NOVEMBER
SCHOOL CULTURE ACTIVITIES FOR NOVEMBER
An easy and tangible way to recognize everyone in your school? Yes, please! Kick off the month by serving up a hot cup of appreciation for your hardworking bus drivers with Curbside Coffee! Then, send people into Thanksgiving break by encouraging your students and Staffulty to submit notes of thankfulness to display on a Gratitude Wall.
See more details about November activities by clicking the title of each idea below.
RELATIONSHIPS
Curbside Coffee: Reward bus drivers for doing the critically important job of getting students to school. As the first and the last impression of the day, bus drivers booked end your school culture. Celebrate them with a surprise cup of coffee!
CULTURE & CLIMATE
Gratitude Notes: Recognize members of your school community by encouraging them to complete gratitude notes. The notes can go to anyone in the school! peer-to-peer, student-to-teacher, or teacher-to-student. Some of our favorite ideas for sharing gratitude are the Gratitude Wall, Gratitude Grams, Positivity Grams, Sweet Notes of Appreciation, and What Makes Them a Gift!
This activity has been selected as part of the Culture Challenge. Do it, enter the sweepstakes, and you could win $500 for culture and climate activities at your school
MAKE IT HAPPEN!
STAFFULTY MORALE
Thankful Thursday: Recognize Staffulty for their impact on students through demonstrations of gratitude. These can be short gratitude videos, decorated doors, personal notes on Starfish Notecards (available in the Ren Store) or anything else that lets Staffulty know they’re appreciated.
Reaching At-Risk Youth– video and discussion: Use this The Green Room professional learning episode at a staff meeting or PD day to generate ideas for connecting with all students within your school.
CHARACTER MORALE
Community Service: Reinforce the values of gratitude and giving by using the Community Service lesson from the Renaissance Leadership Curriculum. This lesson helps students identify and evaluate local opportunities for meaningful service projects.
Gratitude —video and discussion: Use Season 5, Episode 5 of The HarborTM by Jostens episode to reinforce a culture of gratitude, which fosters an atmosphere in which everyone feels more valued and connected.
ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT
Honors Café: Reward students for meeting academic goals with a special dining experience. This could be more involved, like teacher’s serving students at a banquet, or something as simple as a celebratory pizza party!
GET RECOGNIZED FOR YOUR EFFORTS!
All schools who do one Monthly Playbook activity for each month of the school year and track their school culture and climate efforts are eligible to be a Jostens Renaissance School of Distinction.