Teacher Spirit Week Ideas

Secret days for the staff to wear and the students to spot, plus dress days, contests and end-of-term days.

Teacher Spirit Week Ideas

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  1. Glasses on the Head DaySunglasses or reading glasses pushed up into the hair, indoors, all day, as if everyone forgot them there.
  2. Backwards Lanyard DayStaff badges hang down the back, not the front, and are flipped round only to open a door.
  3. Rainbow by Room Number DayTeachers along one hallway dress in rainbow order by room number: red in the first room, violet in the last.
  4. Purple Pen DayEvery mark on the board, every comment on a paper and every hall pass is written in purple.
  5. Clipboard Everywhere DayEvery adult carries a clipboard to class, to lunch and to the bus line, and writes something down whenever a student asks why.

Next step Days for the students' week

How it works

These teacher spirit week ideas are a school staff's own week. On a secret day every adult in the building wears or does one small thing, nobody tells the students, and the classes try to work out what it is.

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Secret and underground spirit week ideas for teachers

The same week goes by three names: underground, undercover and secret staff spirit week. Start with a day that is hard to see, such as Purple Pen Day, and build to a loud one, such as Apron Day. On Answer Key Friday the staff wears the list of themes and each class checks its guesses.

Staff spirit week ideas the students can watch

Not every day has to be secret. On a dress day such as Wear What You Teach Day the students are in on it. Contest days set one wing, floor or department against another, and the students keep score.

  • Tell the office and the substitute teachers too. A secret day falls flat when one adult explains it at the door.
  • Leave out any day that copies a student, or a colleague who has not agreed: the joke should never be on a person.

Questions and answers

What is an underground spirit week for teachers?

A spirit week that only the staff knows about. Teachers follow a dress-up theme each day without telling the students, who try to guess it.

What are good secret teacher spirit week ideas?

Small things that every adult can do: One Rolled Sleeve Day, Pencil Behind the Ear Day, Two Watches Day, Off-by-One Button Day and Backwards Lanyard Day. Each is easy to miss in one room and hard to miss by lunch.

What are undercover teacher spirit week ideas for older students?

Go subtle. For a middle or high school, choose days where the clue is in what teachers write or say: Purple Pen Day, Word of the Day in Every Room, or One Letter per Room Day.

What are teacher spirit week ideas for the last week of school?

Grades Are In Day, Classroom Pack-Up Day, Staff Superlatives Day and Wave the Buses Off Day. They ask for a paper badge, old clothes, a paper sash or a beach hat, and nothing that takes planning in a busy week.

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All 62 days

Secret days for students to spot 13

  • Answer Key Friday The reveal: every adult wears a card that lists the week's secret themes, and each class checks its guesses against it.
  • Apron Day Kitchen aprons, garden aprons, art smocks: every adult teaches in one and offers no explanation.
  • Backwards Lanyard Day Staff badges hang down the back, not the front, and are flipped round only to open a door.
  • Clipboard Everywhere Day Every adult carries a clipboard to class, to lunch and to the bus line, and writes something down whenever a student asks why.
  • Glasses on the Head Day Sunglasses or reading glasses pushed up into the hair, indoors, all day, as if everyone forgot them there.
  • Off-by-One Button Day A cardigan or a shirt buttoned one hole off, worn with a straight face until a student points it out.
  • One Letter per Room Day Each teacher writes one large letter in a corner of the board. Read in room order, the letters spell Friday's theme.
  • One Rolled Sleeve Day One sleeve rolled to the elbow, the left one, on every adult in the building.
  • Pencil Behind the Ear Day One pencil behind one ear from the first bell to the last, with the office and the cafeteria staff joining in.
  • Purple Pen Day Every mark on the board, every comment on a paper and every hall pass is written in purple.
  • Rainbow by Room Number Day Teachers along one hallway dress in rainbow order by room number: red in the first room, violet in the last.
  • Two Watches Day A watch on each wrist. Teachers check both before they answer what time it is.
  • Word of the Day in Every Room The staff agrees on one unusual word, such as splendid, and every teacher works it into every lesson.

Staff-only dress days 12

  • Alma Mater Sweatshirt Day A shirt or a sweatshirt from the college you attended. Each class hears one true story about it.
  • Catchphrase Tee Day Tape the line you say most across a plain tee: I will wait. Eyes up here. Is that a question or a story?
  • Field Trip Chaperone Day A sun hat, comfortable shoes, a backpack of snacks and a clipboard with a head count, without leaving the building.
  • First Year in the Classroom Day The outfit from your first year of teaching, or the nearest thing left in the closet, with your first staff photo pinned on.
  • Lost-and-Found Runway Day Each adult wears or carries one washed item from the lost-and-found box and hands it over when its owner speaks up.
  • Overdressed for a Tuesday Day Bow ties, long gloves, the outfit from a cousin's wedding, all for an ordinary day of fractions and spelling.
  • Recess Duty Day The full recess-duty kit worn indoors: a coat for every kind of weather, a whistle and a cup of coffee gone cold.
  • School Supply Day Dress as something from the supply closet: yellow with a pink hat for a pencil, white with an orange cap for a glue stick.
  • Spell the Motto Day Each member of staff wears one large paper letter. Lined up at the assembly, the letters spell the school motto.
  • Subject Swap Day The math teacher dresses for art, the art teacher for PE and the PE teacher for chemistry. Subjects are drawn from a hat.
  • Wear What You Teach Day Numbers taped to a sweater for math, a map folded into a pocket for social studies, a recorder on a string for music.
  • Weekend Me Day The person you are on Saturday: garden clogs, the running club shirt, the apron with flour still on it.

