Teacher Appreciation
November 2024
Hello Friends,
Recently, I was looking for a fun game for my staff, so I reached out in a principal Facebook group for suggestions. Ironically, my niece, Abbie Norkett, shared a great idea that I decided to use.
The game is called Famous Pairs:
- I cut pieces of cardstock into quarters, each the size of a postcard.
- On each piece, I wrote half of a famous pair, then folded the postcards in half and stapled them shut.
- I had 40 items to give away, using 40 famous pairs, which allowed 80 people to participate.
Examples of Famous Pairs:
Below is the email I sent to my staff explaining the game:
Attention CHS Staff: Join the Famous Pairing Game!
All staff members at CHS—office staff, counselors, administrators, and more—are invited to participate!
How It Works:
- Mrs. Scott has a bag containing 80 cards, each featuring one half of a Famous Pairing.
- Your goal is to find the staff member who has the matching half of your Famous Pairing. Once you find them, turn in both cards to Mrs. Scott.
- Each person in a Famous Pairing will get to select a $10 gift certificate to a food truck.
- The first 20 pairs to be turned in will win (40 halves total).
To Play:
- Call Mrs. Scott at extension 2010, and an office aide will bring you your card or you can stop my Mrs. Scott's office to select a card.
- Once all 80 cards are distributed, Mrs. Scott will email a list of names to all participants, not the whole staff.
- At the end of each day, Mrs. Scott will send an email updating the participants on the Famous Pairings turned in that day and the names of the winning staff members.
Game Duration:
- The game will continue until the first 20 Famous Pairings are submitted or until Friday morning.
Rules:
- No emailing to find your matching half.
- Feel free to text, use school phones, ask friends, and get creative!
Good luck, and have fun!
If you're short on prizes, consider creating grab bag gifts that include a mix of valuable and humorous items. Inform the staff that they cannot pick up or shake the bags; the one they select is theirs. To add a fun twist, have them take a selfie with their chosen bag and their partner. Staff can email you the pictures, which you can use for an end-of-year video or another fun project.
My book, School Transformation Through Teacher Appreciation, is available on Amazon:
Bring me to your District!
I offer engaging, fun, and hands-on professional development for campus leaders designed to increase teacher retention. You can find more information about presentations and workshops on my webpage.
Bring me to your School!
If you would like me to help you create a detailed teacher appreciation plan for your campus, or you would like me to mentor and work with your administrative team on your campus contact me at Kathleen.Eckert@iCloud.com.
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Thank you for loving teachers,
Kathleen Eckert
Follow me on Twitter @EckertKathleen