90 Retailers That Offer Teacher Discounts

by TeachThought Staff

It’s no secret that back-to-school shopping can get expensive for teachers.

If they’re not shelling out money for art supplies and paper, they’re off buying fresh clothes and shoes. Luckily, the retailers below want to help. From Apple to J. Crew, these companies offer teacher discounts on just about everything a teacher could possibly need for the new semester!

As with any promo, do confirm that the deal is still in place before you order. But don’t be shy, either! If you don’t see your favorite big retailer, movie chain, museum, or more listed here, give them a call and ask if they participate in any teacher discounts.

Companies That Offer Teacher Discounts [Updated For 2023]

Adidas

A 30% discount online and in-store and 20% at factory outlets.

Adobe
Whether you need Photoshop or Creative Cloud, Adobe offers education discounts you

by TeachThought Staff

What’s a professional learning network?

According to Marc-André Lalande, “a Personal Learning Network is a way of describing the group of people that you connect with to learn their ideas, their questions, their reflections, and their references.”

Of course, your PLN is not limited to online interactions, but their always-on availability makes them powerful. Further, the diversity of voices available in a truly global professional learning network makes it possible–and at times necessary–to consider divergent perspectives and thus, over time, become empathetic, connected, and prone to personal and professional growth.

As for this graphic? You can thank Sylvia Duckworth, who always does a great job sharing simple sketch notes to help teachers. (She also took our 12 Rules of Great Teaching and created a predictably wonderful graphic to supplement the text, among others.) We’ve taken the graphic and provided starting points for each ‘reason’ a

by Terry Heick

Simple premise, as titled: what sorts of ‘things’ make teaching unsustainable, and what sort of advice can help teachers reflect on these ideas to mitigate any damage and make the profession more enjoyable, and thus sustainable.

10. Grow a healthy and useful professional learning network.

Human connections sustain humans. See 10 Reasons Every Teacher Needs A Professional Learning Network.

9. The school year is a marathon, not a sprint.

And this should have significant implications for instructional design–spiraling, for example. Some ideas students can ‘get’ right away, while others will take all year. Continuously spiral those sufficiently complex ideas so students have a chance to master them.

8. You don’t need a million tools and strategies to teach well.

You don’t need a million tools and strategies to teach well, so use a handful that are flexible and powerful.

The 40/40/40 rule is a wonderful on-the-fly

What Is A Literature Circle?

by Terry Heick

Literature Circles are a way for students to assume a specific role in the study of something (usually a text).

Though almost always associated with the content area of ‘Literature’ or ‘Language Arts’ in North America, the concept of studying a topic in groups by assigning functional roles for each group member can be applied in the study of almost anything (something I will cover in an upcoming post on how to teach with Literature Circles).

For now, let’s review the key components of this versatile teaching, learning, and literacy strategy.

See also Reading Response Questions That Work With Almost Any Text

The Characteristics Of Literature Circles

PBL Spotlight: 5th Grade Restaurant Math Tipping Guide

by Drew Perkins, Director of TeachThought PD

Every year since their kindergarten years I have extended my offer to teachers of my daughters to help out in any way they might find useful. Some of them have taken me up on my offer and asked me to chaperone a field trip or help with some minor classroom activities on special occasions, and I was happy to help.

But I was ecstatic in 2017, when my oldest daughter’s 5th-grade teacher, Kristen Rowling (now Taylor) asked me to collaborate on some PBL planning and co-teaching. What we came up with together was a relatively short project that incorporated an authentic audience and a product that helped her contextualize a need to learn how to mathematically work with decimals and percentages in meaningful ways.

This project isn’t meant to serve as an exemplar–for that please