After an assessment, it’s often easy to focus on the gaps that need to be filled, but it’s important to take time to celebrate your students! Using Edcite’s reports makes it easy to celebrate students for their achievements and their growth.

Below are 7 ways to celebrate students after an assessment. It can be helpful to keep track of which students have been celebrated, and find ways to celebrate growth in all students at some point throughout the school year! While some of these ideas might seem “juvenile,” I’ve seen kids as old as 17 get excited about a balloon or a crown. Like anything else- if you’re excited about it, chances are they will be too!

1. Accessorize Achievement: Give students who have met their goals a fun accessory to wear for the day. Crowns, sashes, bracelets, and more can be found or made without spending much, and students will wear them with pride!
2. Rising to Our Goals: Tie a helium balloon to your students’ backpacks at the end of the day and have fun at pickup watching their faces light up when they get to tell their parents what it’s for! 
3. “Ask me” name tags: Create name tags that say “Ask me why Ms./Mr. _____ is proud of me!” All day long, your students get to tell people you are proud of them for their growth and achievement! 
4. Sticking to our Goals: Purchase or create stickers that are unique to your class- students can earn them when they meet goals! Students can then collect the stickers on their binders, notebooks, or a fun display on your wall.
5. Family Fun: Send a message to the families of students who met their goals. You can use the same template to save time, and families will be so excited to hear how their child is doing!
6. Student Work Walls: Post student work in your classroom or hallway. Make it fun with a theme- “Wall of Wonder,” or a class “fridge” where students can see their work is valued. 
7. Photo Op!: Have a fun prop or frame that students get to hold for a photo op when they meet their goals! Post the photos in your classroom, on your school’s social media, or send them to families as an acknowledgement of their awesome work. 

The key is to have fun! Choose a celebration that is authentic to who you are as a teacher so you can enjoy the fun too!

About the Author

Kat Strickland Rodriguez joined TFA in 2008 and worked in her placement district in the Rio Grande Valley for the next twelve years. She taught ELA before becoming an Assistant Principal of Instruction, and then earned her masters in Leadership from Columbia Teachers College before founding IDEA Harlingen College Prep in 2020. Kat transitioned to the Edcite team in 2024 and is passionate about serving educators with access to quality assessments and analytics that help adults make informed decisions so kids can excel!