Looking for Positive Feedback Walkthrough forms to use throughout the school year? This school leadership resource includes 20 printable and 20 digital forms that can be used to give positive feedback during quick walkthroughs! It's a great tool for informal observations, morale boosters, new teachi...

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.

Is it time to boost staff morale in your school? Is it important for you to ensure your staff enjoys the workday and feels appreciated? Do you know that high morale can boost daily productivity? Just use this Staff Morale Four Corners Activity and watch your staff get to know one another, and have f...

Looking for ways to boost staff well-being at your school? This post is for you. Check out our 12 ideas to show colleagues that you appreciate them.

Is it time to boost morale in your school? My line of staff morale boosters can be extremely helpful to you and your amazing teachers and school staff. Try my Staff Morale Bingo and watch your staff get re-energized and motivated. Teaching is a definite challenge these days so restore and boost mora...

At my school, we use Kath Murdoch’s Inquiry Cycle. Many of our staff are new the PYP and new to inquiry-based teaching and learning, so we find this inquiry cycle provides some structure to t…

In the world of staff morale gifts and activities, you may have noticed a common theme... food! Treats, meals, and other food-related events are pretty typical when it comes to showing appreciation for staff. While I think we'd all agree that food is a fun way to celebrate, sometimes you want an alternative, right? If you're nodding your head in agreement - I've got just the solution for you! Let's talk about some of my favorite staff morale boosters that are not food! Why Staff Morale Counts First off, why does staff morale matter? If you're an administrator or member of the staff sunshine committee, you already know the importance of staff morale. School staff members work hard! In today's social climate, staff morale is even more important as staff and teachers navigate tricky situations at school. Keeping staff morale high is important in maintaining a healthy school atmosphere. In turn, this benefits everyone involved. When staff are happy and feel appreciated, you can expect the daily routines in your building to hum right along! And remember, staff morale is important for ALL staff members, not just teachers. I'm talking about admin, cafeteria, tech support, secretarial staff, janitorial, security, counselors, librarians, and more! Everyone who works in the school is an important piece of the system. Let's do our part to show appreciation for school staff members with these fun staff morale boosters! 1. Staff Morale BINGO We're kicking off this list with one of my best-selling staff morale boosters... BINGO! Everyone knows and loves BINGO, right? I've certainly found this to be true in my own school building after years of using it. This game is a bit of a twist on the traditional, with a giant, life-size BINGO board for everyone to use! There are 2 options included, one for teaching staff and one for ALL staff, so you can choose what works best for your building. To set this up, you'll choose your favorite 25 prompts. There are 90 different ones, so no matter what you're looking to recognize and promote- there's something here for you! Prompts include making positive calls home, leaving for the day with an organized desk, not working through lunch, and more! The great thing about this resource is that you can pick and choose what works best for your school. Think about what will motivate YOUR staff, and choose accordingly. If certain prompts don't align with what you're hoping to target- simply leave them out for ones better suited. Once you choose your BINGO cards, you'll print them out - I like colorful Astrobrights paper, and then hang them on the wall to make a giant BINGO board. It's a good idea to put this in a high-traffic area so that staff members are reminded to add to it regularly. To play, staff will add their name to each BINGO card as they complete one of the prompts. Once someone has a BINGO, they win a prize. You can continue this until the board is completely filled, or you reach a set time. Either way, this one will energize and motivate staff to fill up those cards! 2. Random Acts of Kindness Poster This next option is a fun way to get all staff members involved in spreading kindness! This resource includes 10 different full-color posters with tear-off prompts for random acts of kindness. The idea is to print them off and hang them in areas where staff congregate. They will look through the prompts and select one to "pay it forward" to a colleague. The prompts include things like: pass off a book to a great friend plan a walk with a colleague after work offer to cover someone's duty bring in fresh flowers to brighten up a common area share a bottle of soap or lotion for the staff lounge provide a listening ear and many more! I love this staff morale booster because it's a way to get staff members thinking about how they can spread a little kindness on their own. I don't know about you guys, but when things are busy and crazy in my life, it can be hard to remember to slow down and think of others. This natural human tendency can stir us into a frenzy! Using random acts of kindness is a great way to reconnect with those around us and remember we're all facing challenges on a daily basis. 3. Windshield Messages Looking for a simple, non-food related way to show staff members you care? Windshield wiper cards are the perfect way to do just that! The idea behind this staff morale booster is to choose a heartfelt message for staff and leave it tucked behind the windshield wipers on their car. When they leave for the day, they will find a fun message to motivate and inspire them! I have options to carry you through the entire school year. By choosing one that relates to the season, you'll end up with whimsical notes that are pretty punny! Some of the fall notes include messages like: I be-leaf in you! Your students are falling in love with learning! We are totally NUTS about you! The fall notes will come in handy from August through November. The winter notes are filled with messages that are perfect for adding to staff vehicles right before winter break. The spring windshield notes will carry you through the spring months leading to the end of the school year. The notes include cute clipart and seasonal designs as well, so all you need to do is print and add a personal touch if desired! Your staff will love going home for the day and finding these notes waiting for them. 4. Self-Care Challenge I already mentioned my love for BINGO games, and I have another to share! This Self-Care BINGO Challenge is the perfect way to steer your staff towards focusing on health, wellness, and stress relief. This game is designed to be used after hours to help create a better work-life balance and get the necessary rest to be their best self at work. To play, each staff member will get a BINGO board. You can distribute these in staff mailboxes with instructions, or pass them out at a staff meeting. Staff members will work on completing the board throughout the month until the next meeting. This challenge will work for ALL staff members, so make sure to include everyone in your building! The boxes are filled with prompts such as: light a candle cut or color your hair take a bath binge-watch a new show find some quiet and enjoy a good book get your car washed go to bed early and more! As staff complete an item, they will mark it off. You can decide if you want them to complete 5 in a row, or go for blackout! Collect some prizes and distribute them to the winners. These scratch-offs are great options for winners! We all know what it's like to work ourselves into overdrive and never take a moment to rest. This process is exhausting and results in burnout quickly. Encourage your staff to be mindful of their self-care routines with this fun challenge! 5. Staff Favorites Book This last staff morale booster is a tried and true favorite! Plus, it can be used all year long for many situations. Creating a Staff Favorites Binder will pay off all throughout the year. The idea behind this resource is to have your staff members fill out a page with all of their favorite things. They will include things like: sweet treat office supply flower store hot beverage pen and more! Once you have everyone's sheet back, you'll make a few copies and place them in 3-ring binders. I like to make multiple copies so that I can place a binder in various places such as the office and staff lounge. As I do this, I let staff know that they will be available for random acts of kindness. If they notice that a staff member is having a rough week, they can check out the binder and pick up their favorite flowers. Or maybe they want to thank a colleague for something, so they grab a pack of their favorite pens. The nice thing about this staff morale booster is that it can be used all year long! There are food options inside, but there are plenty of non-food items listed as well, so staff can choose what they'd like to give. Staff Morale Boosters for the Whole Year Which of these is your favorite? It's hard for me to choose, but I will say that the Staff Favorites and BINGO were always a huge hit in our building. No matter what you choose, remember that it doesn't have to be anything super fancy or flashy! A simple thank you note, some fresh flowers in the lounge, or a new set of flair pens was always enough to make me smile and feel appreciated. The idea is to spread sunshine and kindness in ways that are accessible to you. If you're looking for more Staff Morale boosters, be sure to check out these posts for more inspiration! 6 Tasty Staff Snack Bars Everyone Will Love! Creating a Staff Morale Hub to Spread a Little Sunshine 6 Ways to Boost Staff Morale in Your School This Year Save this Post Pin this post on Pinterest to keep track of these staff morale boosters!

