--- title: What teachers need next year — and how Folio can help provide it description: Discover how school leaders can support teachers' needs for validation, celebration, care, and collaboration in the upcoming year with insights from Folio. image: https://blog.foliocollaborative.org/hubfs/Stock%20images/Large%20Stock%20Images/1280-3%20women%20and%202%20men%20of%20varying%20ethnicities%20gathered%20around%20a%20conference%20table.jpg --- [![Folio Site Logo 250 x 100 px](https://blog.foliocollaborative.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Folio%20Site%20Logo%20250%20x%20100%20px.png?width=175&height=70&name=Folio%20Site%20Logo%20250%20x%20100%20px.png "Folio Site Logo 250 x 100 px")](https://foliocollaborative.org/) [![Folio Collaborative company logo](https://blog.foliocollaborative.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Logos/Folio_ColoronTrans_Full%20lockup%20horz.png?width=1801&height=1500&name=Folio_ColoronTrans_Full%20lockup%20horz.png "Folio Collaborative company logo")](https://foliocollaborative.org/) This is a search field with an auto-suggest feature attached. - There are no suggestions because the search field is empty. - [Speak with an expert](https://meetings.hubspot.com/alaena1/consultation-call) - Solutions - [Our Approach](https://foliocollaborative.org/our-approach) - [Platform](https://foliocollaborative.org/solutions) - [Professional Learning](https://foliocollaborative.org/professional-learning) - [Research](https://foliocollaborative.org/the-state-of-faculty-growth-in-independent-schools) - [Events](https://45568612.hs-sites.com/folio-events) - [Resources](https://blog.foliocollaborative.org) - [Newsletter](https://info.foliocollaborative.org/the-folio-quarterly-professional-growth-delivered) - [Members](https://foliocollaborative.org/member-schools) - About - [Board of Directors](https://foliocollaborative.org/board-of-directors) - [Advisory Board](https://foliocollaborative.org/advisory-board) - [Team](https://foliocollaborative.org/team) - [Company](https://foliocollaborative.org/about-2) - [Careers](https://foliocollaborative.org/about-2#careers) - [Contact Us](https://foliocollaborative.org/contact) # What teachers need next year — and how Folio can help provide it by [The Folio Team](https://blog.foliocollaborative.org/author/admin)   |   Jun 18, 2021   Conversations with member schools have revealed consistent themes as school leaders look ahead. We are hearing that teachers need: Validation, Celebration, Care and Attention, Collaboration. In order to support teachers, school leaders might look toward these common themes to build a roadmap for success. ## **Validation** All humans need to be heard, seen, and understood. In considering [The Magic of Validation](https://www.cultofpedagogy.com/magic-of-validation/), Jennifer Gonzalez (Cult of Pedagogy) offers a powerful three-step process toward creating a culture of validation. She suggests that validation comes when we “Reflect the Content; Acknowledge the Emotion; and, Communicate Acceptance.” As school leaders reflect on the ways they might provide validation to their faculty, consider turning to this model of validation as teachers share their stories. In regularly scheduled meetings to connect on growth, perhaps the conversation turns to simply being with the faculty member in whatever they are facing? To validate is to see and to be validated is to be seen in an authentic way. With the emotional challenges that have come with teaching in ‘20-’21 and its [well-documented effects on teacher mental health](https://19thnews.org/2020/12/during-the-pandemic-teachers-mental-health-is-suffering-in-ways-theyve-never-experienced/), take time to validate emotions — reflect what you hear, acknowledge its validity, and communicate your acceptance. ### *To Validate in myFolio?*  Use the [Conversation and Observation Notes](https://foliocollab.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/1500004121041-Self-reflective-Conversation-and-Observation-Notes) to track your discussions with faculty. To provide validation, consider framing your Conversation Notes around the framework above: reflect, acknowledge, and communicate acceptance. ## **Celebration** To celebrate is to create a space for public acknowledgement of successes. Workplace cultures thrive when there is deliberate space created for public/social recognition. Work Human has done tremendous research into the “[Return on Investment of Social Recognition](https://www.workhuman.com/resources/papers/the-roi-of-social-recognition)” and the [value of employee appreciation](https://www.workhuman.com/resources/globoforce-blog/appreciating-employees-all-day-every-day-on-linkedin-live). As individuals in your community lean into the power of celebration, it can have a “[snowball effect](http://www.drpaulwhite.