1. Promoting a Positive Environment:
Positive Recognition for
Students
and Staff
Patti Kinney
Associate Director, Middle Level Services
National Association of Secondary School Principals
Reston, VA
703-860-7256
kinneyp@nassp.org

2. "No significant learning occurs without a significant relationship.” Dr. James Comer
Reflection: What impact does your own cultural identity and/or upbringing have upon your
expectations of your students and colleagues? How does this impact your relationships with
others?
Making Deposits – Making Withdrawals
Relationship problems occur if you make a withdrawal without first making a deposit
TESA (Teacher Expectations and Student Achievement) identified 15 behaviors that teachers use
with good students. The research study found that when teachers used these interactions with
low-achieving students, their achievement made significant gains.
1. calls on everyone in the room equitably
2. provides individual help
3. gives “wait” time (allows student enough time to answer)
4. asks questions to give the student clues about the answer
5. asks questions that require more thought
6. tells students whether their answers are right or wrong
7. gives specific praise
8. gives reasons for praise
9. listens
10. accepts feelings of the student
11. gets within an arm’s reach of each student each day
12. is courteous to students
13. shows personal interest and gives compliments
14. touches students (appropriately)
15. desists (he/she does not call attention to every negative behavior)

3. Elements of a Positive Environment
“The quality of employees will be directly proportional to the quality of life you maintain for them.”
--Charles E. Bryan
Safety
Y Physical Safety
Y Intellectual Safety
Y Emotional Safety
Y Social Safety
Change
Y Provide a climate to support change
Positive Attitudes
Y Climate Busters
Y Climate Manipulators
Y Climate Cruisers
Y Climate Improvers
Open Communication
Y Listening
Y Speaking
Y Reading
Y Writing
Y Thinking
Y Feedback
Human Relationship Skills
Active Participation by All
Positive Public Relations
To Build a Healthy Climate
Y Plan time for “me” and “we”
Y View problems as challenges
Y Don’t be a finger-pointer
Y Analyze your stresses and frustrations
Y Set personal and professional goals
Y Be involved
Y Find positive role models and mentors
Y Choose your battles
Y Project confidence
Y Enjoy life
Adapted from If You Don’t Feed the Teachers, They Eat the Students by Neila Conners

4. Ideas for Student Recognition
Positive Postcards: Design and print off a variety of simple postcards so staff can
easily mail home a positive note to parents.
Print a set of mailing labels and place them in the staff room along with enough
postcards for all students. Challenge the staff – during the next two-week period,
the parents of every child in the school should receive a positive note about their
child.
Student of the day – Put every student’s name in a jar. When the announcements
are read, draw out a name. That student is announced as “Student of the Day” and
is asked to come to the office for a treat (generally a small snack, pencil, etc.)
Purple Tickets (you choose the color): Each week, all staff members are given two
tickets and a postcard to use to recognize students. The postcard is mailed home
to the parents and the student is given the ticket to bring to the office for a
drawing. On Thursday, two names are chosen from the jar. These students may
invite any staff member of their choice to lunch the next day. Lunches are
donated by local restaurants – if you can get 4 – 6 to participate, they only give
lunches every 4 –6 weeks.
Birthday recognition – On a hallway bulletin board, post a list of birthdays for the
month; summer birthdays can be done on half-birthdays. On their birthday,
students are delivered a birthday card and a birthday pencil.
Honor Roll recognition – All students who make the honor roll are delivered a
certificate and a giant chocolate chip cookie. The first time we did this, it became
an instant tradition by student demand.
Recognition Assemblies – Periodically hold assemblies to recognize student
achievement and/or participation in sports, clubs, out-of-school activities, etc.
Publications – Include news about school and non-school achievements in your
bulletin, school newspaper, and parent newsletter.

5. Perfect Attendance – Have a party for all students who had perfect attendance
over a given period of time.
Student-of-the-month – Staff nominates one student from each grade level for
student of the month recognition. A committee makes the final determination. All
students nominated are invited to an ice cream party and receive a letter mailed
home that includes a quote from the nominating staff member. Students-of-the-
month are invited to a luncheon given by a business partner and have a special
event planned for them at the end of the year.
Lunchtime recognition – Playground and cafeteria supervisors have tickets to give
to students who are seen cleaning up after themselves/others or doing another
good dead. These are put into a drawing for a prize at the end of the week.
Be creative – Don’t limit formal recognition to academics or sports. Give awards
for Being a Good Friend, Showing Responsibility, Making Improvement, Displaying
Good Citizenship, etc.
Notes:

6. Ideas for Staff Recognition
The important thing to remember is to recognize ALL staff on an on-going basis.
Your office staff, aides, custodians, cafeteria workers, etc. are vital to the
functioning of your school and deserve recognition every bit as much (if not more
at times) as teachers.
At the beginning of the year…
If you are bringing a large number of new staff on board, invite them and the
office staff to a bar-be-que or simple dinner prior to the beginning of school.
Bring food to the first staff meeting!
Put a “first day of school” treat on their desk to greet them the first day with
students. Bottled water is a big hit. A personal note from the administration is
also a nice touch.
Give every one a “Welcome back to School” survival kit, Suggested items:
Tea bag – to remind you that you are “tee-rrific”
Paper Clip – to help you keep organized
Rubber Band – to remind you to stay flexible
Band Aid – to mend hurt feelings
Tootsie Roll – to remind you how sweet you are
Two Pennies – so you always have the “cents” to know how valuable you are
Crayon – to color your days cheerful and bright
Lifesavers – to remind you to think of family, friends & colleagues as your
“lifesavers”, to care about each other & help each other during tough
times!
Eraser – to remind you that we all make mistakes & with an eraser they can
be erased, as can our human mistakes be overcome!
Tissue – to remind you to see the tears and needs of others
Candy Kiss – to remind you that everyone needs a daily word of
encouragement
Give new staff a Certificate of Survival after their first week. Attach a pack of
lifesavers.

7. Take a photo of every staff member (don’t forget student teachers as well).
Mount on poster board with their name and position. Put in a display case or hall
bulletin board (cover with heavy plastic) for staff, students, and parents to see.
Make sure it’s up for open house.
Introduce new staff in a fun way. At the first staff meeting, break into groups
with a new staff member in each group. The group learns about the person and is
responsible for introducing them to the large group in an interesting way.
Find out what people did over the summer and create a “people bingo” board to use
at the first staff meeting. Each square has a phrase and you must get a signature
of a person who matches the phrase. ie: traveled in England, had a new baby, etc.
Staff Meetings
Start your meetings with “Accentuate the Positive” giving everyone an opportunity
to share a personal or professional positive about themselves or some one on staff.
Use Kudos bars for those deserving of “kudos”. Or pass out rolls of lifesavers to
those who’ve helped someone out.
Raffles – give a raffle ticket to everyone who showed up on time. Have the
drawing at the end of the meeting. Use posters, pens/pencils, office supplies,
items collected at conferences, etc. as prizes.
Give silly awards for mundane things – Standing bus duty in the rain, Most faithful
to greet students at the door, Always wearing a smile. It’s a good way to recognize
positive behavior and encourage it in others.
ATTA BABY – Pass around a lifelike doll (Atta Baby) to a staff member who has
done something special. Each month’s winner is responsible for passing it on the
next month. Variations on this include passing a spirit stick, a hat (hats off to…),
or other appropriate items.

8. Rotate the location of staff meetings to a different classroom each meeting. The
host or hostess begins the meeting by sharing a few minutes about what’s
happening in their room.
Have a box in the staff room for people to write thank yous or praises to others.
Read at a staff meeting and distribute.
Trivia Time – Give prizes to those who can answer trivia questions about the school
and/or school happenings. Other topics work as well.
Perfect Attendance Awards – give recognition to those who had perfect
attendance for the period of time between meetings. Extra special gifts can be
given for a semester or year’s worth of perfect attendance.
Give someone a standing ovation at a staff meeting.
Holiday Celebrations
Secret Santas, Cupids, etc – Set up a secret pal system for a short period of time
before a holiday. Reveal the secret pal at a party on the holiday.
Christmas Cookie Exchange – All interested can sign up to bring cookies. Once the
number of participants are determined, have everyone bring enough packets of
cookies (3 – 4 cookies per packet works well) to exchange with each other. You get
a great assortment of cookies and only have to bake once.
Halloween – give prizes for staff members with the best costumes. Encourage
“theme” dressing for a group. One year our science teachers dressed as an eyeball,
a skeleton, and a blood vessel (she gave out capillaries (skinny licorice) to
students),
Ornament Exchange - Everyone brings a wrapped Christmas ornament. Packages
are given numbers, people draw numbers to determine who get which package.
Easter Egg Hunt – Organize an Easter egg hunt for teachers. Hide plastic eggs
filled with candies in rooms and common areas. Leave a sign at the site designating
it as an “Official Easter Bunny Visitation Site”.

9. Holiday Breakfasts, Lunch Potlucks, etc – Try a baked potato bar for St. Patrick’s
Day, Mexican Buffet (with virgin margaritas!) for Cinco de Mayo, Chinese food for
Chinese New Year, pies for “pi” day (3/14), sausage and bratwurst for Octoberfest
-- be creative in your celebrations!
Appreciation Weeks (teachers, classified, secretaries, etc.)
Administrators and parent’s group wash teacher cars during the day!
Hire a massage therapist to give neck and shoulder massages during lunch.
Have the administration and classified staff host a luncheon or breakfast for
teachers. Oftentimes a local restaurant will give a good deal if you tell them what
it’s for.
Give roses with the note “This bud’s for you, for all you do.”
Send your teachers on a “world tour” for the week. Each day decorate the staff
room in the theme and give a little treat from different countries – leis from
Hawaii, chips and salsa from Mexico, fortune cookies (with appropriate messages)
from China, croissants from France, etc.
Thanks for the Hand – Put a piece of candy in the fingertips of a disposable glove
and fill the rest with popcorn. Attach a note saying, “Thanks for the hand.”
Give out boxes of Crackerjacks (or put a BIG bowl in the staff room) along with a
note reading “This is a Crackerjack staff!”
Hold a special luncheon for classified week. Teachers bring in food and if at all
possible, take their duties so they can all eat at once.
For Secretary’s Day, the administration and the dean’s take the secretaries to
brunch. Someone from the district office comes over to “hold down the fort.”