Executed well, student-centered instructional methods can disarm some of the more intimidating parts of academia.

In the world of staff morale gifts and activities, you may have noticed a common theme... food! Treats, meals, and other food-related events are pretty typical when it comes to showing appreciation for staff. While I think we'd all agree that food is a fun way to celebrate, sometimes you want an alternative, right? If you're nodding your head in agreement - I've got just the solution for you! Let's talk about some of my favorite staff morale boosters that are not food! Why Staff Morale Counts First off, why does staff morale matter? If you're an administrator or member of the staff sunshine committee, you already know the importance of staff morale. School staff members work hard! In today's social climate, staff morale is even more important as staff and teachers navigate tricky situations at school. Keeping staff morale high is important in maintaining a healthy school atmosphere. In turn, this benefits everyone involved. When staff are happy and feel appreciated, you can expect the daily routines in your building to hum right along! And remember, staff morale is important for ALL staff members, not just teachers. I'm talking about admin, cafeteria, tech support, secretarial staff, janitorial, security, counselors, librarians, and more! Everyone who works in the school is an important piece of the system. Let's do our part to show appreciation for school staff members with these fun staff morale boosters! 1. Staff Morale BINGO We're kicking off this list with one of my best-selling staff morale boosters... BINGO! Everyone knows and loves BINGO, right? I've certainly found this to be true in my own school building after years of using it. This game is a bit of a twist on the traditional, with a giant, life-size BINGO board for everyone to use! There are 2 options included, one for teaching staff and one for ALL staff, so you can choose what works best for your building. To set this up, you'll choose your favorite 25 prompts. There are 90 different ones, so no matter what you're looking to recognize and promote- there's something here for you! Prompts include making positive calls home, leaving for the day with an organized desk, not working through lunch, and more! The great thing about this resource is that you can pick and choose what works best for your school. Think about what will motivate YOUR staff, and choose accordingly. If certain prompts don't align with what you're hoping to target- simply leave them out for ones better suited. Once you choose your BINGO cards, you'll print them out - I like colorful Astrobrights paper, and then hang them on the wall to make a giant BINGO board. It's a good idea to put this in a high-traffic area so that staff members are reminded to add to it regularly. To play, staff will add their name to each BINGO card as they complete one of the prompts. Once someone has a BINGO, they win a prize. You can continue this until the board is completely filled, or you reach a set time. Either way, this one will energize and motivate staff to fill up those cards! 2. Random Acts of Kindness Poster This next option is a fun way to get all staff members involved in spreading kindness! This resource includes 10 different full-color posters with tear-off prompts for random acts of kindness. The idea is to print them off and hang them in areas where staff congregate. They will look through the prompts and select one to "pay it forward" to a colleague. The prompts include things like: pass off a book to a great friend plan a walk with a colleague after work offer to cover someone's duty bring in fresh flowers to brighten up a common area share a bottle of soap or lotion for the staff lounge provide a listening ear and many more! I love this staff morale booster because it's a way to get staff members thinking about how they can spread a little kindness on their own. I don't know about you guys, but when things are busy and crazy in my life, it can be hard to remember to slow down and think of others. This natural human tendency can stir us into a frenzy! Using random acts of kindness is a great way to reconnect with those around us and remember we're all facing challenges on a daily basis. 3. Windshield Messages Looking for a simple, non-food related way to show staff members you care? Windshield wiper cards are the perfect way to do just that! The idea behind this staff morale booster is to choose a heartfelt message for staff and leave it tucked behind the windshield wipers on their car. When they leave for the day, they will find a fun message to motivate and inspire them! I have options to carry you through the entire school year. By choosing one that relates to the season, you'll end up with whimsical notes that are pretty punny! Some of the fall notes include messages like: I be-leaf in you! Your students are falling in love with learning! We are totally NUTS about you! The fall notes will come in handy from August through November. The winter notes are filled with messages that are perfect for adding to staff vehicles right before winter break. The spring windshield notes will carry you through the spring months leading to the end of the school year. The notes include cute clipart and seasonal designs as well, so all you need to do is print and add a personal touch if desired! Your staff will love going home for the day and finding these notes waiting for them. 4. Self-Care Challenge I already mentioned my love for BINGO games, and I have another to share! This Self-Care BINGO Challenge is the perfect way to steer your staff towards focusing on health, wellness, and stress relief. This game is designed to be used after hours to help create a better work-life balance and get the necessary rest to be their best self at work. To play, each staff member will get a BINGO board. You can distribute these in staff mailboxes with instructions, or pass them out at a staff meeting. Staff members will work on completing the board throughout the month until the next meeting. This challenge will work for ALL staff members, so make sure to include everyone in your building! The boxes are filled with prompts such as: light a candle cut or color your hair take a bath binge-watch a new show find some quiet and enjoy a good book get your car washed go to bed early and more! As staff complete an item, they will mark it off. You can decide if you want them to complete 5 in a row, or go for blackout! Collect some prizes and distribute them to the winners. These scratch-offs are great options for winners! We all know what it's like to work ourselves into overdrive and never take a moment to rest. This process is exhausting and results in burnout quickly. Encourage your staff to be mindful of their self-care routines with this fun challenge! 5. Staff Favorites Book This last staff morale booster is a tried and true favorite! Plus, it can be used all year long for many situations. Creating a Staff Favorites Binder will pay off all throughout the year. The idea behind this resource is to have your staff members fill out a page with all of their favorite things. They will include things like: sweet treat office supply flower store hot beverage pen and more! Once you have everyone's sheet back, you'll make a few copies and place them in 3-ring binders. I like to make multiple copies so that I can place a binder in various places such as the office and staff lounge. As I do this, I let staff know that they will be available for random acts of kindness. If they notice that a staff member is having a rough week, they can check out the binder and pick up their favorite flowers. Or maybe they want to thank a colleague for something, so they grab a pack of their favorite pens. The nice thing about this staff morale booster is that it can be used all year long! There are food options inside, but there are plenty of non-food items listed as well, so staff can choose what they'd like to give. Staff Morale Boosters for the Whole Year Which of these is your favorite? It's hard for me to choose, but I will say that the Staff Favorites and BINGO were always a huge hit in our building. No matter what you choose, remember that it doesn't have to be anything super fancy or flashy! A simple thank you note, some fresh flowers in the lounge, or a new set of flair pens was always enough to make me smile and feel appreciated. The idea is to spread sunshine and kindness in ways that are accessible to you. If you're looking for more Staff Morale boosters, be sure to check out these posts for more inspiration! 6 Tasty Staff Snack Bars Everyone Will Love! Creating a Staff Morale Hub to Spread a Little Sunshine 6 Ways to Boost Staff Morale in Your School This Year Save this Post Pin this post on Pinterest to keep track of these staff morale boosters!

