New Readers... today is Whack on the Side of the Head Wednesday. It is the day we draw a card from Roger von Oegh's magical deck of cards and use the concept described to jar our own creativity. We do this with a particular highlowaha.com predicament in mind and then, of course, I also challenge you to apply the concept to something in your own world.
Today's predicament is compliments of my trusty and creative neighbor. She called me last night suggesting that highlowaha.com spend some air time generating creative gift ideas for teachers. It is, after all, the end of the school year and many of us will be looking for ways to show our appreciation. This might even apply to day care providers... or heck... even your favorite college professors or administrators.
To the untrained eye, this might sound more like an idea for Free For All Friday. Friday's, after all, are reserved for generating creative solutions to problems just like these. But, I got to thinking... Much like we did with Mother's Day (and to a lesser degree Father's Day), it might be nice to hear from actual teachers when generating gift ideas. What are some of the favorite things/gestures teachers have received?
How will we muster up enough teachers to make this segment truly useful? That's where Whack on the Side of the Head Wednesday comes in....
So, today's predicament... How will I assure a significant increase in readership among educators for THIS FRIDAY (5/16). My goal... have 100 teachers post the favorite treat/gesture they have received... or wish they would have received! Now to the Whack Pack for my creative solution.
Make a Metaphor. Philospher Ortega y Gassett: "The metaphor is probably the most fertile power possessed by man." The key to metaphorical thinking is comparing unrelated concepts and finding similarities between them. Example: what do a cat and a refrigerator have in common? They both have a place to put fish; they both have tails; they purr; they come in a variety of colors; and they both have a lifetime of about fifteen years. What similarities does your idea have with cooking a meal? Conducting an orchestra? Building a house? Raising a child? Waging war? How can these help you understand your idea in a new way? What can you compare your idea to?
Hmmm... I'll start with the first one and see where that takes me. What similarities does my idea, of recruiting 100 teachers who are willing to post their ideal gift on this Friday's blog, have with cooking a meal?
- There's more than one way to cook an egg, just like there's more than one way to recruit teachers: Scrambled, poached, sunny-side up, fried, hard boiled, soft boiled... these are all the ways you can prepare and egg. Call, email, write a note, personal invitation, list serve, word of mouth, students, contact professional teacher associations, notify the PTA, advertise... these are all ways to recruit teachers for Friday's blog.
- Both require turning up the heat: Barbecue is low and slow. Grilling is hot and fast. For the purposes of this week's exercise, we will be GRILLING. Today is Wednesday. We have until mid-night on Friday to solicit input from 100 teachers!
- Chefs and recruiters follow recipes: A recipe when talking about cooking a meal is fairly obvious, but what about a recipe for recruiting?... For the purposes of this activity, we'll view recruiting as a form of marketing (marketing the idea of posting to teachers far and wide). The four "P's" of marketing include : Product (getting teachers to post); Price (free); Promotion (Any teacher who makes a post on Friday will be entered in a drawing to receive school supplies for his/her classroom next year); Place (teacher lounges, highlowaha and other relevant blog sites, pick up and drop off lines outside of school, etc...)
- Both are better when they include dessert: Preferably CHOCOLATE. So, have I got a treat for you! Refer the greatest number of teachers (which we'll know if they mention your name in the post) and YOU too will earn a treat...compliments of Sous-Chef Claudia.
Now your turn. What ideas can you cook up, using the analogy above? Or, test out one of the other metaphors...recruiting teachers and... raising a child, conducting an orchestra, building a house, or waging war.
Either way, we want everyone to pitch in. Contact every teacher you know and have them tell their friends. There's no time to waste. ... Dig in!
Signing off until tomorrow...
Posts
13 comments:
As a parent I have tried to do a group gift for the teacher. When everyone pitches in you can get some nice gift certificates for the teacher instead of 24 "teacher" mugs, trinkets, etc. We have done massage packages for the year..days at the spa, gift certs for their favorite stores and so on.
As a teacher I love getting pictures of "my" kids with a note of thanks on them, staples or other office/school supply store gift certificates, letters from parents, and any type of gift certificate...doesn't have to have high value...5.00 blockbuster, starbucks, etc. Nice to rent a movie or have a cup of coffee after the schoolyear is over on somebody else! Also things that are really appreciated it the donation of supplies through out the year..kleenex, clorox wipes, sharpie pens, dry erase markers, pencils, paper towels and so on....these are things that are appreciated pre-school - high school!
None of these ideas are super creative but maybe if you need the creativity factor your packaging of the "boring" items can be fun...cute notes etc!
7 days of school left! Yippee!
