It’s Teacher Appreciation Week and we want to take time to say thank you to educators.

Are you a teacher looking for new ways to grow professionally and engage your students? If you’d like to connect with a global educator community, learn new ways to innovate with tech tools, and share best practices, we’d love to have you join the Microsoft Innovative Educator (MIE) Expert program.

Microsoft supports a thriving community of educators who are working together to change students’ lives and build a better world. The Microsoft Innovative Educator (MIE) Expert program was created to help you learn, grow, and connect.

We’re looking for self-driven educators who are passionate about teaching and learning, who inspire students with creative thinking, and who enjoy working collaboratively. MIE Experts get access to free professional and career development opportunities and certification programs. They share their learning by playing leading roles in regional training sessions, giving presentations at conferences, writing blogs, engaging in social channels, and more. Resourceful and entrepreneurial, they relish the role of change agent and work to achieve excellence in education using Microsoft technologies and innovative teaching practices.

If you want to join this diverse and exciting community, please follow these four easy steps to nominate yourself.

Step 1:

Be sure that you have joined the Microsoft Educator Center and completed your profile. You will need to download your transcript, link it to a shareable location, then share that link with us as part of the nomination process. You can find your transcript by going into your profile on MEC.

Step 2:

Ensure that you have successfully passed two hours of courses on the Microsoft Educator Center and earned your Certified MIE badge. You must be a Certified MIE to become (or stay) a MIE Expert.

Step 3:

Create a two-minute video or Sway  that answers the following four questions in a manner that creatively expresses what makes you a Microsoft Innovative Educator Expert.

  1. Why do you consider yourself to be a Microsoft Innovative Educator Expert?

  2. Describe how you have incorporated Microsoft technologies in innovative ways into your classroom or your work with teachers. Include artifacts that demonstrate your innovation. Your examples should show that you have cultivated a strong modern teaching and learning environment.

  3. How have you positively impacted the learning and growth of your colleagues? Have you reached beyond your classroom to coach/support other teachers in their growth? Please share examples.

  4. If you become a MIE Expert, how do you hope it will impact your current role in the next 12 months?


Include a public URL of your video or Sway with your nomination materials.

Once you have completed the steps outlined above, you’ll be ready to fill out this self-nomination form. Your nomination must be submitted by July 15, 2020. The announcement of the 2020-2021 cohort of MIE Experts will be made during the last week of August 2020.

We look forward to welcoming you into the growing MIE Expert community and celebrating innovation in teaching and learning together.

Join us in honoring amazing educators all over the world by using these templates to highlight a teacher that inspires you.