A Day in the Life of a Curriculum Writer at Teacher Toy Shop
A day as a Curriculum Writer at Teacher Toy Shop varies greatly, depending on the project; this can involve "writing a product," providing feedback to colleagues, professional development such as taking marketing courses, updating digital products, and analyzing sales data to inform future projects. The role demonstrates the dynamic nature of curriculum development in the digital age, requiring a blend of creative writing, technical collaboration, and data-driven decision-making.
Project Management, Data Analysis, Communication, Writing, Continuing Education
Advizer Information
Name
Job Title
Company
Undergrad
Grad Programs
Majors
Industries
Job Functions
Traits
Nancy Balter
Curriculum Writer
Teacher Toy Shop
Yale University, 1994
USC, master's degree in science education
Biology & Related Sciences
Education
Education
None Applicable
Video Highlights
1. A Curriculum Writer's day-to-day tasks are diverse and can include writing new products, reviewing work from other team members (engineers, designers, writers), and taking courses to improve skills such as marketing.
2. The role involves continuous learning and improvement, as exemplified by Nancy's pursuit of marketing courses to enhance her professional capabilities.
3. Data analysis plays a significant role in decision-making. The writer spends time studying product performance to inform future development, deciding what products to expand and which ones require improvement or discontinuation.
Transcript
What does a day in the life of your role look like?
That varies a lot, I suppose that's probably true of most jobs. It depends on what I'm working on, although I usually have multiple projects going on at any given time.
I might spend a significant amount of the day writing something if I'm actually working on writing a product. I might also spend a lot of the day responding to an engineer, a writer, or a designer who submitted things to me.
So, I have to spend a lot of time giving feedback. I might be taking a course. I'm not strong, for example, in marketing. That was one of my 2023 goals: to spend some time researching good courses, because that's another expense in the business. Then, I would actually spend time taking the class and figuring things out.
I may be revising things on the market because my products are all electronic, all digital. I can go back and change and update them. So I may be spending, especially over the summer when teachers are out, a considerable amount of my day updating products.
Then I can spend time studying and analyzing how things are doing. What's doing well that I might want to create more of? What's not doing well and might need some help? I might just spend entire days on the data, trying to figure out how to move forward and what things are probably in my best interest to move forward with.