Today I decided I had to "put my money where my mouth was". I've talked about my personal goal this year to work on balancing my life - today it was time for some action. Last year my life was totally dominated by my new job/new school/new country. This year I would actually like to get a life with my family in this beautiful country, as well as be a dedicated and hard-working teacher. After school I met with 6 other teachers who were interested in starting a social committee. We decided we'd organise one social event every half term and that we would advertise other events and activities that are already going on in our part of central Switzerland. The idea is that our staff should be social and have fun.
We had a lot of suggestions for different activities including a ghost tour of Zurich, an outing to the Lindt chocolate factory, wine tasting events, different parades and festivals, hiking and ending up at a BBQ, sledding and snow-shoe walking in the winter, music and dance activities, different sorts of dinners and so on.
We are trying to build a professional learning community at school, and I think one way to encourage us all to work better together is if we can play better together. That is the aim. I'll let you know how we get on.
Photo Credit: Early morning view at our Luzern campus, looking out over the Vierwaldstättersee
Socializing with our colleagues is so important. It helps create a stronger school when we know each other away from school. I have found that when staff members socialize outside of school, the sense of school spirit and school pride is stronger for teachers and students. I wish I were there to join you on these adventures, it sounds like a lot of fun!
ReplyDeleteI hope that you all have fun and get to enjoy a greater sense of camaraderie as a result!