Download training course materials. Ready to use, editable resources for corporate trainers to run engaging soft skills workshops for managers and employees.

Ever find yourself dragging your feet to a staff meeting? As part of my school's wellness team, we are constantly playing games to either kick off or wrap up a staff meeting! Yes, teachers love games as much as their students! Your staff will work (and laugh) together as they brainstorm answers to the teaching-themed categories with words beginning with the same letter! This file includes: Directions and Tips for Use 5 ready to print lists 1 editable list (Keynote and Powerpoint Versions) Have a blast!

Strategies for self-care for teachers and other educators. Teaching is tough! It's important to put mental, physical, and emotional health first. From connecting with uplifting colleagues to planning positive activities to look forward to, there are simple self-care strategies all teachers can put i

Are you looking for good team-building and problem-solving activities? Here are a few I've tried as an elementary school principal. If I thought it was accomplished with a good amount of success, I gave those activities a “thumbs up”. I’ll also share a few that I thought fell short! Look for the “thumbs down”!

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.

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!

I've created 34 Staff Certificates That All Teachers Will Relate To. Share this post with a teacher who will understand! Keep reading to download all 34

If you are interested in implementing some small things that go along way to increase positive staff culture at your school, then this post is for you! Teaching is fun, but it can be way more fun to come to work if your staff culture is strong.

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.

