By Theresa Bontempo
Some of the most important people that work with our younger generations are teachers. When it comes to teaching the younger generations their ABCs, basic and advanced math, science, history, and the ins and outs of the English language and grammar, it can be a difficult challenge for teachers to juggle many kids.
Teachers don’t get enough recognition from the work that they put into their job, and sometimes this could be the fault of the school district that they work for. To avoid a high turnover rate for teachers, sometimes adding a simple change such as digital signage and an employee engagement system can do the trick!
Boosting morale with your teachers by using digital signage can be a great way to get teachers to feel more appreciated and create a more positive work environment and experience. Learn more about digital signage and how it can elevate the school’s culture!
Why is the Turnover Rate for Teachers So High?
Many teachers are not only leaving the school district they’re employed at, but also the profession as a whole.
Lots of school districts are struggling to maintain the happiness of their teachers and many of them are leaving the profession. Image courtesy of Kappan Online.
Teachers are the cornerstone of any child’s education because they teach them the important skills that they need before they reach adulthood. While it’s important to not be short-staffed with teachers during a busy school year, many teachers are either quitting and moving to another school district, or leaving the profession altogether.
Many Receive Very Low Pay
For how important a teacher’s job is, one of the many reasons why some are leaving is due to low wages. For all of the work that they do to give each student that comes in their classroom a great education, many have to have a second job just to make life more livable and affordable. Teachers are considered underpaid compared to other college-educated professionals and many make around $60,000 annually. This could vary depending on which state and school district that teachers work for, but it’s something that drives them out of the field after being dedicated for years.
Burnout is a Common Driving Factor for a Lack of Teachers
Just like people in other types of careers, burnout is a real cause for concern for teachers. Many teachers leave strictly due to the burnout of their position for a number of reasons that include:
- Understaffing
- Not enough school funding
- Low pay wages
- Not enough support from school district
- Challenging student behaviors
- Excessive workloads
- Safety issues
Lack of Respect From Students and Parents
While lots of teachers are passionate about making sure each kid in their classroom is receiving the proper education, many are struggling with the child’s behavior throughout the day as well as abuse getting hurled at them by the parents. Many students have challenging behaviors nowadays that hinder a teacher’s ability to perform their best in the classroom and give every child an opportunity to receive a proper education.
Not only are difficult behaviors such as mental health challenges, aggression, and disruptiveness hurtful to the classrooms, but parents could be difficult to handle too. Rude parents are also a common issue for many teachers and trying to remain professional, calm, and have empathy for them could drive many teachers away due to a lack of respect.
Little Administrative Support
Many teachers feel as if they’re going through the motions everyday of teaching their students the essentials for their future, but that they aren’t being seen by their administration. Teachers are more than twice as likely to resign if they feel they aren’t receiving the proper support from the school district, whether this is due to a lack of communication, creating opportunities for growth, or by not creating an inclusive and positive community and environment for teachers to succeed.
Digital Signage and its Positive Influence on Boosting Teacher Support and Morale
Employee engagement systems and digital signage can play a huge role in determining where teachers stand in their school district and offer a more positive experience!
Digital signage has a positive influence on the workplace environment and creates a solid support system. Image courtesy of Pickcel Digital Signage.
Technology has a significant impact on both teachers and students within a school system–and it has many ways to create a more positive experience for those within it. Not only can it be great to implement in the classrooms to make teaching a more immersive experience for students to learn–especially if they’re visual learners–but it can also help give teachers the recognition that they deserve.
- Boost the School’s Team Spirit and Social Connections
Teachers are crucial to any school’s success and digital signage can help them to be more enthusiastic when coming into work. Teachers shouldn’t come in and feel like they have to just do their job and go home at the end of the day with minimal satisfaction–instead, they should be proud of the work that they do and be proud of their student’s determination to strive for success. Digital signage can help them to feel more connected to their school and peers through highlighting upcoming school pep rallies, events, staff gatherings, and help them feel accepted within the community of the school.
- Highlight Achievements and Recognition for Teachers
Do a number of your teachers have upcoming work anniversaries coming up or maybe a birthday? Whatever the occasion is, digital signage can help broadcast these achievements to gain recognition. Sharing milestones, awards, and even broadcasting positive recognition from students and parents can be a huge boost in any teacher’s career and make them feel grateful for the position that they have. This could also influence many other teachers to go above and beyond to create new ways to engage their students and make an impact on the school district, its students, and even the parents too.
