About Us

Sometimes, we just need peace and quiet.

We're Allie and Nina, two educational technology students at Harvard's Graduate School of Education and self-identified introverts. We came to "own" our introversion late in our educational careers, long after being told to speak up in class too many times.

But this site is more than just a rebellion against speaking up. As young students, we experienced classrooms designed for peers who were comfortable diving into social situations, embraced speaking in front of class, and thrived in fast-moving, people-filled environments. And while we made it through in one piece, we recognize now, years later, that this does not and should not be the only way to drive young learner engagement.

Enter Spark, a guide to redefining classroom participation. With this site, we hope to remake the classroom experiences that made us so uncomfortable. There are other ways to participate than the traditional hand raise, and it was our mission to find good practices that work and share them.

So, Spark is a resource to support introverts, right? Yes and no. Along the way of curating these strategies, we realized that there was nothing inherently in them that was catered only to introverts; these are strategies that can benefit all students. Everyone needs peace and quiet sometimes - that and a few extra spark-filled strategies.

So, we consider Spark essential for introverted learners but beneficial really for everyone in your classroom. Please, write us and let us know what works. We have a big stake in this mission and would love to hear from everyone putting it to the test.