BIG NEWS: Weekly Inspo Vids Changes for '23-24
Most important: The first Weekly Inspo Vids email will be delivered next Saturday, August 5th. The first Monthly Meeting Prep will start Saturday, Sept 2nd.
Hi all,
I’ve been ridiculously excited to announce some significant changes to the Weekly Inspo Vids newsletter for ‘23-24. Woohoo!
I wanted to send out the updates ASAP so you know what’s coming for the school year. You need to know what’s going to go into your weekly newsletter, so you need to know what you can expect from me. I’m going to spell it out in detail so you’re ready to hit the group running.
But first, I had some really solid feedback from the recent surveys I distributed. You can see a summary of all the results and comments here. The responses were super helpful.
The bottom line:
Folks like most of what I’m doing, like the inspo vids, monthly PD, etc. The visual quotes for paid subscribers … not so much. That was really the only consistent negative feedback I received.
Almost everyone would recommend our newsletter to a friend (like, over 90% of respondents! Thanks for that!)
There’s a real need for very practical instructional strategies - which we’ve been working hard on and have exciting news to share below!
As we head into ‘23-24, I want to make one clear our two priorities:
Give free subscribers exceptional value
Your feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. I hear from administrators almost every day that the weekly emails save them loads of time. In a world where time is the most precious resource, this warms my heart. And we’re doing even more for you this year!
Give paid subscribers unparalleled value
This newsletter started as a fun outlet to connect with people. Somewhat surprisingly, it’s turned into a significant portion of my business income. Our paid members tend to be super responsive and supportive in many ways - not just financially. As such, I’m putting a ton of resources into making the paid newsletter phenomenal. I hope to make it so attractive that it’s an absolute no-brainer to subscribe. Like, thousands of dollars of value for the low subscription price.
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 15th), you’ll pay the original rate ($60/year or $6/month) for LIFE! That’s a big “thank you” to the early adopters (and those eager to jump on the bandwagon right now).
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 15th, the new price will be $70/year or $7/month. I honestly still think it’s a bargain at twice the price.
So, what are the changes for ‘23-24?
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.
TL:DR
What’s Free?
Weekly Inspo Vids
(New) Would you rather?
(New) Weekly Quotes
(Improved) Archive
What’s Paid?
Weekly Trivia
(New) **WEEKLY Emailable PD (This is the biggest, most substantial addition)
(New) Weekly Fun/Help with AI
(Improved) Monthly Meeting Prep
Classroom Management PowerPoint Modules
(New) Discounted PD Courses
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 plan to film more of our own videos to make them more relevant. As you may guess, after about 80 videos, it gets harder and harder to find consistently good videos. We’re gonna keep at it!
[New] Would you rather?
Use with students, staff, social media … whatever!
Last year, I talked with a teacher about zero-prep team building in her classroom. (You can view the video here). She explained how her students love playing “Would you rather?” And it’s something you can do with little to no preparation.
So, we’ll be playing a weekly game of “Would you rather?” You’ll be able to see the results each week in real-time. The hope is that you can share it with your own staff in your newsletter. You can use them with students or simply compare your teacher results with our admin results. Should be fun either way. And we’ll keep all of them recorded in an archive here.
Let’s try one! Shout out to Shelia Diaz, Principal of Coalinga High School for this one! Having 10-week-old twins, I definitely know which I would choose!
[New] Weekly Quote
Use in staff newsletters, bulletin boards, write them on your foreheads … you name it!
I used to send out inspirational quotes for each day of the week to paid subscribers. That was a bit of a stretch. To be honest, the quality was diluted due to the volume. I’ll focus on a weekly quote that you can send to your teachers - which will be sent to both paid and free subscribers. By way of an example, here’s one of my all-time favorites.
A ship in harbor is safe, but that is not what ships are built for.
William Shedd
[Improved] Archive
Use as an unlimited supply of helpful resources! Growing all the time!
Of course, I’m going to continue to offer the oh-so-popular video archive, but we’ve simplified things a bit. We’ve created a new Everything Archive that links to the video archive, monthly PD archive, “What you rather?" archive, and everything else we’ve got going on. And it’ll continue to expand as we offer resources.
