Staff Morale Plan
Staff Morale PlanPierce Elementary Schoolcenter850008549640February 13, 2015 1000000February 13, 2015 center182880“A person who feels appreciated will always do more than what is expected.”Unknown4000020000“A person who feels appreciated will always do more than what is expected.”UnknownTeacher morale can be a major issue in schools. Low morale can have a major impact on school buildings. It can affect relationships between colleagues and students, lower productivity, reduce student learning and create an environment of mistrust. However, when morale is high and the culture of the school is healthy, students improve academically and socially, teachers are productive and collaborative, the school environment is engaging. It is important for schools to work constantly to build and/or improve teacher morale. There are some factors that are out of an administrator’s control that could affect morale: school leadership, workload, pay, student behavior and professional development. Supportive leaders contribute to high morale, while unsupportive leaders contribute to having low morale. Teaching is very challenging intellectually, emotionally, and physically. There are many demands on a teacher’s time such as curriculum development, recess supervision, extracurricular activities, fundraising and paperwork. There is also the increased expectations of high-stakes testing and decreased school funding.Principals can find ways to increase staff morale on a limited budget. The following are some suggestions of ways to improve staff morale and improve the school culture.Morale is “a school environment where faculty perceives a collective sense of friendliness, openness and trust” (Baughman, 1996). Sense of Community provides the feeling of belonging to a shared psychological sense of coherence at a school. Members are connected by beliefs, feelings, and relationships (Belenardo, 2001). Supportive Principal Behavior is concerned with both social and task achievement, motivates teachers by using constructive feedback and is a positive role model for teachers (Baughman, 1996).What we do alreadyPay day outingParent fundraising for teachersGrade level meetingsRecognizes accomplishments of staff/studentsAllow teacher inputAdvocating for staff Sharing of school goalsChristmas partyWalking clubAddress safety concernsParent roomSecret SantaTraining opportunitiesSpirit DaysReading month activitiesGive feedback often and timelySquash rumors immediately – hold meetings if necessaryMake sure teachers have supplies and equipment neededInclude motivational quotes on staff bulletinsMake sure the building is welcoming (plants, posters, etc)Keep building clean (bulletin boards, etc)Create a bulletin board with all staff images on it (shows unity)In OfficeLeaving You Go…. Notes Staff leave positive notes for each other. It can be anonymous (could be announced during staff meeting or have a board set up for people to place notes)So you think you know the faculty?Each staff member writes 1 or 2 fun facts about themselves and others have to guess.Pot luck breakfast or lunch on pay dayPeople sign up to bring dishes on pay day (can be by grade or content area groupsBring in baby pictures Staff try to guess who the person isBring pictures of their animalsStaff try to guess who it belongs toA Tree of thanksLeave a leaf with a thank you message (even for small or silly things)Casual DayTeachers can dress down (wear jeans)Provide snacks or rewards during meetings Give out supplies, candy, chips, donuts, etc.Ugly sweater contestDuring the holiday seasonStaff dress up as black history characterChildren try to guess who they areJewelry design partySchool puzzleWe are many pieces working as one (write what you like about your school/job on a puzzle piece)FLASH AwardThe first 5 teachers that arrive to the faculty meeting are rewarded with a computer flash drive. (FLASH = First Leaders Attending Staff development Help- okay that is weak but I am trying)For an early morning staff meeting it could be the ERA Award- Early Riser Award.Same recognition item.Celebrate Staff BirthdaysLeave a birthday note or have a monthly, or every three month celebration with cupcakes, etc.During staff meetings highlight some agendas or place numbers under chairs and give gifts to winners.Gift cards booksTaco Tuesday or other cultural day once per semesterOut of office ActivitiesBowlingMovie nightSporting eventsPainting with a twistLunch/dinner ParentsProvide light snacks at parent meetingsProvide parents with their own meeting spaceGamesTake What You NeedThis exercise is an excellent get-to-know-you activity that doesn’t take up too much of your team’s time. All you need is a toilet paper roll or two depending on the size of the group (you can use pennies as another option). Recommended group size is 10-30 people.Ask everyone to sit around in a circle.Pass around the roll of toilet paper or pennies and tell them to take as much as they think they’ll need, without disclosing what the items will be used for.If your employees ask further questions, simply answer them with, “take as much as you think you’ll need.”Once that’s done, ask them to count the number of squares they each have.Going around the circle, each person has to share a fact about themselves for every square of toilet paper or penny they took. So, if someone takes 10 squares, they need to share 10 facts about themselves.Tip: In order to avoid someone taking 30 pennies or squares of toilet paper, you could set a limit for each item. The facts don’t have to be long or time consuming.This activity encourages communication, bonding, and helps the participants learn more about their colleagues. You’d be surprised what a simple activity can teach you about someone you thought you knew.Beach Ball TossWhether you’re adding on new team members, merging departments or trying to strengthen the bond between existing employees, the following exercise is great as a get-to-know-one-another