The Great Online, Where Young Minds Roam Freely

Shmoop University, Inc. Confidential

“Best of the Internet”

Ellen SiminoffPresident & CEO, Shmoop

Nov. 20, 2009

Serendipity Rule #1:

Follow Your Heart

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‘Man plans and God laughs.’

Very often, in life and business, you won’t end up doing what you think you’re going to do.

‘Man plans and God laughs.’

Very often, in life and business, you won’t end up doing what you think you’re going to do.

I Fell in Love with Business and Media(Dad Forgave Me... Eventually.)

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My First (and Only) Study Partner at Stanford Business School…

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…Became my husband

Serendipity Rule #2:

Don’t Underestimate the Importance of Luck and Timing

Media Was About to Change Drastically. But Nobody Really Knew “How”

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LATimes.comDec 21, 1996

I Joined Yahoo! in 1995

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Serendipity Rule #3:

Luck Favors those Who Pay Attentionand Adapt Quickly

1996: Move Fast or Get Eaten

1997: We Evolved Constantly, Relentlessly

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1999: Email, Sports, Entertainment, Local, …

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2000: Shopping, IM, …

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2001: Finance, Kids, Jobs, Music, Movies, etc.

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Serendipity Rule #4:

Reinvent Yourself (or Somebody Else Will)

Along Came Google

Shmoop University, Inc. Confidential 16Google in 2000

GMGM

Great Companies Often Fail to Adapt

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Chevy Truck

Clayton Christensen,Harvard Business School

But We’d Never Make that Mistake in Our Own Intellectual and Personal Lives, Right?

• Literature teaches us that complacency is a fatal flaw

• On a happier note… Free Shmoop T-Shirts!– Name the character– Name the novel/play– Name the author

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We Have Something for Everyone

• Email us if you’d like bookmarks

support@shmoop.com

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Serendipity Rule #5:

Behind Every Brave First Leap…

… Is a Strong Nudge in the Right Direction

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“Shmoop” (v., Yiddish slang):

To give a nudge in the right direction

Teacher Librarians are theUltimate Shmoopers!

You Shmoop Students

• Rules of the road & online ethics• How to be savvy online researchers, consumers, and publishers• Proper citation & avoiding plagiarism• Online safety and etiquette

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You Shmoop Parents

• Reinforce good student habitsat home– Tips on how to monitor usage– What sites are ok to use– Avoiding plagiarism

• Access options for all homes

• Checking up on assignments, grades, and teacher communications through your school’s website

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You Shmoop Fellow Teachers

• Get over the technology inferiority complex– Some teachers feel overmatched by their

students, or think their students already know everything cool about the Internet

• Play the role of – Scout & Filter– Promoter & Trainer– Cheerleader & Supporter

• And, occasionally, you might need to help students in spite of their teachers– My daughter’s Ethiopia research project

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Now… In this Fast-Changing World, How to Shmoop

Oneself?

Teacher Librarians are Already on the Cutting Edge

• We know this well. You were the first and most vocal supporters (and constructive critics) of Shmoop

• But… we’re facing a lot of uncertainty – Shrinking budgets, especially for Libraries– Technological change is hard to keep pace with

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Your Role is More Critical than Ever

• Libraries are the Facebook of the School– A social hub & discovery point with free-

flowing information

• This is the Wild West– Boston-area Prep School going all-Kindle;

removing all print books from its library

• The Wild West Needs Sheriffs– Be mentors, researchers, guidance

counselors, police officers of the digital revolution inside your school

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Shmoop University, Inc. Confidential 30

www.shmoop.com

"The language is totally student-

friendly... ...a very cool site."

"The language is totally student-

friendly... ...a very cool site."

“A website you can trust”

“A website you can trust”

How We Started Shmoop

• A Moment of Serendipity

• Most online homework resources left something to be desired

• We wanted a pro-learning resource for our kids

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Students & Teachers Say…

“Shmoop has enriched my teaching and made literature

accessible to ALL my students!”

- Martha, HS teacher

“Shmoop has enriched my teaching and made literature

accessible to ALL my students!”