No need to track all those links. Now you have one home base that is open to all. Boom!
What’s Paid?
Weekly Trivia
Use in staff newsletters, encouraging emails, etc.
In the survey, I learned that not a ton of people use the weekly trivia. Nonetheless, those who enjoyed it really enjoyed it, so I’ll keep it in.
[New] Weekly Emailable PD (The BIG Addition)
Use in staff newsletters, emailable PD messages, etc.
This is probably the biggest change. I’ve heard from folks that my PD is great, but that even more bite-sized, practical PD is of the most use. In fact, many of you asked for instructional content and strategies you can share with teachers on a weekly basis (see some of the comments at the end of our survey results for the inspiration of this change - we listen to you!)
That’s why, each week, I’ll send you a 1-3 page JPEG and PDF version (you can use whichever one works best for your newsletter) that outlines a tip or tactic. This year, I’ll focus exclusively on classroom management. You can view an example below from an upcoming January email (PDF available here). You can also view my topic calendar here.
I can’t stress how huge this is. To produce this kind of content on a weekly basis, I’m pulling from years’ worth of work. You’ll notice that the content is pulled from our CM modules below … which took hundreds of hours to develop and would cost you nearly $1,000 at full price. This is a huge value for the price of the subscription. This is what I hope makes becoming a paid subscriber a clear, easy decision.
[New] Weekly Fun with AI
What can I say? I’ve been playing with AI quite a bit lately. Some of the results are pretty impressive. Many of the applications can increase your productivity exponentially - something administrators desperately need. Other applications are just fun. I’ll send you a weekly AI-generated photo related to some funny aspects of school life. Keep it for yourself or share it with your staff. Here are a couple of examples:
Weekly Help with AI
As I mentioned, there are tons of new AI tools out there that can increase your productivity as an administrator. Each week, I’ll highlight one AI tool that could make your life easier. As an example, in last week’s Summer Edition, I discussed Perplexity AI. It makes research easier with footnoted results.
This is just one of a quickly-growing pool of resources that I’ll discuss regularly. Stay tuned!
Monthly Meeting Prep
I’ll continue to send you my Monthly Meeting Prep emails, including an editable PowerPoint. My goal is to focus primarily on classroom management this year. I’ll also create more of our own videos to keep them as applicable and relevant as possible.
You can see multiple examples of our Monthly Meeting Prep emails from last year here.
Semesterly
All paid subscribers will continue to have access to our Classroom Management Professional Development PowerPoint Modules from www.heycogent.com, valued at over $400 each. New subscribers will be able to download it immediately. Original subscribers will always have access. (If you’ve lost your access code, just respond to this or any email and I’ll resend it to you).
Classroom Management: Building Classroom Structure - available immediately upon subscription
Classroom Management: Building Resilient Relationships - available immediately upon subscription
If you’re curious about the type of content that will be covered in the Weekly Emailable PD and the Monthly Meeting Prep, this is great material. What we’ll be sending out is heavily-aligned with this content, which took a lot of research, design, and copywriting resources to develop.
[New] Discounted PD Courses
We’re offering a special to all paid subscribers through our partnership with Peer Driven PD.
👉 For the ‘23-24 school year, you can get your teachers access to any single course for just $15 per teacher. This represents about a 60% discount on normal wholesale prices. Paid subscribers also qualify for 30% off an all-access subscription. You can request a quote for a single course or multiple/all-course access here.
Popular courses:
Classroom Management Essentials: Do’s and Don'ts for Upper Elementary Teachers
Classroom Management Essentials: Do’s and Don'ts for Secondary Teachers
You can see a full outline of our current courses on the “PD Courses” tab of our archive here.
Remember, if you’re not a paid subscriber, don’t wait! Rates go up on August 15th. Subscribe now and enjoy our lowest rate $60/year or $6/month for LIFE!
I hope you’re as excited as I am about the new year! I can’t adequately express how much encouragement I’ve received from this group. Your weekly responses are always endearing and motivating.
I’ll be in touch!
Mike