Professional Development
Build a culture that lasts.
Healthy culture doesn't happen by accident. GiveThx professional development gives staff the research, practices, and routines to build a community where people feel seen, connected, and healthy, and where that culture is measurable, not just felt.
Addressing Staff Wellbeing
GiveThx doesn't just give you something to do with your students. It gives you something for yourself.
More than half of educators report feeling burned out. 62% report frequent, job-related stress, nearly double the rate of similar working adults. When teachers experience high levels of stress, it becomes difficult for them to provide students with the support they need– a task that has become increasingly critical as schools work to address a youth mental health crisis in parallel.
In addition to the direct benefits of improving educator wellbeing, higher levels of educator wellbeing are associated with:
In addition to the direct benefits of improving educator wellbeing, higher levels of educator wellbeing are associated with:
- Higher student wellbeing (Harding et al., 2019)
- Lower student distress (Harding et al., 2019)
- Lower student stress and morning cortisol (Oberle & Schonert-Reichl, 2016)
Professional Development
The sequence meets staff and schools where they are, blending research, practice, and data so the learning actually sticks. Pacing and depth adapt to your school's needs: some roll out to staff and students in a single year, others take a multi-year approach. Leader coaching runs alongside every phase, so administrators aren't just kept informed, they're actively co-leading the work.
Student Practice | PD Sequence
CO-CREATING CULTURE
Students who create culture protect it.
Staff examine gratitude science and how it helps make school culture visible, practical, and measurable. They learn how to co-create behavior expectations with students and build a shared gratitude practice to recognize and reinforce them.
Staff examine gratitude science and how it helps make school culture visible, practical, and measurable. They learn how to co-create behavior expectations with students and build a shared gratitude practice to recognize and reinforce them.
STRENGTHENING PRACTICE
Turn a habit into a skill.
Analyze implementation data to identify where students are thriving and where they're stuck.Using research-validated best practices, staff build concrete strategies to help students write more meaningful notes and extend their gratitude practice beyond their immediate circle to deepen belonging.
Analyze implementation data to identify where students are thriving and where they're stuck.Using research-validated best practices, staff build concrete strategies to help students write more meaningful notes and extend their gratitude practice beyond their immediate circle to deepen belonging.
Enhancing Climate
Celebrate and measure strengths and connection.
Staff and leadership look at student practice examples to understand how gratitude impacts mental health and belonging. They build systems to celebrate strengths and identify students in need of intervention. The scaffolding comes down, with staff and students fully owning their gratitude practice as a school culture and climate driver.
Staff and leadership look at student practice examples to understand how gratitude impacts mental health and belonging. They build systems to celebrate strengths and identify students in need of intervention. The scaffolding comes down, with staff and students fully owning their gratitude practice as a school culture and climate driver.
Staff-Only Practice | PD Sequence
DEFINING CULTURE
You can't build what you can't name.
What values matter most to the school community? What do they look and sound like? Who is responsible for reinforcing them? Staff define a set of expected behaviors and learn how building a shared gratitude practice can recognize and reinforce them.
What values matter most to the school community? What do they look and sound like? Who is responsible for reinforcing them? Staff define a set of expected behaviors and learn how building a shared gratitude practice can recognize and reinforce them.
BUILDING PRACTICE
Culture becomes real when people practice it together.
Staff analyze early implementation data to identify what's working and what aspects of their practice they need help with building a concrete plan to deepen practice within their specific roles. Early adopters begin piloting student-facing features while the broader staff continues building the foundation.
Staff analyze early implementation data to identify what's working and what aspects of their practice they need help with building a concrete plan to deepen practice within their specific roles. Early adopters begin piloting student-facing features while the broader staff continues building the foundation.
SUSTAINING CLIMATE
See each other. Strengthen connection and wellbeing.
Using a full year of data, staff shift from participants to architects — examining patterns in appreciation, connection, and belonging across the school. This is also when the benefits for educators themselves come into focus: what does it mean to feel genuinely seen by a colleague, regardless of role or seniority?
Using a full year of data, staff shift from participants to architects — examining patterns in appreciation, connection, and belonging across the school. This is also when the benefits for educators themselves come into focus: what does it mean to feel genuinely seen by a colleague, regardless of role or seniority?
"On my lowest days, I revisit my Thx notes and remember why I do what I do."
Outcomes of GiveThx Professional Development
Most professional development asks teachers to do more. This one asks them to notice what's already there.Gratitude isn't a program you install. It's a practice you build, through shared language, consistent experience, and the slow accumulation of moments where people feel genuinely seen.
GiveThx professional learning creates those moments. We co-facilitate our workshops with your school leaders so the credibility stays in the room. We weave in research, not lecture you. The professional learning sequence ensures that by the time students join, the adults feel bought in, capable, and successful as both participants and facilitators.
GiveThx professional learning creates those moments. We co-facilitate our workshops with your school leaders so the credibility stays in the room. We weave in research, not lecture you. The professional learning sequence ensures that by the time students join, the adults feel bought in, capable, and successful as both participants and facilitators.
- Improve staff wellbeing and retention
- Build a shared language for culture your whole staff can name and practice
- Strengthen relationships between staff members, new connections or deepening existing ones
- Strengthen relationships between staff (teaching and non-teaching) and students
- Use data to understand who feels seen, and act on what you find
"We have made it a practice at the end of every meeting we send a Thx note. We said we were going to implement something and we followed through. And I think that speaks volumes to staff buy-in, but also to the leadership's commitment to this to make sure that we are practicing gratitude daily. Something that takes you a minute to send, a recognition or a highlight, will really make somebody's day. For that I say like it's worth the investment because the ROI is never ending."
-Director of Talent Management, K-8 School | Philidelphia
-Director of Talent Management, K-8 School | Philidelphia