Effective Student Recognition

Let's face it. We all like a little recognition now and then. In response to this, many schools (all that I know of) host traditional awards assemblies. I'm not a big fan of these rather impersonal events, but even I admit that we're doing something right when we let students know they're doing well. This is true in both the traditional and customized classroom. Here are three examples of effective recognition strategies I've been using:

• Pride Points: Several years ago, my middle school had a schoolwide system for student recognition. If a teacher caught a student doing something good/well, that teacher could give the student a Pride Point, a receipt of sorts for being on the ball. While this program faded over the years at the school level, I've noticed that several teams at MMS have their own team level programs that resemble Pride Points. By itself, the giving of Pride Points is a positive thing as it gives students tangible evidence that someone noticed their dogoodedness. Some teams even take it to the next level, hosting auctions where accumulated Pride Points are used as bidding cash on silly or tasty items. Our team has a weekly meeting, featuring drawings from our Pride Point Jar. Students whose names are drawn get a round of applause from their peers and the opportunity to select from a box of trinkets and tasty treats.

• Weekly Wall of Fame: Teachers are asked to make hundreds of decisions each week. Many of these decisions involve judgement calls. I've found that our Weekly Wall of Fame helps make some of those judgements easier. It also provides opportunity for students to take even greater charge of their own learning, all in the context of rewarding kids for doing well. The Weekly Wall of Fame works like this. There is a teacher pace for all work that students are doing in my classes. Now, not every student is following the same pathway through the Learning Targets, nor do they each have the same series of due dates. Students' Learning Targets and due dates are customized for (and sometimes by) them. Each weekend I use this expected progress to make a list of students in each course who are meeting their goals for that week. The best part is the magic that happens when a student asks for a privilege. One example is the freedom to work in the hallway, a prime reward! I intentionally direct these students' attention to the week's Wall of Fame, and if a student is on both lists, it allows me to say, "Yes!" The option of listening to music while working is another popular perk of being on the Wall of Fame. If working in the hallway or listening to music gets in the way of a student's learning, they likely won't meet next week's learning goal, and thus, won't be on next week's Wall of Fame. The result is learning that goes beyond academics.

• Feedback: One of the great features of a customized approach is the opportunity it provides for frequent individual feedback. A job well done is quickly recognized, in context, rather than delayed until a teacher fights through a class set of assignments that all arrived in unison at 10am on Wednesday. Because individual achievements tend to be spread throughout the school day, the teacher is far more available to celebrate with individual students. High fives, words of praise, thumbs up, and written feedback are even more powerful when delivered in a student's moment of triumph.

• Classroom Experts: We all like to be known as someone who can do something well. In the 21st century classroom, there's more need for student expertise than ever before. We use iPads in my classes, and the students have proven to be an excellent resource regarding technology. Students often teach me new features of these great learning tools. However, the real power is generated when I ask a student to help a peer. "Hey, Billy. You really know your way around Garage Band. Sally is trying to use that app for a project. Would you be willing to show her the ropes?" The result? Sally gets the help she needs, I'm available to help another student, and Billy gets to be today's hero.

All three of these recognition approaches are proving effective in my classroom this year which begs the question, "Why?" Here's what I think:

• Recognition is likely to be effective when it targets a specific accomplishment. Recognition for earning an "A" isn't as powerful as recognition for an action that led to that grade, an action I'd like to see repeated. While scoring high is nice, doing what it takes to earn a high score is more important as it leads to greater learning and a wider range of positive results.

• Recognition is likely to be effective when it is both private and public, not just one or the other. Under the radar praise tends to be more personal, but when it is made public, it sets the stage for generalization of positive behaviors to a larger group of students. On the other hand, cranking out a stack of certificates for a public awards assembly doesn't seem to carry much weight for most of my students (and I emphasize most, not all), but following up on those awards with a more personal, "Well done! I want you to know why you received that award." seems to be more meaningful.

• Recognition is likely to be effective is the achievement being recognized is, well, achievable. Potential for success is one of the accepted keys to motivation. This works very well within the customized classroom, where each student is working toward achievable goals that are designed just for them.