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Creating-a-Positive-Snowball-Effect-WBW-Summer-2019-WEB-1.pdf)” as celebrations ripple throughout the community. ### *To Celebrate in myFolio? * The [Spotlight feature](https://foliocollab.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/360063634973-Shining-a-Spotlight) is a wonderful way to share a celebration with another faculty member. You can also use your [Community Feed](https://foliocollab.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/360058959393-Create-a-Community-Post) to share a spotlight in a more public fashion. Consider trying a “[Spotlight-a-Palooza](https://foliocollaborative.org/wp-content/uploads/Folio-Lesson-Plan-Spotlight-a-Palooza.pdf)” to get your celebrations going!  ## **Care and Attention** Teachers need care and attention to both their personal and professional triumphs and challenges. During regular check-ins and goals conversations with faculty, consider taking time to provide care and attention to both aspects. [Marcus Buckingham](https://www.marcusbuckingham.com/check-in-conversation/) shares a powerful framework for frequent professional check-in conversations. Buckingham suggests that supervisors frequently ask: “What are your priorities this week? And, how can I help?” Supervisors can frame responses to these questions in their Goals Check-Ins on myFolio and can ground professional check-ins toward a teacher’s defined goals for growth. At the same time, while it is critical that school leaders check in on a teacher’s professional growth and progress toward goals, it is important that they do not dismiss the personal attention and care that teachers need. In [this Cult of Pedagogy podcast](https://www.cultofpedagogy.com/episode-71/), Jennifer Gonzalez has a conversation with Angela Watson about teacher self-care and how difficult it can be for teachers to create and sustain a workable “work-life balance.” This difficulty makes it all the more important for school leaders to take a visible role in shepherding care and attention to faculty. With this in mind, it is important to take the time in conversations to ask teachers: “How are you, really?” ### *To provide Care and Attention in myFolio?*  Similar to validation, school leaders should use [Conversation and Observation Notes](https://foliocollab.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/1500004121041-Self-reflective-Conversation-and-Observation-Notes) to reflect on these discussions. The [Mindful Minute](https://foliocollab.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/1500002412522-Mindful-Minute) feature is another way to get a temperature check on your whole faculty either as a part of regular faculty meetings or as an exit ticket from a faculty meeting. Simply by giving teachers time to briefly reflect on successes and challenges of the past week, and allowing them to select an emoticon to match how they are feeling, gives them an opportunity to share how they are really doing. If a school leader sees an abundance of stress and stressful emotions in the Mindful Minute, it might be an indication that a full faculty care and attention check-in is needed. ## **Collaboration** Collaboration is critical to school-wide professional growth. [Folio released a whitepaper](https://foliocollaborative.org/wp-content/uploads/Creating-a-Culture-of-Collaboration-Whitepaper-Folio-Collaborative.pdf), in partnership with the EE Ford Foundation and the McDonogh School, that highlights the core elements of a collaborative culture. This paper notes that collaborative cultures need to be intentionally fostered in a school community, writing: “The highly-collaborative organizations we visited did not cross their fingers and hope for collaboration; they intentionally designed their use of space, time, and team structure in order to create formal and informal collaborative opportunities.”  ### *To provide Collaboration in myFolio?* Schools can encourage critical peer to peer collaboration on growth using [myFolio Workspaces](https://foliocollab.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/360058774913-myFolio-Workspaces) or when teachers assign a [peer as a Collaborator](https://foliocollab.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/360057831674-Supervisors-Collaborators-Groups) to work on Goals (either in addition to or in place of a supervisor). These myFolio features are structured ways to enhance school-based collaboration around goals and growth as they allow teachers to observe, share notes and feedback, and have structured goals-focused conversations. There are also opportunities for collaboration in myFolio around the definition and articulation of [school-wide professional growth themes](https://foliocollab.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/360058659194-School-wide-Themes). The [Community Feed](https://foliocollab.