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December 17, 2025
From immigration town halls to viral memes, 2025 was a year of showing up—for each other, for students and for moments of joy amid the chaos. Here's how the Share My Lesson community defined the year.
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Writing this end-of-year blog is one of my favorite rituals each December. It's a chance to pause, crunch some numbers, and reflect on what resonated most with our incredible Share My Lesson community. Every year tells a different story, and 2025 is no exception.
But before we dive in, I need to address the elephant in the room. Or rather, the two numbers in the room.
6 ... 7!
[wild hand gestures, laughter, chaos, repeat]
The 6-7 meme took over classrooms, hallways, my house, and my webinars.
In October, I did what any reasonable educator-parent would do: I leaned in. I wrote a blog called "67 Things You Can Do About the 6-7 Meme (Instead of Losing Your Mind)" and created cross-curricular lesson plans to turn the chaos into classroom gold. I even built an artificial intelligence chatbot called 6-7 Sensei (because of course I did).
And you all showed up for it. The 6-7 blog became the most-viewed piece I've ever written—with over 31,000 views. The YouTube short where my daughter crashed my webinar with her 6-7 hands hit an SML record 78,000 views.
But here's the thing: The 6-7 phenomenon in 2025 wasn't just about a meme. It was about connection. It was students finding joy in absurdity, laughing together, bonding over something that made absolutely no sense. And in a year filled with heavy headlines, that mattered.
As I dug into the data this year, a clear narrative emerged. 2025 was a year when educators needed support and found it. When communities came together in solidarity. And when moments of levity reminded us to breathe.
This year, Share My Lesson earned recognition across multiple programs:
Over the past decade, educators have spent more than 6 million minutes learning through Share My Lesson webinars and have earned tens of thousands of free PD certificates. In the last two years alone, we've distributed more than 31,000 certificates. That's real investment in professional growth, and it doesn't cost educators a dime.
These awards are a testament to what we've built together: a community that shows up, supports each other, and isn't afraid to have a little fun along the way.
Each year, the most-used Share My Lesson resources highlight what educators value most. Here's what defined 2025:
Immigration was on everyone's mind this year. Re-Imagining Migration's "Supporting Immigrant Students in Uncertain Times" was our No. 2 partner resource, and Close Up's deliberation on immigration policy made the top 10.
You were looking for ways to protect and support the students who needed it most—and to do it with care, equity and community trust.
Our new Mandated Support collection, focused on child safety and school staff guidance, landed at No. 3 in the collections rankings. It reflects an important shift happening in schools: moving from traditional mandated reporting toward a mandated support approach that emphasizes early intervention, trusted relationships, trauma-aware practice, and wraparound services for families. You were looking for ways to protect and support the students who needed it most—and to do it with care, equity and community trust.
In the news category, "How Tariffs Impact the Economy" topped the list, followed closely by "Why Doesn't the United States Have a King?" (Yes, really). Resources on government types, the Reconstruction era, and balancing free speech with national security all resonated. The civics collection for elementary students made our top 10 because democracy education starts early.
Educator wellness remained a priority. Our "Eight Dimensions of Educator Wellness" webinar drew large crowds. The W.O.O.P. Well-Being session helped educators reflect on obstacles and dreams. And our Vital Lessons with Dr. Vin Gupta town halls on mental health, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism and public health became essential viewing, with webinar series earning a W³ Award recognition in the process.
The AI Educator Brain series continued to grow. Our keynote webinar on teacher-led AI approaches was our No. 1 webinar of the year. The special education AI session drew strong interest. And yes, I used AI to help write 67 strategies for dealing with the 6-7 meme—85 percent of our webinar audience thought that was "cool," not "creepy."
This year also brought the AI Educator News Update, our SNL Weekend Update-style roundup of the wildest AI headlines. From Google telling users to eat rocks to ChatGPT turning 3 (developmentally right on track for a toddler: vast vocabulary, can explain quantum physics, absolutely melts down if you ask it to format a table), Sari Beth Rosenberg and I bring you real news, slightly exaggerated, always AI Educator approved.
Inside Share My Lesson, we introduced EdBrAIn, our new AI-powered tool built right into Share My Lesson. It helps you customize any resource by changing the grade level, translating it into another language, or reformatting it into a quiz, rubric, worksheet, and more. It's still in beta, which means we're building it with you—and your feedback is shaping what comes next.
