How prioritizing fun fuels our team year-round

When students believe their teachers care about them – genuinely, as people – they’re more comfortable taking academic risks. That sense of assurance that they matter, and their experiences matter, to trusted adults provides a crucial emotional grounding. From there, students can build the resilience to risk, fail and risk again with plenty of fun and discovery along the way. One of my goals every year is to create a school environment that shows every student we care. And I firmly believe that the more we leaders can create a positive atmosphere for staff, the more they can show up inspired, energized and able to create that positive atmosphere for students, too. 

But learning what activities or occasions mean the most to our team and have a real positive impact on their experience can take time and iteration. Over the past five years I’ve been able to fill out our calendar with moments of celebration, appreciation and encouragement – big and small. Some of these moments are major highlights our entire building looks forward to. Others are small but no less special gestures that can give our team an energy boost in a pinch. In both cases, bringing in the spirit of fun is one of the surest ways to make a positive shift – and one of the most valuable metrics to look for in both official and informal feedback. Now, when I’m thinking through how to set the tone in our building for the fall and amplify the camaraderie and positivity we built into our school culture, I can look at the experiences layered throughout the year as a strong base of support. 

Here’s a quick look at a few events we’ve cultivated in our building. 

By the season: We have a whole roster of countdown activities ahead of our big school breaks. Some favorites like our Dip Dip Hooray and Dynamite Dessert contests are opportunities for staff to bring a treat to share, vote on their top choice and award the winner a small prize. During the fall, we have an apple nacho bar where teachers are able to grab an apple and add their favorite toppings such as caramel, chocolate or graham crackers. During the winter, we have a winter countdown with fun activities like daily trivia, find-the-elf contest and our tallest snowman contest, which gets teachers and their classrooms to show off their creativity to the whole school. 

By the month: During November, we have gratitude slips in the hallways, and students and staff participate by tearing off a gratitude slip and handing it to a peer, teacher or family member to let them know how grateful they are for that person. In the winter months, usually in February, I like to put up Bucket Fillers. Every staff member has their own bag or “bucket” on the wall, and for a whole month our team can add positive notes to each person’s “bucket.” More often than not, folks will add small, thoughtful gifts and at the end of the month, everyone can take home a collection of notes of appreciation, caring thoughts and reflections from fellow staff about the difference they make each day. This builds rapport among the staff after receiving these positive affirmations from colleagues.

In March we have a Lucky Ducks raffle. Every staff member picks out a rubber duckie, every duck has a number and every day I raffle off a gift card. We have a lot of students cheering for their teachers to win the daily raffle, and it brings some extra excitement and togetherness to our building at a time when the days can seem a bit long. 

By the week: I really embrace no-pressure weekly activities that are easy to switch up and easy to participate in. Some have themes I loosely borrow from popular shows – like “This Is Us,” where I invite the team to bring in photos from their lives – or trends like This or That, where I put up a weekly poll in the lounge and everyone can move their magnet to show their vote. Another fan favorite is our teacher Mad Libs, where teachers fill out the parts of speech and the fun Mad Libs get posted in the lounge. We also play “What Do You Meme” and put up a poster where staff can make up the quote to put below the meme picture posted. During other weeks we have had different prompts to bond staff, such as “What song would you sing at karaoke night?” or “Post a picture of your favorite movie or TV show.” These prompts start conversations in the lounge that are based on making positive connections with one another. Our weekly activities are always great conversation starters and help to create consistent positive experiences where we can share and collaborate on something small. 

By the day: Daily opportunities for staff often mirror the activities they would do with students. We regularly have Kindness Days throughout the building, encouraging students to do acts of kindness for one another and for their teachers. Kindness Days are a great way to affirm our team commitments and always bring our focus back to the ways we can make a difference – no matter how small. By popular demand, morning meetings with each classroom gradually became the opening structure for our staff meetings as well. Those moments of checking in, sharing and providing small opportunities to connect have proved to be deeply valuable for our team. 

This isn’t our entire calendar, and we didn’t get here overnight. I’ve bounced a lot of ideas off my leader friends, found little gems in principal communities and made it a habit to notice real-time feedback – like how excited people are to share a recipe or compliment a colleague on their cooking skills. If you’re wondering what activities might help build connections and sustain your team’s spirits in the year ahead, consider this:

It’s the little things 

Where might you carve out a few small spaces to experiment with activities next year? Try a new iteration of something tried and true, or the first basic draft of your big idea. 

Layer up

Take a bird’s-eye view of the year ahead. What are some seasonal or monthly supports you could layer onto the weekly or daily routines in your buildings – or vice versa? 

If it works for the kids

The odds are high that if your team is creating joyful, energizing and connection-focused activities for students, those same activities might be just what they need. See what sparks interest during peer observations or training throughout the year ahead (or revisit some feedback from the spring). Explore whether taking those activities further might make a meaningful difference for your team, and your school culture on the whole, starting this fall.