WIN: Bulletin Boards in the Staff Lounge! There are two main bulletin boards that I like to do in the staff lounge that I have found to be successful. One is a stress relief board that I purchased from Teachers Pay Teachers. It was created by Traci R Brown and I have really enjoyed it. The staff liked it too and I had some positive feedback from them. The other that I do is towards the end-of-the-year and there is a quote that says "We Came as Strangers, We Leave as Friends" (my current school has a transient teacher population, however you could change up the quote). I then post a collage of pictures of the staff throughout the year, especially from major school events. I do my best to get as many of the teachers represented as I can. Afterwards, I give the teachers the copy of the picture that was posted. There were quite a few teachers that became emotional when seeing it and overwhelmingly there was a positive response. In my opinion, I feel that both displays can brighten up someone's day!
WIN: "You Have Been Mugged!" initiative. I found this morale boosting activity through Pinterest! The premise is that you take a mug, fill it with small treats and then secretively post it on someone's desk. Their job is to then refill the mug (or buy a new one) and then keep it going by giving it to someone else! This is the first year I have tried it, and it has been a big hit! **It should be noted that there were 3 separate mugs were circulating at one time**
WIN: Random Acts of Kindness Week. Random Acts of Kindness week is a big initiative at our school. We host it in the middle of February, right after our TET holiday. The kids get into it, the teachers get into it, and it is a lot fun! Search under the RAK label on my blog to find out more!
WIN: "From Your School Counselor..." note of the week. I have some stationary in my room that says "From Your School Counselor" at the top. Each week, I try to take the time to write a note to a teacher or staff member who I was thinking about or wanted to recognize. It takes 2 minutes to write a short note and then I leave it on their desk with a piece of candy. It is short, sweet, and to the point.
WIN: "Mint to Teach" initiative. At the beginning of the year, I gave out Mint Tea satchets with a label that said, "You are Mint to Teach at AIS!". The teachers seem to like the idea and the satchets were very cheap.
WIN: Keeping candy in your office! Simply put, I keep two jars of candy in my room. One that is fruit-flavored/mint candies and one that is chocolate.Teachers find out quickly that I keep a stash in my room and every time they drop-in I offer them some. A little sweetness can go a long way!
WIN: Hosting Make-and-Take Mini-workshops. This is something I started new this year and it has been a big success! Once a quarter, I host a mini-workshop (about 30 minutes) and include some free resources for teachers and try to have a hands-on activity as well with it. For example, at the beginning of the year I hosted a "Creating a Cool Down Corner in Your Classroom" make-and-take. The teachers got to make stress balls and were able to take some FREE calm down posters to hang in their classroom/cool down corner.
WIN: Keeping candy in your office! Simply put, I keep two jars of candy in my room. One that is fruit-flavored/mint candies and one that is chocolate.Teachers find out quickly that I keep a stash in my room and every time they drop-in I offer them some. A little sweetness can go a long way!
WIN: Hosting Make-and-Take Mini-workshops. This is something I started new this year and it has been a big success! Once a quarter, I host a mini-workshop (about 30 minutes) and include some free resources for teachers and try to have a hands-on activity as well with it. For example, at the beginning of the year I hosted a "Creating a Cool Down Corner in Your Classroom" make-and-take. The teachers got to make stress balls and were able to take some FREE calm down posters to hang in their classroom/cool down corner.
FAIL: "You Have Been Socked!"initiative. Last year, before doing the "You have been Mugged!" activity, a teacher approached me suggesting the "You Have Been Socked" activity. The activity is very similar, except you use a Christmas stocking instead. I was concerned about the Christmas theme at first, and didn't really trust my gut. It flopped for a few reasons...1) We only had two stockings 2) Stockings are a lot harder to fill 3) The Stockings became a little gross (things spilling, messy desks, etc) and 4) Some wished that it was not Christmas-related.
FAIL: All Teacher Breakfasts. I have tried to do this, but I found it to be much more challenging than I thought. 1) It can be expensive, especially if you don't have the funding for it 2) It can be difficult to set up if you are doing it alone. It was pretty tricky for me and I found it to be the most expensive (as I was self-funding), However, I WOULD LOVE to try it again and see if it can work better! Have you tried this before? How did it go?
FAIL: Wow Book! I love the idea of Wow Books. I think there are ways that it can be done very successfully...however my attempt was not successful. I used a notebook and decorated the cover with stickers and titled it "Wow Book!". It made it through about 3 people to my knowledge before it was forever lost in a sea of school supplies and notebooks. I am not sure where it ended up but it will probably be found at the end of the year when teachers are packing up their rooms! Hahah!
Teachers Pay Teacher Recommendations for Staff Morale Boosters
