As "founder" of our school's Sunshine Committee (or hospitality committee, whatever you want to call it), I'm in charge of planning several activities that will boost school morale and lift teachers' spirits. For Thanksgiving, I planned a turkey scavenger hunt. Teachers wrote why they were thankful to work at Shirley Hills on the back of die-cut turkeys. I took the ten best reasons, numbered the turkeys and hid them around the school. Each numbered turkey correlated with a prize! Those that found turkeys got to read an uplifting message and claim their prize at the end of the day.
While I expected this to be a fun activity, I was surprised that teachers began the hunt early (7:00!) so that by the start of the school day, only two hidden turkeys remained! All the turkeys were found by 10:00am! (I had a few bonus ones that I waited to hide until noon-ish.)
It was cute to see the students getting involved, too. As I went to hide the bonus turkeys, a student (in fourth or fifth grade) said "YOU FOUND A TURKEY! CONGRATULATIONS!" I let him know that no, actually I was the teacher hiding all the turkeys, but thanked him for his encouragement.
What does your school do to boost morale?
Any ideas for a future teacher activity?
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