Teacher Appreciation Week [2018]

Let’s put it out there: teachers are amazing, and we’re excited to show our admiration for them during Teacher Appreciation Week (May 5th — 11th)!

Here at Smore, we know firsthand just how hard teachers and administrators work; From preparing lessons to in-class instruction, to grading tests and corresponding with community members, teachers really deserve that apple on their desk. And that’s why we’d like to highlight a few exceptional email newsletters from a few fantastic educators who’ve used Smore to demonstrate passion and creativity.

World Changers Weekly by Price Third Grade Teachers does a great job of utilizing one of Smore’s included backgrounds, and uses a color palate that nicely complements it. The “Classroom News” image plays off the blue in the header, and the newsletter also has some lovely mountain tops that echo the topographic nature of the globes in the background. The email is well-organized, thanks to headers, and it makes effective use of bullet points to distill more complicated information. Key times and dates are bolded (following our best practices!), and there are handy hyperlinks at the bottom, which direct readers to other sources of information for the school. This newsletter is everything that makes teachers great: it’s helpful, instructive, and well-organized.

Convocation of Learning by Matt McCullough exemplifies two other amazing teacher traits: creativity and passion. Matt makes great use of Smore’s included backgrounds, and the wild colors of the background image are echoed in the orderly, yet colorful “12 Benefits of Creativity” image toward the top. This slick Smore newsletter is well-punctuated with buttons, headers, and images, and Matt makes great use of Smore’s Bio feature to add quick links and contact info. We know this Smore newsletter was as much fun to create as it was to read!

Betsy’s Blast by Betsy Eppes really pops, thanks to its striking visual design, logical layout and strategic use of bold fonts and headers to make important information super-clear. To a recipient on Betsy’s email list, it’s immediately obvious what details are critical or time-sensitive. Betsy also made great use of Smore’s gallery feature to add relevant images, and she does a lovely job of using hyperlinks to provide more information on content that requires more detail. Betsy’s Blast was, well, a blast to read. It really demonstrated characteristics that we love about teachers: informed, informative, and proactive.

A teacher’s job is not always easy, and the impact they have on students, parents, and other educators resonates far beyond the walls of the classroom. That’s why we firmly believe in helping educators do their best work, and in empowering teachers who don’t use only chalkboards, but employ technology to make communication and education simpler, faster, and more fun. Whether you have an apple on your desk, or a Smore in your inbox, we salute you!

Happy Teacher Appreciation Week!