Big Announcement: Changes for '24-25
Hello friends,
I’ve been waiting about six months to send this email. I’m so excited to share some news with you!
Most important: The first Weekly Inspo Vids email will be delivered on Saturday, August 10th. And, of course, the weekly inspo vids will always be free!
Many have asked: “I want to know right now. Are you increasing subscription rates?”
I want to clarify right out of the gate - the answer is “no” and “yes.”
No - If you are already a paid subscriber (or if you subscribe before August 16th), you’ll pay the current rate ($70/year or $7/month) for LIFE! That’s a big “thank you” to those eager to jump on the bandwagon right now. We call it “loyalty pricing.” (And, of course, you OGs paying $60/year or $6/month are still on that plan!)
Yes - You’ll see in a moment that I’ve made significant upgrades to the newsletter. This means more of a time commitment for myself and my team. So, after August 16th, the new price will be $89/year or $8.50/month. I honestly still think it’s a bargain at twice the price.
TLDR: So, what are the changes for ‘24-25?
With all that said, what are the updates for the coming year? Here’s the “too long; didn’t read” version. Below is a more detailed summary with examples.
What’s Free?
Weekly Inspo Vids
Weekly Quotes
What’s Paid?
(New) Access to Our New Membership Site (This is HUGE! Goodbye clumsy archives!)
Weekly Emailable PD
(New) For Your Staff PD Videos
Classroom Management Building Resilient Relationships PowerPoint Module ($469 Value)
Classroom Management Building Classroom Structure PowerPoint Module ($469 Value)
(New) Executive Function in the Classroom PowerPoint Module ($469 Value)
(New) Full Access to ALL 13 Peer Driven PD Courses ($249 Value)
Staff Discounts for Multiple PD Course Licenses
(New) Immediate Access to 43 Weeks of Archived Weekly PD from ‘23-24
(New) Immediate Access to Full Year of Archived Monthly Staff PD Videos from ‘23-24
A little background on the changes for this year …
I started this newsletter in 2021. It was a simple way to send administrators a few resources each week and to stay connected with a growing group of folks. In the beginning, we had about 400 subscribers.
The following year, I added some paid features that necessitated moving to a different platform. It worked decently well, but then we really grew. Thousands and thousands of folks joined (thank you!) and we started adding archives and links here and there. To be honest, it was like building with bubblegum and toothpicks - on the fly and a little wonky.
The feedback I routinely got from folks was that the resources were solid, but tracking down past paid content was cumbersome. I constantly got emails asking, “Hey, can you send me the link to …?” or “Do you know where I can find …?”
I never minded these emails, but the volume told me things weren’t working as well as they could.
As we grew, we tried to help out by creating Google Docs with links to other Google Sheets that house archives and such. But the problem still remained. If you wanted to track down one of the awesome PowerPoint modules produced on our sister site, you had to find an old coupon code and download it. If you wanted to view paid archives, you had to remember another password on another site to find the details. At over 8,000 subscribers today (and growing), we just outgrew our infrastructure.
About nine months ago, it became clear we needed to simplify things. We needed an easy way to find everything in one place.
So, we’ve been hard at work building a membership site for you fine folks. One login to access all of the paid benefits. And, oh yeah, we’ve massively increased the paid benefits!
Here’s some more in-depth details on what’s paid and what’s free!
What’s Free?
Weekly Inspo Vids
Use in staff newsletters, encouraging emails, etc.
This is where I started and will always, always be free. We’re gonna keep at it!
Weekly Quote
Use in staff newsletters, bulletin boards, write them on your foreheads … you name it!
We received a lot of feedback from subscribers that the weekly quote is a widely-used resource. We’ll keep it going!
A ship in harbor is safe, but that is not what ships are built for.
William Shedd
Example
What’s Paid?
[New] Access to Our Membership Site (The BIG Addition)
As I mentioned in the intro, this is our big change. We’ve moved all our archives of past and future PD from our old website to a new platform. Log in once and get access to every PowerPoint Module, PD Course, and Monthly PD email immediately. We’ve invested a lot of time into centralizing all of our resources into one spot. We hope you love it!
Note: The new membership site launches this week! Paid subscribers will receive details to log in within the next few days!
A quick disclaimer: I said everything is on one site. That’s almost 100% true. The emails (paid and free) will still be distributed from and hosted on www.heymikealpert.com. It’s built on the Substack platform and there’s simply no better platform for newsletters. Otherwise, all of the paid content is found on the new platform. Once you login into the membership site, you can access every monthly PD video, every For Your Staff video, every PowerPoint module, and (like we mentioned above), every course we’ve created! One-stop shop.
Weekly Emailable PD
We’ll send you a 2-3 page PDF (and JPEG) file each week with research-based PD to email to your staff! This was new for ‘23-24 and has been extremely well received by our paid subscribers. We’ll be continuing this great resource into ‘24-25.
