December is the perfect time of the year to let your students and staff know that you appreciate them. It is also the best time to spread holiday cheer
As an administrator, you know that teaching and working in a school is more difficult now than ever. Staff morale plays a huge role in a healthy, thriving school. What's an administrator to do? Focus on those staff meetings! Engaging and lively staff meetings are one of the best ways to focus on boosting staff morale. If you're an administrator looking for ways to make your meetings more fun, I've got tons of great resources for you. Today we're talking all about how to help your teachers and staff actually look forward to faculty meetings, rather than dread them. Let's dive into some fresh ideas to boost staff morale and help your entire staff feel appreciated! Everyone from the office staff to classroom teachers, and counselors to custodial staff will all benefit from the activities and ideas. First Up, Get to Know Your Team Every school is different. As an administrator, creating a positive and engaged working environment is a big part of the job. It's important to tune into what makes our team unique, and how you can best support them. To do that, you must get to know them. What's your teacher demographic? Mostly newbies, veteran teachers, or a mix of both? What are their pain points in the classroom? This likely varies by grade. Don't assume - ask them. This will show that you are interested in helping. How are teachers and other staff members being treated by parents? Do they feel supported? Why or why not? What are their personality types? Do they know YOU? The key is to make sure you're well-educated on your faculty, gain their trust, and ensure they feel supported! Not sure how to do that? No problem, these 6 activities will help you learn more about your staff and help them feel supported all year long. 1. Staff Meeting Icebreakers The beginning of the year is hectic for everyone in the school system. This time of year marks when new teachers might be entering your school and this is an important time to make sure they feel welcomed and supported in their teaching journey. This can be a "make or break" moment. After all, if a new teacher or staff member doesn't feel welcomed into their new community it can be hard to persevere through the struggles of that first year! With all of this in mind, we also know that staff meetings are packed with TONS of things to cover. You're short on time, and while you want to ensure everyone is acquainted, you've also got a fair bit of ground to cover too! This is where simple Staff Meeting Icebreakers will save the day. These fun get-to-know-you sheets aim to have staff get another person's signature on each square. The squares list things like: Pinterest-worthy classroom taught 20+ years literacy guru long commute to work The idea behind these fun icebreaker sheets is that your staff will be presented with an opportunity to learn a bit more about their peers during meetings. They will discover commonalities, get to laugh and converse about some of the funny topics, and make newbies feel welcome! There are 4 different options, so you can use a variety of these sheets for a large group of staff, or repeat this activity once a quarter. This quick and easy icebreaker is always a hit, and easy to implement. Plus, it's a wonderful way for YOU to learn more about your staff too! 2. Staff Morale BINGO Next up, who doesn't love BINGO? This simple game is a fun option that can be used all year long to keep your staff meetings feeling a bit more lively. The object of these Staff Morale BINGO cards is to mark as many boxes off with an X (or a digital sticker on a PDF) during the meeting. Since these can be printed or sent out digitally via email, they're great for Zoom meetings too! The boxes are filled with fun topics like: I enjoyed my favorite beverage during the meeting. I received a compliment from our principal. I sat with my teaching BFF. I brought a shareable treat to the meeting. These simple boxes are easy to follow along with during the meeting and add a touch of fun to what might feel like an ordinary (and sometimes monotonous) monthly task. The boards also feature seasonal decor on the game boards as well because we all know how much teachers love a good theme, right? After the meeting, staff members can turn in their game boards and be rewarded with some kind of prize. That piece is up to you, it doesn't need to be fancy! Just a small token of appreciation is often all it takes to boost staff morale and encourage your teachers. 3. Four Corners Staff Meeting Game Next up, let's talk about Four Corners - Staff Morale Edition. Four Corners is such a great way to infuse a little bit of fun in your monthly staff meetings without taking up a lot of time. There are 20 different questions included along with 4 corner signs to hang in the room. This game helps get your staff up and moving, mingling, and getting to know each other a bit better. To play, read or hold up a question and answer choice. Next, staff will mix and mingle while moving to the corresponding corner to answer the question correctly. The format of this game makes it easy to customize based on the amount of time you have to spare. If you have limited time, choose just a couple of question cards. If you have more time, use more. This is a great starter activity for your staff meeting to get everyone started off on the right foot and set the tone for a fun meeting! It's also great as a mid-way movement break. Students aren't the only ones that need brain breaks! 4. Staff Morale Photo Hunt This next activity is really fun, and a bit unexpected from what you tend to see at your typical staff meeting. To play this Staff Morale Photo Hunt game, participants will search their phones for specific scavenger hunt items from a list. There are 3 categories for this game - school life, my work family, and work-life balance. Some of the fun things to hunt for include: an organization hack (teacher life) a student beaming with pride (my work family) a self-care photo (work-life balance) plus MANY more There are a total of 45 questions across 3 categories and recording sheets for teachers to write down their answers. This is another game that can be modified to meet the time allotment that you have. Simply decide prior how many questions you'll ask, and how much time you'll allow teachers to search. After the game is finished, have staff members turn them in and award a prize to the winners. The prize can be inexpensive (or free) too - "Jeans Day" is always a hit! 5. Gratitude Roses for Staff Morale Focusing on gratitude and appreciation for others is so helpful in boosting staff morale. The idea for these Gratitude Roses came from some of my previous administrators who had a real knack for keeping the staff feeling appreciated and motivated. My past two principals began each staff meeting armed with a vase full of fresh-cut roses. During our meeting, anyone in the building could thank a colleague for something that they did well or in recognition for something kind. For example, if another staff member walked your kids in from recess, handled emergency sub plans, covered your class, or helped unjam the copy machine, you could thank them with a rose. The idea is the same here, except these roses come in the form of notes! Simply pass these out, or make them available for your staff to grab at the beginning of the meeting. They fill out the page with a note of gratitude and pass it along to the deserving staff member. These can be used all year long during staff meetings, or placed in a central location to grab at any time. Encouraging kindness and gratitude is always a great practice for boosting staff morale! 6. Appreciation Spinners for Staff Meetings One of my favorite ways to ensure that staff feels appreciated is through small tokens of kindness. As a special way to thank your staff for their dedication and hard work, try these Staff Morale Prize Spinners at your next meeting. These spinners use fun, seasonal themes, so you can choose a different one for each monthly meeting. Teachers will spin and receive the prize they landed on. Many of the prices are free or very inexpensive which makes this feasible to facilitate. Some of the fun prizes included on the spinners are: jeans/comfy clothes day prime parking having pencils sharpened weekly having a bulletin board changed out having duty covered a candy stash a pack of favorite pens When I created this resource, I surveyed teachers to see what they would value most as a prize and many of them said to get more of their time back. You'll notice that many of the prizes on these spinners do just that! These are great to use as a final activity to close out your staff meeting. Keeping Staff Morale Up All Year Long Overall, the key to maintaining healthy staff morale is to form meaningful relationships with your team! Taking the time to implement icebreakers, games, and activities focused on building trust, be intentional about showing appreciation, and making room for socializing makes a world of difference. You want to make sure your staff feels heard, valued, and supported. After all, working in education is NOT for the faint of heart in this day and age! My best advice for making sure your staff morale stays high is to keep those meetings fun, and lively month after month. We all have a lot going on, but putting some time into this helps ensure a happy team of teachers. If you want to boost morale all year long, be sure to check out the Staff Morale Activity Bundle. Included, you'll find all 6 of the fun activities and games mentioned in this post so you can keep the fun rolling in at your staff meetings all year long! With the bundle, you'll be able to... get meetings started off on the right foot every time turn boring meetings into engaging opportunities for community building encourage teamwork and random acts of kindness among your staff recognize staff for a job well done help staff members get to know each other (and you) better gain teacher trust show your appreciation There's really no downside to organizing lively and engaging staff meetings, so make sure to check out the Staff Morale Bundle if you need some no-brainer ways to boost morale among your crew! Save This Post Don't forget to pin this post on Pinterest to keep these staff meeting ideas handy!
