Teacher appreciation shouldn't be reserved for just one week a year

View image | gettyimages.com

View image | gettyimages.com

Each year we do our very best to show our appreciation to teachers during the official time for doing so, Teacher Appreciation Week. This official time of recognition is celebrated the first full week in May. This year the dates are May 4-8. But my thought to ponder is why should we wait until the first week of May to show teachers how much they are appreciated?

We actually try to build staff morale and celebrate our teachers throughout the school year. However, I realize we can always do better. Any success experienced by a school administrator is owed directly to the staff and students in the school. And nothing can harm motivation like feeling unappreciated. In fact, I've read numerous lists and surveys that show not feeling appreciated is a bigger concern for employees than tangible rewards like salary (although these can go hand in hand).

This past week our conference principals met here in Bolivar for one of our regular meetings to collaborate and conduct the business of the conference (Central Ozarks). As part of the agenda, the COC president, Chip Arnette from Branson HS, asked each principal to share a couple of ideas for showing appreciation to staff and raising morale. This time of collaboration proved invaluable for challenging and inspiring me as I consider ways to show appreciation in ongoing ways.


Todd Whitaker writes that one of the most important jobs of a principal is to make sure that teachers are more excited about teaching tomorrow than they are today. Clearly, a positive school climate with happy, motivated teachers is going to result in a much better experience for students. I'm sure there are studies that would support this idea. It is practically self-evident.

So what are a few of the ideas shared in our meeting?
1. Everyone agreed our teachers love 'jeans days,' especially when it is a surprise.
2. Handwritten notes of appreciation are powerful, from the principal, students, or other teachers. One of our counselors led a school-wide activity during the holiday season that asked students to write notes of appreciation to staff members (teachers and support staff) on paper Christmas ornaments. The ornaments were then collected and given to the individuals before leaving for break.

3. Play games with staff to keep things light and have fun together. A healthy school takes time to play, laugh, and  have fun.

4. Several ideas involved food. Teachers enjoy eating and socializing. It's been said "be sure to feed the teachers so they won't eat the students!" Cook breakfast, order in snacks, have a barbeque. One school shared they have a barbeque once a quarter. In the past, our school had Payday Breakfasts. Every payday we would eat together to celebrate. Even though the Payday Breakfasts were great, over time, they became so routine that they have gone away for a while. Sometimes even good ideas need a break.

5. Staff member of the month. Showcase your staff, their background, and interests. Share this on the school website so your community can know your teachers and support staff better.

6. Have events off-site. Several schools reported having Christmas parties, but there are lots of ways to do an off-site event that will be enjoyed by all.

7. Several schools reported having social committees who help to plan events, celebrate birthdays, and find ways to make teachers feel appreciated.

8. Praise staff members publicly and/or privately. A word of encouragement makes one feel noticed and one's efforts appreciated. We discussed briefly if praise was better in public or private. I've come to prefer private praise or public praise that is anonymous. The teacher knows he or she is the one being complimented. But some teachers might be embarrassed by public praise.

So these are just a few of the ideas that were discussed. There were many more. I was very proud to see a group of administrators coming together to share ways to help teachers feel more excited about the profession and making a difference for students.

But the most important take-away for me is the reminder that we should always be looking for ways to provide a better experience for our teachers. When teachers feel appreciated, so many things will fall into place. So I would encourage you to celebrate teachers and all staff in your building throughout the school year and not just in the 'official' appreciation weeks!

Help students with challenging behaviors without 'fixing'

I am often tempted to want to fix a situation, or worse yet an individual, when I am suffering the consequences of reckless behaviors, irresponsible actions, or disrespectful attitudes. As educators we work with many students each day and want them all to be successful. Moreover, we need them to be successful. We cannot succeed in our teaching mission if our students are not cooperative learners.

But too often students are dealing with issues in their lives that complicate their efforts to learn. It's been said, hurt people hurt people. So as students enter the classroom, so do all of the imperfections we share as humans. Students aren't always going to be kind, cooperative, and focused. Sometimes they will act in ways that completely contradict what the teacher needs for a successful classroom.

