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  • Rubin Adds New Ethics Unit to Emerge Curriculum

    Rubin Adds New Ethics Unit to Emerge Curriculum

    In fall 2022, the Rubin team developed a new series focused on ethical discussions as they relate to employability skills.

    As the leader in online resources for employability and work readiness, we built an 11-part series that challenges students to think, “What would I do?” across several real-world scenarios.

    Alexis Kruemcke, an implementation specialist at Rubin and former classroom teacher, led the project.

    All eleven ethical scenarios are now inside our Emerge curriculum, a robust library of activities, videos, readings and assessments for employability skills.

    The ethical scenarios align with existing units in Emerge and are as follows:

    • Email etiquette
    • Phone and video etiquette
    • Networking
    • “Storytelling” cover letters
    • Internships
    • Job interviews
    • Resumes
    • Student leadership
    • Report writing
    • Writing to clients
    • LinkedIn outreach

    See a sample ethical discussion below. Want to view all 11 scenarios and our full Emerge library of 200+ instructional items?

    Request a 30-day free trial today, and our team will be in touch to set up the trial!

    Ethical discussion for resumes: What would you do?

     

    Scenario:

    Over the summer, you were an intern at an environmental non-profit. One of the main projects was a river clean-up outside of the city. Your supervisor was the project manager, but he put you in charge of most aspects of the project.

    Your tasks included:

    • Create a schedule for the clean-up process
    • Assign roles for the project
    • Coordinate with city officials
    • Obtain and manage supplies

    On your resume, you decide to list yourself as the project manager even though the title is technically your supervisor’s role. However, you did most of the work and feel “project manager” title is more appropriate than “intern.”

    Discuss the scenario with your classmates and answer the following question:

    Is it fair and truthful to say you were the project manager because your supervisor put you in charge of the project? Why or why not?

    What would you do?

  • Rubin Adds Software Developer, Business Development Rep

    Rubin Adds Software Developer, Business Development Rep

    Rubin, a leader in online instruction for business communication skills, has added two new team members to better capture demand in 2023.

    Chris Gerardi comes on board as a software engineer. He replaces Austin Makohon who departed in fall 2022 for a technical role within with the U.S. Navy. Gerardi, a New Jersey native, moved to Hampton Roads after working as a quality assurance analyst with Samsung Electronics America.

    Gerardi will manage the Rubin Emerge curriculum, a broad library of classroom resources for skills like email/phone etiquette, networking and more. Thousands of students nationwide use Emerge to learn in-demand soft skills for the workplace.

    Gerardi also leads the team to develop the Rubin company’s newest product, Propel. The tool provides real-time feedback on a person’s soft skills as the person drafts an email.

    Rubin’s second new hire, Chelsea Caputo, becomes the company’s first business development representative. Caputo joins Rubin after working at Tesla dealerships in Hawaii and Hampton Roads. Caputo will reach out to prospective customers and encourage use of Emerge, Propel and additional projects the company hopes to roll out in 2023.

    Visit the Rubin website to explore Emerge, Propel and the company’s free “Dream Job” live webinar series.

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    Chelsea Caputo, Rubin’s new business development representative

     

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    Chris Gerardi, Rubin’s new software engineer

     

    Growth in important areas.

  • Emerge Curriculum Patch Updates 2.0.1

    Emerge Curriculum Patch Updates 2.0.1

    On September 30, 2022, the Rubin team made several updates to our Emerge curriculum to assist with user experience.

    See the patches listed below.

    • Incorporated the Propel writing tool into Emerge so that students will no longer be directed to an external website when clicking on “PRACTICE WITH PROPEL”
    • Added “Join a New Group” button to dashboard for students who have no access to courses upon creating accounts through single sign-on
    • Tweaked the responsiveness of the left-side navigation menu so the submenu doesn’t freeze when users aren’t hovering over the unit name
    • Fixed Badge Manager so the number badge recipients in an instructor’s group display properly
    • Fixed an issue in which college students were unable to view the links to purchase Emerge access and enter in unique access codes
    • Fixed an issue that prevented administrators from creating guest access codes
    • Fixed an issue that prevented administrators from viewing certain pages via broken links

    Several fixes, big and small.

