Special Report
School & District Management

Teachers to Principals: Here Are the Best Ways to Show Appreciation

October 15, 2019 1 min read
Illustration of hands cupped holding a big heart.
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

We asked teachers to share the best ways (and one worst way, too) their principals show appreciation for their work. In dozens of responses, teachers said time—as in more time to plan, more time to prepare, less time in meetings, a surprise break—was the runaway favorite gesture of thanks from principals.

[The] best thing a principal can do is value teachers' time. For instance, keep meetings short and allow adequate time to plan and prep rooms at the beginning of the year.
The best in my experience were gifts of time or choice. Or ... simple words of encouragement, spoken or written. All costing $0! They are all ways to make teachers feel like a professional, not just another evaluation. The worst: a poorly printed coupon stating that we could sign up for a day to take the principal's parking spot.
I always appreciated my boss coming down and simply saying thank you, in person.
As a surprise, [the principal] takes the bus duty or recess duty and gives you the unexpected gift of time. The thing I think is most important for an administrator is to actually put teachers first, so teachers can put students first.
Appreciation shouldn't be a one time event. It's deeply embedded in the culture of the school. [My principal] drops by, shares the beauty of what he sees weekly, acknowledges successes in meetings, constant bragging about how great we are, has admin bake for our Dec. coffeehouse meeting.
[Our principal] hand wrote each of the staff members a note expressing gratitude to us. The information had a portion of uniqueness and was placed on our desks.
In my experience, the best way to build up a good relationship with teachers is simply listening to them, understanding their needs and looking for ways to satisfy them. Sometimes congratulations or rewards might even have a negative effect because teachers get used to extrinsic motivation.
Our teaching time is never interrupted with unnecessary assemblies or meetings!
Freedom and professional independence ... [is the] greatest sense of appreciation and have led to better teaching. And assuming positive intent.
We have a Google Classroom for the teachers. The principal is constantly in our classes. If he takes a picture of the students working/the walls/your board ... you know he was impressed and thinks the other teachers may benefit from whatever you are doing.

A version of this article appeared in the October 16, 2019 edition of Education Week as Thank You!

Events

Jobs Virtual Career Fair for Teachers and K-12 Staff
Find teaching jobs and other jobs in K-12 education at the EdWeek Top School Jobs virtual career fair.
Ed-Tech Policy Webinar Artificial Intelligence in Practice: Building a Roadmap for AI Use in Schools
AI in education: game-changer or classroom chaos? Join our webinar & learn how to navigate this evolving tech responsibly.
Education Webinar Developing and Executing Impactful Research Campaigns to Fuel Your Ed Marketing Strategy 
Develop impactful research campaigns to fuel your marketing. Join the EdWeek Research Center for a webinar with actionable take-aways for companies who sell to K-12 districts.

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

School & District Management Q&A When This Principal Talks About Mental Health, People Listen. Here's Why
The NASSP Advocacy Champion of the year said he used stories from his school and community to speak with his state’s legislators.
6 min read
Chris Young, a principal from Vermont, poses for a photo in front of a Senate office building in Washington, D.C.
Chris Young, a principal from Vermont, stands in front of a Senate office building in Washington on March 13, 2024. Young was among the secondary principals to meet with legislators urging them to keep federal funding for schools stable.
Olina Banerji/Education Week
School & District Management Teacher Layoffs Are Mounting. How Districts Can Soften the Blow
Layoffs are coming in districts large and small. Here's how district leaders can handle them.
8 min read
Pencil Eraser Erasing Drawn Figure
AndreyPopov/iStock/Getty
School & District Management Opinion 5 Strategies to Combat Student Disengagement
When principals get serious about building a more inclusive school community, it doesn’t just benefit students, but teachers as well.
Michelle Singh
5 min read
Illustration of a bright vibrant school where students feel welcomed. In the background the sky is filled with enthusiastic raised hands.
Vanessa Solis/Education Week via Canva
School & District Management Advocacy or Electioneering? Education Leaders Walk Fine Line in School Voucher Debate
Texas is cracking down on district leaders' allegedly political speech—in what others see as a pretext for quashing anti-voucher sentiment.
5 min read
Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton walks away after announcing Texas' lawsuit to challenge President Obama's transgender bathroom order during a news conference in Austin, Texas, on May 25, 2016.
Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton walks away following a news conference in Austin, Texas, on May 25, 2016. Paxton recently sued several Texas school districts for allegedly engaging in electioneering before the March 5 primaries.
Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman via AP