Education Elements | Teacher Retention | School Leadership
Share:
Teachers have a tremendous impact on the learning and lives of their students and communities, and planning a unique and powerful teacher appreciation week is one way to celebrate their incredible contributions. School and district leaders can use the strategies below as a starting point to plan meaningful ways to recognize all that they do, every day.
When is teacher appreciation week in 2023?
Teacher Appreciation Week is May 8-12, 2023. It's fast approaching and this is the perfect time to plan for how you'll celebrate your teachers during the official appreciation week, and beyond.
Tips for choosing the right teacher appreciation strategies
Find a way to gather data from your teams about what would make them feel the most appreciated–this could be as simple as a survey asking teachers directly or a brainstorming session with leaders who know your teachers the best.
Get insights from your larger community to leverage their strengths and expertise--This is a great way to tap into the resources you already have to show appreciation to your teachers!
Beyond Teacher Appreciation Week, consider how you will continue to plan opportunities to provide support, recognition, and positive experiences for your teachers and broader school community.
Here are 15 tangible ways you can support teachers for Teacher Appreciation Week 2023 and beyond:
Support: Providing learning opportunities, acts of service, and/or resources that are uniquely tailored to teachers’ needs and interests.
Teach or co-plan one of your teacher’s lessons
Provide teachers with a unique school or district professional development opportunity or 1-1 coaching experience
Offer teachers a learning experience of their choice--newsletter subscription, online course, resource budget, etc.
Offer to cover a teachers lunch/recess/arrival/dismissal duty, so they can enjoy a few moments to catch up on planning or take a moment to breathe
Experiences: Provide opportunities for teachers to connect and enjoy each other's company
Host a teacher breakfast, luncheon, or after school gathering
Surprise interruption: bring a smoothie/coffee/ice cream cart, rolling by classrooms. The act of surprise is one teachers always enjoy!
Organize themed days to create Teacher Appreciation Spirit Week --consider teacher participation in selecting themes
Organize a Teacher Appreciation Car Parade
Host a variety of wellness sessions before and afterschool. You may even consider making some virtual so teachers can join from home! - meditation, yoga, exercise class, cooking class, etc. --consider enlisting community members to lead various offerings!
Recognition: Acts of gratitude, appreciation, and praise that celebrate the unique strengths,contributions, and accomplishments of teachers.
Host an awards show; consider having students/teachers/community members contribute nominations
Public praise. Celebrate specific accomplishments through shout-outs on twitter or signs outside the classroom door.
Private praise. Send in a handwritten note, email or simply pick up the phone to thank a teacher. Share a specific example of impact.
Celebrate personal accomplishments/life events such as weddings, babies, birthdays, marathon or other sporting events, etc.
Community Involvement: Engaging members of the community (students, families, broader members of the school district, community partners) to participate in and contribute to celebrating teachers.
Praise from a student. Film a video, take a picture, capture student quotes, prompt students to share gratitude. Include students in celebrating teachers’ successes to emphasize the impact they have each day.
Send a survey to school community with teacher names listed and a request for one word of praise--make a word cloud of results and send to each person.
More Ideas for National Teacher Appreciation Week and Beyond
As you plan to thank teachers next week, consider consistent ways to celebrate them beyond Teacher Appreciation Week. We previously published the 40 Ways to Celebrate Teachers and Teacher Impact which explores consistent celebrations and their role in impacting teacher retention including:
What impact can consistent celebrations have at my school?
What steps can I take to focus on consistent celebrations at my school?
What are some concrete ways I can celebrate teachers at my school?
When are some key times to celebrate teachers at my school?
Happy teacher appreciation week 2023!
If you would like to publicly share your gratitude for a teacher, join us May 8-12th on Twitter to nominate and thank teachers through a twitter challenge. Follow @EdElements to join in! Visit our Teacher Appreciation 2023 page to see the other ways we are celebrating teachers this year!
About Megan Huneck D'Ambrosio
Megan Huneck is a Senior Design Principal on the Design & Implementation team, collaborating with district and school leaders to develop and implement personalized learning initiatives. Prior to joining the Education Elements team, Megan taught for six years in Arlington Virginia Public Schools (VA). While teaching, Megan was chosen to be a member of the LearnZillion DreamTeam where she facilitated engaging blended professional learning experiences for Syracuse City School District (NY) instructional leaders and teacher leaders.
Thank you for all the love, care, and dedication that you put into teaching our child! We are beyond grateful for your guidance and support. To the best teacher—your hard work and dedication have not gone unnoticed. Words cannot capture my appreciation!
Serve pasta salad, taco salad, chicken salad, potato salad in plastic flower pots with shovels. Use brown paper on the tables with strips of Astroturf down the middle with some potted flowers. Ask volunteers to bring in pots of homemade soups and chilies in slow cookers, and serve salads and breads on the side.
National Teacher Appreciation Day is on the Tuesday during first full week in May as a reminder to show appreciation for teachers everywhere. We are using this National Day to say thank you to all teachers for their time and dedication to educate our children.
Adaptability. Adaptability is a must for teachers, who need to continuously evaluate what's working for their students — and even more importantly, what isn't working. ...
Teachers who receive regular recognition and praise are more likely to be productive, engaged, and satisfied with their work, which ultimately benefits their students and schools. The author suggests that recognition should be individualized and frequent, and not limited to Teacher Appreciation Week.
1. "Dear [Teacher's Name], thank you for being such an inspiring and dedicated educator. Your passion for teaching has made a significant impact on my life, and I will always cherish the knowledge and life lessons you've imparted. You're the best!"
Gift cards are always a nice gesture because they allow teachers to spend the money the way they would like. I love receiving gift cards from Amazon, Costco, Target, Walmart, Hobby Lobby, Etsy, etc. Letting your child's teacher know they are appreciated by gifting them a fun shopping trip is a kind way to say thanks.
“If your child has the teacher for just one period of the day, $10 to $20 is appropriate.” Melissa Verity Baral teaches kindergarten in Los Angeles and tells SheKnows most parents give $25 to $50 gift cards.
Introduction: My name is Pres. Carey Rath, I am a faithful, funny, vast, joyous, lively, brave, glamorous person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
We notice you're using an ad blocker
Without advertising income, we can't keep making this site awesome for you.
)