  • BREAKING: Rubin Unveils Brand-New “Emerge” Platform

    BREAKING: Rubin Unveils Brand-New “Emerge” Platform

    After months of designing, building, tweaking and building some more, the newly-designed Rubin Emerge platform is live!

    On behalf of the Rubin team, we are excited for you and your students to dive into “Emerge 2.0” curriculum for college and career opportunities and see the upgrades.

    And let me be clear…there are many upgrades.

    Here’s a short list, and here’s a video with all the renovations.

    • All curriculum items are organized through a left-side menu.
    • The redesigned assignment page now features an engaging overview video, less clicking around and simpler instructions.
    • We created an improved grading area with — you guessed it — less clicking around and simpler instructions (familiar theme!)
    • Finally, we have brand-new digital badges and certificates that now feature a QR code which takes people to a page that explains the skills required for each badge/certificate.

    The upgrade is a big technical project, and we expect to find bugs and issues to correct in the days to come. If you see something out of place, please email us at support@rubineducation.com and let us know.

    Your feedback helped to design our new platform, and we continue to need your eyes and ears now.

    Finally, below are a few screenshots of the new site — check them out first and then watch the quick-tour video!

    Thank you, as always, for working with us.

    – Danny Rubin

    Founder, Rubin

    The new left-side navigation menu

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    The updated assignment page with a brand-new overview video and single-column instructions.

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    A streamlined grading area with less clutter and moving parts.

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    Redesigned digital badges with QR codes so employers can scan the code and see the skills gained in the particular learning unit (ex: Phone Etiquette). See the page where you land after you scan the QR code.

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    Redesigned printable certificates that also contain a digital badge with a QR code.

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    Let the learning begin anew.

  • Rubin Featured on Blog That Supports Entrepreneurs

    Rubin Featured on Blog That Supports Entrepreneurs

    Many thanks to Subkit, a website dedicated to helping entrepreneurs grow and thrive, for a recent profile on our company and founder, Danny Rubin.

    Check out the article here!

    From personal blog to educational company.

  • Remote Community in Alaska Teaches Rubin Lessons in One-Room School

    Remote Community in Alaska Teaches Rubin Lessons in One-Room School

    Megan Gatlin is a principal teacher.

    That’s right. She’s the principal. And the teacher.

    The onlyteacher.

    In False Pass, a town of 40 people in the Aleutian Islands of Alaska (200 total during the “busy” summer season), Gatlin has only nine students between grades 1 and 11. Everyone learns in the same room, and most of the students are cousins to each other. Many people in False Pass work in the fishing industry or at the local grocery.

    Originally from Utah, Gatlin and her husband moved to False Pass two years ago to live closer to nature and enjoy the strikingly beautiful terrain.

    At False Pass School, Gatlin teaches, well, everything. Subjects include chemistry, algebra II, language arts, food science, healthy living and whatever else the students would like to explore.

    And in the 2022-2023 academic year, Gatlin will share lessons from our Emerge curriculum for college and career opportunities like how to shake hands, write an email, hold a networking conversation and more.

    “My students may only leave False Pass a couple of times a year and many have never stepped foot out of Alaska,” Gatlin said. “The Rubin lessons will give them real-world practice on how to talk to new people and explore their own talents and interests.”

    Emerge is trusted by middle school, high school and college educators nationwide. The program is a blend of ebooks, self-paced assignments, videos and quizzes that give students age-appropriate instruction on how to write, speak and lead with confidence.

    Instructors and students can log onto a password-protected website or access the career readiness material through single sign-on on any device. Emerge integrates and syncs grades with common LMS like Canvas, Blackboard, D2L, Moodle, Sakai and Schoology. We also provide single sign-on with Google Classroom and Microsoft Teams.

    Rubin works with large school divisions like Philadelphia and Las Vegas, but we also take pride in delivering lessons to rural or remote communities.

