Showing up at work with two different shoes (when it’s NOT the national holiday for that!), wearing a piece of clothing inside out, coming out of the restroom with your skirt hiked up and showing your backside, etc. We’ve ALL had embarrassing moments in our lives. I started young. My momma told me on more than one occasion, “Gail, what happens to you happens to
3 Tips for Taking Care of Your Teachers
This post may contain affiliate links. See the full disclosure here. Early in my teaching career, my principal called a leadership team meeting. Sitting on top of the table in the conference room was a small pre-k size blue chair. The chair represented our students. I was told to keep my students first and foremost. Taking care of the needs of our students was to be everyone’s
Kids Say the Dandiest Things: Stories from a Retired Educator
Art Linkletter was a radio and television host in the 1950s through the 1970s. One of his lasting legacies was the entertaining interviews with children that would appear on a 15-minute segment of his program entitled Kids Say the Darndest Things. (Not the “dandiest”.) When I first became a teacher, I bought a journal to write down the cute and funny sayings that would come
Encouraging Words
A word spoken in due season, how good it is! Prov. 15:23 I don’t personally know of anyone that doesn’t appreciate an encouraging word, but when it comes at exactly the right time for them…what a wonderful thing indeed! How do you know when to speak words into someone’s life? I call it an unction or a nudging in your gut. It’s when you are thinking of
A Paper Bag Book Activity for Your Staff
If you’ve followed me any length of time, you know I like different! It can sometimes be tricky trying to find a staff activity that everyone will be engaged with. That’s why I created the “Paper Bag Book Staff Activity”. It’s different and lets your staff do the hard work while having FUN! Your crafty staff members will love it, however, it won’t intimidate your
4 Ways to Use Exit Tickets for Staff (or Students)
Exit tickets or exit slips are a quick and easy assessment tool…and can be much more! They are essentially a closure or exit out the door after a lesson, meeting, the end of a unit, or the end of a term, etc. There are many ways to use exit tickets. They are useful for: Reflection Self-Analysis Checking workplace climate Boosting morale 1) Reflection Reflective exit
Words of Affirmation and Quality Time: Languages of Appreciation in the Workplace
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy for details here. During my elementary school principal years, I had a master kindergarten teacher that was amazing. She was quiet, sweet, and totally adored by her co-workers, parents, and students. She also made teaching look oh so easy! I made the mistake one time of bragging about her in a staff meeting. She was sitting
Thank You Cards for Support Staff
I’m so excited! These cards are what I was looking for when I was an elementary principal to THANK my wonderful staff at the end-of-the-year. (But actually, you can use this download any time of year.) TWO SIZES to choose from – 20 full-page (fold in half) OR 10 half-page. Pictured below: Full-page on the left, half-page on the right. Just print and fold the
Ideas for Appreciating Your Staff
It was alarming to me to read research released by The Gallup Group, that only 87% of the workforce is either partially engaged or totally disengaged. In other words, they are physically there but not mentally or emotionally. YIKES! I was in a store a couple of days later and sadly got a first-hand look at this. I asked the lady behind the counter a
School Appreciation Days 2025-2026
Appreciating, celebrating, and boosting staff morale has always been a passion for me. I’ve had so much fun putting together the files for School Appreciation Days (see below). Your maintenance workers, paraprofessionals, school nurse, and many more are included. In each download you find innumerable ways to appreciate, personalize, and give gifts to show school personnel how much they are loved in an inexpensive way!
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