If you work as a school administrator, a parent volunteer, or a member of a school sunshine committee, you probably already know just how important staff morale is. Keeping staff morale high is crucial to creating a warm and welcoming school environment. Teachers and other school staff members work hard! Let's help them feel appreciated and boost staff morale this fall with some fun and fresh ideas! Fall is a Great Time for a Staff Morale Boost Fall is a fun time in any school environment. Depending on when your school started for the year, the fall months of September, October, and November mean that students and staff have settled into a new routine. Once the hectic air of back-to-school season has left the building, fall feels like a warm and cozy hug for most of us! As a long-time chairperson of my school's sunshine committee, fall was one of my favorite months to embrace special activities and events to boost staff morale. There are so many great themes to play on in the fall, plus it's a good idea to build those staff relationships before the holiday season rolls around! Today I'm sharing some ideas that are great for any time of year, but they're especially suited to fall! So if you're looking for new ways to recognize staff in your school, here are 5 fun ideas to inspire you. 1. Apple Buffet Nothing screams fall like all things apple in the Midwest! When I came up with the idea for an apple buffet, I was inspired by the local apple orchard just up the street from where I lived. If you've ever visited an apple orchard, you know there's a certain kind of "fall magic" that you can just feel in the air. The humble apple is a most prized fruit and is used to make all kinds of wonderful fall treats. Make the most of apple season in your area with an apple buffet for staff members! I did this by purchasing a variety of apples, and putting them out with all kinds of toppings. Some fun toppings include caramel sauce, chocolate sauce, crushed cookies, chopped nuts, and coconut. On the day of, simply set up a buffet table with paper plates, napkins, apple slicers, apples, and toppings. As staff pass the table, they can choose an apple, slice it, and dress it up! This resource includes announcement signs, decorative posters, sign-up sheets, ingredient labels, and reminder tags to make setup and planning a breeze. You can also decide if you'd like to run this as a potluck-style event or provide all of the ingredients yourself. Either way, this is a fun idea to celebrate autumn, and boost staff morale! 2. Jeans Day Certificates As a teacher who worked in a school with a strict dress code, nothing was better than having a "Jeans Day"! And once fall rolls around, it's even better to be able to wear your coziest pair of jeans to school! Since I loved wearing jeans so much, and I knew my colleagues did too, using certificates for "Choose Your Own Jeans Day" was a total no-brainer. When I ran the sunshine committee, we used these certificates as a prize for staff meetings, to celebrate holidays, and more. School administrators loved handing these out when they observed great lessons being taught during observations as well! Everyone loved getting the option to wear jeans on any day of their choice, and it's a great inexpensive option to add to your list of ways to thank staff for their hard work. 3. Soup Potluck Does your school have potlucks from time to time? We had them often, and while they were usually holiday-themed, my favorite was our annual Soup Potluck in the fall. Everyone loved not having to bring their lunch to school that day! Plus, what is more cozy and comforting than soup? To host a soup potluck, I put out sign-up sheets well in advance to make sure we had a nice variety available. On the day of, I set up enough tables to hold everything and provided power strips for everyone to plug in their slow cookers. In the morning, staff would come in and set up their pot along with little tags that said what kind they brought. When lunchtime rolled around, everyone was so excited to taste test different soups and enjoy them with bread or crackers. I love the sense of community that comes with potlucks! It's always fun to host this on a Friday, or the day after a big local football game was held. This resource helps make planning and executing a soup potluck fun and simple. Included, are announcements, sign-up sheets, a timeline for a successful soup day, reminders, room décor, and more! 4. Staff Appreciation Post-It Notes Over the years, I have discovered that one of the BEST ways to boost staff morale is through small tokens of appreciation. That's why I love these Post-it notes so much! They're simple and easy to use, and always leave a big impact. This resource comes with 18 different messages that will brighten any staff member's day. Simply choose your template, affix your post-its to it, and load them into the printer. Add a personal touch after printing and you're good to go! Then, pop these on your colleagues' desks, on a car window, on a wall, or in another spot you know they'll find it. These are a fun and easy way to show that you're thinking of them and that their hard work is appreciated! These are also nice to hand out (unfilled) to staff members so that they can recognize each other throughout the year. 5. October Staff Boo This last idea is perfect for the month of October, and SO much fun! This activity begins slowly and picks up speed as other staff members get involved. Start it at the beginning of the month for the most fun! To implement it, you will begin the chain by making 2 copies of the BOO sign included in this resource. You'll choose colleagues to BOO and pick up a special treat for them at a drive-through, or grocery store. Finally, you'll leave the signs and treats at their desk and place another sign on the door. When the staff member finds their sign and treat, they continue the chain by doing the same. The pace picks up as more and more staff are BOOed throughout the building! This is always a staff favorite and such a wonderful way to boost staff morale. This resource comes in handy when used alongside the Staff Favorites Book as well. That way everyone will have plenty of treat ideas to get for their colleagues! Have Fun Boosting Staff Morale this Fall Which of these staff morale-boosting activities was your favorite? It's hard to choose, and the good news is that you don't have to! In fact, I have found that including lots of activities like these throughout the year is the best way to help ensure that staff know they're appreciated and keep morale high. Plus, activities like these make any school more fun to work at, which was always reason enough for me! Have fun planning your own staff morale events and activities this fall! If you'd like to take a closer look at these resources, along with lots of others, you can check them out in my TPT shop!

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!

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Need to introduce staff to effective strategies that work? Explore powerful teaching strategies identified through the research of John Hattie.

Share your school values from the moment your students enter the front door.

If you are interested in implementing some small things that go along way to increase positive staff culture at your school, then this post is for you! Teaching is fun, but it can be way more fun to come to work if your staff culture is strong.

Utilizing our Staff Appreciation Solution on a Monthly Basis: Elevate Morale and Celebrate with Creativity! Our Staff Appreciation Solution offers an exciting opportunity to engage your staff members and boost morale on a monthly basis. To make the most of this program, we recommend incorporating a variety of themed celebrations and activities throughout the year. Here's a brief summary of how you can use our solution to create a memorable and uplifting experience each month: Monthly Themes and Ideas: Embrace the power of different themes and ideas to show appreciation to your staff. Each month, select a unique theme that resonates with your organization's culture or aligns with a relevant occasion. Planning and Preparation: Begin by planning the monthly appreciation activities in advance. Determine the specific initiatives and events you want to incorporate based on the chosen theme. Allocate necessary resources and delegate responsibilities to ensure smooth execution. By following these steps, you can ensure that your monthly staff appreciation initiatives are dynamic, engaging, and impactful. Our Staff Appreciation Solution provides a foundation for creativity, and with the incorporation of monthly themes, ideas, banners, signs, and gift tags, you can elevate the festivities and continually reinforce the appreciation culture within your organization. Together, let's boost staff morale and create a workplace where appreciation and motivation thrive. ⭐️ Check out: Celebrating All Year Long: Staff Appreciation Throughout the Year Celebrating All Year Long: Staff Appreciation Throughout the Year (August) Celebrating All Year Long: Staff Appreciation Throughout the Year (September) Celebrating All Year Long: Staff Appreciation Throughout the Year (October) Celebrating All Year Long: Staff Appreciation Throughout the Year (November) Celebrating All Year Long: Staff Appreciation Throughout the Year (December) Celebrating All Year Long: Staff Appreciation Throughout the Year (January) Celebrating All Year Long: Staff Appreciation Throughout the Year (February) Celebrating All Year Long: Staff Appreciation Throughout the Year (March) ⭐️ You may be interested in: Teacher Support & Appreciation Strategies All Lear Long ⭐️ Click here to follow me and be the first to hear about new products, sales and special promotions. For additional resources, be sure to check out my store. Website Newsletter Facebook Instagram Pinterest

What are the types of employee training? First-time managers, shadowing, compliance, safety and mentoring training for staff in the workplace.

