There’s nothing like the start of a new school year. For teachers, staff, and students alike, each new school year bristles with a buzzy feeling of anticipation, excitement, and possibility. Year after year, every fall feels like a new beginning. But for many teachers, the enthusiasm and energy that characterize the early months of the school year can slowly (or quickly) seep out of the year’s second half. With winter break squarely in the rearview mirror, the weather outside cold and gray, and several months left to go until summer vacation, the exhilaration and excitement that were plentiful in the fall can be in short supply. This is the time of year when teachers may need additional support to stay motivated – and to ensure their students do, too. Administrators have a vital role to play in helping teachers avoid the doldrums of the second half of the year and ensure that the months from January to June remain satisfying and productive for everyone.
The Increased Pressure on Today’s Teachers
For a great many people, the pandemic is a distant memory. Educators, however, continue to feel the repercussions of the pandemic intensely, in a whole host of ways. The lingering effects of the lockdowns and the toll they took on students – academically, emotionally, and behaviorally – are still being felt in schools across the country. The additional needs students now bring to school mean that teachers’ jobs have become more taxing and more complex.
At the same time, the pandemic and its unprecedented challenges caused many teachers to leave the profession, leading to widespread teacher shortages. While a number of districts have rebounded from these shortages and returned to pre-pandemic levels, not all have. And some experts point out that even before the pandemic many regions of the country faced teacher shortages. All of this means that the teachers who stay in their jobs end up with more on their plates. And as the year moves into the second half, these demands can pile up and begin to feel even more unmanageable.
Below are strategies administrators can take to help their teaching staff feel supported, motivated, and valued at every point in the school year.
Create a Supportive Work Environment
Most people go into the teaching profession because they want to work with young people and make a difference in their lives. The students are the reason they’re there, the reason they get up and go to work each day. But the larger context matters, too, and the school environment influences how teachers feel day to day. Creating a supportive atmosphere that recognizes the central importance of the teaching staff is essential.
Teachers feel valued when their voices matter, when they’re listened to and when their input is acknowledged and taken seriously. To encourage open communication, hold regular staff meetings and feedback sessions, and ensure that the environment is one in which all staff members feel they are free to speak and share their perspectives.
Too many meetings, however – especially those that feel unnecessary – are the bane of many educators’ existence. If there’s a meeting on the schedule that doesn’t feel essential, ask yourself if it can be canceled. The education website Edutopia suggests that if the goal of an upcoming meeting is simply to disseminate basic information, consider canceling the meeting and conveying the information in an email instead. Edutopia notes that dozens of teachers have expressed this idea in comments on social media platforms.
Welcoming and supporting new teachers is another way to make sure the staff flourishes. Beginning any new job is hard, and novice teachers can often feel out of their depth. Create a mentorship program in schools that pairs new teachers with experienced colleagues to offer guidance and support.
Provide Professional Development Opportunities
Because the demands placed on teachers have grown and changed, providing training in the form of ongoing professional development is a meaningful way to ensure teachers feel supported throughout the year. It’s crucial, however, that districts offer workshops, seminars, and training sessions tailored to teachers’ interests and needs. Otherwise, these sessions can feel like one more obligation with no clear benefit. Thus it’s important to ensure that the programs offered meet the most pressing needs teachers have. In a survey conducted by RAND, “Forty-five percent of teachers overall—and 66 percent of new teachers—said managing student behavior was the most stressful part of their job.” So find out where your teachers need guidance and provide it.
In addition to opportunities your district offers, you can also encourage teachers to seek out meaningful professional development courses on their own, and then allow them to share the insights they’ve gained with their colleagues.
Peer-to-peer learning opportunities are a powerful way to ensure staff are getting the developmental support that’s relevant to their needs. In addition to sharing what they’ve learned through workshops or courses, teachers can share their own best practices and strategies, either through formal or informal sessions.
Recognize and Reward Teacher Achievements
We all need to be recognized and appreciated. Few things sap enthusiasm and morale faster than feeling unacknowledged for one’s contributions and hard work. Sincere recognition and positive feedback go a long way to motivate and inspire teachers, especially when the going gets tough.
Recognition can be given both privately and publicly. Positive feedback in one-on-one conversations can let teachers know their achievements are seen and valued. Sharing praise publicly through memos, emails, and newsletters and in staff meetings can be uplifting for the recipient and deepens the sense of community. One principal found a way to spotlight teachers by scheduling a special celebration portion during monthly faculty meetings to recognize teachers’ achievements.
Another option is to implement something more formal, such as a monthly awards program. Each month you can recognize outstanding teacher successes and acknowledge exceptional teaching and innovative classroom practices. Still another option is for schools to designate a Teacher of the Week.
Praise from peers is also powerful and motivating. Encouraging staff to appreciate each other can help teachers weather the winter slump. Consider allotting time in staff meetings for teachers to share praise for their peers, or set up a message board where staff can post warm words of admiration and appreciation for their colleagues.
Smaller, more personal forms of recognition are also meaningful. Acknowledge teachers’ birthdays and other important life events. In order to do so, administrators have to know their staff, which itself is vital to creating a feeling of community throughout the year.
Encourage Work-Life Balance
Being a teacher is one of the most important jobs there is. The responsibility to educate the next generation is a profound one, and good teachers take their work very seriously. At the same time, teachers have lives outside of school, and it’s important that educators maintain a work-life balance. School leaders can help make it clear that this is not only acceptable but strongly encouraged!
How can you help your staff achieve balance and avoid burn out? The first thing, says Ashley McCann-Markham, a high school principal in Michigan, is always to remember that your teachers are human beings with lives that exist beyond the school building. In many cases educators have families, often with young children. McCann-Markham says she thinks about the family dynamics of her teaching staff when she asks them to take on something extra. The request may be important, but she’s careful not to schedule unnecessary meetings during teachers’ prep hour. She’s mindful that prep time is a high priority “because if that is taken away or if they don’t have one at all, then that means that they do have to work on uncontracted times.”
Schools are increasingly aware that students’ emotional and psychological health requires attention and care. The same is true for teachers. Thus a whole-school culture of wellness can benefit the entire school community. Conscious of this, one high school outside Los Angeles has created mini check-in therapy sessions for teachers, led by trained counselors. The school hired a yoga instructor to conduct virtual classes each week, and it also offers quick mini-lessons on topics such as mindfulness and positive psychology. Rather than suggesting that teachers find their own forms of self-care, efforts like these demonstrate that administrators take teachers’ well-being seriously.
One significant way to respect teachers’ lives away from school is to avoid emailing them outside of work hours. Incoming emails add to the sense of overwhelm that many of us feel around our screens. When teachers see emails from school leaders, they often feel obligated to respond right away. If you’re seized by an idea and want to write an email outside of school hours, go ahead, but then schedule it be sent at a later time.
Lastly, consider conducting an anonymous survey among teachers in January to assess their work-life balance. Create your own survey or consult the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Quality of Worklife Questionnaire to select questions which can help you determine how your teachers are faring.
Make the Most of the Role You Play
Caring for teachers may not be the first item administrators think of in their job description, but ensuring that teachers feel valued and supported is an essential part of their role. When teachers are satisfied, they remain in their jobs, they’re more engaged and effective, and their students do better overall. In fact, student achievement is directly tied to teacher quality, optimism, and enthusiasm. Protecting your teachers’ well-being reaps rewards for everyone.
As an administrator, always lead by example. Demonstrate your passion for your staff and your shared mission by being visible, warm, approachable, and available. These all signal to teachers that you value them and the entire school community – not only in the heady days of fall but all year long.
