Build Culture, One "Pin" at a Time

This year, our principal came up with a fun way for the administrative team to appreciate teachers. She purchased three different types of "pins" that principals can distribute to faculty or staff. We have pins to give teachers who make notable contributions to our PLC teams and we have pins for adults who go above and beyond for our students. In addition, we have an "apple" pin to give to teachers following a good lesson. We didn't make an official announcement about these pins. We just started distributing them, here and there, in November. As a result, faculty and staff have been pleasantly surprised when we have had something to share, aside from some positive words. 

Earlier this month, I put an inordinate amount of time into a presentation. It was the type of presentation that did not require extensive preparation. In short, we had decided that students weren't taking our district writing prompt seriously. The sophomores who had to participate did not know why they had to respond to a prompt every other month, nor did they care why we needed data on their writing. So, we had a class meeting to tell the students "why" the writing prompt existed and what we would do with the data.

Obviously, for sophomores, this presentation would be some really riveting stuff...or not.

That said, I was determined not to let this presentation be a dud. I wanted the importance of our writing prompt to resonate with students, and I wanted to inspire a little motivation to do well on the next installment.

After getting the students' attention, I told them that we should treat the presentation more like a talk show, and I asked them to applaud excitedly when I reappeared on the stage. I went backstage and then reappeared. Sure enough, the students enjoyed the opportunity to get a little loud. This worked. I then recognized all of the students who had earned a perfect "4" on the previous prompt. I asked them to clap, one single loud clap, for each student's name read. Again, they liked this. I then showed some samples of good writing, written by students in the audience, and shared why it was strong. They were tuned in. I concluded by sharing what we did with the data, and I think they took this as a sign of respect...I was letting them in on the "secret" purpose of this whole writing prompt ordeal we were, and are, putting them through.

Giving a powerful presentation, however, is not what this blog entry is about. 

After the presentation was over, I felt silly. I felt like I tried too hard, to the point that I may have looked like a big goof up on the stage. Plus, while I was attempting to give the students input that our teachers would have wanted me to give, I was afraid that I had stolen the spotlight from one or more of them. However, while I was very critical of myself, no other negative criticism ever made its way to me. Instead, the next day I found an "apple" pin on my desk, and a note, letting me know that my efforts were not unnoticed. It had been a "good lesson!"

The pins are a fun way to recognize others, but receiving one reminded me that they are so much more than a "fun" thing. They are little pieces of positivity that can make a huge impact on our school's culture, daily. Educators can be so critical of themselves. There are so many things we can criticize ourselves about! However, if we can find time each day to build our culture one piece, one small act, or even ONE PIN at a time, we can have schools that are perfect places to work.