activity and doesn’t require much time. Recommended group size is 5-25 people.All you need for this activity is a beach ball that’s been divided with random questions written on it. (Only you, as the manager should know what questions are on the ball). Questions can be simple or more complex, i.e. what’s your favorite dessert? what are your weekly goals? if conflict were to arise within your department, how would you go about handling that?Have the participants stand in a circle and begin tossing the ball around. Whoever catches the ball needs to introduce themselves and answer the question closest to their pinky finger. (Another option would be to allow them to choose which question they’d like to answer).Tip: When coming up with the questions, you may ask the participants to submit three questions each and pick which questions you’d like to write on the ball.This exercise will help the participants learn more about their colleagues. Unlike a regular meeting, this is a more exciting way to give everyone an opportunity to stay current with each other’s goals and activities.Salt and PepperThis activity is fun, excellent for energizing your team, and also great as a get-to-know-one another exercise. It doesn’t take up a lot of time and requires a few simple materials like a pen, tape, and small sheets of paper. Recommended group size can range from 6-40 people.A sheet of paper for every person.As manager, come up with pairs of things such as, salt and pepper, yin and yang, shadow and light, peanut butter and jelly, Mickey and Minnie mouse, male and female, and so forth.Separate the pairs and write only one of them per piece of paper. (Salt on one paper, pepper on a completely different paper).Tape one paper on the back of each person, making sure they can’t see it.When you say go, everyone must walk around asking yes or no questions in order to find out what word they have taped to their backs.Once they figure that out, they’ll be able to find their other pair. The two will sit down and learn three to five interesting facts about one another.Optional step: have the pairs introduce their partners and the interesting facts they learned about them.This exercise will encourage communication and creativity among the participants. Learning how to ask the right questions will be a challenge. It will also encourage teamwork as interacting with the other team members is necessary.Grab Bag SkitsThis acting exercise is another great way to refresh and energize your team. It doesn’t require much time but does need some props. Depending on the number of groups you have, each group will need a goodie bag filled with five to six random objects. Recommended group size can range from 10-50 people.Form groups composed of three to eight people. (The more groups, the more time this activity requires).Give each group a goodie bag.Each group needs to create a three minute skit using all the objects in their goodie bag. Creativity is encouraged, example: a pen can be a magic wand, a stapler can be a microphone, etc.As the manager, you can either allow your groups to make-up their own skits, or assign them general topics. Topics should be work related, maybe acting out a meeting, process or event.Give the groups about five minutes to come up with their skits.Each group performs.Optional step: groups can vote for which group they thought had the best performance. The winning group can be awarded anything from a casual dress day to lunch.Tip: It’s important that all group members are present for the other group performances.This exercise is a great way to encourage people to step out of their comfort zones. It encourages teamwork, collaboration, and helps people feel more comfortable with their colleagues.CharadesThe popular game of charades can really be a fun team building activity at workplace. Once again, divide your employees into 2 teams and enjoy this classic and equally entertaining game. To make it a little more competitive, have two or more teams in place, award one point for each correct guess, and declare a prize for the team that is the first to reach 5 points.Scavenger HuntsThis is another great game and one that relies solely on teamwork. The fact that it can be played equally well both indoors, as well as outdoors, bodes well for its suitability as a fun team building activity at the workplace. Centering the to-do-tasks of the scavenger hunt around work related things and concepts, would help in making the game all the more enjoyable and apt.Read more at Buzzle: CrackDivide staff into teams and ask random questions about a variety of topics (History, Math, Science, Social Studies, Art, Entertainment, etc.) the first team to get 10 questions right wins. (can vary the number of questions).Cannot controlPayWork loadCurriculumStressStudents:Spirit Days/PBISWear favorite college shirtNeon dayCrazy hair dayGame daySchool colors dayWear favorite sports team (hat, shirt, colors)Backwards dayMix match dayWear a hat dayCrazy sock dayTrivia question Monday (1st to answer receive a prize)Super side kick day (read with another class)Parents love school spirit days as much as students and teachers do. Because parents have a vested interest in the success of their children, it makes them very happy to see students excited and enthused about school activities.Spirit week serves as a unifying force, bringing together a multicultural and diverse student body. Spirit week has other benefits also.? Creates a sense of school identity ? Increases student activity and involvement ? Promotes cooperative effortDisplaying student work throughout the building/classroomGiving students choice in assignmentsReferences:Chapman, Gary and Paul White. “The 5 Languages of Appreciation in the Workplace.” 2012.PinterestWhitaker, Todd, Beth Whitaker, Dale Lumpa. “Motivating and Inspiring Teachers: The Educational Leader’s Guide for Building Staff Morale” 2013 by Routledge. ................
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