- Update Curriculum Changes and Recommendations
There are many useful ways to implement digital signage into your school’s culture to boost morale within your staff. One can be to update any curriculum changes and give recommendations for new teaching strategies and methods to get kids more involved. One of the biggest challenges for teachers is keeping kids engaged–and it can also be the same for the administration towards the teachers too! Digital signage used during an all staff meeting can help teachers gain insight into new teaching methodologies and even collaboration techniques with fellow peers to help inspire them and carry that over into the classroom.
- Share Uplifting Messages to Get Staff Motivated
Everyone experiences those days where you wake up and have little motivation to get the day started. Many teachers experience this, along with burnout for a number of reasons–so digital signage right where they can see it in the morning can help to boost their spirits! Digital signage can be used in the teacher break room or in the administrative office when they first walk in the morning to show inspiring and motivational quotes and provide a more supportive and uplifting atmosphere.
- Great for Internal Communications
It can be difficult to keep up with emails throughout the day while teaching a number of classes everyday with different students–or watching over elementary-aged kids. If you’re looking to boost employee engagement and strengthen communication, consider using digital signage for internal communications. Having efficient communication within the workplace is crucial to ensure that everyone is on the same page and for a school, it can be great to use for reminders of staff meetings, important deadlines, updates for staff rooms and common areas, and upcoming on-campus events throughout the year. This will not only be a gentle reminder that is bright and eye-catching, but it can help improve efficiency within the school.
- Show Gratitude From Students
Many students share a favorite teacher, have a funny memory, or want to show their appreciation for someone who helped them to overcome a certain obstacle, were there for them when they needed it, or helped them to truly understand a subject that they always struggled with. Digital signage can be a great way to remind teachers that their job is important and that they are appreciated even on their worst days teaching. By having students submit thank you notes or a memory that means a lot to them, you can present them via digital signage and it can be an easy way for teachers to gain recognition and make them feel appreciated for what they do.
- Let Teachers Reflect on Their Teaching Experience
While teachers have their good days and bad days, they are reminded of why they started teaching in the first place. Teachers have a passion for influencing and getting the future generations ready to take on the world, push them to achieve their dreams, and support them when they need it most. Digital signage can also be an inspiring way for teachers to reflect on their careers and put into words or in video format what it means to them. By displaying these on digital signage, it can help to boost the overall morale of the school and remind other teachers why they started teaching to begin with. Giving staff a voice using digital signage can also be a useful way to help them feel heard and appreciated too.
How Shift Can Be Your Useful Guide to Boost School Morale
Teachers want to feel appreciated even when students and parents can be tough on them–and Shift can help accomplish this!
Shift is an employee engagement system that can help show recognition for teachers and their hard work. Image courtesy of Shift.
When it comes to your teachers, it’s important to show your appreciation for the hard work that they put in everyday. From dealing with the behaviors of the kids , organizing an immersive learning schedule to keep students engaged, and just showing up everyday can be tough on teachers–but using an employee engagement system like Shift can help give them the extra boost that they need.
What is Shift?
There is nothing more important than developing deep connections with your staff and getting to know them. Shift’s main goal for employers is to get closer to their employees by making internal communications easier, plus it helps to inspire teams, celebrate their victories, milestones, and achievements, and even recognize employees through highlights. Shift also helps to create a positive work environment for staff and can start friendly workplace competition to make their job more engaging.
Unique Features For Using Shift
There are a lot of useful features to highlight when school districts use Shift to further engage their employees and boost overall morale. Some of their most useful features include the following:
- Boost employee engagement through recognition and appreciation
- Celebrate staff birthdays, work anniversaries, and other achievements
- Show training videos and keep track of which ones staff members have completed
- Employee spotlights
- Interactive polls for staff to anonymously complete
- Expands internal communications
- Shows company logistics
- Improves and expands new hire training
- Allows staff to retrain and re-skill in key trainings
- Helps managers learn more about staff
- Encourages employees to do work harder
- Increases productivity
Boost School Morale and Teachers Using Digital Signage and Shift
With an increasing high turnover rate, many school districts are struggling to keep and maintain their desired number of teachers and avoid being understaffed. Many teachers often don’t feel seen or heard or struggle to remember why it was that they wanted to start teaching in the first place. By adding digital signage and Shift into the workplace, it can boost overall morale, uplift teachers, and engage them to want to create a difference for the school and their students.
Consider adding Shift and its engaging digital signage displays to help recognize teachers for all of their hard work!
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