No Need to Brag About What You Do for Teacher Appreciation Week
In this video, Dr. Justin Baeder cautions principals against publicly boasting about their teacher appreciation efforts, which can come across as self-serving rather than genuine.
Key Takeaways
- Bragging undermines the gesture - Posting about what you did for teachers makes it about you, not them
- Let teachers share if they want to - If the gesture was meaningful, teachers will talk about it on their own
- Quiet generosity is more powerful - The best appreciation is felt, not advertised
Transcript
it is teacher appreciation week happy teacher appreciation week and what better way to make teachers feel appreciated than with toilet paper i kid you not this is real i saved this today and i legitimately think the people who were on the receiving end of this liked it it sounds like this is really truly an appreciated thing But that doesn't mean we should go posting it on the internet.
That does not mean that as a principal, you should brag about the gift that you got your teachers for Teacher Appreciation Week, especially if it's toilet paper.
And I think this is where we just have to have some common sense, right?
We have to think, how is this going to look?
when I share it with the world.
Like it is totally okay to get teachers something that's kind of an inside joke or kind of like a thing that would make sense to them.
Like if you know teachers in your school are spending their own money to buy toilet paper that is actually usable, this could be a nice gesture.
I'm not criticizing the gesture.
But I am criticizing the thinking that says this is an appropriate thing to brag about as a teacher appreciation gift.
This is downright dystopian when it is shared publicly like this.
The idea that we can show appreciation for teachers by buying them toilet paper.
I'm sorry, we are in a profession here.
And professionals do not do this kind of thing and brag about it.
Like, this is just a weird dynamic where I guess administrators are seeking validation from one another and exchanging ideas.
But like, where is the common sense in this?
Who thinks this is a good idea to boast about toilet paper as a teacher appreciation gift?
And honestly, I think teacher appreciation is kind of out of control.
I personally was in a school where everybody was included in staff appreciation.
PTA did it all.
It wasn't a whole lot.
It was nice, but it wasn't the bananas kind of stuff that we have going on now.
Nobody expected the principal to do anything.
The principal did not get a special...
I didn't get a special principal appreciation day that I know of.
I just don't like any of this stuff at all.
I think we've got to do a lot more on basic working conditions and a lot less in trying to...
I don't know, impress people with weird gifts.
But let me know what you think about teacher appreciation.
I'll probably have more to say about this this week since it is teacher appreciation week.
But let me know what you think about the toilet paper.
And by the way, Angel Soft, Angel Soft, really, that stuff is...
The only good toilet paper is Charmin Ultra Strong.
And if you get Charmin Ultra Strong for people, don't post about it on the internet because it's toilet paper.
We don't need to be talking about this.
Let me know what you think.