New Poster from Peter H. Reynolds — International Teacher Appreciation Year!

We’re BIG fans of National Teacher Appreciation Day — and Week — and we were thrilled to hear how many of you enjoyed the Brightest Stars poster we posted in honor of wonderful teachers. However, we think teachers also deserve a whole year of appreciation — and we love all teachers around the world. Together, one educated planet will move the world to a better place.

Download this brand new International Teacher Appreciation Year poster by Peter H. Reynolds for free until May 31, 2012. We’re so thankful for all you do — may you feel appreciated all year long!

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Happy Teacher Appreciation Week! A Special Poster for You…

We are so grateful to the many teachers who are inspiring their students and moving the world to a better place. Just for this week, we’ve re-released our popular “Brightest Stars” poster. You can download the PDF for free now through May 13!

To honor you, NY Times best-selling illustrator and author Peter H. Reynolds created this poster. Display it proudly in your classroom, and know that your hard work is greatly appreciated!

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Get Inspired! Lauren Hill’s “Seeing the Invisible: How I Teach AP (and Why)”

Girl Reading

Educator Lauren Hill wrote this wonderful post about a life-changing experience that made her the teacher she is today. Lauren’s message really resonated with the FableVision Learning team — in fact, we were so moved that we asked if we could share her post on our blog. Lauren graciously agreed!
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Seeing the Invisible:
How I Teach AP (and Why)

by Lauren Hill

I had earned an A on every English assignment I had turned in since 7th grade. (My streak would have started sooner, but I failed a 7th-grade project about Judy Garland; her life depressed me so much that I just could not finish the paper.) Yet, despite my apparent success, I was invisible to my teachers for most of high school.

It’s absurd to me now, but somehow I made it to junior year without giving a single thought to what I might do after graduation. My father, less clueless about the requirements of adulthood, enrolled me in an SAT prep class taught by the school’s AP Literature teacher. I had never seen those shiny honors kids—or their teacher. But now Mrs. Pelton saw me.

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Celebrate Earth Day With Writing and Animation

Earth Day is celebrated all around the world on April 22nd, in appreciation of our planet’s natural environment. Started in 1970, Earth Day is now observed by over 1 billion people each year, in 192 countries! Earth Day falls on a Sunday this year, but there are many opportunities to weave creative activities into your lessons. You can celebrate Earth Day this week or next week — or save activity ideas for another time when you’d like your students to think about the wonderful planet we call home!

One great way for students to celebrate Earth Day is by creating an animation using a program like Animation-ish. Here are some fun Animation-ish films that show how students can use art to think about our planet and nature.


Animation by Drake Shaberg

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Peter H. Reynolds’ 8 Tips for Inspiring Students to Write, New Poster, & Other Creative Resources

In honor of National Poetry Month, we decided to post some helpful writing resources for you! Be sure to comment below and let us know how you’re inspiring your students to write — we love hearing what creative educators are doing in the classroom.


Peter H. Reynolds’ 8 Tips for Inspiring Students to Write

In his post “The Brave Heart: Protecting the Passion, Keeping Wings Outstretched for a Daring Journey,” NY Times best-selling author/illustrator Peter H. Reynolds discusses how the pressure to write “correctly” can cause many beginning writers to pack up their creative wings. Encourage your students to write with wings outstretched! Here are a few quick tips from Peter to inspire bravery in your students.

  1. Step off the path and write with your wings outstretched. Break a rule or two as you go.
  2. Don’t let a jumbled thought stop you — plant it and keep going.
  3. Don’t let a misspelled word slow you down. Go back and attend to it later.
  4. Listen to your inner voice and transcribe what you hear without trying to edit it.
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