If you live anywhere in 62040 and need a library card, apply online at card.smrld.org The Library offers Streaming Movies, Music, ebooks, emagazines, and downloadable eaudiobooks from the following…
Happy teachers mean happy students. Here is a list of ways to build morale, support teacher wellbeing and have fun as a teaching team at school.
Teaching is hard. Building classroom community doesn't have to be. Teaching is December is CRAZY. Activities ready to go for you with less stress - I ...
I'm a member of my school's "social committee" (I think lots of other schools call this "sunshine"). We plan and organize activities through...
There is so much opportunity for seasonal winter morning meeting fun!
Winter is a great time to recognize staff members at your school. This time of year can feel a little drab and gloomy. Help brighten things up with fun and unexpected staff morale boosters! Whether you're looking for staff morale activities that are non-holiday related or need some cozy staff appreciation ideas for January, I've gotcha covered! Let's dive into 6 fun ideas you can use this winter! The Importance of Staff Appreciation Teachers, school administrators, and staff members are a special kind of people. The members of this group usually have big hearts, a giver's mentality, and a deep dedication to showing up for our kids. These people are changing the future and deserve to be recognized for that! While there are specific days of the year geared towards teacher and staff appreciation, I'd argue that this is something we should practice all year long for strong school morale! Aside from being appreciative to staff, there are even more benefits to boosting morale. We all know that happy staff members are more likely to create a productive work environment for our students. This can help sustain the overall health and social climate of your school, even in these changing times. Winter is an especially good time to lean into fun staff appreciation ideas. After the holidays have come and gone, things can feel a little dreary, and staff need a little sunshine in their days! These winter-themed staff appreciation ideas are just the thing to make teachers and staff smile and show them how much they are valued for their daily efforts! 1. January Scratch-Off Tickets Do staff meetings feel a little lackluster in your building lately? If so, I have just the thing to perk up your team! These January Scratch-Off Tickets are aimed at building excitement for meetings while awarding staff for their daily hard work. Talk about a win-win! This resource uses a fun winter theme on each ticket and allows staff members to uncover a prize. Give these out at your staff meeting and watch the smiles spread across the room! Some of the prizes include: prime parking spots recess coverage prepped copies jeans day and more! These are low-cost, easy-to-make staff appreciation tokens with gifts that faculty will actually want to receive. Use them as prizes during your meeting or hand them out to all attendees. The resource includes two options for printing including information on pre-made scratch-off paper as well as a DIY version so you can choose what works best for your school. 2. Winter Staff Appreciation Board What better way to recognize staff than to "shout out" a job well done? This winter staff appreciation bulletin board is a great way to spruce up your staff lounge after all of the holiday decorations have been taken down! This resource includes headings, decorative accents, and staff recognition tags to make this project simple and easy to put together. Simply add some wintry-themed paper and border to your board, add accents and headings, and then fill out the cards with personalized recognition for staff members. You can have staff recognize each other for a job well done, or principals and administrators can write encouraging notes for each person in the building. Then, all you have to do is put them on display for everyone to see and enjoy. Either way is a great option to show staff that their good deeds are valuable and appreciated! 3. Staff Snowflake Hunt Ready for something a little different this winter? You'll love this next staff appreciation idea! This morale-boosting activity involves a guessing game to find snowflake erasers or table scatter that have been distributed to staff members. The idea behind the game is to determine who has a snowflake and acquire one for yourself before it's over! Staff will try and guess who has a snowflake and "steal" it away. The game is played throughout a previously determined day and when the time is up, prizes are distributed. You can even play more than once if you'd like by choosing different types of prizes for each day. One day you might have school supply-themed prizes, the next could be candy and food, and the third could be acts of service. The sky is the limit on this one and it just adds a bit of fun to an otherwise ordinary day. Staff will love shaking things up with this game this winter! 4. Winter Shout-Out Decorations Are you looking for a fun and simple way to decorate staff lounges and prep areas this winter? You'll love these Staff Shout-Out Decorations that are aimed at showing appreciation for your team! Use these printable signs to decorate bathroom mirrors, bulletin boards, the staff lounge, and more. Each sign has a fun and motivational winter saying that will make staff smile and add a bit of seasonal flair to your building. These would also be fun to print in bulk and leave in the staff lounge with a supply of pens. Staff members can jot down notes to each other on the back and leave them in mailboxes or post them on classroom doors throughout the month to show appreciation for each other. Recognizing things like patience, kindness, tidy classrooms, and prompt arrival goes a long way in making staff feel valued and part of a great team! 5. Soup Luncheon Potluck This next option is my absolute favorite winter potluck idea! Have you ever hosted a soup luncheon? The idea behind this is that everyone signs up for and brings different soups to school to share. This one takes a bit of planning, but it's well worth it in my opinion. To host this event, put out the sign-up sheets in advance and allow everyone to sign up for different soups. You could also have each team decide on the soup they will bring. If possible, try to encourage a certain number of specific types to allow for variety. You might ask for a few vegetarian options, a few chili-style soups, and maybe a few cream-based soups to offer a little something for everyone! And... don't forget to include salad, bread and/or crackers if you'd like to have those options. On the day of, set up a few tables with power strips for everyone to plug in their crock pots full of soup. I also recommend using signs and labels to make sure everyone knows what is what. The soups can simmer away and warm up all morning long. When lunch rolls around, everyone will be excited to taste the different soups and enjoy them with crusty bread or crackers. This soup potluck is the perfect activity to help staff feel warm and cozy in the winter! Check out this resource for everything you need to successfully host this event! 