Motivating Your Staff

05/17/2011

It helps to notice if there is any of [our work] that we dread to do, and if there is, then study that thing and find some way to do it differently.
Laura Ingalls Wilder, 1867-1957, diarist and journalist

Sandy Roberts, in one of the most popular Exchange articles of all times, "28 Fun Ideas to Motivate Your Staff" — which is one of 12 articles in "How to Motivate Staff," one of our new Exchange Essentials products — suggests posting your edited version of this "job description" for "You — The Excellent Preschool Teacher":

"Individual with early education background; loving; caring; out-going; silly; enjoys playing in mud, wet sand, and shaving cream; loves crawling around on hands and knees, meowing like a cat, or slithering like a snake; has a calm speaking voice; has eyes in the back of her head; changes wet pants or diapers with a smile; can do plumbing (broken, clogged toilets, etc.); reads endless stories with zest; can do manual labor (shoveling snow, hammering bookcases, fixing broken tables, bikes, and so on); creative; imaginative; fun; is able to hug a child who has a slimy runny nose and clean up vomit; artist; scientist; interior decorator; psychologist; mathematician; puts in long hours; enjoys parent contact on a regular basis, informally and formally; spends many an evening working on school projects, well into the wee hours of the morning; can do ten things at one time (calm a crying child, talk calmly to an upset parent, take a phone call); never tires of giving a hand, even when not asked; responsible for lives of young children all day; takes criticism with a smile; accountable for every word and action; does volunteer work; always busy; receives little benefits and annual salary, well let's say that's little too. Your biggest reward — a young child smiles at you."

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TeachingStrategies.com/system

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