Every month, our curriculum team dreams up some kind of teacher incentive to keep things fun and encouraging. This month’s idea? A raffle. Every time someone pops into your classroom and catches 100% of your students engaged, you earn a raffle ticket. Easy enough, right? Engage the students, collect some tickets, cross your fingers.
Well, I did pretty well. Actually, I did really well. I collected a whole bunch of tickets. But before I tossed them all into the raffle box, I noticed something: they were really pretty. Bright, cheerful, hopeful. The kind of little thing that just makes you feel good.
I wanted to keep one. Just one. I even snapped a quick picture of them all spread out in my hand, thinking, "Oh, I’ll remember them this way." But now? I wish I had actually kept one.
See, I have a “Feel Good Wall” in my office. It's where I hang up anything that lifts me up after a tough day — thank you notes, cards, silly little accolades, drawings from students, you name it. It's my reminder that even on the hardest days, there’s a whole wall full of reasons why this work matters.
That raffle ticket would've fit right in. A little symbol of a job well done, tucked in among the love notes and doodles.
Ah well. Next time I get something small and wonderful, you better believe it's going straight onto the wall. Picture or no picture.
