Get Inspired By Everyday Teachers Doing Great Things

Our good friends at SoulPancake (home of everyone's favorite pint-sized inspirational speaker, Kid President) have just launched a video series that we absolutely love, profiling California teachers who are making a difference.

The video above feels particularly important at this time of year, as many people gear up to celebrate Thanksgiving and reflect on the things they are grateful for. It features teacher Whitney Cole, at Oak Ridge Elementary School in Sacramento, who finds that having her students keep daily gratitude journals has a ripple effect on their whole community. Get more tips for how to encourage gratitude in your classroom in this Edutopia piece by Owen M. Griffith, "Gratitude: A Powerful Tool for Your Classroom."

Another video profiles Sadie Guthrie, a special education teacher at Lawton Alternative School in San Francisco, who teaches her students real-world skills -- and brightens the mornings of the other teachers in the school -- with a mobile coffee cart.

Find guidelines for how to use authentic community needs to build real-world skills with students in Andrew Miller's post, "Bringing Authenticity to the Classroom."

This one highlights Robert "Mr. Mac" MacCarthy, a sixth grade math teacher at Willard Middle School in Berkeley, who generates a passion for math in his students by asking them to make rap videos.

Check out one of Mr. Mac's student's videos here, and get step-by-step instructions on writing your own math raps with your students from this gem from the Edutopia archives, "How to Write Your Own Math Rap."

All of these teachers absolutely warmed our hearts, and offered bite-sized projects that could work in any classroom. We're thankful for all the educators who support and nurture their students in fun and creative ways!

Look for the last release in this series, which is sponsored by the California Lottery, to come out soon on SoulPancake's YouTube Channel.