6. Frosty Friday Treat I saved the best for last! If you're looking to treat staff members, you'll love this Frosty Friday Treat! This idea involves coordinating with your local Wendy's restaurant to get all of your team members a delicious frosty. If you don't have a Wendy's near you, consider alternatives that would work as a good swap. In my opinion, any type of ice cream, milkshake, or other frozen dessert would make a perfect alternative! Hang up signs around the school in staff areas the week you plan to have treats available. This way, all staff members will know they can swing by the lounge during lunch to pick up their frosty treat! This is a great token of appreciation for staff at the end of the month to recognize their hard work and let them know they are valued in your school. Everyone loved Frosty Friday at my school, and I know your staff members will too! Staff Appreciation Winter Bundle Are you having a hard time choosing a favorite in this round-up of winter staff appreciation ideas? If so, check out the BUNDLE, which includes all 6 resources! This bundle will help ensure you're keeping your staff motivated and excited to come to work all winter long, without having to spend hours planning and prepping. These ideas make staff appreciation simple and easy to incorporate into your monthly routine. Have fun celebrating your staff this winter and don't forget, a little sunshine is all it takes to make your school feel cozy and your staff feel appreciated! Save these Winter Staff Appreciation Ideas! Save this post on your favorite Staff Appreciation Pinterest board so that you'll be armed with fun ideas to boost staff morale all winter long!
Man oh man, do teachers ever work hard. While I’m no longer in the classroom full time, I’ll never forget my classroom roots and the time, energy, and dedication that being an excellent educator demands. There’s just no end to the amount of mad props these teacher-heroes deserve. And as coaches, that’s what we’re dedicated to doing […]
IS YOUR STAFF GOAL-ORIENTED? This download combines celebrating AND setting new goals! Use at staff meetings, department meetings, or in-service ANY TIME during the year!
December! Lots of happiness, cold perhaps and a great time to hunker down and fuel that classroom community through morning meeting! These December morning ...
Would you like boost staff morale by making an effort to celebrate Staff Birthdays this school year? This download will allow you to create both a Birthday Chart and Birthday Book to which your staff members can refer to throughout the school year. Celebrating birthdays can be fun for all in your bu...
Most Likely To Work Edition Game Perfect for Staff Meetings, Office Party Games, Office Icebreaker, or just getting to know your coworkers better. This fun game is great for team building and builds staff morale. Can even be used at the office Christmas Party. Includes an 8.5x11 PDF download Check out my shop for coordinating office games to go along with this one! *This is a digital download, which means you will receive a PDF instantly with your purchase. The PDF can be printed on your home printer or you make take it to a print shop. This listing is not for a physical product, but a download only. How to Download: 1)You will get an email from Etsy with the link to download or you can find the download link in your Etsy orders section on a desktop computer. 2)Open the PDF using the link 3)Print on your home computer/printer or take to a print shop Not For Commercial Use Thank you!!
Winter is a great time to recognize staff members at your school. This time of year can feel a little drab and gloomy. Help brighten things up with fun and unexpected staff morale boosters! Whether you're looking for staff morale activities that are non-holiday related or need some cozy staff appreciation ideas for January, I've gotcha covered! Let's dive into 6 fun ideas you can use this winter! The Importance of Staff Appreciation Teachers, school administrators, and staff members are a special kind of people. The members of this group usually have big hearts, a giver's mentality, and a deep dedication to showing up for our kids. These people are changing the future and deserve to be recognized for that! While there are specific days of the year geared towards teacher and staff appreciation, I'd argue that this is something we should practice all year long for strong school morale! Aside from being appreciative to staff, there are even more benefits to boosting morale. We all know that happy staff members are more likely to create a productive work environment for our students. This can help sustain the overall health and social climate of your school, even in these changing times. Winter is an especially good time to lean into fun staff appreciation ideas. After the holidays have come and gone, things can feel a little dreary, and staff need a little sunshine in their days! These winter-themed staff appreciation ideas are just the thing to make teachers and staff smile and show them how much they are valued for their daily efforts! 1. January Scratch-Off Tickets Do staff meetings feel a little lackluster in your building lately? If so, I have just the thing to perk up your team! These January Scratch-Off Tickets are aimed at building excitement for meetings while awarding staff for their daily hard work. Talk about a win-win! This resource uses a fun winter theme on each ticket and allows staff members to uncover a prize. Give these out at your staff meeting and watch the smiles spread across the room! Some of the prizes include: prime parking spots recess coverage prepped copies jeans day and more! These are low-cost, easy-to-make staff appreciation tokens with gifts that faculty will actually want to receive. Use them as prizes during your meeting or hand them out to all attendees. The resource includes two options for printing including information on pre-made scratch-off paper as well as a DIY version so you can choose what works best for your school. 2. Winter Staff Appreciation Board What better way to recognize staff than to "shout out" a job well done? This winter staff appreciation bulletin board is a great way to spruce up your staff lounge after all of the holiday decorations have been taken down! This resource includes headings, decorative accents, and staff recognition tags to make this project simple and easy to put together. Simply add some wintry-themed paper and border to your board, add accents and headings, and then fill out the cards with personalized recognition for staff members. You can have staff recognize each other for a job well done, or principals and administrators can write encouraging notes for each person in the building. Then, all you have to do is put them on display for everyone to see and enjoy. Either way is a great option to show staff that their good deeds are valuable and appreciated! 