Tips From Principals

As a principal, how do you inspire your staff to be role models of kindness in your school?

Most importantly we talk about kindness and teaching kindness. We work to model kindness for the students we serve.

At the beginning of the year, the entire staff took a positivity pledge. We talked about it and signed it. Basically, we pledged to speak in the positive about everyone we encounter in our daily work and life and celebrate the greatness they bring.

This was the first step I took with my new staff this year. I felt we needed to start within. To model what our expectations were for our students.

We have also spent a lot of time speaking about manners. I wrote a post in the weekly newsletter to parents about using good manners and kindness. 

From this, some teachers have really worked on emphasizing and reminding students to use good manners. One staff member takes time out of her lunch time to go into the cafeteria and remind the students of the basics like saying please and thank you. 

What are your top 3 tips for motivating staff to build a kind culture?

- Jay Billy, Principal of Ben Franklin Elementary School

As a principal, how do you inspire your staff to be role models of kindness in your school?

As a building leader, one of our most important jobs is to drive the culture of the school. It’s creating a positive culture that energizes and inspires everyone in the school, supporting relationships and collaboration, empowering all members of our school community to learn and grow. Jon Gordon says, “Culture is not just one thing; it’s everything. Culture drives expectations and beliefs.” As the Principal, it is our responsibility to continuously encourage and foster this positive culture, especially one grounded in kindness.

Joe Sanfellipo says that every 30 second interaction is the ability to build up or break down the culture. I strive to model kindness so that staff, too, want to act with kindness in every interaction; whether it be with one another, students, parents, or visitors.

Ongoing positive communication with families solidifies the partnership between school and home! Our staff is encouraged to make at least 5 positive connections by the end of every week! Whether it be a positive phone call, or a positive postcard, we provide several ways to make this an attainable goal!

*Our teachers can fill out positive office referrals and an administrator will make a good news call of the day to the parents! Students have their photo taken and receive a bracelet! Their photo goes up on the "wall of fame" in the main lobby!

Especially when our students are away from school for extended periods of time (Winter Break and Spring Break), our staff are sure to guarantee that every student receives positive words of affirmation from their teachers!

First impressions and positive relationships with our families are just as impactful to a school’s culture! Reflect on your school's welcome process for new families. In their book The Power of Moments: Why Certain Experiences Have Extraordinary Impact, Chip and Dan Heath discuss the impact of defining moments that we remember and look back on. Waking up on the first day of Kindergarten and seeing a yard sign welcoming them as students in our school certainly resonated positively with our families and community!

Creating a positive school climate, and one rooted in kindness, is ongoing. I strive to incorporate a variety of morale-boosting activities throughout the year to show our appreciation and gratitude to our hard-working staff and foster a school environment that’s energetic, positive and fun. It’s people, not programs, that make great schools. Get to know your staff and personalize your anchors of appreciation.

I start the year by asking our staff to fill out a survey with questions that help us get to know our staff, such as their favorite coffee, favorite candy or snack, and the name/address of someone special in their lives. I use this information individualize tokens of appreciation throughout the year.

The simplest thing a principal can do to create more powerful moments for staff is to recognize them more frequently. Looking for a great bucket-filler that will have a lasting impact on your school’s culture? Consider writing cards to your staff members’ loved ones, expressing your gratitude for their presence at your school. This past holiday season, Christmas cards went out, including a photo of the staff member working with children.

I’ve been surprising my staff with Fabulous Fridays in February for the past few years 

Lattes on Location:
We surprised our staff with a ‘coffee on location’ company, who brought all the equipment needed to brew coffees and smoothies for our staff! We put a menu in each staff members’ mailbox the day before & had some student leaders deliver the drinks to our wonderful staff on a Friday morning!

During the month of February, we not only plan events each week that will create a joyful school and learning environment, but we also challenge staff to partake in a kindness challenge!

Kindness Challenge:
February 11th-17th happened to be “Random Acts of Kindness Week” so I challenged the staff to a Kindness Challenge (another amazing idea shared on the Facebook group!) — I challenged staff to complete these simple, kind acts that would make our students’ and colleagues’ days just a bit brighter!

How does the Kindness Challenge work, you ask? 
► Complete a challenge – mark it off on the challenge sheet
► Each challenge completed earns a TICKET in the raffle
► Earn an extra ticket for each challenge that is completed & shared on social media with the challenge hashtag

WINNER of the raffle……earns a HALF DAY OFF!
And another amazing opportunity for me to sub in the classroom for the winning teacher.

Soup Bar:
Another Fabulous Friday in February idea was a SOUP bar. We worked with our cafeteria manager to order 10 different types of soups to include in our soup bar, as well as crackers, shredded cheese, croutons, and rolls. I solicited the help from our staff, asking for anyone who would be willing to lend their crock-pot from home to make this luncheon idea happen! We set up in the morning, let the soups cook on low all day and facilitated the clean up, including delivering the washed crock pots back to those who lent us theirs from home!

Giveaways:
We also had a giveaway extravaganza! Every staff members’ name was entered into an hourly drawing to raffle off prizes, including a Starbucks treat from your administrator, a Sleep-In pass, a GOOSE (get out of school early), and the chance to use a reserved parking spot for a week.

We also create a kindness tree in the main lobby of the school to inspire our students to brainstorm ways they can be kind friends & spread kindness. This year, our school will be signing up for The Great Kindness Challenge (school edition) where we will grow our culture of kindness with our student body!

Trusting relationships are the foundation of a positive school culture, rooted in kindness.
When a culture of kindness permeates the schoolhouse, it makes it a pretty amazing place to work and learn!

What are your top 3 tips for motivating staff to build a kind culture?

- Melissa Kartsimas, Principal at John F. Kennedy Elementary

Tips From a Counselor

As a counselor, how do you inspire your children to model kindness and caring at school?

I think that the best way to inspire kindness, beyond modeling it, is to teach it. Kindness begins with empathy; empathy gives kindness its why. So we begin at the beginning, by teaching students, staff, and stakeholders about what empathy is, why it's important, and how to show it.

Check out the work of empathy experts like Michele Borba or Daniel Goleman and you'll see that kind acts start with empathy, which, when elevated, mobilizes compassion, which is the desire to co-suffer and/or alleviate another's suffering then becomes actionable as a kindness. It's important that this not be a one and done ("We already taught them that ... or ... they should know better. ") but rather that empathy, compassion, and kindness become a lifestyle and be woven into the very fabric of the culture and climate of the school.

What are your top 3 tips for incorporating kindness into the classroom and schoolyard?

- Barbara Gruener, Retired Counsellor & Author

Tips From a Teacher

As a teacher, how do you inspire your children to model kindness and caring at school?

There are a multitude of ways to inspire kindness at school! It starts with deliberate words and actions. Greeting students with a smile or a hug is a great way to start the day. Taking time to listen shows that their words matter to you. Value their time and efforts by praising not simply their final accomplishments, but their determination and perseverance along the way.

We have Kindness Journals where we jot down kind things we see or do. Share your stories of kindness and make it a natural part of your daily discussions. By prioritizing kindness, you will start to see a shift in perspective from your students as they put good back into the world with their words and actions.

What are your top 3 tips for incorporating kindness into the classroom and schoolyard?

- Tamara Letter, Technology Integration Teacher