Rebekah Johnson taught high school Spanish for eight years in the United States and the United Kingdom and is currently an Educational Technology Specialist at W. W. Norton. 

“If everyone will log into Canvas, I’ll walk you through the steps to set everything up!” I politely request as the department settles in, coffee in hand. Bright and early on a Monday morning – the first week of teacher workdays for the beginning of the 2024–2025 school year – I wander the classroom making sure everyone’s logged in and following along. I wait patiently for raised hands and start reliving my teaching days. But these students won’t call me “Ms. Johnson,” and I won’t be grading their work; I’m now Rebekah, the High School Educational Technology Specialist at W. W. Norton. My students aren’t high school students anymore, but rather high school teachers.  

If you are visiting the Norton Learning Blog, you probably already know that we are the leading independent and employee-owned college publisher.  You may not know, however, that Norton has a dedicated High School Group that works exclusively with secondary schools and dual enrollment (DE) programs, sometimes called early college, co-enrollment, concurrent enrollment, dual credit, etc. This group is dedicated to understanding high school and DE needs with one goal in mind: providing high-quality content and teaching tools to students and teachers. The High School Group includes a dedicated support team, led by my colleague Shyanne Chavez and me, to help districts and teachers before and after every textbook adoption to ensure a smooth transition. Each year, we set up hundreds of teachers and districts.  

Thanks to our dedicated high school and college teams, W. W. Norton is uniquely positioned to support dual enrollment situations. We work closely with district personnel, program coordinators, and teachers to identify cooperating college and high school needs and meet them. The High School Support Team, along with our expert college counterparts, work to set up courses as each instructor prefers. Our goal is to help adopters use our content and digital tools in a way that makes the most sense for them.  

Once a district, school, or teacher adopts our textbook and digital resources, we offer: 

• Free-of-charge professional development training upon adoption and throughout the life of the adoption. Norton wants your teachers to feel prepared and comfortable using our textbooks and digital courseware in the classroom. We often work with teacher leaders and district administrators who oversee training – and we will meet with teachers who are new to the course each year. I absolutely love meeting with teachers and helping them prepare for the year, both virtually and in person.  

• A landing page that serves as a one-stop-shop for instructors to find everything they need: how to request access to and find the instructor resources, where to access the digital resources, and an in-depth demonstration guide that goes over the digital resources. These step-by-step guides walk instructors through setting up their course and even offer best practices and ideas for incorporating Norton’s digital tools into their curriculum.   

• Our Knowledge Base website, which provides comprehensive guides and support for instructors using any of our digital tools. This includes guidance for integration with our supported learning management systems and equally thorough information for students. 

---

Here are some testimonials from teachers currently using our books:  

“The last time I reached out to customer service Shyanne not only resolved my initial problem, but volunteered to archive some of my classes, reducing the clutter on my resource’s dashboard. She willingly went above and beyond, offering a personal touch, making me really feel like a valued customer who is genuinely interested in my students’ success with their product! I strongly recommend this company and have thoroughly enjoyed the textbook we purchased for my high school biology class!”  
-Tony Terry • Hermann High School • Hermann, MO 

“As a teacher using these resources for the first time, I felt anxiety about the implementation; Shyanne not only answered my many questions but also showed great patience. Over a 5-month period, from beginning to ask for bids through the full integration and application, Shyanne’s skills and knowledge base were extraordinary. I would recommend Norton products, and especially Shyanne, to anyone looking for educational materials and a quality customer experience.” 
-Gretchen Monroe • Lincoln Christian School • Lincoln, NE 

“Although I just met her this past August, [Shyanne] has done a wonderful job in assisting me to  
transfer schools and become familiar with a new textbook for AP U.S. History. There have been 
a number of questions, as well as accessibility issues for an old ‘bird dog’ of a teacher like me.  
Shyanne has made herself available and is always quick to respond.”  
-David Clemmons • Haltom High School • Haltom City, TX 

As a former teacher, I know that you’re often balancing lesson planning, grading, relationship building, and a wealth of compliance tasks on any given day. Choosing the right book for your class can be a time-consuming process, and we want to make sure we deliver the best possible service and support throughout the lifetime of a textbook adoption in college, high school, and dual enrollment programs, saving you key time and energy. 

MEET THE AUTHOR