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10 Tips for Keeping Your Teachers Motivated

The Chalk Team The Chalk Team

10 tips for keeping your teachers motivated

In today’s world, being a teacher is an incredible challenge. Beyond the day to day of teaching and
marking, teachers are faced with students with behavioral or family issues, learning disabilities,
and more. As a school administrator, keeping your teachers motivated is one of your most
important roles. Here are ten tips to keep your teachers motivated throughout the school year!

1. Make yourself available

Your role as a school administrator is to make your teachers’ lives easier so that they can teach and
your students can learn. Help your teachers as much as possible when they have a heavier
workload. Consider asking your teachers what they need help with before jumping in, so that they
do not feel like you are micromanaging. Make sure to also help your teachers through monotonous
tasks with software tools.

2. Publicly praise teachers

If a teacher feels valued, you won’t need to worry about motivating them. These teachers will
know how to stay motivated. Making each teacher feel valued can be as simple as including an
announcement in the morning thanking the teacher for something that they have done recently.
You can also make this a larger gesture by organizing a staff lunch in which you personally thank
teachers for outstanding contributions to the school.

3. Encourage teachers to reward each other

Create a teaching trophy that is given out at the end of each day, week, or month. This can be
awarded for excellent teaching, or going above and beyond in activities outside the classroom.
Have the last winner select the winner of the next award. This provides your teachers with an
incentive to excel and also gets them used to accepting feedback from each other.

4. Leave some room in the budget for small gifts

Consider purchasing something small, like coffee shop gift cards, that you can give to teachers
who go above and beyond. For example, If a teacher volunteers to take an extra supervisory shift,
make sure that they know that their work is appreciated with a small gift. Your teachers will
appreciate the extra coffee!

5. Encourage teachers to seek out professional development opportunities

You should offer professional development for the teachers within your school, but also provide
opportunities for each teacher to learn outside the school. This could include conferences,
workshops, or specialized professional development offered at the district level. Approve all
reasonable requests. Make sure that you are also keeping an eye out for new opportunities, and
presenting these to all teachers at staff meetings.

6. Provide opportunities to take breaks

Consider giving each teacher a form that can be used for a morning or afternoon off, no questions
asked. This can be given out once a semester but must be given to you in advance, so that
someone can be found to cover the class. This is a small action that doesn’t cost you much but lets
your teacher know that you care about them and will go out of your way to make sure that they are
happy.

7. Give teachers a voice

Being left out of an important decision that affects them is the easiest way for a teacher to lose
motivation. Many teachers would love to be involved in these decisions if you gave them the
opportunity. Invite a teacher from each grade to be a representative during board meetings to get
their opinion and learn about their proposed strategies. Also consider holding “open-door”
meetings, where every teacher has the option to attend and listen during meetings, even if they are
not directly involved.

8. Empower each teacher’s strengths

Every teacher has strengths and weaknesses. When teachers are able to use that strength in the
classroom, it’s easy to see how much more engaged and inspired students become. It may be
difficult for some teachers to recognize their own strengths, especially while trying to keep up
with curriculum standards. To help them figure out what works in their classroom, have each
teacher think about any particular lessons that worked really well, and any tools or techniques that
the teacher likes to use, such as incorporating music into a lesson.

9. Recognize key stress times

Don’t overload teachers with professional development during report card season! Avoid new
initiatives and stresses during the end of the term, report-writing periods, or while teachers are
marking exams. If there’s any way you can lend a hand during these times, whether it’s taking on
some of the work yourself, or covering a teacher’s lunch supervision shift, make sure to do so!

10. Encourage collaboration

Having your teachers work together can significantly impact their motivation. More experienced
teachers will be recognized for their best teaching strategies. Younger teachers will be given
validation that they things that they are trying are actually working. Consider creating professional
learning communities within your school to create a more formal structure for collaboration.

Keeping your teachers motivated can be a challenge. But it is an essential part of your students’
overall success. Great teachers are those that are motivated to excel and take pride in their
students’ success both inside and outside the classroom. Take the time to experiment with some of
these tips to find what works best in your school!

Categories: Analytics, Assessment, Curriculum, Instruction, Resources

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