Motivation from Within

source:  http://pinterest.com/pin/130674826660950571

Too often I feel like my teachers give me the stink eye when I walk into the classroom.  Not because they don't want me in there but more so because they don't know why I'm in there.  What did they do wrong?  I remember this feeling as a teacher.  I knew that when my boss walked into the classroom, I was in trouble.  I carry that with me and work to make myself an everyday presence in the classrooms.  I don't want anything to change just because I'm there.  I want the authentic experience not only so I can identify & correct any issues with standards, but also because I want to catch them doing things well.

Every month, I work to catch our teachers doing things well.  We had a similar system when I was in middle school and our teachers would find us doing things well and our names would go into a raffle and there was a winner at the assembly.  Winner, winner, chicken dinner.

It's the little things that need the most love & support, in my opinion.  It can be things like remembering to enter attendance by the end of the day, thinking of an amazing rainy day activity, staying late to help a coworker, using great language with children, etc.  I like to catch everyone at least once a month.  Traditionally, I had been using a raffle for semi-fabulous prizes like gift cards to motivate.  I've found that as I've tapered that off (I was using my own limited funds for that project), behaviors still exceed my expectations at times!  I think the reason for this is the motivation has become more intrinsic.  They aren't doing it for me.  They are doing it because it makes them feel good.  So I'm moving towards sending weekly emails to the team highlighting their good work.  I want the team to support each other & I want them to know that their good work isn't going unnoticed.  

Do you think it will be a powerful tool?  Do you think I should still be offering gift cards?  I'm thinking about doing quarterly raffles... thoughts?