Raise your hand if professional development days before the new school year are your absolute favorite? Hands still wrapped around that cup of coffee? I thought so. Even as one who used to plan and facilitate PD days, motivation for setting up the classroom outweighed the desire to review the previous year’s assessment results and goals for this year. Yes, that should be evaluated and discussed, but the anticipation of having a class full of new learners and personalities is much more exciting! This school year, many teachers are still waiting to find out how teaching and learning will happen – physical classroom, virtual classroom, blend of both? As we wait with bated breath, what teacher PD options are available for online learning?

With the holidays upon us, now is a very busy time of the year. It’s also notoriously a time when keeping students on task can be a bit more challenging. Luckily, we’ve got you covered with fun themed content and helpful teaching tips to keep you going right up until the holiday break! 

Here is our collection of engaging content to help you keep your students’ attention all month long:

By now, you are likely fully immersed in the new year. Between diving into the curriculum, getting to know your students, and decorating your classroom, there’s a lot to accomplish as you kick off another great year. But the start of a new school year isn’t just about your students learning—it’s a great time for you to learn something new as well!

We’ve got you covered with engaging professional development to help you improve student outcomes all year long using the dynamic MimioStudio™ classroom software. For a limited time, you can earn your MimioStudio Educator or Expert certification for over 30% off the regular price. From now until October 31, 2019, you can earn six PD hours at the educator level for only $99 or 14 PD hours at the expert level for just $199!

Ah, July—by now, summer is in full swing! This time of year hopefully means getting some well-deserved rest and relaxation, and having fun somewhere in the mix. If you have children, it might mean spending time at the park, pool, on vacation, or being the taxi driver to various camps throughout the summer. For educators, summer might involve continued education workshops, graduate classes for recertification, reworking curriculum, or catching up on some reading.

You have no doubt let your parents know about the dreaded summer slide: That time when students can lose progress during the summer months. And I'm sure you have also let them know the importance of practicing those skills over the summer so students can start off the new school year ready and raring to go. 

But what about us teachers? What should we make sure doesn’t take the proverbial slide over the break? And are there some things we should let slide away into the summer abyss?

Spring is finally in full swing! Depending on where you live, maybe it doesn't quite feel like spring yet—better yet, maybe it already feels like summer where you are. Regardless of the weather outside, spring is a great time for dusting off old lessons as well as creating new ones.

Need some inspiration? Here is our collection of themed content to help you spruce up your lessons for April:

Spring is right around the corner, and with it we leave behind the winter blahs as blue skies are ahead. As an educator, it’s easy to get into a rut this time of year with everything that is going on—spring activities kicking into full gear, local and state assessments, curriculum changes for next year, and so on.

Just as nature around us begins to show renewed growth, we too feel the new energy that we can carry into our classrooms. Although it may be easy to pull out lessons from previous years to use, it can be exciting to try out new ways of teaching lessons or exploring new ideas to motivate our students. Designing new lessons can take some time to ensure it meets your needs, but the end result is well worth the investment. Here is our collection of themed content to get you ready with new lessons for March:

February may be the shortest month, but it has so much to offer! From Valentine’s Day and Presidents’ Day to Black History Month, there’s plenty of interesting facts, people, and history to weave into your lessons this month. Here is our collection of themed content to help you keep students engaged in February:

Gobble gobble! There is so much to be thankful for this time of year as we get ready to gather around the table with our family and friends. But until the big day rolls around, there’s still plenty of learning to be done! Here is our collection of themed content to help you keep students engaged all month long:

On September 24, my district had an in-service day. The homeroom teachers in my building were piloting a new writing program and were asked to attend a training. This left specialist teachers with nothing to do, as we would not need to be trained on this new program.

We were all wondering what our duties would be for the day when we received an email from our principal encouraging us to make arrangements to observe in another district for the day. She proceeded to help us find schools to host us—fellow teachers will understand why this was amazing. When do we ever have the time to go to other districts without painstaking measures of using personal days and arranging for subs? And how many of us have principals who understand the importance of observing others in our same content area?