- Martha, HS teacher

“Shmoop makes me actually want to

work.”- Stephanie, 19

“Shmoop makes me actually want to

work.”- Stephanie, 19

“Shmoop is intentionally about the

joy of learning.”- Paul, HS teacher

“Shmoop is intentionally about the

joy of learning.”- Paul, HS teacher

Quotes from Shmoop focus groups of HS and College students, April 2008Shmoop University, Inc. Confidential 32

“This website is my dream come true”

- Noel, 20

“This website is my dream come true”

- Noel, 20

What is Shmoop?

• Digital learning guides that make learning fun and relevant for students– Deep analysis, questions, quotes, trivia,

multimedia, loads of links

• Written by educators and experts – primarily Ph.D. students from Harvard, Stanford, Berkeley– >90% of Shmoop writers have taught at the

high school or college level

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Things You’ll Learn on Shmoop

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The Portrait of a Lady (written in 1880) shares a lot in common with TV’s “Gossip Girl”

The Portrait of a Lady (written in 1880) shares a lot in common with TV’s “Gossip Girl”

Emily Dickinson was a packratEmily Dickinson was a packrat

Ernest Hemingway and James Joyce picked bar fights together in Paris

Ernest Hemingway and James Joyce picked bar fights together in Paris

Albert Einstein's 7th-grade teacher told him he "would never get anywhere in life." True story.

Albert Einstein's 7th-grade teacher told him he "would never get anywhere in life." True story.

Shmoop Literature

• Help make literature fun and relevant for your students

• “Why Should I Care?”• Themes• Quote analysis• Plot analysis• Character analysis• Literary devices• Study questions• Trivia• Best of the Web

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Shmoop US History

• Analysis from multiple points of view

• Events, People, Quotes

• Trivia, Glossaries

• Links to multimedia, primary sources, and more

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Shmoop Poetry

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Demystify poetry

• Close Reading (line-by-line)• Deep analysis of Symbolism, Themes, Meter, Sound, Setting…• Trivia• Study Questions• Best of the Web (primary sources, photos, audio, video, etc.)

• Now the largest poetry analysis site on the Web

“Smart and consistently humorous”

- Academy of American Poets (poets.org)

“Smart and consistently humorous”

- Academy of American Poets (poets.org)

Shmoop’s “Best of the Web”

• Links are carefully selected by Shmoop’s writers

• Audio, video, photos, art, primary sources, historical documents

• TV and Movies

• Books

• Websites

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NEW Shmoop CivicsBecause Civics Shouldn’t be Boring

• Government, politics, law

• Heated issues that students care about

• A line-by-line analysis of the Constitution

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NEW Shmoop BestsellersLet Your Inner Fan Feast

• Use “Pop Lit” to teach literary analysis

• Twilight• New Moon• Eclipse• Harry Potter… • Many more coming

soon

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NEW Shmoop BiographyGet to Know the Big Cheeses

• 31 bios and counting

• Authors, poets, political leaders, inventors, …

• Back-stories, fun anecdotes, multimedia, personal letters

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NEW Shmoop MusicListen and Learn

• Analyze lyrics like poetry– Lyrics are often a less

intimidating intro to poetry

• Historical context

• “Behind the music” stories

• Technical analysis of rhythm, songwriting, instrumentation

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NUEVO Shmoop Literatura

• Spanish translations of our most popular literature summaries

• A “bridge” for ESL students

• Or great practice for students learning Spanish

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NEW: Shmoop on iPhone, Kindle, NookPut a Ph.D. in Your Pocket

• Shmoop is a top educational publisher on many devices

• 400 guides on the Web• 300+ eBooks on Kindle• 250 iPhone/iPod Apps• 200 eBooks on B&N Nook

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How to Cite Shmoop

• Shmoop automatically generates citations for students in MLA, APA, or Chicago formats

• Our About Us section includes our background and academic credentials to help establish authority

• Shmoop teaches students about the perils of plagiarism and encourages original thought

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Shmoop for Educators

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• A tour of Shmoop designed for educators

• Ideas and examples from teachers who use Shmoop in the classroom

• Much more coming soon

www.shmoop.com/teachers/

Link to Us: http://www.shmoop.com

Follow Us on Twitter: @helloshmoop

Ellen Siminoff – ellen at shmoop . com

We’ll Stick Around for a Bit (Look for Brady in the Shmoop Shirt)

© 2009, Shmoop University, Inc.http://www.shmoop.com