    Everyone deserves the chance to learn important college and career (employability or work readiness) skills, from the bustling avenues of South Street Philly to the rambling roads of False Pass, a city just two miles wide nestled between the Pacific Ocean and Bering Strait.

    Thank you, Principal Teacher Gatlin, for the important work you do.

    9 students between grades 1 and 11

  • Rubin Featured in Reuters Article about Exclamation Points

    Rubin Featured in Reuters Article about Exclamation Points

    The Thomson Reuters Foundation quoted Rubin founder Danny Rubin this week on the topic of exclamation point usage as it relates to environmental research.

    Check out the quote at the bottom of the article!

    Oops. We mean…check out the quote at the bottom of the article.

     

    To ! or not to !

  • Rubin Leads Half-Day Training for Largest School System in North Carolina

    Rubin Leads Half-Day Training for Largest School System in North Carolina

    Usually we train teachers on the Rubin “Emerge” curriculum (email/phone etiquette) through Zoom. The goal is to provide high-quality materials for college and career readiness.

    But on Friday, August 19th we had the opportunity to lead a career and technical education (CTE) group in person.

    Three members of the Rubin team (Founder Danny Rubin and Implementation Specialists Mac Walsh and Alexis Kruemcke) drove from Va Beach, our headquarters, to Raleigh, the largest school system in North Carolina (also know as Wake County), to work with the career development coordinators in each of the city’s high schools.

    During the three-hour training, we guided the group through Rubin resources, which integrate to Canvas for single sign-on, and had everyone develop a lesson plan for implementation at the start of the year. We also sent people back to their classrooms with motivational posters.

    “The Rubin training was one of the best professional development sessions I have ever been a part of,” said Wake County Career Development Coordinator Carla Thomas. “I can’t wait to use it personally, as well as in the classroom.”

    On that note, let the new year begin!

    raleigh cte teachers

    All smiles after our three-hour, in-person training!

     

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    Rubin Implementation Specialist Mac Walsh works with a teacher who added Emerge curriculum items to her Canvas course.

     

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    A fresh poster for the wall!

     

     

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    At Rubin, we believe when you write well, you open doors. This teacher’s students will soon understand that lesson.

     

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    We preach the value of showing people you care through active listening and follow-up questions.

     

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    Another Rubin ambassador!

     

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    Rubin Founder Danny Rubin stands with (from left to right) Wake County School-to-Career Specialists Gail McDougal and Rosalynn Tennie as well as Wake County CTE Director Jo Honeycutt.

    Newfound fans in the state capital of Raleigh.

  • Rubin Featured in Inside Business, Southeast Virginia’s Premier Business Magazine

    Rubin Featured in Inside Business, Southeast Virginia’s Premier Business Magazine

    Our thanks to Inside Businessand reporter Sandra Pennecke for a great write-up on the work we do with educators around the country to teach business communication skills.

    Read the story here!

    Making headlines in the 757.

  • Rubin Goes Overseas, Partners with Business School in Vietnam

    Rubin Goes Overseas, Partners with Business School in Vietnam

    Rubin has gone international through the company’s latest partnership with a top business school in Southeast Asia.

    Starting in fall 2022, Rubin will provide its curriculum tools for business communication to VinUniversity, a private college in Hanoi, Vietnam.

    Led by the dean of the business school, Dr. Sunmee Choi, VinUniversity will incorporate Rubin lessons on email writing, phone skills, networking and others into various business courses through the Canvas LMS.

    The alliance marks the first time Rubin has worked with an educational institution outside of North America. Previously, all customers have operated in the United States and Canada.

    Danny Rubin, founder of Rubin, met Dr. Choi at an international conference of business schools in April 2022 in New Orleans.

    “VinUniversity is an English-speaking school that wants to give its students an advantage as they pursue opportunities abroad,” said Rubin. “We hope our curriculum tools are the perfect addition at Vin and also position our company as a resource for other international programs.”

    An international alliance to begin in fall 2022.