by Shelley Mika
Imagine you're walking down the hall of a middle school. What would you rather experience:
Glowering teachers issuing warnings, your fellow students being reprimanded for misbehavior, the threat of the principal's office lurking around the corner, and a general sense that people don't want to be here today?
Or, smiling teachers saying hello, your fellow students being congratulated on accomplishments or thanked for good behavior, the likelihood that your principal will stop by to just say hi to your class, and the general sense that people here are actually happy?
Teachers and staff at Culler Middle School in Lincoln, Nebraska, are opting for the latter. Recently, faculty and administrators at Culler read How Full Is Your Bucket? Positive Strategies for Work and Life by Tom Rath and Donald O. Clifton. Organized around a simple metaphor of a dipper and a bucket and based on scientific research, this book reveals that the more people focus on positive interactions, the healthier, more productive, and happier they are at work, at home, or -- as Culler teachers and staff can attest -- at school. (See the sidebar "The Theory of the Dipper and Bucket" and the How Full Is Your Bucket? Web site in See Also.)
The Theory of the Dipper and the Bucket
Each of us has an invisible bucket. It is constantly emptied or filled, depending on what others say or do to us. When our bucket is full, we feel great. When it's empty, we feel awful.
Each of us also has an invisible dipper. When we use that dipper to fill other people's buckets -- by saying or doing things to increase their positive emotions -- we also fill our own bucket. But when we use that dipper to dip from others' buckets -- by saying or doing things that decrease their positive emotions -- we diminish ourselves.
Like the cup that runneth over, a full bucket gives us a positive outlook and renewed energy. Every drop in that bucket makes us stronger and more optimistic.
But an empty bucket poisons our outlook, saps our energy, and undermines our will. That's why every time someone dips from our bucket, it hurts us.
So we face a choice every moment of every day: We can fill one another's buckets, or we can dip from them. It's an important choice -- one that profoundly influences our relationships, productivity, health, and happiness.
-- From How Full Is Your Bucket? (Gallup Press, 2004)
Culler Middle School is the latest example that positive interactions -- or full buckets -- can make a world of difference.
Before reading How Full Is Your Bucket?, the teachers and staff at Culler faced significant challenges, including low performance and a high incidence of disciplinary problems. John Zetterman, the principal at Culler, says, "Typically, we win in suspensions and absence rate, while we lose in the achievement column." During the 2003-2004 school year alone, there were nearly 1,700 behavior referrals to the principal's office.
"The past two years were difficult," says Aaron Zabawa, associate principal. "There used to be a bench that sat right outside my door where the 'naughty' kids got sent when the teacher was just fed up. It held about three kids, but we probably averaged 25 per period."
This year, referrals are estimated to be down 80%, according to Zabawa.
In fact, now there's not even a bench.
The power of creating a positive atmosphere
After reading How Full Is Your Bucket?, Zabawa and Zetterman realized that the "naughty bench" had come to symbolize negative behavior. They decided that they needed to begin focusing on what was right with their school, not what was wrong.
So they had the bench sawed into 70 pieces.
Zabawa gave one piece to each teacher. "To me, it represents what we used to do, and that's one of the phrases that we use with kids and staff this year: 'We're not doing that this year.'" The pieces of the bench now symbolize the new focus for Culler: positivity.
Commenting on these changes, How Full Is Your Bucket? author Tom Rath says, "It is one of the best, and most practical, examples of how a school can turn things in the right direction. Making a bold decision [to cut up the bench] and then celebrating its demise was brilliant. Although everyone at Culler may not have realized it at the time, it was a historic moment that will be remembered for decades."
To help further effect the change, the staff at Culler also read How Full Is Your Bucket?. By encouraging staff members to "fill each other's buckets," Zabawa and Zetterman began to transform the atmosphere of the school. Some teachers sent "drops" -- personal messages written on drop-shaped note cards or e-mailed to others -- to their colleagues to recognize their achievements or praise their good work. Some made a point of smiling and saying hello, while others took more of an interest in each other's personal lives.
Once teachers began paying attention to small-but-positive daily interactions, things started to change. "We didn't restructure the entire school; we just started working on little things. 'You look really nice today.' Saying that seems like a little thing, but it gets the ball rolling. Culler is just a happier place now," Zabawa says. "I wish we had some empirical data on people's blood pressure, because I'd say it's lower."
As the staff realized the power of creating a positive atmosphere among themselves, it was a natural progression to do the same with their students. Zabawa and Zetterman soon realized that their place was in the classroom. Instead of spending all of their time in their offices dealing with disciplinary problems, they began building relationships with the students. Now, Zabawa is in every classroom, every day, and both he and Zetterman spend time in the halls during passing periods talking with students, even giving them high fives or "touching knuckles" -- the new trend at Culler.
