World Teachers’ Day, held annually on October 5th since 1994 – when it was created by UNESCO – celebrates teachers worldwide (in the United States, National Teacher Day is Tuesday in the first full week of May). Here are few quickly put together resources you might find useful/helpful:
Here’s some interesting data from The New York Times comparing class size and teacher pay in countries around the world.
ESL Holiday Lessons, one of many great sites developed by Sean Banville, has an excellent lesson on the day.
There are two interesting videos on YouTube that trace the history of teachers over the past four hundred years:
The Evolution of Educators – Part 1 (1600-1900)
The Evolution of Educators – Part 2 (1900-Present)
I’m not embedding them here because I think it’s worth watching them at the YouTube site and seeing the surprising number of other videos related to the history of schools you’ll see on the side of the page.
You might also be interested in The Best Places To Learn About (And View Video Clips Of) Teachers In The Movies and The Best Quotes About Education — Contribute Your Own Favorites.
8 Teachers Who Changed History is a nice, short article.
Here is a list of “Teacher Days” celebrated on different dates in different countries.
K – 12 America Since 1981 is a multimedia feature from Education Week.
ESL Holiday Lessons has a lesson plan for the day.
Teachers around the world share their stories – interactive is from The Guardian.
Happy #WorldTeachersDay! What does being a teacher mean to you? http://t.co/2KPQgluA7A pic.twitter.com/HuT0aj9i1S
— Teaching English (@TeachingEnglish) October 5, 2014
RT @GuardianTeach: These are @UNESCO‘s five demands for teacher wellbeing https://t.co/MZF0TklHzL. What are yours? pic.twitter.com/wWoGhP1Ir5
— Larry Ferlazzo (@Larryferlazzo) October 5, 2014
Happy #WorldTeachersDay! 80 reasons why teaching is so important: http://t.co/ZxNV89URTn. #Pinterest pic.twitter.com/55czNmgdOA
— edutopia (@edutopia) October 5, 2014
Where Children Learn: Inside Classrooms Around the World is a great photo gallery from NBC News.
From Visually.
CELEBRATING WORLD TEACHERS DAY WITH 18 OF THE BEST TEACHERS IN MOVIE HISTORY
Yes, it’s a Kleenex ad, but you’ll still want to watch it:
Spotify Puts Teacher Appreciation Week to Music is from Ed Week.
UN Says 69 Million New Teachers Need To Be Recruited By 2030 – That’s A Lot Of Teachers!
StoryCorps Loves Teachers! Listen to some stories with teachers here: https://t.co/RwzgGv4vrM #WorldTeachersDay pic.twitter.com/KZnDg7S9gc
— StoryCorps (@StoryCorps) October 5, 2016
Happy Teacher Day! Hope this makes you laugh! 61 Best Teacher Memes On The Internet https://t.co/Il9jXwijPs #WorldTeachersDay #Edchat pic.twitter.com/OY1Cd3QrwY
— Shelly Sanchez (@ShellTerrell) October 5, 2016
Who are the world’s most valued teachers? is from CNN.
What 150 Years of Education Statistics Say About Schools Today is from Ed Week.
Video: “Fareed Zakaria: Teachers make other professions possible”
Century-Old Decisions That Impact Children Every Day is from NPR, and is an interesting history of education.
TED-Ed Launches A New Channel For Talks From Teachers
USE GOOGLE EARTH & CHECK OUT SCHOOLS AROUND THE WORLD WITH “THIS IS SCHOOL”
“EVERYTHING” YOU WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT THE TEACHING PROFESSION, BUT WERE AFRAID TO ASK….
George Lucas, Venus Williams, Stephen Colbert—and the Teachers Who Inspired Them is from Ed Week.
Here’s What Teachers Look Like Around The World is from BuzzFeed.
How Have Teachers Taught: A Look Backwards is by Larry Cuban.
HAPPY TEACHER APPRECIATION WEEK https://t.co/8boXynQrN7
— Jason Reynolds (@JasonReynolds83) May 4, 2020
Happy #TeacherAppreciationWeek! To celebrate, our friends at @ncte have invited twelve authors to tell their personal stories of appreciation for teachers of theirs who had a profound impact on their lives. See the first three at https://t.co/btEk9wtL08 #tomyteacher
— Writing Project (@writingproject) May 4, 2020
This World Teachers’ Day, here’s what teachers want you to know is from CNN.
World Teachers’ Day 2020 celebrated in re-released Google Doodle is from Google.
VIDEO: DAVE GROHL HONORS TEACHERS AT INAUGURAL CONCERT
Actually, instead of a gift, I’d much prefer you to challenge your school board on what they are doing to listen 2 teachers, students & families AND to ensure district has competent leadership —What do get Teachers on Teacher Appreciation Day https://t.co/Ju7wivvb7i via @slate
— Larry Ferlazzo (@Larryferlazzo) April 23, 2021
Teachers are an extraordinary force for good in our nation — I’m lucky enough to be married to one and have seen firsthand how hard they work for their students. This year teachers have gone above and beyond to help children learn through the pandemic. So please, thank a teacher. pic.twitter.com/NbzPJ1S7H1
— President Biden (@POTUS) May 3, 2021
From President Biden: A Proclamation on National Teacher Appreciation Day and National Teacher Appreciation Week, 2021
VIDEOS: TODAY’S GOOGLE DOODLE IN THE U.S. CELEBRATES TEACHER APPRECIATION WEEK!
This pep talk is for the leaders, motivators, innovators, problem solvers, and potential seers.
In other words, it’s dedicated to you, teachers. 💞#TeacherAppreciationWeek #MicrosoftEDU pic.twitter.com/kaParg51gA
— Microsoft Education (@MicrosoftEDU) May 2, 2022
The Dos and Don’ts of Celebrating Teacher Appreciation Week is from Ed Surge.
‘Who Will Clean Out The Desks’ — A crowdsourced poem in praise of teachers is from NPR.
This community-sourced poem is all about hope for the new school year https://t.co/is0QvsNkXw
— Larry Ferlazzo (@Larryferlazzo) September 16, 2022
Quote Of The Day: Teaching Students To Think
On Teaching (Elliot Eisner) appeared in Larry Cuban’s blog.
What Students Are Saying About How Their Teachers Have Shaped Them is from The NY Times Learning Network.
A letter to educators this Teacher Appreciation Week is from Google.
JOE & JILL BIDEN ADDRESSED TEACHERS TODAY – I THINK HE HAD A STRONG ENDING
To teachers near and far, we love you for who you are and what you do. Happy #WorldTeachersDay! 🍎📓🤗 pic.twitter.com/fLEREl22Cl
— Sesame Street (@sesamestreet) October 5, 2023
You will find more infographics at Statista
Historical Milestones in American Education is from Future Ed.
Teacher appreciation starts with better pay, not gifts www.washingtonpost.com/business/202…
— Larry Ferlazzo (@larryferlazzo.bsky.social) May 7, 2025 at 3:46 AM
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Hi Larry,
I also intend to use this site with my students in the computer lab today:
http://www.pearsonlongman.com/great-teachers/home.html
It combines all kinds of media and it is really useful for practising writing skills.
Regards,
Christina
Hi again,
These are the activities that I have prepared for the day, mostly deriving inspiration from your blog post! A variety of ideas are included:
http://markaki-students.blogspot.com/2009/10/world-teachers-day-today-relevant.html
Thanks again,
Christina
Great resources as usual Larry, I put together this Mind Map of famous quotes for teacher appreciation. What do you think?
https://www.examtime.com/en-GB/p/1387399