About us
Our Mission Statement is:
"Topical Storm equips teachers to care for their students' emotional needs and teach communication skills through easy-to-use, web-based, privacy-first programs focused on socioemotional, analytical, and creative skills."
Developing a software program is a continual learning experience. You build a first version, and everybody who tries it has an opinion. If it’s an educational product, teachers rely on it to support their students’ critical needs and so their feedback is priceless. Topical Storm apps have been improved by dozens of experienced teachers.
Early prototypes
Software developer Steve Herbst has been building educational software since the mid 1990’s. In 2005, he programmed a simple writing app to help his two daughters write essays for school.
Steve started interviewing K-5 teachers and found that many of their students struggled to express themselves in writing. In 2008, he started partnering with 4th and 5th grade teachers on apps to help students write original narratives and arguments. These apps used sequences of brainstorming questions to suggest topics to write about, hence the name “Topical Storm”.
Using prompts to coax a writer's memory enabled thousands of students to move past their fear of the blank page and organize their thoughts and feelings into well-structured stories and essays. One student said: "Topical Storm is like writing with a friend."
Writing app prototype 2005
The pandemic
As you know, school closings caused kids to become a lot more reserved. They experienced new feelings of alienation, loneliness, mistrust, and they were careful not to talk about it.
Steve started meeting online with a few teachers and other education professionals to talk about creating writing tools for emotional support. This group collaborated on a journaling app called "Life Skills" that asks elementary age students to choose among common concerns such as “I miss my friends when I’m not in school”. Then it asks questions to help each student apply relevant SEL coping skills to their own situation.
Some of the questions save their data so teachers can get an overview of the whole class or school.
Returning to school
Data from a journaling question 2021
When students came back to class, several of the teachers reported a surprising change. Kids had become accustomed to their computer screens and were now more socially awkward in person. They also found it harder in a busy classroom to get the attention of their teacher.
Realizing this, fourth grade teacher Kathy McDonald came up with the idea of Morning Check-In as a way to reconnect teachers with their students. She suggested automating a commonly available paper form called a “mood board” that uses faces to choose an emotion. Because she believes writing is important, she also wanted students to write a sentence or two explaining their feelings. The addition of writing makes the data more useful. When you see that a child has chosen an angry or worried face, their written explanation tells you why!
Student completes a check-in 2024
What's next
We'll continue to look for new ways to combine surveys with journaling to help students better understand their lives.
The adults have all agreed that the information we have collected has been useful for connecting with students. Sometimes those students who aren't comfortable verbalizing feelings have been able to write them down. We have noticed patterns with a few, and we have learned about some classroom dynamics that we may not have known previously.
- Counselor in Middleton MA grades 3-6
The data provided by a quick “daily check in” has been profound. I am quickly able to identify students needing a little “extra TLC”. It also has strengthened my relationship with students as they are beginning to open up more in this risk-free zone. It has been a game-changer in the way I begin each day!
- 3rd grade teacher in Walpole MA
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