While some people believe that teachers spend their summers lounging on the beach all day, the truth is that great educators are using much of their time away from school to revise their curriculum for the upcoming year. June and July are when educators attend conferences, plan new learning activities for their students, and reflect […]

Use these speech bubbles to motivate your staff or students to always do their best! This would be a great Sunshine Committee activity. Just print and hang! This product includes: 7 different speech bubble styles 14 different sayings/phrases 4 editable slides to add your own messages

Looking for a quick and easy way to boost staff morale? Look no further! Scattergories for teachers is a quick, fun way to get your teachers engaged into a game all about teaching! This game has been adapted into three different versions: Printable cards PowerPoint Googleslides You can use this game VIRTUALLY! All you would need is to present using PowerPoint or Google slides and use Google Meet or Zoom. UPDATED on 08/16/2020: Google Slide Response Sheets added for staff to document their responses to enhance the virtual experience. If you are interested in more Staff Morale games & activities, I recommend you purchase my Staff Morale Bundle and save money. In order to edit and make your own list in PowerPoint you will need to note: Before purchasing, please make sure you have the correct program for this resource. To edit the files, you should use PowerPoint (newer than 2008). With Office 2008, vertical text does not align properly and you will have to manually adjust it. If you are trying to use a different program, you may run into various formatting issues I won’t be able to help you with. Online versions of PowerPoint do not have the same capabilities as the full version of PowerPoint. Don't forget that leaving feedback earns you points toward FREE TPT purchases. I really appreciate your feedback!! Please feel free to contact me with any questions: [email protected] Thank you! Kylie

Teacher morale is an important part of the school community. Teachers are unique, we are used to fending for ourselves, and pulling ourselves out of even the deepest of funks. This doesn't mean we don't like a little morale booster from time to time.

In the world of staff morale gifts and activities, you may have noticed a common theme... food! Treats, meals, and other food-related events are pretty typical when it comes to showing appreciation for staff. While I think we'd all agree that food is a fun way to celebrate, sometimes you want an alternative, right? If you're nodding your head in agreement - I've got just the solution for you! Let's talk about some of my favorite staff morale boosters that are not food! Why Staff Morale Counts First off, why does staff morale matter? If you're an administrator or member of the staff sunshine committee, you already know the importance of staff morale. School staff members work hard! In today's social climate, staff morale is even more important as staff and teachers navigate tricky situations at school. Keeping staff morale high is important in maintaining a healthy school atmosphere. In turn, this benefits everyone involved. When staff are happy and feel appreciated, you can expect the daily routines in your building to hum right along! And remember, staff morale is important for ALL staff members, not just teachers. I'm talking about admin, cafeteria, tech support, secretarial staff, janitorial, security, counselors, librarians, and more! Everyone who works in the school is an important piece of the system. Let's do our part to show appreciation for school staff members with these fun staff morale boosters! 1. Staff Morale BINGO We're kicking off this list with one of my best-selling staff morale boosters... BINGO! Everyone knows and loves BINGO, right? I've certainly found this to be true in my own school building after years of using it. This game is a bit of a twist on the traditional, with a giant, life-size BINGO board for everyone to use! There are 2 options included, one for teaching staff and one for ALL staff, so you can choose what works best for your building. To set this up, you'll choose your favorite 25 prompts. There are 90 different ones, so no matter what you're looking to recognize and promote- there's something here for you! Prompts include making positive calls home, leaving for the day with an organized desk, not working through lunch, and more! The great thing about this resource is that you can pick and choose what works best for your school. Think about what will motivate YOUR staff, and choose accordingly. If certain prompts don't align with what you're hoping to target- simply leave them out for ones better suited. Once you choose your BINGO cards, you'll print them out - I like colorful Astrobrights paper, and then hang them on the wall to make a giant BINGO board. It's a good idea to put this in a high-traffic area so that staff members are reminded to add to it regularly. To play, staff will add their name to each BINGO card as they complete one of the prompts. Once someone has a BINGO, they win a prize. You can continue this until the board is completely filled, or you reach a set time. Either way, this one will energize and motivate staff to fill up those cards! 