3. Staff Snowflake Hunt Ready for something a little different this winter? You'll love this next staff appreciation idea! This morale-boosting activity involves a guessing game to find snowflake erasers or table scatter that have been distributed to staff members. The idea behind the game is to determine who has a snowflake and acquire one for yourself before it's over! Staff will try and guess who has a snowflake and "steal" it away. The game is played throughout a previously determined day and when the time is up, prizes are distributed. You can even play more than once if you'd like by choosing different types of prizes for each day. One day you might have school supply-themed prizes, the next could be candy and food, and the third could be acts of service. The sky is the limit on this one and it just adds a bit of fun to an otherwise ordinary day. Staff will love shaking things up with this game this winter! 4. Winter Shout-Out Decorations Are you looking for a fun and simple way to decorate staff lounges and prep areas this winter? You'll love these Staff Shout-Out Decorations that are aimed at showing appreciation for your team! Use these printable signs to decorate bathroom mirrors, bulletin boards, the staff lounge, and more. Each sign has a fun and motivational winter saying that will make staff smile and add a bit of seasonal flair to your building. These would also be fun to print in bulk and leave in the staff lounge with a supply of pens. Staff members can jot down notes to each other on the back and leave them in mailboxes or post them on classroom doors throughout the month to show appreciation for each other. Recognizing things like patience, kindness, tidy classrooms, and prompt arrival goes a long way in making staff feel valued and part of a great team! 5. Soup Luncheon Potluck This next option is my absolute favorite winter potluck idea! Have you ever hosted a soup luncheon? The idea behind this is that everyone signs up for and brings different soups to school to share. This one takes a bit of planning, but it's well worth it in my opinion. To host this event, put out the sign-up sheets in advance and allow everyone to sign up for different soups. You could also have each team decide on the soup they will bring. If possible, try to encourage a certain number of specific types to allow for variety. You might ask for a few vegetarian options, a few chili-style soups, and maybe a few cream-based soups to offer a little something for everyone! And... don't forget to include salad, bread and/or crackers if you'd like to have those options. On the day of, set up a few tables with power strips for everyone to plug in their crock pots full of soup. I also recommend using signs and labels to make sure everyone knows what is what. The soups can simmer away and warm up all morning long. When lunch rolls around, everyone will be excited to taste the different soups and enjoy them with crusty bread or crackers. This soup potluck is the perfect activity to help staff feel warm and cozy in the winter! Check out this resource for everything you need to successfully host this event! 6. Frosty Friday Treat I saved the best for last! If you're looking to treat staff members, you'll love this Frosty Friday Treat! This idea involves coordinating with your local Wendy's restaurant to get all of your team members a delicious frosty. If you don't have a Wendy's near you, consider alternatives that would work as a good swap. In my opinion, any type of ice cream, milkshake, or other frozen dessert would make a perfect alternative! Hang up signs around the school in staff areas the week you plan to have treats available. This way, all staff members will know they can swing by the lounge during lunch to pick up their frosty treat! This is a great token of appreciation for staff at the end of the month to recognize their hard work and let them know they are valued in your school. Everyone loved Frosty Friday at my school, and I know your staff members will too! Staff Appreciation Winter Bundle Are you having a hard time choosing a favorite in this round-up of winter staff appreciation ideas? If so, check out the BUNDLE, which includes all 6 resources! This bundle will help ensure you're keeping your staff motivated and excited to come to work all winter long, without having to spend hours planning and prepping. These ideas make staff appreciation simple and easy to incorporate into your monthly routine. Have fun celebrating your staff this winter and don't forget, a little sunshine is all it takes to make your school feel cozy and your staff feel appreciated! Save these Winter Staff Appreciation Ideas! Save this post on your favorite Staff Appreciation Pinterest board so that you'll be armed with fun ideas to boost staff morale all winter long!
Click here for a video preview of Wellness Challenges! Activity Information: Wellness Challenges from The Profe Store are a collection of fun challenges designed to improve nutritional, physical, and mental health! If you are on the wellness committee at your school, this is for you... Or if you're just looking for ways to improve your personal health and fitness, or work on a healthy New Year's resolution, here you go! These may also work as distance learning lessons for PE/Health. These are available individually or as part of my Wellness Challenges Bundle Topic Information: A fun December activity for staff wellness! For the weeks leading up to winter break, staff members are given 12 challenges - some for physical wellness, some for mental wellness, some for emotional wellness, and some for relational or community wellness. They can complete one or several or all of them. For each challenge they complete, they turn in a slip and you can draw for prizes at the end. This file includes nice PDFs and also editable files so you an tweak the challenges to meet the needs of your staff. Wishing you all peace and joy in the holiday season! The Profe Store LLC User Agreement: By purchasing this product you agree to the applicable license terms set forth by teacherspayteachers.com at the time of purchase as well as to the terms of this agreement. Upon purchase of this product, The Profe Store LLC, grants the purchaser of this digital download one perpetual, non-exclusive, non-transferable license to modify, and to print paper copies of this product. By purchasing this digital download, you agree that the digital download contains proprietary information and material that is owned by The Profe Store LLC and/or its licensors, and that this information is protected by applicable intellectual property laws, including but not limited to copyright law. Reselling, renting, leasing, loaning, distributing, or otherwise transferring any modified or unmodified version of this product is strictly prohibited. By purchasing this digital download, you also agree that you will not use such proprietary information or materials in any way whatsoever except as permitted by this license or law.
Kick-off your first one-on-one meeting with a new team member using this specially-crafted template.
Need to bring a little holiday magic to the office? The holiday spirit will be soaring with this list of 25 fun Christmas activities at work.
To spread some holiday cheer, our PBIS team is hosting a "Secret Staff Member" for the month of December. ...