"Students' and teachers' interactions in the hallways have really changed," Zabawa says. "And when you make those deposits into students' buckets, it goes a long way in helping you in the classroom."
Teachers have spent more time building relationships with students through positive interactions, too. Merlanne Wood, a physical education and health teacher, says, "The transition was really quick. People started patting kids on the back, and, instead of telling them what they were doing wrong, surprising them with a nice comment about something we noticed that's right. Any little comment makes them feel so good. It changes the atmosphere of the classroom and the hallway, and it's just wonderful."
Rath isn't surprised. "I have found that even one small, positive comment can be a true turning point in a young person's life," he says. "So maximizing those opportunities is critical for any educator."
Building a culture of recognition -- and filling buckets
The evidence of change at Culler is more than anecdotal. "I have to prove to the kids and to the staff that the behaviors they're choosing this year are making a difference," Zetterman says.
According to Zetterman, last year, students who didn't want to attend class would often roam the halls or visit the health office to lie down. "Our first piece of hard data," Zetterman says, "was that health office visits during the first six weeks this year, as compared to the first six weeks last year, are down by 600 visits. That's about a hundred kids a week who are opting to go to class instead of crashing and giving up on life in the health office."
The faculty and administration at Culler plan to continue to build a culture of recognition and to fill students' -- and each others' -- buckets. Rather than issuing disciplinary referrals, the staff at Culler started a system of "excellence referrals." Zetterman also plans to recognize exemplary students who are responsible, trustworthy, and have made a significant effort to improve performance and attendance with the very first "Cougar Award" -- a nickel hall pass for students who staff can trust anywhere, anytime, anyplace, doing anything.
"We have a zillion good kids that do a good job every day, every period, and it's important for us to know their names," Zetterman says. "They honor us, and they honor themselves every single day. The Cougar Award is a simple thing, but it honors them and means we trust them."
Zabawa sees the focus on commendable students as a turning point: "For a while, the students getting most of the attention in school were the ones that were in trouble all the time. We're going to reverse that."
As a result of these changes, Rath says, "My hunch is that Culler will be a very different school -- and a much better place for students to learn and grow -- for years to come."
Teachers and administrative staff are still working on how to transform bucket filling at Culler from a word-of-mouth concept to a formalized practice. Ideas range from a large bucket filled with drops in the hallway to establishing a measurement system for just how full Culler's bucket is.
Regardless of the vehicle, Zabawa is certain of one thing: "As we continue to peel back the onion, things are going to continue to get better. We're a middle school, and, like boxers, we'd be silly to think that we're not going to take a punch once in a while. But we're going to transform this place into an even better learning institution. We're going to go from an under-performing school with low morale to a high-performing, happy place."
Five Reasons to Start "Filling Buckets" in Your School
1. It's easy to understand.
"The thing I like about the [Theory of the Dipper and the Bucket] is that it's a simple analogy. It's easy to visualize filling and emptying buckets. It's so much easier for me to think, 'How full is that kid's bucket right now?' rather than couching that question in educational jargon. The bucket gets to the heart of the issue."
-- John Zetterman, principal
"[The Theory of the Dipper and the Bucket] puts words to something everybody's done a little bit of through the years. We were doing it already, but now we really know how important it is, how well it works, and just how kind it is."
-- Merlanne Wood, teacher
2. It's easy to teach.
"I don't have to get subs for everybody and teach it to them over a lengthy staff meeting. Everybody knows what a dipper is, everybody knows what a bucket is, everybody knows what water is, and everybody knows what it feels like when somebody's trying to rob your soul, so it's a pretty easy concept."
-- John Zetterman, principal
3. It's credible.
"The book is research-based. It's not a rah-rah, feel-good strategy that is just somebody's opinion. There's strong research behind the positive nature of the bucket and the drops. So you don't have to say, 'Do this -- it'll feel good'; you can say, 'Do this -- you'll see results, and here are the statistics.'"
-- John Zetterman, principal
4. It helps students learn.
"Sometimes, I think that kids feel so overwhelmed or negative about something they can't learn or do, they make that their reality. When we start focusing on the positive instead, it's more productive. If we say 'Hi' to a kid as he walks in the door, and then, instead of asking, 'Why didn't you get your homework done?' we thank the kid sitting next to him for getting his homework done, it's more productive."
-- Bill Curry, teacher
5. It works.
"This gives us a new strategy, another tool to use. It's proven to be effective in business, and I think it's even more effective in education. Because I'm seeing it -- the kids are responding to it."
-- Bill Curry, teacher| EDUCATION LEARNING EVENTS | ||||
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