2. Random Acts of Kindness Poster This next option is a fun way to get all staff members involved in spreading kindness! This resource includes 10 different full-color posters with tear-off prompts for random acts of kindness. The idea is to print them off and hang them in areas where staff congregate. They will look through the prompts and select one to "pay it forward" to a colleague. The prompts include things like: pass off a book to a great friend plan a walk with a colleague after work offer to cover someone's duty bring in fresh flowers to brighten up a common area share a bottle of soap or lotion for the staff lounge provide a listening ear and many more! I love this staff morale booster because it's a way to get staff members thinking about how they can spread a little kindness on their own. I don't know about you guys, but when things are busy and crazy in my life, it can be hard to remember to slow down and think of others. This natural human tendency can stir us into a frenzy! Using random acts of kindness is a great way to reconnect with those around us and remember we're all facing challenges on a daily basis. 3. Windshield Messages Looking for a simple, non-food related way to show staff members you care? Windshield wiper cards are the perfect way to do just that! The idea behind this staff morale booster is to choose a heartfelt message for staff and leave it tucked behind the windshield wipers on their car. When they leave for the day, they will find a fun message to motivate and inspire them! I have options to carry you through the entire school year. By choosing one that relates to the season, you'll end up with whimsical notes that are pretty punny! Some of the fall notes include messages like: I be-leaf in you! Your students are falling in love with learning! We are totally NUTS about you! The fall notes will come in handy from August through November. The winter notes are filled with messages that are perfect for adding to staff vehicles right before winter break. The spring windshield notes will carry you through the spring months leading to the end of the school year. The notes include cute clipart and seasonal designs as well, so all you need to do is print and add a personal touch if desired! Your staff will love going home for the day and finding these notes waiting for them. 4. Self-Care Challenge I already mentioned my love for BINGO games, and I have another to share! This Self-Care BINGO Challenge is the perfect way to steer your staff towards focusing on health, wellness, and stress relief. This game is designed to be used after hours to help create a better work-life balance and get the necessary rest to be their best self at work. To play, each staff member will get a BINGO board. You can distribute these in staff mailboxes with instructions, or pass them out at a staff meeting. Staff members will work on completing the board throughout the month until the next meeting. This challenge will work for ALL staff members, so make sure to include everyone in your building! The boxes are filled with prompts such as: light a candle cut or color your hair take a bath binge-watch a new show find some quiet and enjoy a good book get your car washed go to bed early and more! As staff complete an item, they will mark it off. You can decide if you want them to complete 5 in a row, or go for blackout! Collect some prizes and distribute them to the winners. These scratch-offs are great options for winners! We all know what it's like to work ourselves into overdrive and never take a moment to rest. This process is exhausting and results in burnout quickly. Encourage your staff to be mindful of their self-care routines with this fun challenge! 5. Staff Favorites Book This last staff morale booster is a tried and true favorite! Plus, it can be used all year long for many situations. Creating a Staff Favorites Binder will pay off all throughout the year. The idea behind this resource is to have your staff members fill out a page with all of their favorite things. They will include things like: sweet treat office supply flower store hot beverage pen and more! Once you have everyone's sheet back, you'll make a few copies and place them in 3-ring binders. I like to make multiple copies so that I can place a binder in various places such as the office and staff lounge. As I do this, I let staff know that they will be available for random acts of kindness. If they notice that a staff member is having a rough week, they can check out the binder and pick up their favorite flowers. Or maybe they want to thank a colleague for something, so they grab a pack of their favorite pens. The nice thing about this staff morale booster is that it can be used all year long! There are food options inside, but there are plenty of non-food items listed as well, so staff can choose what they'd like to give. Staff Morale Boosters for the Whole Year Which of these is your favorite? It's hard for me to choose, but I will say that the Staff Favorites and BINGO were always a huge hit in our building. No matter what you choose, remember that it doesn't have to be anything super fancy or flashy! A simple thank you note, some fresh flowers in the lounge, or a new set of flair pens was always enough to make me smile and feel appreciated. The idea is to spread sunshine and kindness in ways that are accessible to you. If you're looking for more Staff Morale boosters, be sure to check out these posts for more inspiration! 6 Tasty Staff Snack Bars Everyone Will Love! Creating a Staff Morale Hub to Spread a Little Sunshine 6 Ways to Boost Staff Morale in Your School This Year Save this Post Pin this post on Pinterest to keep track of these staff morale boosters!