10. Celebrating with Food
Whenever possible, make food a part of every meeting.
Ideas for potlucks, etc. Try holding something special every month. Put up a sign
up sheet for two months and tell everyone to sign up only once. Or have a team or
grade level be responsible for each month’s social.
Pasta bar – Cook the pasta at school, have several others bring various pasta
sauces, salads, etc.
Baked Potato Bar – Bake the potatoes at school, everyone brings a topping.
Pie Social – bring your favorite pie
Salad Bar – Buy bags of pre-cut greens. Everyone brings items to go on top!
Sundaes on Friday – Host a Sundae party on Friday afternoon – bring a variety of
ice creams and toppings.
Special Deliveries – The office staff puts together a cart with coffee, tea, juice
and goes “on the road” to deliver a drink to each staff member in their classroom.
Deliver paychecks to classrooms in costume or take along a decorated cake and give
staff a piece with their check. The kids love seeing this happen,
In “Espresso” of appreciation – Bring an espresso machine to school, make and
deliver lattes to staff members.
Birthday Celebrations – Celebrate monthly or quarterly birthdays with a cake in
the staff room. Deliver a cupcake or candy bar with a candle in it to the birthday
person. Get a group and take in balloons and sing happy birthday. Decorate their
door with birthday signs. Post monthly staff (and student) birthday’s on a bulletin
board in the hall.

11. Progressive Dinner – 3 staff members agree to host the parties. First stop is for
salads, second is for soup and bread, and we have dessert at the 3 rd house.
ALWAYS have food on the staff table the morning after a late evening –
conferences, open house, etc.
Brownie Points – Take someone a brownie to acknowledge something special.
Way to Go, Cup of Joe – Include a certificate for a latte in a positive note.
Miscellaneous Ideas
Ask your leadership club or student council to form an “Appreciation Committee.”
Kids and staff love it. On staff birthdays, students create and outfit from the
costume closet, deliver a treat and beverage to the staff member, and sing them
happy birthday. Celebrate your custodians and maintenance workers with a day of
their own. Kids bring treats, decorate their office door and help out with their
work. Make ornaments or gifts on special occasions or holidays. Take ice cream
sundaes to the school board. Prepare and serve a luncheon for the administrative
team. Celebrations are endless!
Give coupons for free time or no duties. Administration does the duty or takes
over the class.
“Staff Member of the Week” – put all staff member’s names in a jar and draw one
out each Friday. The “winner” fills out an information sheet, a Polaroid picture is
taken of he/she wearing a silly hat and holding a certificate and balloon. Post the
info sheet and picture outside the office for a week for all to enjoy. Winner also
gets a certificate for a donated lunch at a local restaurant.
Make a big deal of getting grades or progress reports done on time! Bring treats
or cold beverages in for a celebration.
Have a Bulletin Board Contest for Back-to-School Night. Give awards for the
oldest living bulletin board, the traveling teacher with on board, best bribe for the
judge, etc. Have fun with it!

12. Sport’s Pools – Organize pools for football, baseball and basketball playoffs. Draw
a grid of 100 squares. Charge 25 cents a square and pick winners at half and the
end. Winners split the pot. At one school, if you win you have to bring donuts for
everyone.
Medicine Drawer – Keep a supply of aspirin, etc., throat lozenges, Emergen-C, tea
bags, etc. for the unprepared.
Door hangers – Create “door hangers” to leave on doorknobs. Write a positive note
and leave hanging for the staff member to find.
Candy dish – Our front secretary keeps a candy dish filled with seasonal treats for
those who need a lift.
Pat on the Back Bulletin Board – Designate a bulletin board in the staff room where
personal and professional successes and accomplishments can be acknowledged.
Recognize special years of service with a special gift.
Hold a “Can’t Talk about Education” Social – Anyone caught talking about school,
students, or educational business is fined $1.00 to help pay for the treats.
Notes:

13. Sport’s Pools – Organize pools for football, baseball and basketball playoffs. Draw
a grid of 100 squares. Charge 25 cents a square and pick winners at half and the
end. Winners split the pot. At one school, if you win you have to bring donuts for
everyone.
Medicine Drawer – Keep a supply of aspirin, etc., throat lozenges, Emergen-C, tea
bags, etc. for the unprepared.
Door hangers – Create “door hangers” to leave on doorknobs. Write a positive note
and leave hanging for the staff member to find.
Candy dish – Our front secretary keeps a candy dish filled with seasonal treats for
those who need a lift.
Pat on the Back Bulletin Board – Designate a bulletin board in the staff room where
personal and professional successes and accomplishments can be acknowledged.
Recognize special years of service with a special gift.
Hold a “Can’t Talk about Education” Social – Anyone caught talking about school,
students, or educational business is fined $1.00 to help pay for the treats.
Notes: