Lessonry Creator Network
A Message from
Lessonry Founder
Nathan Smith:
I knew when I committed to being a teacher that it would come with its challenges. What I didn’t expect was how much it would conflict with my identity as a creative person.
While I believe all people are creative, there are some people who have to create to feel whole, and I count myself among them. This naturally created an issue when I stepped into an inside-the-box field like education, where creativity starts as an excellent “feature” but can quickly evolve into a “bug.” As a result, there were many times where I had to shut off my creative side to accomplish a standardized task, which also meant that I had to shut off a part of myself and absorb the pain and heartache that came with it.
Like any creative or small business endeavor, creating Lessonry has been extremely difficult. I can’t count the number of times it was just me toiling in front of a camera, video edit, lesson design. The “just me” was the most isolating part of it because in education it’s difficult to find people with creative capacities who share similar passions, commitment, and dreams.
From the time I started this journey, I knew I wanted to create the platform I didn’t have. A place where teachers who felt isolated or detached could find a creative outlet and a community that wanted to support them.
This is the goal of the Lessonry Creator Network. On a practical level, it’s connecting a group of creators who love to create educational video content and using LessonryTV as our platform, but on a much broader level its a collaborative space for teachers to express themselves, impact their school communities, and restore a part of themselves that was lost, neglected, or forgotten.
If you are interested in joining the Lessonry Creator Network, feel free to join our Facebook group or email us at hello@lessonry.com. We would love to have you as part of the team and would love to work with you as you create the content you were born to create!
Collaborator
Info
We Are Looking for 4 Types of Collaborators:
TEACHERS
If you love to create English Language Arts content and would be willing to integrate it into LessonryTV, we would love to have you on board.
Unlike other content aggregators, it will be 100% yours and can even include your social media handles so that our viewers can access your other content.
PARENTS
Some of the most creative work I’ve seen in my time in education has come from loving and devoted parents who want to share their unique skillsets with their children and their classmates.
If you produce video content and want to be involved, welcome aboard!
STUDENTS
In the Video Age, students of all ages can create quality media.
If you have a child at home, a student in your class, or know someone who would be interested in adding to the Lessonry movement, send them our way!
PROFESSIONALS
Over the years I’ve collaborated with many professionals and community members to bring projects to life, and Lessonry is no exception.
If you, your organization, or agency want to get involved, we would be more than happy to welcome your level of expertise and quality to our programming.
Creator Expectations
Clear expectations create health environments, and the Lessonry Creator Network is no exception. If you are interested in participating in our group, please adhere to these guidelines.
Be prepared to create part or all of your content.
Learning to create something from nothing takes years of discipline, training, education and hard work. While there are certainly times when we need to reach out for support and feedback, much of the creative process is “figuring it out.” We believe independence is important and that each creator should strive to complete as much of their project as they can.
With this being said, guidance and collaboration are vital parts of an excellent end product, so feel free to reach out with questions or to get feedback from group members. Think of it as less “Hey, will you do this for me?” and more “Hey, can you help me process through this?”
2. Be responsive to feedback.
We’ve all been there. We created the perfect piece of work and can’t wait to share it with the world. Then we go to sleep and go back to watch it in the morning. “Wait…WHAT?! This does not work. How did I ever think-”
Excellent work requires feedback. Don’t export a video, send it to us, and delete the footage from your hard drive, only to find out it needs revisions. Every video will need revisions, so just enjoy the creative/frustrating/almost there of the creative process!
3. A positive attitude and constructive criticism are encouraged.
This isn’t a creative agency with millions of dollars on the line. While we all strive for perfection, we will make mistakes and that’s part of the process.
So be humble, kind, gracious, patient, and helpful. The end result will be a better product.
4. Avoid ideologically divisive content.
The Lessonry platform is for all learners, regardless of where they come from or what they believe. For this reason, we want nothing to do with ideologically divisive content. There are so many platforms for individual and communal expression in the world today, and we want ours to be set apart for its safety and accessibility.
If you are religious, this means creating content that isn’t explicitly religious. If you are irreligious, this means creating content that won’t push away those who are religious. The same goes for politics and inflammatory cultural issues. The bottom line is we want as many learners as possible to find joy and meaning in Lessonry’s content.
Content approval ultimately comes down to a creative work’s context, intent, and overall impact on our viewing audience. If you are concerned that a concept might be too divisive, feel free to reach out to us and we’d love to discuss it with you at hello@lessonry.com.