Fall is the busiest time of the year if you're a teacher or a school administrator! Since we all know our time is limited when August hits, I'm a big fan of prepping things ahead of time to use throughout the year. While you don't want to spend your whole summer preparing for the school year, there are a few great ways to prepare for those busy months and start the year with high staff morale right off the bat! Here are 9 simple ways to prep during the summer months and boost staff morale this fall! Why Focus on Staff Morale? In the busiest time of the year, staff morale is something that can be easy to forget. There's an endless to-do list and limited time, so why should we spend our precious time on staff morale?! So glad you asked! First off, your staff members are in the busiest time of the year too! They also have an endless to-do list and the added pressure to getting everything ready, meeting students and parents, and pleasing you, the admin. Taking a couple of minutes to acknowledge what they are going through goes a long way! When I was the head of our school Sunshine Committee for many years, I was always looking for fun ways to engage our staff, bring people together, and share small gestures of kindness. Paying it forward with small acts of gratitude is the BEST way to set the tone for a great year! Whether you're a teacher looking to spread some cheer, a school administrator, or a PTO member, you'll love these simple ways to keep staff morale high. These ideas are inexpensive, simple to prep, and will help demonstrate thoughtfulness and kindness throughout your building to get the year started off right! 1. Stock the Fridge This is one of my favorite simple things to prep during the summer months that really makes a huge impact on staff morale! During the summer months, stock up on a variety of beverages and print off some of these fun signs. When you're ready to use this staff morale booster, fill your fridge and hang the signs. Post the signs in the staff lounge, in the office, and in other high-traffic areas around your building. These signs will alert staff that there are cold beverages provided for them in the staff lounge. I've found this simple act of kindness helps to re-energize staff and get them excited for the new year. A great time to do this is when the school opens up and staff are prepping before the kids are back. There's nothing better than grabbing an ice-cold, free drink after spending a day working in your classroom! You can also use these signs throughout the year for staff in-service days, special events, or simply to add some cheer to a regular week. 2. Prep Welcome Back Poems Next up, this is another super simple staff morale booster to prep this summer! Just print this poem off on some paper and fold the copies ahead of time. This is a great activity to do while you're watching a movie, or relaxing by the pool. I'm a big fan of multitasking things like this to help make the most of your summer break while getting ready for fall! Store them away until the first week of school. Then, the night before the first day tuck these cute little poems into every staff member's mailbox as a way to welcome them back. This is a great way to kick off the year and only takes a few minutes to prepare! 3. Build Staff Morale Welcome Baskets This next idea is perfect for the first week of school, or while the staff is preparing over the summer. I liked to prep a few of these Welcome Baskets and place them in high-traffic areas in our building. The baskets were filled with essentials we all needed during the long hours we spent at school. Some of the things in the baskets include: soap lint rollers stain remover static guard hand sanitizer dental floss hand lotion and more The ideas are literally endless! I liked to swing by the dollar store and find a variety of fun and inexpensive goodies to fill these baskets. You can shrink-wrap the baskets if desired, and add a gift tag. Then distribute them to teams, or place them in staff bathrooms and the staff lounge for everyone to share. This idea is really fun for new staff members too. Make new staff members their very own basket to welcome them to your school! 4. Make a Staff Shout-Out Board One of the best ways to boost staff morale is by simply recognizing a job well done. Taking the time to show your appreciation for kind acts of service means so much to staff and teachers alike! My favorite method for getting this trend going is with a staff shout-out board. This idea encourages staff and teachers to find ways to thank and compliment each other regularly. To prep this one over the summer, all you need to do to print off a shout-out board from this resource and hang it in a central location. If you are able, it's best to enlarge the printable to poster size and place it in a frame. I liked to leave a stack of Post-its, and some colorful markers alongside it too. Add a few shout-outs yourself to get the process going, and watch the compliments pile up! 5. Create a Staff Sunshine Corner If you're making a staff shout-out board, I highly recommend creating a "Sunshine Corner" too! This little area is a great place to hang your staff shout-out board, along with other fun announcements and information. To make a sunshine corner in your building, locate an empty wall in the staff lounge or office. Grab some cute bulletin board supplies and decorate to your liking. Add a fun heading that says "Sunshine Corner" with these letters and gather any other important info to display. In the past, I've posted our district calendar, announcements, the shout-out board, and reminders for goodies available in the fridge. Staff will love checking the board for new announcements each week! This is a great spot to place a coffee cart, or any other special treats you have available for staff as well. 6. Make a Kindness Plate Another great morale booster to start on your campus is the Kindness Plate. It's an anonymous (or not anonymous) RAK (Random Act of Kindness) activity that goes on all year long! To get started all you need is one or more kindness plates. You can make one yourself at a paint-your-own pottery store or create one through a service like Shutterfly. You can even grab a special plate from a local thrift store and tag it as the Kindness Plate. The plate is really just the starting place for this kindness activity. Here's the idea: the Kindness Plate gets filled with a special treat, lunch, office supplies, or anything really. Then it gets left for a teacher or staff member. That person gets to enjoy everything on the plate. Then it is their turn to fill the Kindness Plate and share it with someone else. It's a great way to encourage a fellow staff member, say thank you to someone who went above and beyond, or just spread some kindness. You can start the "train" of kindness yourself or have them available for staff to grab when they want to use one. On my campus, we had 5 Kindness Plates that stayed in rotation all year long. Our general rule of thumb was that once received, the kindness plate would be filled and passed on within a week. It was always an uplifting and encouraging surprise to find the Kindness Plate on your desk or in your mailbox. If you are looking for an easy way to spread kindness and encouragement on your campus, this is a great one. 7. Plan a Teacher Yard Sale Looking for a way to help teachers prepare for the school year and repurpose items around the school? Consider planning a teacher yard sale prior to the first week of school. In this event, teachers will donate unused items from their own classrooms to share with others. If they find they have a large stock of things that aren't needed, this is the perfect opportunity to clean them out! The old saying, "One person's trash is another person's treasure" applies here and is so true! This event is both fun and social for staff, while also helping boost staff morale and find some fun items to use in the classroom. This resource has everything you need to make planning your yard sale simple. Included you'll find advertisement signs, sign-up sheets, step-by-step directions, and more! 8. Book a Coffee Truck Everyone loves coffee, right?! This couldn't be more true at the beginning of the school year! As a fun welcome-back activity, I liked to book a traveling coffee truck to visit the school. This one will require some funding, but planning ahead during the summer usually makes it more feasible! Look in your local area to find a truck that's willing to visit your school. Your administration or PTO can pre-pay for each teacher and staff member to be able to get a beverage of their choosing. Our staff purchased their own drinks. The opportunity to get coffee at school was a treat in itself. You may need to arrange for coverage as staff members go get their coffee treat, or send the menu out ahead of time and have volunteers bring orders to each person that morning. Alternatively, the truck can arrive at a designated time before the first bell rings. I liked to arrange this event during week two of back to school. The first week is chaotic, and everyone is just trying to find a groove. The second week is a great time to show staff they are appreciated after the dust settles a bit. No matter how you structure it, this one will be a BIG hit, and make all of your staff members feel appreciated as they fall back into the school routine! 9. Grab Some Chalk Markers Last, but not least - this is a SUPER simple tip that makes a big impact. Over the summer, keep your eyes out for some chalk markers. Stock up on these or grab them on Amazon. At the beginning of the school year, spend some time leaving messages for staff on bathroom mirrors, or windows in the staff areas. You can leave encouraging notes, jokes, or other positive messages. Set a note in your calendar to swap these out from time to time to keep it interesting and fun. You can also make the markers available for others to join in the fun. This is a simple way to make your staff members smile and start the year off with great staff morale! Even More Staff Morale Resources Are you feeling energized and excited to try some of these staff morale-boosting activities this year? I sure hope so! Taking some time to prep a few of these over the summer will have a big impact come fall! If you LOVE these ideas and are looking for even more, be sure to check out the Staff Morale SUPER Bundle! The bundle includes 26 resources to help encourage, motivate, and thank staff all year long. You'll find all of the ideas included in this post and more to help inspire you and prepare for a great year. Using these activities and resources is a great way to keep staff morale high all year long! Save This Post This post is filled with fun ideas that make boosting staff morale easy! Pin this post on Pinterest to save these ideas and come back to them when you're in need of inspiration.
