Teacher appreciation is a vital tool for improving teacher well-being. Although we celebrate Teacher Appreciation Week every May, at Honored, we have witnessed the incredible impacts of celebrating teachers all year long.
The Impacts of Appreciation on Teacher Well-Being:
Teacher well-being encompasses feelings of satisfaction and achievement in response to their working environment. As the demands of teaching rise and shift, we are continuing to see an increase in teacher burnout and a decrease in teacher retention and recruitment, which indicate low teacher well-being.
Research shows that 25% of teachers reported receiving sufficient appreciation at an individual level, 33% reported not receiving enough recognition, and the remaining amount reported varying levels of appreciation, which suggests a mixed or inconsistent sense of recognition, according to the study How Appreciation Predicts Teachers’ Job Satisfaction, Emotional Exhaustion, and Quitting Intentions.
In this study, when comparing appreciation to teacher well-being, they found that teachers who reported feeling more appreciated were more likely to report feeling a greater sense of well-being. When teachers reported higher levels of appreciation, they were more likely to report increased levels of job satisfaction and decreased levels of burnout.
Levels of Teacher Appreciation:
In the previously mentioned study, they dive into the different levels of teacher appreciation from students to parents to policy makers to society. All of these levels of appreciation are important in the entire ecosystem of appreciation.
1. Appreciation by Students, Mentees, and Colleagues
This first level of appreciation includes those with whom teachers interact on a daily basis. They found that appreciation from this level had the largest impact on teacher well-being.
Appreciation by students and mentees can be as simple as writing a note and leaving it on your teacher’s desk or nominating your teacher for our $5,000 Honored National Teaching Award. For colleagues, you can share kind words as you pass each other in the hallway or offer to take something off of your colleague's plate as a way to show that you notice their hard work.
2. Appreciation by School Leaders, Parents, and Guardians
Appreciation by school leaders, parents, and guardians is another important level of appreciation. For parents and guardians, just like students, you can write a note and send it to school with your child or nominate their teacher for our $5,000 Honored National Teaching Award. There are many ways to show your appreciation for teachers and we’ve found the most effective way is through sharing your written gratitude for them.
For school leaders, showing your appreciation can also come in the form of meaningfully written gratitude or it can show up in advocating for internal school practices that directly support teacher well-being.
3. Appreciation by Policymakers and Administrators
Policymaker and administration appreciation includes those at the district level all the way up to the federal level. Appreciation can come in the form of positive feedback, providing additional resources, and ensuring teachers feel they can succeed in the classroom. This includes ensuring that policies improve teacher well-being such as managing class sizes or giving teachers adequate planning periods.
Nonprofit organizations, such as The Commit Partnership in Dallas, Texas work with statewide policymakers to ensure that policies are practitioner-informed. Their incredible advocacy not only supports the creation of policies, but they also work with directly school districts to understand and implement new policies. Commit’s impact has supported numerous statewide policies such as increasing placement in advanced math courses and creating the Teacher Incentive Allotment to provide teachers with a trajectory to increased compensation.
4. Appreciation by Society
This level of appreciation includes general societal beliefs about teachers, portrayal in the media, and general societal expectations placed on teachers. In EdWeek’s 2026 State of Teaching report, they found that most teachers believe the public holds a negative view of teachers. On average on a scale of 0 (very negative) to 10 (very positive), teachers rated public perception as a 3.8.
In a previous year’s report, “Matthew Kraft, a professor of education and economics at Brown University, suggests the gap between the public’s perception and teachers’ reality partly stems from the public’s limited perspective on teaching.”
Honored’s Teacher Appreciation Impact:
As previously mentioned, we’ve found that individualized, written appreciation is an extremely effective way to keep teachers satisfied and engaged in the classroom. Since 2016, Honored’s program has proven to be effective in increasing teacher satisfaction and retention. Surveys of nominated teachers for our Honored National Teaching Award demonstrated that:
- 97% of nominated teachers are more certain they will continue to be a teacher for the next five years.
- 94% of nominated teachers want to remain teaching for as long as they can.
- 99% want to focus even more on building relationships with their students
- 99% feel that they are positively influencing other people’s lives through their work.
- 100% of nominated teachers feel more enthusiastic about teaching.
- 100% of nominated teachers feel more inspired in their teaching practice.
In the words of a 7th-grade Special Education teacher nominated for the Honored National Teaching Award, “To know that a young person feels safe enough to rely on me, to believe that I will stand beside them and guide them, is the highest honor. This nomination is a reminder that the true measure of teaching is not found in accolades, but in the trust of our students. That trust is my greatest accomplishment.”
Teacher appreciation is a simple yet hugely impactful way to increase teacher well-being. To share your appreciation for a teacher who has made an impact in your life, nominate them for our $5,000 Honored National Teaching Award!
