real teacher, haha, I am focusing on the details to prepare for this coming school year. I think the first couple years of teaching are just trying to keep your head above water; going into this school year, I’m feeling pretty good about my swimming abilities. I know the standards by heart, I know which texts I’m using and I’m feeling confident in them, I know which classroom management strategies to use. So to answer your question, I am fine-tuning my teaching practices in order to prepare. I have figured out what does and doesn’t work for my teaching style and I’m excited to put those things into action this school year!

What is your favorite thing to teach, and why?

My favorite lesson would have to be Postcards from Odysseus. The Odyssey gets a bad wrap, but I’ve always found it to be a class favorite. As we read about Odysseus’ journey home to Ithaca, my students will inevitably have a couple favorite places that he stops at - The Land of the Cyclops usually takes the crown. Once we begin wrapping up the unit, I have students pick a location that we read about and write a postcard to Ithaca, from Odysseus’ point of view. In the postcard, they write about what happened at that location, it is a great way to teach summarizing and key details. Then they have to get artsy and draw on the front of the postcard what the location looks like in their head. Their favorite part is when we actually mail the postcards to Ithaca. I’ve had a couple of students who have ended up with pen pals and they think it's the coolest thing.

Do you have any advice for new teachers?

My best advice would be to form those relationships with your students. A student might hate writing, but if they respect you, they’ll write anything you ask them to. A student might not be the best reader, but if they know you believe in them, they’ll try their hardest to read Shakespeare. A student might not care at all about what diction is, but if they know you care, they’ll give diction a try. So much pressure is put on standardized testing and which teacher will have the best exam scores, and that stuff is important, but none of that matters if we don’t know who our students are outside of the classroom, who they go home to, if they even have somewhere to go home to. The relationships matter, build them. 

What do you think makes a classroom successful?

Referring back to my previous response, I believe relationships make a classroom successful. I have made it one of my teacher responsibilities to have all of my students’ names memorized within the first three days of school. When I stand outside of my classroom and greet students as they’re walking in, I greet them with specific details and then I always make sure to include their name; it’s a small gesture that goes such a long way - “Hey Payton, I love your Yeezys.”, “How are you today, Ricardo?”, “Congrats on winning your basketball game last night, Emonie!” If kids feel noticed, appreciated, and cared for, they’ll do anything for you, they’ll even write that research paper they dread so much. 

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Thanks, Chelsea! If you’re an educator and want to share your story, we are all ears! Send us a DM on Twitter or Instagram @leapedlive. Have a great start to your year!

Live Streaming for Education: Why Teachers Will Want to Participate

The future of education is going to continually change with the force of virtual learning. Since Leaped is a live streaming platform for education, it will join other live streaming services in becoming a strong leader in live video education.

Why Should Educators Want to Teach Through Leaped?

To start, it’s an amazing way to expand your reach and talk to a larger audience. The walls of a classroom no longer contain your teaching talents; we have learned over the past year that you can teach from anywhere, at any time. Why limit yourself to only 30 people when you could be reaching thousands? Not only are you talking to more learners, but you are speaking to a targeted audience that truly wants to learn from you. And the more viewers you have, the more viewers will discover you and your content, continually building your virtual community.

The mobility and flexibility of a live streaming platform is a major advantage when it comes to virtual education. Even if you’re not a full-time educator, and you just enjoy teaching others, you can work around your schedule to make time for your passions in life. 

Increased Productivity & Maximized Learning

If you know how to live stream, you know that you are putting out content in real time. In doing this, users can watch you solve problems or teach yoga or make chicken cordon bleu in the moment. Users can send in questions or comments and you can answer them during your live video stream. You are able to explain things as you do them to people that need your help. This real-time engagement, interaction, and elevated communication from anywhere in the world is a game-changer for teaching and learning.

The pressure of raising a hand in class is removed and students are able to learn without that nervousness of getting something wrong, helping them stay more focused and motivated.