A list of morning meeting games for in person, virtual, or hybrid meetings. Energizers to start the workday off on a positive note.
This is a digital download. You will not receive a physical item. This is not editable and it downloads as a PDF. Description: This holiday "You've Been SNOWED" bundle is the perfect staff/colleague morale booster for the month of January or all throughout winter! Print the sheets off, put together a mug with treats for 2 coworkers, anonymously leave the mug and treats at their desk/door, along with the poem, directions, and "I've Been SNOWED" door sign so they can continue to pass it on and spread snowy cheer all throughout the school! This set includes: -"You've Been SNOWED" Poem -"You've Been SNOWED" directions page -"I've Been SNOWED" door sign (3 to choose from) PRO TIP: If you don't have colored ink, print these signs in black and white ink on brightly colored paper! (I recommend various shades of blue!) Looking for Other Versions!? You've Been MUGGED! https://www.etsy.com/listing/925075282/youve-been-mugged-staff-morale-fun?ref=listings_manager_grid You've Been BOOED! https://www.etsy.com/listing/1071371184/youve-been-booed-staff-morale-fun-fall?ref=shop_home_recs_2 You've Been GOBBLED! https://www.etsy.com/listing/1079947296/youve-been-gobbled-staff-morale-fun-fall?ref=listings_manager_grid You've Been MUGGED Holiday! https://www.etsy.com/listing/1116025700/youve-been-mugged-holiday-december-staff?click_key=82787c7f005126bb0f3ac517347f23c50b6e4ff6%3A1116025700&click_sum=dde54085&ref=shop_home_recs_13 You've Been SNOWED! https://www.etsy.com/listing/1154659237/youve-been-snowed-mugged-winter-january?click_key=438c67bca73001c151cdd3182dc1dd31533ccadd%3A1154659237&click_sum=0ade2278&ref=shop_home_active_12&pro=1 You've Been HUGGED! https://www.etsy.com/listing/1149362412/youve-been-hugged-mugged-february?click_key=ac6d8b1e06103003151c4081fcd72ba7e0134a56%3A1149362412&click_sum=a93fbf92&ref=shop_home_active_11&pro=1 You've Been PINCHED! https://www.etsy.com/listing/1179700370/youve-been-pinched-mugged-spring-st?click_key=9bd76d72b1ecd4ad39f128c4edcfa289547123a3%3A1179700370&click_sum=4b1d7c8a&ref=shop_home_feat_4&pro=1 You've Been EGGED! https://www.etsy.com/listing/1182889000/youve-been-egged-mugged-ive-been-egged?ref=listing_published_alert Printing Instructions Once you go to File>Print, choose your printer settings. Please note: if you choose fit to printable area, dimensions will be slightly smaller. Keep in mind, the sizes are all approximations. Print on cardstock or plain paper. This is a digital download (you will not receive a physical item) and will be available upon receipt of payment. It will print on a standard 8.5x11in sheet of paper. Color Colors may vary due to differences in screens and brightness. Terms of Use: Purchasing this document one time grants you a single classroom license, good for ONE individual to use the document. This document is the property of the owner of Learning Lattes and Literacy. You may not claim any part of this document as your own work. This document, in parts or in its entirety, should NEVER be posted or redistributed for others to use or download, for free or for profit. If you would like to share it with team or staff members, please share a link to my store where each party may purchase their own license. If multiple teachers in your school would like to use it, you may purchase multiple licenses at a discounted price for EACH person who would like to use it. Please know that while sharing this with others who have not purchased it may be easy, it is a violation of copyright and terms of use. By purchasing, you are agreeing to these terms. Thank you for respecting my small business and for not violating copyright laws. :) Returns There are no returns or refunds on digital downloads. See product previews or preview video to see what is included before purchasing. Keywords: winter you've been mugged, winter you've been snowed, winter i've been snowed, winter I've been mugged, winter staff morale booster, winter staff gift ideas, staff sunshine, January staff morale booster, winter staff ideas, winter staff ideas, coworker gift ideas, fun colleague gift ideas, teacher gifts, mug gifts, diy gifts, gift tags, dunn inspired, winter teacher gifts, January colleague fun
These 5 Staff morale boosters are guaranteed to get you through November. Implementing these boosters, helps through the holidays.
