Compliments: Throw Them Like Confetti!

Compliments Month: The Why

Compliments? Who has time for those? Heck, coming back from winter break is TOUGH! It’s almost harder than returning after a summer break, in my opinion! As I looked for ideas to help maintain our awesome school culture and boost the dip in morale I was confident would come, I decided to figure out a way that my faculty and staff could boost each other so we were all working together to keep us moving forward!

I noticed in one of the Facebook groups I was in that January 24th was National Compliment Day and the light bulb went on!

I have a space in my faculty room where I have been keeping interactive faculty and staff activities, such as a HUGE word search and a crossword puzzle. Now I knew exactly what I wanted to put into that space!

Compliments Month: Setting It Up

Now that I had my idea, I needed to figure out the logistics of how it would work. So, I decided that I wanted to run this idea longer than ONE DAY, especially all the work (and expense) it was going to take. Enter Amazon, my trusty shopping site (I truly should buy stock in Amazon with the amount of product my school buys every year! 😮

I did find some great ideas and I am excited to share them with you!

Please Note: Many links in this post are affiliate links. The money earned is used to help pay for and run this site.

First things first! I knew I would need some way to hold all the cards for my faculty and staff to choose from! I found these AWESOME magnets- they are colorful, the right size to hold the cards, and strong enough not to fall off the board every 5 seconds! Here is the link for the magnets that I chose to use: https://amzn.to/31DnLb0

Next, I needed some great quotes and inspirational sayings that would inspire my faculty and staff to give cards with handwritten notes to each other.

Motivational Thoughts Cards: https://amzn.to/3qYJp24

Positive Affirmation Cards: https://amzn.to/3JVEQOT

Thinking Of You: https://amzn.to/3q6AkVG

Compliments Month: Crafting the Right Header

Then, it was time to craft the perfect header, which was a snap! To make it banner size, I saved it as a PDF and then printed it in ADOBE and selected ‘banner’. It turned out great, and it had all the important information- like DON’T TAKE THE MAGNETS! Haha!

(FREE editable file in our Subscriber’s Access area– to download it, join our mailing list, and you will be sent a password!)

Compliments Month: The Finished SetUp

I set everything up on a Friday and waited to say anything until the end of the day on Monday. I took a picture of the board and at the end of the day I sent out an email to the faculty and staff explaining what the board is and how it works (for those who aren’t in our building every day or don’t come to the faculty room as often).

Now, at the end of each school day, I refill all the empty clips with new cards. That’s all the work it takes to have compliments flying like confetti around my school! Totally worth every cent and second!

I Have a Question! What If We Are Virtual?

This is a great question! This concept works perfectly in a virtual setting! Set up a Google Folder with various uplifting quote memes and sayings. Then explain that your faculty/staff simply needs to attach one to an email with a note of appreciation and send that bad boy off across the digital expanse to their colleague’s inbox!

In Summary!

Whether you buy all the cards and clips or print off sayings to share or send the message digitally, the point is to simply DO IT! We have enough negativity in the world, enough stress, and worry, enough exhaustion from trying to keep up! This simple setup and activity will help to build or maintain your amazing school culture!

Wishing you all the best-