Diversity in Curriculum

Who says you are limited to traditional school subjects? Live video streaming allows you to broadcast from a home gym, your wood shop, a craft room, and more. Teach anything you want to teach. Many fitness instructors rely on social media to post workouts or post meal ideas, but with Leaped, they can set up a live stream where they can teach more in-depth on these things.

A retiree can teach his hobby of furniture flipping to the next generation. A baker can share their favorite techniques with the world. The opportunities are endless!

Leaped is a Part of the Future of Live Stream Education

It’s time to learn how to live stream and start being involved with the virtual world as it continues to grow. Leaped opens doors for educators that have not always been available, and only offers benefits to you as an educator.

How will you use a live stream to make the world a better place? What will you teach the world today?

Meet Our CEO & Founder: Blake

Hi, everyone! It’s time to formally introduce you to the brains behind this operation.

Blake Moeller has a knack for entrepreneurship. His creativity, intelligence, and drive have gotten him where he is today. Moeller grew up in Vernonia, Oregon, then went on to study Business and Entrepreneurship at Western Oregon University.

As a fresh college graduate, Blake accepted a job with Liberty Mutual Insurance before becoming a partner at Blue Pacific Logistics and later starting his own Life & Business coaching company, Moellerlbc. His latest venture is the creation of Leaped.

“I started this company because I wanted to find a way to give a voice to every educator out there. I wanted to give them a platform that would allow them to share their passion with the world - someone’s passion should not be limited to a single classroom,” said Blake on why he founded Leaped.

Blake came up with the idea for Leaped when thinking about where he grew up. Vernonia, OR is a very small town with small schools. When reflecting on the amazing teachers he had growing up, Blake started to think about how much those teachers loved what they did, but they probably were only able to teach around 50 or 60 students the entire year.

“Why not create something that will allow teachers like them, or anyone to share their passion with the world? We all know teachers deserve more and I thought it was our time to finally create a platform that will give educators, of all types, a chance at more,” says Blake.

As our CEO, Blake oversees all operations within the company and keeps everyone motivated to keep making progress and moving forward. His extensive knowledge and passion for business allows him to constantly innovate within various industries. With that being said, Leaped was founded to innovate virtual education, so that teachers are no longer limited to the four walls of a classroom. 

Here at Leaped, we are lucky to have such a passionate leader that truly cares about our mission and goals. 

Get to know more about Blake with these 5 fun facts:

1. If you’re looking for him in the fall, Blake is probably in Eugene, OR cheering on the Oregon Ducks at football games. If he’s not watching football, he’s either reading or spending time with friends or family.

2. Blake’s favorite book is Shoe Dog by Phil Knight.

3. Blake’s dad made up a song about him when he was a baby called “Baby Blue” and that is why his favorite color is blue.

4. Blake’s favorite movie is The Count of Monte Cristo.

5. If Blake had to choose his last meal, he would want a medium rare steak paired with a bottle of red wine.

We look forward to being a part of your continued success, Blake!

High-Quality Audio: The Key to a Great Live Stream

Of course you want your audience to see your video and visuals, but what is even more important than those? Your audio! 

With all of today’s updated technology, you can record video in 4K on a smart phone and it will look incredible. However, the audio can still be muffled by a finger blocking the microphone or the sound of wind if you’re outdoors. 

It’s awesome to see your content, but broken audio will turn viewers away because they can’t hear anything you're trying to teach or share. How can we guarantee that our live streams will not only look professional, but sound professional, too? 

We have some tips to help you achieve your best audio quality, but first -- let’s talk about some common audio issues we come across.

Problems with Audio

• Background Noise

• Muffled Speech

• A Humming or Buzzing Sound

• No Sound

• Sound is Too Quiet or Too Loud

These problems are far too familiar for anyone that has gone live on the web or live streams regularly. Sometimes a poor connection can factor into this as well, but that is not the streamer’s fault. 

We can avoid these problems by using better gear, placing the microphone in an effective position, eliminating outside noise, controlling the audio feed through a sound mixer and the platform, and always testing it before going live.

What kind of microphone should I be using?

While you can use your built-in mics on your phone or computer, it is much more effective to own an external microphone that you can control better. 

