Over the next several months, I will share strategies that we have used with our staff, students, and community to enhance our school culture. This month, I will share another set of activities we implemented with our staff. My hope is that something I share will spark an idea that you can apply within your own school/district.
- Skype Session with Jon Gordon
- We were able to host a Skype session with Jon Gordon, best-selling author of The Energy Bus. Gordon shared the power of positivity and gave the staff an opportunity to ask questions. The high school and central office staff also joined us for this Skype session.
- Thank You Emails from Central Office
- Each month, I send our superintendent and assistant superintendent the names of four to five staff members. I share information about these individuals and some amazing things they have accomplished. The superintendent and assistant superintendent will then send these individuals a special “thank you” email. This year, we have expanded this practice by each principal weekly sending the superintendent a staff member’s name. The superintendent then sends the teacher an email thanking them for all they do for our students. The responses from these emails are priceless. Some staff members have made the comment, “I have never received a personal email from any superintendent.”
- Team Building Activities
- During Work Days or Professional Development days, my assistant principal and I create team building opportunities for our staff. These are opportunities to have fun together, get to know each other even better, and grow as a team. “South Middle Survivor” is one activity where teams compete against each other in competitions similar to the television show. We have also participated in scavenger hunts and the “Traffic Jam” activity. We sometimes have staff cookouts. Teachers love the opportunity to fellowship with each other, especially when we can eat too. During one cookout, we had a “Chili Cook-off.” Staff judges selected the best overall chili and rewarded the staff member with a shirt.
- “Shout Out” Board
- We have a “Shout Out” board in our front lobby. This board is an opportunity for staff, students, parents, and community members to leave positive notes for our staff. Our “Shout Out” board has received positive comments for the custodians, bus drivers, cafeteria staff, teachers, and administration. During the summer, I write a personal card to each staff member, and inside the envelope I include the “shout outs” they have received throughout the school year.
- “Caught Doing Good” Notes
- I carry Post-it notes with “You’ve been caught DOING GOOD” stamped on them. As I witness staff going the extra mile for our students and school, I leave a note on their desk. These are delivered either when I am conducting walkthroughs or at random when special moments occur. I try not to pass these out for just anything, but for those special, significant moments. I have found these posted in teacher’s classrooms as keepsakes. In the past, I have used the book Significance in Simple Moments by Jon Petz to place on a teacher’s desk with a note as well. This book is powerful. In the back of the book is a 7 of Hearts card. It requires the reader to pass the card along to someone who has made a positive impact in their life.
Next month, I will share even more activities that we have used with staff to improve our school culture. Beginning in January, I will begin to share activities we have implemented with the students.