In my opinion, every month should be teacher’s appreciation month! However, since it is officially recognised in May, let's take advantage of it! Most of the things we see about teacher appreciation month come from fellow adults, which is nice of course, don't get me wrong! But there is something to be said about the gratitude that comes from our students... especially if you teach teenagers like I do as we know how rare it can be!
If you’ve ever received an adorable hand written note from your students, you’ll know how wonderful it feels. Seeing their carefully crafted hand written words and reading how you have impacted their life is such an uplifting feeling that makes it all feel worth it. I have kept every single note given to me on beautiful cards or even scraps of paper, and I read them whenever I need a boost to help me keep going through the tough times. Thoughtful thank you notes are the gift that keeps on giving!
It’s interesting though, that it’s only some students who make this effort to write us notes, and the probability of them doing this decreases as they get older! But knowing how magical it can be for teachers to receive these, what if they had a little nudge in the right direction to do this a little more? If they knew how much this small token means to us, perhaps they would be more inclined to write us little notes of thanks and lift morale all round?
That’s why I like to do this thank you note activity every so often in my school. I ask my tutor group (you might have something similar like an advisory or home room class) to take a thank you note template and write just one note of thanks to a member of staff in our school who they are grateful for or who has impacted them. Then I take the notes and leave them in the teachers’ tray in the staff room as a little treat! The looks on peoples’ faces, the morale boost and strength in relationships is absolutely priceless.
So if you want to do this in your school for your fellow colleagues this month, you can download this thank you note template for free below, which looks great once your students colour it in and add their personal touches too:
If you’ve ever received an adorable hand written note from your students, you’ll know how wonderful it feels. Seeing their carefully crafted hand written words and reading how you have impacted their life is such an uplifting feeling that makes it all feel worth it. I have kept every single note given to me on beautiful cards or even scraps of paper, and I read them whenever I need a boost to help me keep going through the tough times. Thoughtful thank you notes are the gift that keeps on giving!
It’s interesting though, that it’s only some students who make this effort to write us notes, and the probability of them doing this decreases as they get older! But knowing how magical it can be for teachers to receive these, what if they had a little nudge in the right direction to do this a little more? If they knew how much this small token means to us, perhaps they would be more inclined to write us little notes of thanks and lift morale all round?
That’s why I like to do this thank you note activity every so often in my school. I ask my tutor group (you might have something similar like an advisory or home room class) to take a thank you note template and write just one note of thanks to a member of staff in our school who they are grateful for or who has impacted them. Then I take the notes and leave them in the teachers’ tray in the staff room as a little treat! The looks on peoples’ faces, the morale boost and strength in relationships is absolutely priceless.
So if you want to do this in your school for your fellow colleagues this month, you can download this thank you note template for free below, which looks great once your students colour it in and add their personal touches too:
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​It’s such a simple thing to do that barely takes 5 minutes, but the impressions it will leave will last a lifetime. Happy teacher appreciation month, now and always!
