What Are You Doing to Boost School Morale?
Are you dealing with low morale in your school or
have you dealt with it before? There are many causes to low morale such as the
pressure of standardized tests, very little support from administration, disrespect
from students, escalating state/district expectations, and etc. This emotional issue can lead to many
problems within a school causing the school climate to plummet. Research shows
that morale influences the development and success of a school. Therefore, one
of the primary jobs of a school administrator is to cultivate a positive,
productive school climate.
Currently, there is a huge focus on school climate
in Georgia. In fact, Georgia is the first state in the nation to include school
climate as an early indicator in its academic accountability system, the College and Career Ready Performance Index (CCRPI). All schools in Georgia receive a 1-5
star ratings, with five stars representing an excellent school climate, and one
star representing a school climate most in need of improvement.
Administrators are always searching for ways to
improve morale. At my school, I led a book study on How Full Is Your Bucket? by Tom Rath and Donald Clifton. To summarize the major points from the book, Donald Clifton
had a theory he created in the 1960’s that was based on a simple metaphor of a
"dipper" and a "bucket." According to this theory, Clifton
believes each of us has an invisible bucket. Clifton and Rath shared the
following statement regarding the invisible bucket: "It is constantly
emptied or filled, depending on what others say or do to us. When our bucket is
full, we feel great. When it's empty, we feel awful." We implemented this
idea and teachers are constantly filling each other’s bucket by completing a “Drop
in the Bucket” pattern with positive comments and sometimes a treat! Please
share what your school does to help boost or maintain school morale.
Below is a web site I found created by Jaime Hunter that
illustrates how the teachers at our school are using “Drops in a Bucket!”
Clifton, T. & Rath, T. (2004). How
full is your bucket? Positive strategies for work and life.
New York, NY: Gallup Press.
Our school suffers from extremely low morale and an unwillingness to address the situation. The "Drops in the Bucket" seem like a great concept to employ but the leader administering or leading this concept must be willing to change the environment of the school by acknowledging positive actions of the faculty and staff. That does not happen here! The Prezi was informative and of value for at least one note: faculty and staff want to be recognized the good works they do in the building. The biggest question I have is a simple one: How do you (classroom teacher) affect change when leadership does not want to change?
ReplyDeleteChris,
DeleteI am sorry to hear of the low morale that exists at your school. To answer your question, I believe it is the teacher's obligation as a professional to bring any issues that may be creating the "toxic" school culture to school leaders. Another suggestion would be to lead by example as a school teacher by implementing "Drops in the Bucket" in your classroom. There is a great book for kids (not sure what grade level you teach) that can be found at the website below: http://www.thenedshow.com/assets/encourage_others_lesson3-thenedshow.pdf
You can promote this positive learning environment in your classroom and share this idea with other colleagues in hopes that it would spread throughout the school. Also, remember you and your colleagues will be given a school climate survey mid-year to complete. School leaders will be held accountable for establishing and maintaining a positive school climate. Leadership will have to change!
At Hampton High School this year we are implementing T3's which stand for Teacher Talk Thursdays. This allows our teachers to sit by department and ensure that grades are posted, students of concern are addressed, and general housekeeping can be efficiently conducted. After about 20 minutes each administrator recognizes a staff member of the week that has exhibited true personalized/project based learning in the classroom. Once a month T3's are a little longer similar to a faculty meeting but the main goal again is to provide an atmosphere of collegiality and collaboration each week.
ReplyDeleteJohn,
DeleteThanks for sharing! I love this idea - what a great way to recognize teachers!
We do a team building exercise at the beginning of every faculty meeting. They other week it was paper, rock scissors. Lots of fun and it felt good to laugh. We have also had items taped underneath seats at faculty meets (ice cream passes, leave early, jeans, etc.). A few weeks ago, the coaches (that's me and my counterpart) purchased donuts from the local donut shop and delivered donuts to each teacher in the building. They looked so surprised and asked why. Our response, "because you're awesome!", talk about building relationships and breaking down walls!
ReplyDeleteWe just recently started a "Shout Out Board" at our school, where teachers can publicly acknowledge colleagues for exceptional acts and/or outstanding performance. At the end of the month, the shout-outs are taken down, and several names are drawn for prizes (i.e. jeans passes). So far it's been really positive. Also, I think school morale includes teachers, but a major part of it is teacher interaction with students. I recently decided to enroll our school in both the National Spelling Bee and the National Geography Bee. I know it's going to require some extra work on my part, but I believe this will be a great opportunity for teachers to positively interact with their students, parents, and each other, it will promote differentiation and enrichment on a daily basis, it will inspire, motivate, and challenge our students, and it will enhance the morale of the entire school. I'm optimistic at least, but I guess we'll see how it goes between now and early February. Check back then! Here are the links in case you are interested:
ReplyDeletehttp://spellingbee.com/
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/geobee/
As with most people, my school is experiencing low morale, stress, and complaining. My principal has realized that she does not do a great job celebrating successes, so this year we have implemented something new. Each week the instructional coaches, myself, the assistant principals, the personalized learning coach and the principal get together a list of positive things that have been going on throughout the school. The principal emails these out every Monday. We have also had an ice cream social and the administrators even served up brownies to all the staff. We make sure we give all personnel at least one positive shout out. Has it helped? We don't know yet, but are hoping
ReplyDelete