Happy Monday! So glad Tara is doing Monday Made It so I can show off my Funky Christmas Tree! One year I was looking at some great artsy tree ornaments and I got to thinking it would be fun to have a tree in the kitchen, and a non-traditional tree at that. Our kitchen is black and white with bold primary colors, and I wanted to match the mood of my cheery kitchen. One thing lead to another until I had a loose plan, then off to the hardware store I went, and with Jonathan's help, we constructed my Funky Christmas Tree. Ta-Da! The Funky Christmas Tree! I made it several years ago, so I can't give you an illustrated tutorial, but if any of you are interested in how I put it together, here are enough directions to get you going. I took a two inch diameter, four feet long dowel and a bunch of pencil thickness dowels, too. I also picked up a round wooden plaque. We drilled a hole through the base and a hole up into the trunk. Then using a bolt we attached the "trunk" to the base. Jonathan drilled some of the bottom of the base out so it could stand flat on the floor. I painted the whole thing white. We cut the pencil dowels into pieces, seven sets of four each in sizes ranging from 3.5" to 10". I wrapped them in cheap green tinsel tree garland, securing the end of the garland to the end of the dowel with a green thumbtack. The thumbtack also gave a nice finished look to the end of each "branch." Thumbtacks finish the ends off neatly We drilled holes in the big dowel, then glued and pushed the pencil sized dowel pieces into the holes. The glue in the hole held the garland in place on the branches, too. Next we took two rope lights, one red and one white, and secured them to the top of the dowel with duct tape, then we wrapped them tightly around the trunk, going around the spots where the branches came out. The rope lights actually helped the dowel branches stay in place. We kept wrapping until there was just the cords down at the bottom. They did not reach the base. We then took a short extension cord and plugged in the two ends. We drilled another hole in the plaque, near the trunk, to feed the extension cord through. Then Jonathan routed out a groove under the plaque so the cord didn't make the plaque tip. I think instead of routing the groove, though, you could put little feet under the plaque so it would stand above the floor enough to let the cord come out freely. Or you could just let the cord come out on top of the base. We finished by wrapping the base of the trunk in silver tinsel garland, which covered the ends of the rope light and extension cord connection quite well. To decorate, I hit IKEA for inexpensive ornaments-- clear glass bulbs and metallic pompoms. I alternated in various AB patterns (true to my kindergarten skills) as I hung them on the tree. I put a favorite tree topper angel on top, which hid the ugly duct taped rope light ends. She's a little bit funky, too As to the base, sometimes I place little red shoe ornaments around the bottom, and sometimes I place these hand felted elf shoes there. I sort of have a shoe thing... Gotta love elf shoes! This year I'm wondering about the new chalkboard ornaments that I picked up at my favorite Ace store. I tell you there is chalkboard everything... they even came with chalk. Chalkboard ornaments– what'll they think of next?? And to think I didn't see it on Pinterest first!!! I'm not sure if Pinterest existed five years ago... did it? As much as there is ever original thought, this is mine :) I welcome you to Pin, and let me know what you think in the comments! Hop on back to Monday Made It. There are some holiday goodies there this time! And here's a little P.S. In last Thursday's post to the Pick Three linky which you can find HERE I posted a Pin of a holiday refrigerator door. I did indeed do it for our staff lounge fridge this weekend. I conveniently wasn't in school today, so I can innocently act like I had nothing to do with it tomorrow. And luckily, I don't think any of my colleagues read my posts regularly... on more than one occasion I've been happy of that :) Here is a pic before I added the word bubble that said "10 more days!" He's the countdown snowman, I guess! Hee Hee! the little teacher elf said as she decorated the staff lounge! The post The Funky Christmas Tree for Monday Made It! first appeared on kidpeopleclassroom.com
Get in the spirit of the season! Everyone can wear jeans for the rest of December!! It's sock day! Hoping your Mistle"toes" stay warm...
December! Lots of happiness, cold perhaps and a great time to hunker down and fuel that classroom community through morning meeting! These December morning ...
Click this link to check out my winter and Christmas TPT products! Description: This holiday "You've Been MUGGED" bundle is the perfect staff/colleague morale booster for the month of December leading up to the holidays! Print the sheets off, put together a mug with treats for 2 coworkers, anonymously leave the mug and treats at their desk/door, along with the poem, directions, and "I've Been MUGGED" door sign so they can continue to pass it on and spread holiday cheer all throughout the school! This set includes: "You've Been MUGGED" Poem "You've Been MUGGED" directions page (includes directions for "mugging" 1 or 2 people) "I've Been MUGGED" door sign (3 to choose from) PRO TIP: If you don't have colored ink, print these signs in black and white ink on brightly colored paper! (I recommend green or red!) You may also like: You've Been MUGGED You've Been BOOED! You've Been GOBBLED! You've Been MUGGED Holiday You've Been SNOWED You've Been HUGGED You've Been PINCHED! You've Been EGGED! Printing Instructions Once you go to File>Print, choose your printer settings. Please note: if you choose fit to printable area, dimensions will be slightly smaller. Keep in mind, the sizes are all approximations. Print on cardstock or plain paper. This is a digital download (you will not receive a physical item) and will be available upon receipt of payment. It will print on a standard 8.5x11in sheet of paper. Color Colors may vary due to differences in screens and brightness. Terms of Use: Purchasing this document one time grants you a single classroom license, good for ONE individual to use the document. This document is the property of the owner of Learning Lattes and Literacy. You may not claim any part of this document as your own work. This document, in parts or in its entirety, should NEVER be posted or redistributed for others to use or download, for free or for profit. If you would like to share it with team or staff members, please share a link to my store where each party may purchase their own license. If multiple teachers in your school would like to use it, you may purchase multiple licenses at a discounted price for EACH person who would like to use it. Please know that while sharing this with others who have not purchased it may be easy, it is a violation of copyright and terms of use. By purchasing, you are agreeing to these terms. Thank you for respecting my small business and for not violating copyright laws. :) Returns There are no returns or refunds on digital downloads. See product previews or preview video to see what is included before purchasing. Keywords: holiday you've been mugged, holiday I've been mugged, holiday staff morale booster, holiday staff gift ideas, staff sunshine, December staff morale booster, Christmas staff ideas, winter staff ideas, coworker gift ideas, fun colleague gift ideas, teacher gifts, mug gifts, diy gifts, gift tags, dunn inspired, holiday teacher gifts, December colleague fun
Teaching is hard. Building classroom community doesn't have to be. Teaching is December is CRAZY. Activities ready to go for you with less stress - I ...