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/360058959393-Create-a-Community-Post) offers another opportunity for collaboration. School leaders can model a practice of sharing resources and articles on the Community Feed that are intended to benefit all faculty and staff. This allows the Community Feed to be a resource for common texts and readings that enhance everyone’s growth.  ## **In Conclusion** Underlying all of these important elements is the need to build time into the schedule for this work. In order for schools to build cultures that attend to these four topics, school leaders must deliberately construct schedules that reflect these values. Schools cannot push collaboration, care and attention, celebration, and validation into the evenings and weekends. Rather, there must be both modeling and a deliberate effort to cultivate opportunities to embrace this work during the traditional school day. It might be helpful for school leaders to consider a framework like the [Eisenhower Matrix](https://blog.foliocollaborative.org/using-the-eisenhower-matrix-to-improve-your-team). Validation, Celebration, Care and Attention, and Collaboration are not urgent matters, yet they are all very important to the overall health of a school and a faculty. This type of framework can help a leader focus on what really matters — to move from feeling like someone who puts out fires to someone who works to prevent them before they begin. #### About the author The Folio Team [Follow me on my website](https://foliocollaborative.org/) [Follow me on LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/foliocollaborative/) Folio is your partner in facilitating professional growth strategies that last. Our customizable framework empowers school leaders to help their teachers thrive and our platform sustains the process. Originally spun out of McDonogh School and proudly built in Baltimore, Maryland, Folio is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit used by independent schools nationwide. Topics:   [coaching & conversations](https://blog.foliocollaborative.org/tag/coaching-conversations) ,   [teacher retention](https://blog.foliocollaborative.org/tag/teacher-retention) ,   [evaluation & growth](https://blog.foliocollaborative.org/tag/evaluation-growth) ,   [Goals](https://blog.foliocollaborative.org/tag/goals) ### Related posts [Starting Strong with Strategic Professional Growth Setup](https://blog.foliocollaborative.org/starting-strong-with-strategic-professional-growth-setup) [Folio Collaborative: Helping Schools Deliver On Their Value Proposition](https://blog.foliocollaborative.org/folio-collaborative-helping-schools-deliver-on-their-value-proposition) [Leverage myFolio Reports to Deepen Practice and Institutional Impact](https://blog.foliocollaborative.org/leverage-myfolio-reports-to-deepen-practice-and-institutional-impact) [The Lifeline to Why I Love Teaching: How Grace Church School Transformed End-of-Year Conversations](https://blog.foliocollaborative.org/the-lifeline-to-why-i-love-teaching-how-grace-church-school-transformed-end-of-year-conversations) [A Unified System for a Unified Mission: Support and Feedback for Faculty and Staff](https://blog.foliocollaborative.org/a-unified-system-for-a-unified-mission-support-and-feedback-for-faculty-and-staff) [Five Appreciation Fridays: A Leadership Discipline for Catching People Doing Something Right](https://blog.foliocollaborative.org/five-appreciation-fridays-a-leadership-discipline-for-catching-people-doing-something-right) [Making Accreditation Your Blueprint for School Health](https://blog.foliocollaborative.org/making-accreditation-your-blueprint-for-school-health) [6 Ways to Elevate Feedback and Well-being with myFolio's Mindful Minute](https://blog.foliocollaborative.org/6-ways-to-elevate-feedback-and-well-being-with-myfolios-mindful-minute) [The Power of Holistic Teacher Observation and Feedback](https://blog.foliocollaborative.org/the-power-of-holistic-teacher-observation-and-feedback) ©  2026 COPYRIGHT Folio Collaborative. All rights reserved. ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@type" : "BlogPosting", "author" : { "@type" : "Person", "name" : "The Folio Team", "url" : "https://blog.foliocollaborative.org/author/admin" }, "dateModified" : "2024-07-24T19:52:17.716Z", "datePublished" : "2021-06-18T15:51:20.000Z", "headline" : "What teachers need next year — and how Folio can help provide it", "image" : [ "https://blog.foliocollaborative.org/hubfs/Stock%20images/Large%20Stock%20Images/1280-3%20women%20and%202%20men%20of%20varying%20ethnicities%20gathered%20around%20a%20conference%20table.jpg" ], "mainEntityOfPage" : { "@id" : "https://blog.foliocollaborative.org/coaching/what-teachers-need-next-year-and-how-folio-can-help-provide-it-2", "@type" : "WebPage" }, "publisher" : { "@type" : "Organization", "logo" : { "@type" : "ImageObject", "url" : "https://blog.foliocollaborative.org/hubfs/Logos/Folio_ColoronTrans_Full%20lockup%20horz.png" }, "name" : "Folio Collaborative" } } ```