As the desks and lockers get emptied and students graduate in May, it’s all too easy to send your staff off to summer break with a quick sign-off on their end of year checklist and maybe a hug. Maybe one last staff meeting to give out a few reminders. You’re exhausted and proud, overwhelmed and grateful all at the same time. The end of the year always brings bittersweet feelings. 

And then, inevitably, you will get that email over summer break that one of your talented teachers will not be returning next year.

Your heart will sink.

You’ll get a pit in your stomach.

How will hiring another teacher impact your work over the summer?

How will this transition impact their team?

How will this loss impact school culture?

I remember wracking my brain, thinking, “What could I have done differently to keep this teacher?”

In May, most school leaders make this HUGE mistake: they forget to tell  teachers the impact they have made that year.

So, as the marathon of this school year comes to a close, I encourage you to SLOW DOWN. I invite you to take a moment to reflect on the impact your talented teachers have made on their students. And I ask you to consider telling them the change in their students that you have witnessed as a result of their time, talents, and efforts. 

85% of teachers joined the profession because they wanted to make a difference in the lives of children. Not because they want to work from home or because they want to buy a fancy car. Too often as administrators we blame lack of funds or old-school work from work policies for teacher attrition. And the simple fact is that teachers are having a harder time than ever SEEING and FEELING their impact because of the noise clouding their view. From the threatening political landscape to the never-ending list of administrative to-dos on their plates, there are a million ways teachers can lose sight of their daily impact on kids. 

So your job at the end of the year is to REMIND your staff of the genuine difference they have made in the lives of their kids that year.

Go ahead, try it! 

Set a 5  minute timer on your phone. Grab a post it and reflect on a talented teacher you want to see return to your school in the fall. Write them a note saying thank you for all their work, describing a student and the impact they’ve made, and tell them how grateful you are to be working with them to create change for kids. Then GO GIVE THEM THE NOTE. 

Seem too simple?

 Maybe it is. 

But maybe this simple act will remind you to thank other people in the building. Maybe it will change your practice as a leader just ever-so-slightly towards more gratitude, which will in turn have a ripple effect on your team, the staff at large, and the overall school culture. Maybe it will remind this teacher that you care about the same thing they do- making a difference for the students. 

Give it a try. What do you have to lose?