Nice feedback, Anonymous. It sounds as though you've either been at this quite a while or you yourself are a teacher. Either way... round up all the teachers you know, so they can post their insights too. Goal... 100 teacher posts on Friday, May 16
For many years now, I have given my kids teachers a Barnes and Nobles (my favorite place) gift card. I figure they can choose to buy a book for their classroom or for themselves. Or they might use it to buy a CD or mug of coffee. Also, I always include a homemade thank you card letting them know just how much they have affected my child's life during the past school year.
Susan
I'm finally back to the land of the living after a whirlwind trip to Dallas which include two flight delays (one on both end) and quick meeting with two of my favorite highlowaha friends (Cassie and Cheryl) and an afternoon spent with Claudia herself.
So, after landing in Louisville last night at 12:35 and finally making it to bed around 1:30 today will be a rough day but I must say that it was WELL worth it!
I'll start working to get some teachers on board for Friday. So do daycare providers and college admins count too? You mentioned them but I wasn't sure.
Nice to be back.
Yes, anyone in education can shed light on meaningful ways they have been thanked or appreciated by students.
Of course we want a healthy dose of elementary and middle school teachers in the mix.
Dawn and Lori R. you are two of my key resources! Ashley H, if you're out there... I'm counting on you too!
News just in!!!!!
North Dakota has finally joined the mix!!! Welcome to the Great State of North Dakota. You are finally part of the ever engaging highlowaha community.
To whichever reader is responsible for our new visitor... THANK YOU. I appreciate your commitment to helping us reach our goal(s).
That leaves Montana, Wyoming, and West Virginia.
My favorite gifts were always a gift certificate to do something fun for myself. After a long year of teaching, it was always nice to treat myself to a day of pampering.
When my kids were younger I was a class mom and took a lot of pictures of the kids and classroom activities. I made a collage and had it framed for the teacher and the kids gave it with a bouquet of flowers. The parents donated 10 dollars each and she usually got a 250 dollar gift card. It always went over big.
Now that my kids are in middle school and high school I send a large basket of fruit to each school for the teachers lounge. My kids have 6 teachers each and it would be impossible to get them all something. This too makes them feel appreciated.
At our school, they had teacher appreciation week. The Room Mom organized everything and we gave something themed for everyday. They had flower day, snack day, wish-list day, movie day and the boys drew on a page that I guess went in a memory book that was presented the last day. I love my boys teachers, I want their teachers to feel appreciated and I want my boys to participate in the activity of appreciating their teacher. The only problem is I want to be told what you want me to bring well in advance.
I don't want to send in a list of what the boys are going to get and then have it changed after I had already got what I said we were going to get. Which happened at another party. I don't have the time or energy to run back and forth the store everyday. And being divorced, I don't see my kids everyday so a list going home in the pack-back the Friday before the event got overlooked until the last minute. Anyway, that's the only negative. If you're a room mom, just tell me what you want my kid to bring well in advance so I can get in all one swoop. :)We made do and all was fine. I'm just a control freak and like to do what I'm told.
Now, my question is... so we participated in the getting all the stuff for appreciation week. Do we get something else at the end of the year, too? I'm willing. I could never be a teacher and put up with 18-20 kids everyday.
What about this? Since the kids did appreciation week, I was thinking of sending something in from me. I count on these teachers do their job and do it well. I appreciate the care they give to my kids. I'm thinking of some kind of gift certificate and a thank you note from me.
Hmmm... good question. Is Appreciation Week the formalized approach to making sure teachers get the recognition they deserve? And if so, is the informal understanding that Appreciation week replaces end of year gifts?
Maybe the answer is informed, in part, by when the Appreciation Week took place. Was it recently or mid year? If it was week's or months ago, my guess is that an end of year gift is appropriate.
I like the idea of sending it from you, as opposed to another message from your sons. It seems to me most teachers would love to know they were appreciated by parents as well.
Hmmm... good question. Is Appreciation Week the formalized approach to making sure teachers get the recognition they deserve? And if so, is the informal understanding that Appreciation week replaces end of year gifts?
Maybe the answer is informed, in part, by when the Appreciation Week took place. Was it recently or mid year? If it was week's or months ago, my guess is that an end of year gift is appropriate.
I like the idea of sending it from you, as opposed to another message from your sons. It seems to me most teachers would love to know they were appreciated by parents as well.
It was last week- May 5th through May 9th.
Cheryl,
I think that is a great idea...a note from the parents is always welcome! You for sure hear when they are not happy...=) And where are you that you only have 18-20 in a class? We have anywhere from 18-31 in a class depending on the age...18-25 for Kinder and 31 or so for 4-6.
The other nice thing that occasionally happens is a letter to the principal telling them as well as the teacher what a great job the teacher is doing. Nothing better than your principal stopping you and saying "I had a nice compliment on you today..."
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