The perfect microphone for you depends on the type of content you are streaming. For example, if you are staying close to the computer to teach a language or a quick history lesson, you would want an XLR microphone to achieve your professional audio quality.

XLR Microphone

The XLR cables associated with this type of microphone will carry and send balanced audio, which will isolate noise input and put out clean, crisp sound. You’ll want to move this microphone closer to its intended source, probably directly in front of you, so that you don’t catch any distracting sounds in the background. 

It also helps to be in a smaller room, where there is less space for sound to bounce around. While choosing to go with an XLR microphone can be costly, it doesn’t have to be. You can definitely find some that will heavily increase your sound quality without breaking the bank!

If you are teaching an online fitness class, you would want to have a lavalier microphone that you can attach to your shirt, keeping the mic close to your mouth and still providing professional audio quality. It would not be wise to have an XLR mic when you’re 3 feet away from the video source doing jumping jacks, but the lavalier mic makes this possible.

Man adjusting his Lavalier Microphone

You can plug these microphones into smart devices as well, so you are able to adjust your streaming setup to fit your needs. Lavalier microphones won’t hurt your wallet either, and it is well worth the extra dollars to improve your audio quality and your overall live streaming experience.

Thanks! Now what?

Building your perfect, professional setup does not have to happen overnight. You want to make sure you are getting the right materials for you and your content, rather than just aimlessly spending hours and money on things you might not actually need. 

Even if you want to record on your smartphone, you can invest in a better microphone to make your stream that much better. We want to hear what is going on when we tune into your content! Visuals are great, but they don’t really do much when we are distracted by your dog barking in the other room or if you sound totally muffled the entire time.

The bottom line here is that your audio can make or break the quality of your live stream, and we want to make sure you have the correct equipment.

You will feel more confident sharing your content when it is professional, and you will have a greater chance of viewers interacting with you and sharing your stream with others.

Meet Our CMO: Taylor

As a startup company, it is imperative that we get our name out into the world and spread the good news of Leaped. How can we make sure that we do this and market ourselves properly? How do we make sure we have all the tools we need to get ahead? How do we keep up with our following and keep track of our measurable growth? 

Where are we at?

As we get closer to launching, we are starting to build our online presence. Leaped is reachable on social media, with accounts on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn. There is even a biweekly blog to drive more users to us – hint: you’re reading it right now. We have recently gotten our hands on more tools to track our metrics and improve how we monitor our website traffic. 

Who does this stuff?

The latest team member we brought on board is a hungry young woman with an appetite for content creation, and she is eager to take Leaped to the next level.

It’s time to introduce you to our Chief of Marketing, Miss Taylor Mabrey. A Tar Heel born and bred, she graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a degree in Media & Journalism.

While in school, she interned at various publications. When she wasn’t taking photos for local papers, she was writing articles and editing for a magazine in the area. 

Taylor stayed in content creation after college, working for a photographer in her hometown of Concord, NC. She filmed events and created short clips for social media posts and the photographer’s YouTube channel.

This background paired with her ongoing love for creating and writing led her to a career in digital content. She has learned a lot about marketing through her job with a homebuilder, and does all she can to stay up to date on the latest trends in marketing. As our CMO, Taylor works to increase Leaped’s interactions through social posts, advertising, promotions, and research.  

With Taylor’s innovative mind and drive for success, we are sure to continue growing while keeping Leaped’s mission close to heart – to provide a place where educators and learners can come together to build communities around their passions. 

Get to know more about Taylor with these 5 quick (and fun) facts:

1. Her dog, Ellie, is her whole life! She got her in 2016 and they’ve been everywhere together.

2. When she’s not working, relaxing, or traveling, you can either find Taylor at the gym or at her neighborhood CycleBar studio.

3. Her favorite color is blue – Carolina blue, of course.

4. Her ideal movie marathon would be a collection of Julia Roberts movies.

5. Last but not least, she loves her family and her fiancé! She might be a lot of things in life, but her favorite thing to be is an aunt to her precious niece.

Welcome aboard, Taylor. We can’t wait to see the great things you do!