We asked you which topics you’d like covered and you responded with so many great suggestions. We’ll tackle topics like trauma-informed practices, executive function, student engagement and so much more! And, of course, we’ll regularly return to my personal favorite - classroom management.
For free subscribers, here’s a few pages from last year’s Emailable PD:
[New] For Your Staff PD Videos
Last year, we sent you the Monthly Meeting Prep videos featuring real classroom teachers. They were very well received. We heard from administrators that their teachers really enjoyed hearing from real classroom teachers on relevant PD topics each month.
(Good news! All of last year’s Monthly Meeting Prep videos are included in our membership site for immediate access for all current and future Paid Subscribers!)
New for this year is a little something we’re calling For Your Staff PD Videos. The will replace Monthly Meeting Prep videos. How are they different? They’re very similar. They feature real classroom teachers from all levels on a variety of topics. Just like last year, we also provide you with an editable Google Slide that you can use with your staff.
The big difference is that we’ve pre-loaded a ton of videos at the beginning of the year … with more to come. That means you can log in right away, peruse all the videos and pick the ones that will work best for your staff. No more waiting for the email to arrive and deciding if it’s right for you.
One other key difference is that they’re simpler videos. Just the interview with the teacher and less of my grim mug. You’re welcome!
Classroom Management PowerPoint Modules ($900 Value)
Paid subscribers have always received immediate access to two products from our sister site. Classroom Management: Building Classroom Structure and Classroom Management: Building Resilient Relationships. Both are hefty, fully editable PowerPoint modules that administrators can download and use with their staff. We’ve even included presenter notes! These PowerPoint modules have been hugely successful for years due to their research-backed content and ease of use. They can easily save you 40-60 hours of work. And, of course, they’re now always immediately available inside the membership site. No need to track down old coupon codes and links. Download once or a thousand times!
[New] Executive Function in the Classroom PowerPoint Module ($469 Value)
I’ve always said executive function is the closet thing we have to a silver bullet in education, yet it gets less attention than it deserves. This product covers the background of EF and some practical applications, as well as how EF relates to social-emotional learning.
It’s the same concept as the PowerPoint modules mentioned above, but focused on EF. Download all of the fully-researched, profesionally-designed slides - with presenter notes! - right away. Avaiable in our membership site, just like the classroom management modules.
[NEW] Full Access to ALL 13 Peer Driven PD Courses ($249 Value)
It’s no secret that we’ve worked with tons of schools across the country on professional development. Our asynchronous PD courses featuring real classroom teachers are adored by staff at every level.
Staff loved having the opportunity to select what was relevant to them (we are a K-12 with a wide range of needs). Keep doing what you’re doing. I truly believe this is the future of PD - it’s flexible and relevant to teachers.
Matthew - K12 Principal, CO
Well, we want to continue to share the love. That’s why we’ve made every lesson of every course available to you within the membership site. That’s right, you can review any course at any time to determine if it meets the needs of your staff. And if you need additional licenses, you can take advantage of our next perk …
Staff Discounts for Multiple PD Course Licenses
Should you decide to purchase licenses for your staff, paid subscribers get an additional 30% off our wholesale pricing. And you don’t even need to request a quote to gauge pricing. We make our transparent pricing visible to you at all times. Have a look! And of course, find the link anytime in our membership site (are you sensing a theme?!).
(New) Immediate Access to 43 Weeks of Archived Weekly PD from ‘23-24
Are you signing up this year and want to pick and choose which Weekly Emailable PD to send to your staff? No problem. Peruse every week’s Emailable PD from ‘23-24 and use any and all of it! That’s right! We create our PD to be evergreen - usable at any time. No dates stamped on anything. So you could have access to a full year’s worth of great resources right now! Find all the files linked within our membership site.
(New) Immediate Access to Full Year of Archived Monthly Staff PD Videos from ‘23-24
If you’re a current or new subscriber, you can find all of our Monthly Staff PD content from ‘23-24. We’ve linked access to every video and Google Doc for your immediate use. Once again, have a full year of PD resources at your fingertips before the year even starts! Find all files linked within our membership site.
Are rates increasing?
The all important question. The answer … sort of.
Just like in years’ past (and forever!), current paid subscribers maintain their rates for life! That means, if you were one of our early adopter first subscribers, you’ll continue getting all of our awesome content for $6/month or $60/year. Currently, our rates are $7/month or $70/year. If you’re already a paid subscriber, that won’t change. You’ll get access to the membership site for the same fee forever. However, for new paid subscribers, rates will increase to $8.50/month or $89/year on August 16th.
That means you have a couple weeks to sign up to lock in the lowest rate available for life!
Thanks again for your continued support, folks! It’s made so much possible. And, as promised, I’ll be sending a huge personal update this week as well! Stay tuned!
Mike