Teacher Appreciation

So it has been a month since I started my new job outside of the classroom. It has been challenging and amazing all at the same time but I learned an important lesson from a past teacher VERY quickly and it has made a world of difference.

For those of you who don't know me, I am a perfectionist but I have also had issues with my own confidence. Basically it means that I do better when people are telling me that I'm doing a good job. I'm not sure everyone operates that way but I do know that it doesn't hurt so I have been working hard to appreciate the teachers at my center as much as possible. My goal is to do three things once a month- 1. a treat for the staff such as doughnuts, cake, or other yumminess. 2. Post a star post-it on their door with something I appreciate them doing during the month. and 3. Give them a small gift with a note to show my appreciation.

In July I got muffins and fruit one morning and put them in the staff room. I rushed through the star stickies because I barely learned the idea. Then I made notes that said, "Thanks for being a TEA-riffic teacher!" and had Crystal Light tea attached.

In August, I had a training called The Foundations of Supervision which further enforced these as good ways to motivate the teachers. So far, I have gotten doughnuts and candy. I put together little bags that say, "You were "MINT" to be a teacher." with both Lifesaver mints and Andes mints inside. I plan to hand those out the last Monday of the month which I have named Motivational Monday. Lastly I need to work on very specific stickies this month to make up for the slacker ones in July...

I have also started my treat for September already because it is time consuming. Each teacher is getting a magnet which I will display on a cookie sheet that says, "Get "Stuck" on Teaching!"

I hope that all administrators or lead teachers can use these types of tools to motivate their teams to be the best teachers we can be! Most of the things I use were dollar store purchases- baggies, ribbons, fun paper, candy, the clear stones on the magnets. I did get the tea at Target and ordered the magnet itself and the adhesive for the magnets on Amazon. Post-Its are a great way to motivate and most schools stock them anyway! I'll post more crafty ways to appreciate teachers as the months go on!