Have you ever felt under-appreciated or under-recognized by your boss? Whether you work for a multi-national corporation or you have your own network marketing business - it's important to recognize employees/downline! I work remote, and that can be pretty isolating. I don't get to take part in 'food days' or other fun recognition days that home office employees get to participate in. I do however, get to wear my pajamas all day if I want to....{ok, I do! LOL!} How can employers or our upline best recognize our accomplishments? REALLY get to know employees/downline...for example, I LOVE to garden/homestead, I
Staff Meeting Fixer Upper J2 Training - Janet Corder & Joan Gore
We have this great contest at our library for staff that we have been running for the past 3 years. It all started out of a lunch discussion and somehow snowballed into this big deal. Now we can't NOT do the contest. It requires almost no prep work and our prizes are 1 $5 Tim Horton's gift card for each of our three locations. What is it??? It is the "When will it snow 1 inch?" contest. My library is in southeast Michigan, where it gets cold and snows pretty often. What is funny, though, is that since we started this contest three years ago, it won't snow an inch until late January/early February. You could blame it on global warming, but we think that this contest has something to do with it. We start collecting guesses in mid to late November (or whenever it starts to have freezing temperatures). This year we made snowflake die cuts. Everybody writes their name and their date on the shape and tapes it to the window (at our branches they are on cupboard doors). Whenever it snows, our community relations person goes out to measure the snow with her ruler. As our library system covers 2 townships, we specify one location where it has to snow 1 inch. We measure the snow at the base of a statue in our front parking lot. That's what we do for fun here in the winter. What do you do?
These 5 Staff morale boosters are guaranteed to get you through November. Implementing these boosters, helps through the holidays.
This is a digital download. You will not receive a physical item. This is not editable and it downloads as a PDF. Description: This holiday "You've Been MUGGED" bundle is the perfect staff/colleague morale booster for the month of December leading up to the holidays! Print the sheets off, put together a mug with treats for 2 coworkers, anonymously leave the mug and treats at their desk/door, along with the poem, directions, and "I've Been MUGGED" door sign so they can continue to pass it on and spread holiday cheer all throughout the school! This set includes: -"You've Been MUGGED" Poem -"You've Been MUGGED" directions page (options for "mugging" 1 or 2 people) -"I've Been MUGGED" door sign (3 to choose from) PRO TIP: If you don't have colored ink, print these signs in black and white ink on brightly colored paper! (I recommend green or red!) Looking for Other Versions? You've Been MUGGED! https://www.etsy.com/listing/925075282/youve-been-mugged-staff-morale-fun?ref=listings_manager_grid You've Been BOOED! https://www.etsy.com/listing/1071371184/youve-been-booed-staff-morale-fun-fall?ref=shop_home_recs_2 You've Been GOBBLED! https://www.etsy.com/listing/1079947296/youve-been-gobbled-staff-morale-fun-fall?ref=listings_manager_grid You've Been MUGGED Holiday! https://www.etsy.com/listing/1116025700/youve-been-mugged-holiday-december-staff?click_key=82787c7f005126bb0f3ac517347f23c50b6e4ff6%3A1116025700&click_sum=dde54085&ref=shop_home_recs_13 You've Been SNOWED! https://www.etsy.com/listing/1154659237/youve-been-snowed-mugged-winter-january?click_key=438c67bca73001c151cdd3182dc1dd31533ccadd%3A1154659237&click_sum=0ade2278&ref=shop_home_active_12&pro=1 You've Been HUGGED! https://www.etsy.com/listing/1149362412/youve-been-hugged-mugged-february?click_key=ac6d8b1e06103003151c4081fcd72ba7e0134a56%3A1149362412&click_sum=a93fbf92&ref=shop_home_active_11&pro=1 You've Been PINCHED! https://www.etsy.com/listing/1179700370/youve-been-pinched-mugged-spring-st?click_key=9bd76d72b1ecd4ad39f128c4edcfa289547123a3%3A1179700370&click_sum=4b1d7c8a&ref=shop_home_feat_4&pro=1 You've Been EGGED! https://www.etsy.com/listing/1182889000/youve-been-egged-mugged-ive-been-egged?ref=listing_published_alert Printing Instructions Once you go to File>Print, choose your printer settings. Please note: if you choose fit to printable area, dimensions will be slightly smaller. Keep in mind, the sizes are all approximations. Print on cardstock or plain paper. This is a digital download (you will not receive a physical item) and will be available upon receipt of payment. It will print on a standard 8.5x11in sheet of paper. Color Colors may vary due to differences in screens and brightness. Terms of Use: Purchasing this document one time grants you a single classroom license, good for ONE individual to use the document. This document is the property of the owner of Learning Lattes and Literacy. You may not claim any part of this document as your own work. This document, in parts or in its entirety, should NEVER be posted or redistributed for others to use or download, for free or for profit. If you would like to share it with team or staff members, please share a link to my store where each party may purchase their own license. If multiple teachers in your school would like to use it, you may purchase multiple licenses at a discounted price for EACH person who would like to use it. Please know that while sharing this with others who have not purchased it may be easy, it is a violation of copyright and terms of use. By purchasing, you are agreeing to these terms. Thank you for respecting my small business and for not violating copyright laws. :) Returns There are no returns or refunds on digital downloads. See product previews or preview video to see what is included before purchasing. Keywords: holiday you've been mugged, holiday I've been mugged, holiday staff morale booster, holiday staff gift ideas, staff sunshine, December staff morale booster, Christmas staff ideas, winter staff ideas, coworker gift ideas, fun colleague gift ideas, teacher gifts, mug gifts, diy gifts, gift tags, dunn inspired, holiday teacher gifts, December colleague fun
Distance Learning December Christmas Holiday Activity Bundle Morning Meeting is packed with fun December activities for your elementary class! Distance Learning December Christmas Holiday Activity Bundle - these activities are perfect for morning meeting, a fun classroom activity or event. Easy to use in school or in a virtual classroom setting! Included in this Distance Learning December Holiday Bundle: Would you Rather Game Holiday Scavenger Hunt December Emoji Text writing response Quotation Marks/Joke Practice for December ***************************************************************************** To get credit for future TPT purchases: Click on “My TPT” then “My Purchases” in the upper right corner. Beside each you’ll see “provide feedback” – it should be blinking. Click and you can rate the product and leave comments about what you think. I love hearing your feedback on products! ***************************************************************************** For more FREEBIES, new products, and ideas: *Click the green star near my store name for product updates and premieres! *Follow my blog SSSTeaching for teaching ideas and pictures of what is going on in my classroom. *You can also find me on Facebook (exclusive offers), Pinterest, and Instagram!
Make the final 12 days of the semester FUN for your staff by treating them with an exciting countdown and treats along the way! Included is a calendar, a countdown with ideas to use as well as already made, ready to print ideas! You can choose an editable version or a pre-made, non-editable version.
Are you the facilitator of some of the meetings at your school and want to find a way to boost staff morale in schools and spice up the meetings.