Staff-room and door days 12

  • The Book I Loved at Your Age Door Each door shows the cover of the book its teacher loved at the students' age, and the teacher carries a copy all day.
  • Borrowed Mug Day The mug shelf is shuffled, and each adult carries a colleague's mug all day. Students notice when the gym teacher's has kittens on it.
  • Chalk the Walk Day Arrive early and chalk a welcome on the path each colleague takes from the parking lot.
  • Door Riddle Day Each door carries a riddle whose answer is the subject taught inside. The teacher wears the answer as a paper badge.
  • Duty-Free Lunch Day Administrators and volunteers cover lunch and recess duty, and the whole staff eats together in the day's theme.
  • Mailbox Note Day Everyone draws a name on Monday and leaves a handwritten note in that person's staff mailbox before the first bell.
  • Morning Message Swap Day Each teacher writes the morning message on a colleague's board before school and signs it with a doodle, not a name.
  • Rolling Snack Cart Day Two volunteers in aprons push a cart of snacks from room to room, and each teacher takes one without a word to the class.
  • Secret Pal Color Day Names are drawn on Monday. On Friday you wear your secret pal's favorite color, and they find you by it.
  • Staff Room Café Day Tablecloths, a chalked menu and a volunteer in an apron turn the staff room into a café for one lunch.
  • Surprise Door Day Before school, each grade team decorates the classroom door of another team. The owners find out when they arrive.
  • Three Clues on the Door Day Each classroom door carries three clues about the teacher inside, and that teacher wears something that matches one of them.

Teacher-against-teacher days 12

  • Class-Dressed Teacher Day Each class dresses its teacher from what is in the room: a paper-chain necklace, a construction-paper crown, a sash of border trim.
  • Coffee Against Tea Day Brown for coffee, green for tea. Students tally the two sides on a chart outside the office.
  • Loudest Tie Vote The brightest, busiest tie or scarf in the drawer. Each class votes with a show of hands, and the winner keeps a paper trophy.
  • Numbers Against Letters Day Math and science staff tape on numbers, English and language staff tape on letters, and everyone else has to choose a side.
  • Rock, Paper, Scissors Day Gray for rock, white for paper, silver for scissors. Any two adults who meet in the hall must play, and the students keep score.
  • Staff Quiz Bowl Day Each department picks one matching accessory, all visors or all bow ties, for a lunchtime quiz the students wrote.
  • Staff Sing-Off Day Two staff teams, each dressed alike, sing the school song at the assembly, and applause picks the winner.
  • Staff Spelling Bee Day Contestants wear yellow and black bee stripes, and the students choose the words.
  • Staff Team Tee Day For the staff-against-students game: plain tees with room numbers taped on the back as player numbers.
  • Upstairs Against Downstairs Day One floor wears warm colors and the other cool ones, and classes count heads on the stairs.
  • Whose Shoes Day Each adult leaves one shoe on a table by the office and wears a spare pair. Students match the shoes to their owners.
  • Wing Against Wing Day Each wing of the building picks its own theme in secret, and the students judge the winner by cheering at the assembly.

Last week of term 13

  • Brighter Than the Walls Day The bulletin boards are bare, so the staff wears the brightest colors it owns to make up for them.
  • Classroom Pack-Up Day An old tee, jeans and a roll of tape worn on the wrist like a bracelet, for the day the walls come down.
  • Field Day Crew Day Old sneakers, a towel over the shoulder, a stopwatch on a string and a hat with a brim.
  • First Monday Off Day Dress for where you plan to be on the first Monday of the break: a hammock, a trail, a sofa.
  • Grades Are In Day A paper badge that says Done goes on the moment your grades are entered. The first badge of the day gets applause in the staff room.
  • Quiet Shoes Day For exam week: the softest-soled shoes you own, and a paper sign on your back that says Testing, tiptoe past.
  • Report Card Comment Day Tape to your shirt a comment a teacher once wrote about you, such as Talks too much, and let students guess whether it still holds.
  • Retiree's Favorite Color Day With the retiring colleague's blessing, the whole staff wears that person's favorite color to the last assembly.
  • Send-Off Colors Day The staff lines the hallway in the colors of the oldest class and claps as the students walk out.
  • Staff Superlatives Day Each member of staff wears a paper sash with the award colleagues voted for, from Best Bulletin Board to Loudest Laugh.
  • Support Staff Pick the Color Day The custodians, the office and the cafeteria crew choose a color, and every teacher wears it and brings them a thank-you note.
  • Wave the Buses Off Day The staff lines the curb in beach hats and waves until the last bus turns the corner.
  • Year in One Pin Day Pin one small thing from this year to your lanyard: a field trip wristband, a note from a student, a program from the school play.