Do Teachers + Food = Better Relationships?
Posted by Jen Bragg on 20 Mar 2009 | Posted in: Relationships and Team Building
| Our team of editors has a birthday tradition. Whenever a birthday rolls around, we treat the birthday girl to lunch. It’s a fun way to enjoy a good meal and good company while leaving shop talk back at work. The folks on our floor meet periodically in the break room for what basically turn out to be mini food marathons. In the past we’ve served up breakfasts, lunches, even sundaes. Our most recent gathering was unofficially dubbed “dessert fest” and, as you can imagine, was filled with such treats as cheesecake, brownies, and chocolate chip cookies. |  |
| Members of the editorial team head out for a birthday lunch. |
Now that I think about it, food was a big part of building relationships at the schools where I taught too. At my school in California, different groups of teachers would bring in snacks for each Thursday’s morning break.
Sometimes they were healthy-ish treats, like bagels and fruit. Other times they were seasonally themed, like baked potatoes and all the fixings for St. Patrick’s Day. At another school where I taught, lunching at a restaurant on a workday was a coveted event. Getting off campus for those meals always felt like a luxury, and many teachers were eager to join the fun!
How do the teachers at your grade level or school build relationships? Do you have any fun ideas, food related or otherwise, that you’d like to share with other teachers? Do you have suggestions for bonding activities that are free or low cost? (I’m guessing those might be calorie-free too—extra bonus!) If so, share them! I look forward to hearing from you!
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The district I teach at did a Chili cookoff right before the Thanksgiving holidays. There were even secret judges and the competition was a fun way to get to know each other.
Our school has an open campus for lunch. we are always so busy during the week, that Friday is go out for lunch day! Several different groups go to different restaurants and get together over pizza or salad and sandwiches and get to know each other outside of the “kid environment”. It’s nice to catch up on what’s going on in their “other life”.
I teach a unit about the Russian czars. During this unit we learn about the people and culture of Russia. My students prepare about four different Russian foods during their studies. We always prepare extra for their homeroom teachers. I find food helps the kids remember the material and involves those other teachers who tend to get more excited about what we’re studying….and eating!
I work at a very small private preschool, so to help spice things up a bit, I took a page out of my Mother-in-Law’s book and started “Wonderful Wednesdays!” Each week, it is one personal responsibility to bring in something to share with the rest of the staff for lunch. (Not the whole lunch - just something to go with our lunches.) Some people bring salad with a variety of dressings, others opt for dessert. Most opt for something that can be kept warm in a slow-cooker like sloppy-joes. It is always a treat to have a “Wonderful Wednesday” instead of “Horrible Humpday!”
Each month a grade level at our school is responsible for providing snack foods for the staff. Some months we have soups and breads. Other months we have a theme such as Mexican, snack foods, breakfast foods, etc. We also have a team at our school dedicated to recruiting and retaining teachers. Periodically, we have an after school snack time with ice cream sundaes or holiday themed snacks. It gives the staff time to unwind and get to know other teachers outside of their grade level.
Every February on or around Valentine’s day we have “Soup Day” at our school. The staff volunteers to bring in home-made soup, bread or rolls, or a dessert to share at lunch. I got the idea many years ago from a school where I often substituted. We all look forward to it each year.
Once a month all the teachers in our school bring in food so we can all enjoy lunch. We don’t have lunch at the same time, so we set up in an extra room and come when we get a chance. The office staff sets it up and cleans it up. It is great to have something different for lunch.
Our preschool class was able to purchase kitchen items such as an electric skillet, toaster oven and cookie trays for our “Fun Food Friday” days. The children help to decide what to cook to either eat right away or write their names on their plate to eat at snack. We use many sequence recipes from Mailbox to help the children build their creation. We usually make plenty of extras for principal, maintenance and secretaries. The comments are wonderful and the children are very proud of their work. The children cheer when it is “Fun Food Friday”!!
We are allowed to have a half-hour away from school for lunch and work near a small town, so there is no fast food available. My friends and I try to go out once a week (always ordering ahead) to have some time to unwind away from school. I think it’s great to get away from the roll of teacher so that we can all bond as friends.
Our preschool teacher cooks fairly often with her class. They always make a little extra to share with the other staff.
The teachers and staff at our school LOVE food! We each are assigned to another teacher or staff member to bring treats for that person’s birthday. Each month we celebrate that month’s birthdays and the treats for the birthdays of that month are brought in on one day and we celebrate with all of the goodies at lunch time. We’ve had everything from soup and salad to cakes, cookies, and pies! Our principal usually treats us to donuts and sweet rolls on Fridays as well, and we celebrate holidays with special goodies, too. We have a Social Committee that is planning some special outings such as bowling and a wine and cheese party. Anything that will help keep up the staff morale is really appreciated!
Since we eat all meals and snacks with our children, we bring in some sort of treat on our birthdays and put it in the conference room. Our director also will put fun treats in for different Holidays. That way, when a teacher takes a quick break at nap time,she can grab a snack. We find it difficult in our center to even find moments for conversation, because we are always with our kids. My assistant and I have a special bond, however, since we are together all day.
I totally agree that having a meal (or dessert) with your co-teachers is a great bonding experience. Just getting away, even if its on a Saturday, helps bring our team closer.I teach at a preschool, and opening our inner doors between our classroom at nap time is a great way for us to bond, just listening to someone eles day, can change a persons perspective on how your day is going.
Be a friend and reach out, it makes everyone smile.
We are not allowed to leave campus for lunch, so all the grade level teachers eat in one classroom together. This is a time to share and catch up with everyone.