And for AFT members, we launched the National Academy for AI Instruction, a partnership with Microsoft, Anthropic and OpenAI, offering immersive, teacher-led professional learning on AI, both online and in person. It's AI training built by educators, for educators.
Storyline Online's "So Much Slime" (read by June Squibb) was our No.1 partner resource. Mary Pope Osborne joined us for a keynote on storytelling and the magic of books. The AFT Book Club conversations with Ali Velshi, Jonathan Haidt and Diane Ravitch drew thousands. Jason Reynolds reminded us that stories have the power to heal. And StoryCorps' Great Thanksgiving Listen helped students capture the stories closest to home.
And speaking of stories that matter: AFT President Randi Weingarten's Why Fascists Fear Teachers: Public Education and the Future of Democracy became essential reading this year, and her AFT Book Club was the No. 2 webinar of the year. Her book is a powerful reminder that public education and democracy have always been intertwined, and that teachers are on the frontlines of protecting both. If you haven't read it yet, add it to your holiday break reading list.
Educators didn't shy away from hard conversations. "Misogyny and Male Supremacy: It's Not Just a Joke" was a top partner resource and blog topic. Resources on political violence, climate education, and LGBTQIA+ labor history all resonated. The message was clear: Give us the tools to have meaningful conversations with students about the world they're living in.
We launched two new initiatives this year that deserve a shoutout. Our “American History: Teaching Missing Narratives” collection brings together resources on Indigenous leaders, LGBTQIA+ activists, immigrant communities, and other voices too often left out of the classroom, especially timely as institutions like the Smithsonian scale back exhibits on race, gender and political conflict.
And we're building out a major Financial Literacy initiative in partnership with AFT's affordability work, including videos on navigating medical debt, understanding credit reports, and Public Service Loan Forgiveness wins from real educators. Because financial literacy isn't just for students; it's for all of us. More coming in 2026.
One of the things I'm most proud of this year is how quickly our team mobilized when educators needed support. When it mattered most, AFT Responds content became a lifeline:
When democracy felt fragile, thousands came together to defend public schools and democratic values during No Kings Day, making it our number one webinar of the year. When immigration enforcement escalated, educators turned to our Urgent Town Hall on protecting kids, which ranked second, offering timely guidance during a moment of real fear and uncertainty. And when measles outbreaks raised urgent public health questions and national-level guidance was lacking, the AFT launched a new series, Vital Lessons with Dr. Vin Gupta, which became our third most-attended AFT Responds town hall, delivering clear, trusted information when educators needed it most.
These moments show what AFT Responds does best: showing up when it matters most.
If 2025 was about showing up, 2026 is about building on that momentum. Here's what's coming:
In addition to our free PD webinars, we're launching Share My Lesson courses—microlearnings and longer courses in asynchronous, blended and synchronous formats. Some will be available to everyone, and some will be exclusive to AFT members.
More webinars, more tools and continued development of EdBrAIn—our beta AI feature that helps you adapt any Share My Lesson resource for your classroom. Plus, more AI Educator News Update segments bringing you the wildest AI headlines with our usual teacher-approved humor. Teachers are the OG prompt engineers, and we're building this with you.
We're expanding content that helps educators and families by building essential knowledge for the classroom and beyond. More is to come!
Our W³ Award-winning health series will keep bringing you the information you need, when you need it, and from a trusted source.
With the 250th anniversary of American independence on the horizon, we're doubling down on civics education. Expect a real focus on democracy, citizenship and helping students understand their role in shaping the future.
Whether you're navigating breaking news, looking for resources for civic holidays, or trying to turn the next viral meme into a lesson plan—we'll be here, ready to respond and ready to support you.
Thank you for being part of this incredible community. Thank you for showing up for your students, for each other, and for those moments of joy that keep us going.
From all of us at the AFT's Share My Lesson, we wish you a restful and well-deserved break. Here's to another year of support, solidarity, and maybe just a little bit of 6-7 energy.
Inhale for six.
Exhale for seven.
Let's make 2026 unforgettable.
The 2025 Best of Share My Lesson collection features standout lessons, tools, and insights from our educator community, highlighting member, partner, and AFT-created content.
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