Even in the staunchest of schools, teachers celebrate their students. Whether it is through formal rewards, which I am not a fan of, or informal recognition, which is more my style. We celebrate achievements, goals, and recognize our students for the incredible minds, people, and human beings they are. Teacher brag about their students in the lounge, and to their families. We are quick to share the funny things they and highlight the amazing ideas they concoct. We blog, we film, and we sing their praises to those that will listen because we think they deserve it.
So why is it that within teaching, if a fellow teacher or a teaching team receives recognition we have a harder time celebrating it? Why is it that we often see other's achievements as a knockdown to our own abilities? Why is the competition so fierce among teachers to be the one recognized that we cannot celebrate the successes we all have?
I work in a school with incredibly talented people, who have amazing successes every day. You walk through our hallways and you will see the excitement in classrooms, you will see innovation wherever you go and teachers striving to do everything possible to reach each and every child. I have often written about the incredible people I work with. And I wish we celebrated it. I wish people were recognized just as much as we recognize our students.
So administrators and fellow teachers; what do you do in your building to celebrate everyone, and not by handing out awards? How do you recognize the achievements of all of your staff? Where do you start your celebrations? It is time we stand together and and decide that one person's success is a whole school's success and that we are only as strong as our team. Educators should not be afraid to share the great things they do, they should be yelling them from the rooftops.
So why is it that within teaching, if a fellow teacher or a teaching team receives recognition we have a harder time celebrating it? Why is it that we often see other's achievements as a knockdown to our own abilities? Why is the competition so fierce among teachers to be the one recognized that we cannot celebrate the successes we all have?
I work in a school with incredibly talented people, who have amazing successes every day. You walk through our hallways and you will see the excitement in classrooms, you will see innovation wherever you go and teachers striving to do everything possible to reach each and every child. I have often written about the incredible people I work with. And I wish we celebrated it. I wish people were recognized just as much as we recognize our students.
So administrators and fellow teachers; what do you do in your building to celebrate everyone, and not by handing out awards? How do you recognize the achievements of all of your staff? Where do you start your celebrations? It is time we stand together and and decide that one person's success is a whole school's success and that we are only as strong as our team. Educators should not be afraid to share the great things they do, they should be yelling them from the rooftops.
