January+25,+2011

1. What are your thoughts about the number one reason why people leave their jobs?

I do think that a negative work place environment is the number one reason people leave their jobs and unfortunately the negativity could come from just a few individuals. I think it is important for leaders to have as one of their top priorities, to create a working environment that is positive and acknowledges staff strengths and their contributions to the work place. HMT

I'm not at all surprised that this is the case. People need affirmation that what they do in the workplace really matters, and that their efforts are appreciated. - KA

I'm not surprised, either. In many professions, including ours, people put in effort above and beyond their job requirement. Without recognition from someone (supervisor or other), employees can become frustrated. - LS Overall, we were not surprised by this information. Even when the salary scale was more significant, many people felt that the negativity was not worth staying in negative situations. Academy

The negativity can come not only from management but co-workers and that negativity leads to dissatifaction with ones job as well as personal unhappiness. HMM

2. Do you think that we have a recognition gap in our school community? Why or why not? and if yes, how would you go about to change it? As a group we feel as though this is an area that we need to work on. This could be achieved through observations, and more positive interactions with parents. We also need to remember not to personalize the negativity that we encounter.

I do think we have a recognition gap in the school community. I think there are many staff who do so much good for their students that it is often not recognized. A part of that may be that many educators don't always share all the good they do or praising letters they may receive from parents or students. Teachers usually work in isolation so others aren't able to see what happens in the classroom. - HMT

3. When have you had a sincere and meaningful bucket filling experience and did it impact your job productivity? Many of us have had bucket filling experiences but they were long after the inital actions that we may have done.

4. How does this chapter relate to our students and our classrooms?

The same need for affirmation and positive recognition exists for students. We'll get much more from them if we honestly and intentionally praise their efforts. - KA

Students do best when they receive lots of positive reinforcement and praise from us. If they know you believe in them and you show that you believe in them, their self-confidence and self-worth will be so much higher and stronger - key ingredients to living life with a full bucket. - HMT

This chapter reminded me that I need to remember that the well-behaved, successful students need recognition, too. So often I put my efforts into behavior charts, etc. for students with behavior issues and recognizing their development, that I forget to recognize the efforts of my other students. They work hard, too and I'm sure they wonder sometimes why the student who is always acting out is earning stickers and prizes all the time. - LS

If we do not recognize student success they will not want to put in effort and may effect their long term success. `