Teacher Appreciation
December 2022
YAY!!! You made it to the holiday break!!! If you are like most campus administrators you had blinders on helping you stayed focus on actually making it to and through the last day...
Now that you are on holiday break, what are your plans for when the teachers return in January? For many, the teacher's first day back is a professional development day and/or work day. One of the best ways to jump start the new year is with some fun staff games.
Before we talk about the games, let me share with you a quick and easy idea you can offer as prizes.
A quick, easy, and loved prize is a school gift certificate. You can make these in any increment and it is basically giving the teachers money from your school budget. Teachers can spend their gift certificate on classroom items, decor, supplies, or even coveted Flair pens.
Tip: Put an expiration date on your gift certificates to help ensure they are turned in before your school budget is gone.
If you would an editable version of the school gift certificate you can email me at Kathleen.Eckert@iCloud.com and I will send it to you.
Game Ideas
- Hillwood has Talent: Let's see what hidden talents your staff has! Have staff members volunteer to share a talent with the staff, use crowd applause to determine the winner, and give the winner a school gift certificate. I have had teachers do the splits, wrap their arm around their head to touch their ear, sing opera, and many other hilarious things. (I had the privilege of being the principal at Hillwood Middle School for 10 amazing years, hence why I call this activity Hillwood has Talent.)
- Musical Chairs: Make participation optional and offer a school gift certificate to the winner. When I did this I offered a $100 school gift certificate. I will never be able to forget watching Matt Lorton, tall football coach/math teacher, and Renee Marvin, a shorter art teacher, fighting it out to win the $100.
- Eckert Says: This is simply Simon Says with me being a little more devious that I would be with students.
You want to make games like this voluntary, however these games will provide all of your staff with lots of laughs and stories as you gear up for the new year.
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Thank you for loving teachers,
Kathleen Eckert
Follow me on Twitter @EckertKathleen
