It’s hard to believe that I am celebrating my twentieth “Teacher Appreciation Week” this year. It seems like just yesterday I began my teaching career fresh out of college. Although my intention was to only teach for a few years and then pursue a more lucrative career in law, my first years in the classroom revealed the zeal I had inside for teaching social studies. Within a few years, I had found my calling as a classroom teacher—and have never looked back. Now, twenty years later, I still retain that passion and enthusiasm for teaching. However, I am astonished to see how much my classroom has changed since I began my career, and what a much better teacher I have become.

We know how challenging and rewarding teaching can be, so we compiled our top 20 posts on the topic. This list covers everything from the funny to the serious—which is exactly like teaching! 

The 2010s is an era of comebacks. In everything from fashion to music, retro ideas are being renewed to fit the demands of a modern audience. Young people especially are taking to retro-inspired products, focusing more on the lifestyle enrichment value that these vintage items can offer. 

This month, we announced the MimioFrame, a retrofit product that uses a teacher’s existing classroom whiteboard, projector, and computer to quickly and easily turn any whiteboard into a 10-touch interactive whiteboard. This offering has reimagined the idea behind bringing interactive technology into the classroom, making it possible for teachers to bring their old classroom back to life by upgrading their technology in less than 15 minutes.

In the book Good to Great, Jim Collins wrote at length about technology as an “accelerator.” It was important to note that the acceleration technology created could go in either direction. Companies with a clear vision and plan could use technology to improve outcomes rapidly, while those that did not have a solid foundation and invested heavily in technology “accelerated” their demise.

The world of education is probably not much different to these companies. Schools that have clear instructional goals, a solid foundational curriculum, and engaging practices can use technology to move from good to great.

May is here and the end of the school year is quickly approaching! Don’t let the upcoming summer break stop you from holding your students’ attention with great lessons right up until the last day of school. Here is our collection of engaging themed content for May:

If you are a teacher who struggles with giving quality feedback to students in an efficient manner, using a rubric may help. A well-written rubric can be an amazing classroom tool for both the teacher and the student. Even if you already use rubrics on a regular basis, some of these strategies may help to assist students in reaching higher levels of understanding.

Teaching is a tough profession, and as a result, it is common to hear that a teacher is becoming “burned out.” This can mean a lot of things to different people, but for the most part, people become burned out because they have lost a passion for what they do. This isn’t good for schools, students, or the teachers themselves.

Each year, the world of EdTech grows and new companies emerge ahead of the pack. Here are the movers and shakers we’re excited about at the moment: 

STEM learning is at the forefront of education today—and it shows no signs of slowing down. The focus on STEM subjects (science, technology, engineering, and math) is a necessity in order for Americans to be competitive in the job market in future years. Careers in these fields will continue to grow, so it's imperative that we make STEM a priority for today's students in order to prepare them for the jobs of tomorrow.

A wealth of research is coming out about the zones of regulation and how this idea can help students in our classrooms. The zones are a way to conceptualize and visualize the internal feelings that a student may be having at any particular moment. Ideally, our students will come to us calm and ready to learn, but if something happened that was stressful or emotional—whether at recess or before school—that may not be the case.