If you are interested in implementing some small things that go along way to increase positive staff culture at your school, then this post is for you! Teaching is fun, but it can be way more fun to come to work if your staff culture is strong.

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!

This form is a great way to get to know and recognize staff! Have students fill out prior to teacher appreciation week or any other time you'd like to recognize teachers and staff.

Building and keeping staff morale strong is a direct result of continued action throughout the year. This ongoing process does require effort, but it's well worth it to make your staff feel appreciated on a daily basis. One of my best tips for making it a little easier is creating a Staff Morale Hub or Staff Sunshine Corner at your school. Set this up once and watch as your staff form meaningful bonds and connections throughout the year! What is a Staff Morale Hub? First off, if you're wondering what I'm talking about, let me explain. A staff morale hub, also known as a staff sunshine corner, is a central location where staff can go to find goodies and notices related to them. Ideally, it should be a little corner that's big enough for a cart or table, and have a bit of wall space for displays. This area is usually outside of the principal's office, or in the staff lounge so it's easy to access and most staff see it regularly. The idea behind a staff morale hub or staff sunshine station is to have a place where staff can find things that will encourage them, thank them, support them, and overall help boost morale. Holiday event notices should be here, as well as sign-ups for potlucks, and even special treats! As the coordinator for the Sunshine Committee for many years at my school, I loved getting this area set up because it was one of the best ways to make staff feel appreciated on a daily basis. Set-Up & Materials Before we can decorate and add all the goodies, you'll want to make sure you have an area that will work. Talk to your principal and/or other administrators about where a good spot for this might be. Then, you'll want to make sure you have a couple of clear walls. Corner spots work well for this purpose! And finally, you'll want to secure some kind of table or cart to place everything on. In my school, we used a large media cart for this job. It was tall enough to be table height, had storage space underneath, and was easy to roll in and out! What Goes in a Staff Morale Hub? Now, on to the fun stuff, stocking your staff morale hub! This is the really fun part, where you get to instill personality and plenty of sunshine into your Staff Morale Hub. Remember, the idea is to help staff feel appreciated, supported, and like they're all part of one big family. Being intentional in choosing materials that will support that goal is key. Here are 13, fun things I recommend stocking your Staff Sunshine Corner with for maximum effectiveness: 1. Staff Bulletin Board On the large wall behind your cart, I recommend using a bulletin board or making a mock one on the wall. This comes in handy for hanging important notices, event posters, and even fun memes to make the staff laugh. In the spirit of spreading sunshine, I always used bright and happy colors for this along with a fun header like this one. Feel free to get creative with this and add seasonal decor too! These small touches help bring your staff morale hub to life. 2. Staff Shout-Out Board If you happened to secure a corner for your staff morale hub, I recommend using the smaller wall on the side of your table or cart of a Staff Shout-Out Board. This simple idea encourages staff to recognize each other for acts of kindness and service. it has a way of snowballing and spreading sunshine like crazy too! To prep this, print out a staff shoutout board here and provide staff with post-its and markers. You can even print it poster size and place it in a large frame if you want to go the extra mile. Then, add a few notes to get the ball rolling and watch the shout-outs multiply. 3. District Calendar While the staff morale hub is mostly for spreading sunshine and boosting morale, it should also be practical. Adding a district calendar to your main bulletin board is a must! You can also add any important notices specific to your district as well. Make sure to set a reminder to swap these out seasonally, if needed! 4. Check-In Sunshine Corner This can be used for lots of different things, but it seems like it's most often used for sign-ups. At my school, we had a lot of events, so whatever was upcoming was always placed on the Sunshine Corner bulletin board. That way staff could quickly check and see if they were interested in participating. Some schools also require a daily check-in for staff. In which case, this Sunshine Corner bulletin board would be perfect for that! This helps to get staff to the area daily and they can take a quick peek at the board and see what's coming up. 5. Basket of Blank Thank You Notes This is such a simple add-on to your staff morale hub but it truly makes a world of difference! Grab a basket or bucket and fill it with blank Thank-You cards. I found a bunch at the dollar store. Then, as staff need them, they can grab a card or two to use. Over the years, I found that staff often brought in their own cards to donate as well and spread the gratitude! 6. Staff Address Book At one point, our district stopped sharing staff contact information. At my school, we were used to sending cards to each other at various times throughout the year, so I made a Staff Address Book for anyone who wanted to participate. The Staff Sunshine Corner is a great place to store this book in case anyone wants to send a thank you note, holiday card, or get well card to a staff member. 7. Staff Favorites Book The Staff Morale Hub is also a great place to store a Staff Favorites Book. This is a binder or booklet filled with forms that share everyone's favorite things. Some of the items on the list include favorite hot drinks, fast food, candy, pens, and more! I always passed out these forms at the beginning of the year, then filled up a binder and left this out for staff to access as needed. 8. Candy Bowl Goodies of some kind are another must for this area, in my opinion! At my school, my principal liked to take on the responsibility of keeping this stocked. You can also fund this in other ways as well, or take turns filling it by grade level. No matter what you choose, it's nice to have a little treat available for staff at all times in the staff morale hub. 9. Staff Birthday Display I don't know about you guys, but our school LOVED celebrating birthdays! In my school, I always made sure there was a spot on the bulletin board for the current monthly birthday display, as well as the bound birthday book. We all know how busy the school year gets. So, when we can take a minute to show your staff that you remember their special day it makes a big impact on morale! As an extra special bonus, the bound book was a way to peek at upcoming birthdays and the display showed the ones for the current month. Our staff always loved seeing whose birthday was coming up, and then flipping through the Staff Favorites Book to surprise them with something they enjoyed! 10. Kindness Plates This area is also a great spot to store some Kindness Plates for staff to pass around. If you've never heard of them before, they're easy and fun to use. Here's the idea: a Kindness Plate gets filled with a special treat, lunch, office supplies, or other fun goodies. Then it gets left for a teacher or staff member. That person gets to enjoy everything on the plate, and then it's their turn to fill it and gift it to someone else. At my school, we had 5 Kindness Plates in rotation all year long. Our rule of thumb was that once you received it, the kindness plate would be filled up again and passed on within a week. This is a fun way to encourage staff members, say thank you, or just spread a little sunshine! 11. Staff BINGO This next idea takes up a fair bit of wall space, but it's great to display in an adjacent area to your Staff Sunshine Corner. Staff BINGO is a fun way to reinvigorate your team and recognize them for all the things they do. Each page on the large BINGO board lists something the staff might do in their daily work. Each day they check the board and see if they completed anything on the board. If they did, they signed their name in that spot. The idea is to get 5 in a row to get a BINGO! This ongoing game is a lot of fun, and if you use Astrobrights paper it really brightens up a room too! 12. Collection Envelope for Staff In Need This is an extra added touch, that hopefully you won't need. In the case that you have a staff member who is very sick, in the hospital for an extended amount of time, or otherwise in need, you can start a collection envelope. This is where staff can leave monetary donations to help the staff member and their family out. Staff might also want to drop encouraging notes here as well! 13. Random Acts of Kindness Tear-Offs Last but not least, we all need a few more random acts of kindness in our lives, don't we?! This is one of my favorites on the list because it promotes genuine and kind acts among staff that seem to boost morale more than anything else. These tear-off posters offer simple prompts that staff can choose from to pay it forward in some way. It's as simple as tearing or cutting off a prompt and taking it with you to remind yourself to make someone else's day extra special. The prompts include things like bragging about the principal, filling the candy bowl, bringing a colleague a special treat, or bringing a vase of fresh flowers for the lounge. These small acts pay off BIG, and staff love grabbing them as they pass the Staff Morale Hub! Use a Staff Sunshine Corner All Year So what do you think? Could your school benefit from a Staff Morale Hub or a Sunshine Corner? I sure think so! This project takes a little time to prepare, but I know you'll LOVE it once it's set up. Working with administrators, your principal, or the Sunshine Committee is a great way to get this set up in your school and reap the benefits of it all year long! If you're looking for more ideas on spreading sunshine and boosting staff morale, be sure to check out these posts too: 8 Staff Morale Boosters Holiday Staff Party and Gift Ideas Fun Fall Staff Morale Ideas Boost Staff Morale During a New School Year Save This Post Pin this post on Pinterest to keep these ideas for your Staff Morale Hub handy!