As a young teacher, all too often I would become terribly frustrated by negative student behaviors and fail to see the unmet needs, buried under the surface, that were triggering the harmful actions. I would focus my attention on addressing the undesirable behavior with 'increasing consequences' and protect at all costs my 'authority' in the classroom. The result of course was torn relationships and even greater feelings of hurt and rejection on the part of both teacher and student. Not good!

So it's never productive to try to 'fix' our student's behavior. It is our job to address non-learning behaviors by simply stating our observation of the behavior and how it is impacting the classroom. Sometimes, we must take further actions to protect the learning climate. But when we create a classroom of acceptance and caring, students are more likely to feel safe enough to actually address their own issues. This ownership is actually the only way to achieve lasting change.

Here are a few ideas for being a helper and not a fixer:
1. Care more about who your students are becoming than how they are acting in the moment.
2. Know when to put aside a conversation and pick it up later.
3. Believe the best of your students (most people are doing the best they know how).
4. Teach positive behaviors.
5. Approach a difficult conversation side-by-side and not from behind a desk or nose-to-nose.
6. Listen to your students.
7. Don't try to prove you're in charge. You have a teaching contract that establishes that.
8. Worry more about acting with character than losing face in front of your students.

9 ideas for teacher growth that are more effective than performance ratings

Teacher evaluation has been a reform topic of late as policies at the state and national levels further require schools to rate teachers and even include student achievement data in evaluations. These efforts seem to be the result of the perception that there are many poor teachers who are allowed to continue in the profession with no recourse. I think this perception is greatly exaggerated, although like in any profession, there are certainly individuals who are under-performing.

As a principal, it is part of my job to evaluate teachers. And, in alignment with state requirements for this process, part of my job is to rate teachers against “research-based, proven performance targets.” Our district created a system to align to the state requirements, and I am doing my best to implement it in a way that can be as effective as possible. When it comes time to actually ‘rate’ a teacher, I explain that while the rating process is imperfect, it is an opportunity for reflection and only represents my perspective in collaboration with the teacher being evaluated.

But when I consider all of the strategies that are available for teacher growth, performance ratings are not at the top of my list. I believe there are so many other ways teachers can learn and grow. Most importantly, teachers with greater ownership of their own professional learning will seek the kind of feedback that leads to growth. In this type of environment, teachers would be empowered and inspired to achieve, and even expand, their own potential.

1. Collaboration- Teachers meet with other teachers, especially ones who teach the same curriculum to discuss student learning, plan for instruction, and review student work.

2. Classroom visits- Since becoming a principal, the opportunity to frequently visit classrooms and observe great teachers doing their work has been perhaps the most powerful learning experience I've had as an educator. We need to do more to give teachers the opportunities to visit other teacher’s classrooms.

3. Student feedback surveys- These surveys would be used to inform the teacher’s own practice and not for evaluation. Great teachers have the ability to see the classroom through students’ eyes. Surveys can be another way to inform teachers about what students’ are experiencing. This example survey is just one possibility. Ideas for surveys can be readily found online.

4. Video- Every high school football game (and other sports for that matter) is videotaped and examined for every possible opportunity to improve. And yet it is rare that teachers use video to reflect on their own teaching. I would challenge teachers to occasionally record a lesson.

5. Goal setting- When teachers set their own goals it has far greater power to impact learning than goals that are set at the building or district level.

6. Reading- We can stay current and evaluate new ideas in the profession by reading books, articles, blogs, etc.

7. Develop your PLN- Establishing a PLN (personal learning network) allows every educator to have a team of educators from whom to learn and grow. My PLN rocks and has been a source of excellent professional learning.

8. Peer Coaching- We are blessed to have instructional coaches in our building who provide feedback to teachers, facilitating the efforts of other teachers as they move towards a goal. Consulting and mentoring can also be helpful.

9. Teacher-led professional development- Instead of bringing an outside consultant to lead professional development, this method has teachers develop learning experiences for their colleagues. When possible, it’s best to offer teachers choices for the sessions most relevant to their goals.