You should always aim to give others the celebrations and recognition they deserve. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard staff members say, “Students don’t care about certificates” or “our students told me that awards don’t matter.” Ironically enough, there have been just as many times where I have found that student’s certificate neatly tucked into their binder or listened as a parent told me how proud that student was about their praise when she got home.
Celebrations and Recognition Make a Difference
Teachers might think that students don’t care about praise, but it really does mean a lot to them. Middle and high school students are just in that age where they’re trying to look cool and trying hard not to show people that they care. This is why it’s important to have consistent forms of celebration and recognition for our students. They deserve it and it matters to them. It reinforces what they’ve done well and recognizes them for their accomplishments. It also motivates them and gives them the confidence to keep working hard.
Celebrations and Recognition: Examples
Here are a few ways you can promote celebration and recognition with your students (or staff):
Physical Environment Celebrations
You can have posters posted around the school that celebrate student accomplishments. These can be regular accomplishments, such as students who get on honor roll or students with perfect attendance. They can also be irregular accomplishments, such as students who got accepted into a prestigious summer program, athletic teams who one a big game, or students who won scholarships.
Individual Praise
Sometimes, you don’t need to do anything other than speak to the student and tell him what they did right. That in itself pays huge dividends! It’s pretty simple too. Simply tell them what they did right, state why it was a big deal, and then tell him to keep it going.
Public Praise
Whenever you have a large group of students together, take the opportunity to talk about one of the students for something they’ve accomplished. Not only can this help that individual student feel more positive and proud of their own accomplishments, but it also enforces the type of achievements other students should look to attain.
Social Media
Our students (and probably most staff) are constantly on social media. Take advantage of the social media accounts your school has to share student accomplishments with the world! Students have come up to me to brag about how proud their parents were after seeing their children featured on our Facebook page.
Awards Ceremonies
I can’t imagine anybody who wouldn’t like to receive an award that celebrates the hard work they’ve put in over time. In my school, grade levels give out “All Star” (highest performing) and “Climber” (highest growth) certificates every 6 weeks for each content. I see these certificates stored in sacred spots within lockers, binders, and backpacks throughout the year!
Celebrations and Recognition Leave Memories
To this day, I don’t remember specific lessons I learned at school, but I definitely remember how I felt in school. Some of those moments were energizing and became pivotal moments in my life. In 20 years, our students most likely won’t be able to remember material covered in their classes, but they’ll still hold dear to any celebration or recognition they received. I challenge you to think about the systems you have in your school or workplace and assess whether you are creating enough memorable experiences for those who deserve it!
The strategies mentioned above definitely apply to staff members as well. People of all ages deserve to be celebrated for doing a great job!