Is it time to boost morale in your school? My line of staff morale boosters can be extremely helpful to you and your amazing teachers and school staff. Try my Staff Morale Bingo and watch your staff get re-energized and motivated. Teaching is a definite challenge these days so restore and boost mora...

If you work as a school administrator, a parent volunteer, or a member of a school sunshine committee, you probably already know just how important staff morale is. Keeping staff morale high is crucial to creating a warm and welcoming school environment. Teachers and other school staff members work hard! Let's help them feel appreciated and boost staff morale this fall with some fun and fresh ideas! Fall is a Great Time for a Staff Morale Boost Fall is a fun time in any school environment. Depending on when your school started for the year, the fall months of September, October, and November mean that students and staff have settled into a new routine. Once the hectic air of back-to-school season has left the building, fall feels like a warm and cozy hug for most of us! As a long-time chairperson of my school's sunshine committee, fall was one of my favorite months to embrace special activities and events to boost staff morale. There are so many great themes to play on in the fall, plus it's a good idea to build those staff relationships before the holiday season rolls around! Today I'm sharing some ideas that are great for any time of year, but they're especially suited to fall! So if you're looking for new ways to recognize staff in your school, here are 5 fun ideas to inspire you. 1. Apple Buffet Nothing screams fall like all things apple in the Midwest! When I came up with the idea for an apple buffet, I was inspired by the local apple orchard just up the street from where I lived. If you've ever visited an apple orchard, you know there's a certain kind of "fall magic" that you can just feel in the air. The humble apple is a most prized fruit and is used to make all kinds of wonderful fall treats. Make the most of apple season in your area with an apple buffet for staff members! I did this by purchasing a variety of apples, and putting them out with all kinds of toppings. Some fun toppings include caramel sauce, chocolate sauce, crushed cookies, chopped nuts, and coconut. On the day of, simply set up a buffet table with paper plates, napkins, apple slicers, apples, and toppings. As staff pass the table, they can choose an apple, slice it, and dress it up! This resource includes announcement signs, decorative posters, sign-up sheets, ingredient labels, and reminder tags to make setup and planning a breeze. You can also decide if you'd like to run this as a potluck-style event or provide all of the ingredients yourself. Either way, this is a fun idea to celebrate autumn, and boost staff morale! 2. Jeans Day Certificates As a teacher who worked in a school with a strict dress code, nothing was better than having a "Jeans Day"! And once fall rolls around, it's even better to be able to wear your coziest pair of jeans to school! Since I loved wearing jeans so much, and I knew my colleagues did too, using certificates for "Choose Your Own Jeans Day" was a total no-brainer. When I ran the sunshine committee, we used these certificates as a prize for staff meetings, to celebrate holidays, and more. School administrators loved handing these out when they observed great lessons being taught during observations as well! Everyone loved getting the option to wear jeans on any day of their choice, and it's a great inexpensive option to add to your list of ways to thank staff for their hard work. 3. Soup Potluck Does your school have potlucks from time to time? We had them often, and while they were usually holiday-themed, my favorite was our annual Soup Potluck in the fall. Everyone loved not having to bring their lunch to school that day! Plus, what is more cozy and comforting than soup? To host a soup potluck, I put out sign-up sheets well in advance to make sure we had a nice variety available. On the day of, I set up enough tables to hold everything and provided power strips for everyone to plug in their slow cookers. In the morning, staff would come in and set up their pot along with little tags that said what kind they brought. When lunchtime rolled around, everyone was so excited to taste test different soups and enjoy them with bread or crackers. I love the sense of community that comes with potlucks! It's always fun to host this on a Friday, or the day after a big local football game was held. This resource helps make planning and executing a soup potluck fun and simple. Included, are announcements, sign-up sheets, a timeline for a successful soup day, reminders, room décor, and more! 4. Staff Appreciation Post-It Notes Over the years, I have discovered that one of the BEST ways to boost staff morale is through small tokens of appreciation. That's why I love these Post-it notes so much! They're simple and easy to use, and always leave a big impact. This resource comes with 18 different messages that will brighten any staff member's day. Simply choose your template, affix your post-its to it, and load them into the printer. Add a personal touch after printing and you're good to go! Then, pop these on your colleagues' desks, on a car window, on a wall, or in another spot you know they'll find it. These are a fun and easy way to show that you're thinking of them and that their hard work is appreciated! These are also nice to hand out (unfilled) to staff members so that they can recognize each other throughout the year. 5. October Staff Boo This last idea is perfect for the month of October, and SO much fun! This activity begins slowly and picks up speed as other staff members get involved. Start it at the beginning of the month for the most fun! To implement it, you will begin the chain by making 2 copies of the BOO sign included in this resource. You'll choose colleagues to BOO and pick up a special treat for them at a drive-through, or grocery store. Finally, you'll leave the signs and treats at their desk and place another sign on the door. When the staff member finds their sign and treat, they continue the chain by doing the same. The pace picks up as more and more staff are BOOed throughout the building! This is always a staff favorite and such a wonderful way to boost staff morale. This resource comes in handy when used alongside the Staff Favorites Book as well. That way everyone will have plenty of treat ideas to get for their colleagues! Have Fun Boosting Staff Morale this Fall Which of these staff morale-boosting activities was your favorite? It's hard to choose, and the good news is that you don't have to! In fact, I have found that including lots of activities like these throughout the year is the best way to help ensure that staff know they're appreciated and keep morale high. Plus, activities like these make any school more fun to work at, which was always reason enough for me! Have fun planning your own staff morale events and activities this fall! If you'd like to take a closer look at these resources, along with lots of others, you can check them out in my TPT shop!

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 […]