Just say thanks… by @ASTSupportAAli

*UPDATED* April 2015

As senior leaders we have a responsibility to motivate, enthuse and instil confidence in our team. We also have a duty to let our colleagues know they are appreciated and valued. We all know this.

Yet despite this a lot of the discontent from teachers around the world comes from the lack of emotional intelligence displayed by senior leaders at times…

We have all heard that middle leaders are the vital cog in any school many times. Their job like senior leaders is to do the same with their teams. It is to deflect any discontent from others and be the umbrella in good and bad times.

So, after receiving a really thoughtful text by my Head Teacher after I asked her for permission to work from home, I thought I would send this tweet out to others… (A thank you is needed, despite your position!)

Try this today? Just say thanks? The lift towards the end of the term will do people the world of good! pic.twitter.com/GyeLuEKVVN

— Amjad Ali (@ASTsupportAAli) March 25, 2015

It received a huge amount of appreciation and thanks from others who thought, not that this was a groundbreaking idea, but thankful, maybe, just for the quick prompt/reminder to them. Maybe it also showed many how easy it is to actually say thanks.

My Deputy Head Teacher- @CheneyLearning then tweeted me to say, how about…

@ASTsupportAAli@libby1310@EducationAlex@hannahtyreman@SLT_Kat@WallaceIsabella even better; walk the corridors and say it personally. — Hugh Nelson (@CheneyLearning) March 20, 2015

I reflected. I thought that for senior leaders and possibly Heads of Departments that is possible… However, for teachers with full timetables not so much…

Nevertheless, an email, a thank you note, card, smile. Goes a long way.

After the RTs died down, @Abbiemann1982 posted a blog on Staffrm- http://staffrm.io/@abster/cd9dWIJC6i talking through how she did indeed send those emails and the reactions she received from them… This made me glow, even though they were not my colleagues, in a global staffroom we are all colleagues.

I then saw another really brilliant thing by @ChrisEdwarduk

Here is the link to the staff thank you messages video I told you all about yesterday: https://t.co/QNeQO5izCB

— Chris Edwards (@chrisedwardsuk) March 20, 2015

This is something I will be doing next… Overall, there are many ways to Just Say Thanks.

So, how do you say thanks? To all involved in your school, not just teachers. The support staff? The cleaning staff? Everybody?

I presented about this and my staff inspiration board at the nationally trending #TMLondon too.

To all the staff wellbeing heroes- set one of these up in your school? http://t.co/6oJxnWylVJ #teacher5aday pic.twitter.com/QbdVAFlUEF

— Amjad Ali (@ASTsupportAAli) February 9, 2015

Just seen this fab idea via Pinterest– as soon as I have the source I will add!

How about setting up a Staff shout out board… this can be done in two ways…

1- Just for staff to give praise and thanks to other members of staff…

2- For students to write their thanks yous on this board?