Yesterday was the last day of the 2018-2019 school year! Parents, family, and friends came to celebrate the extraordinary efforts of my students this year! We had a beautiful awards ceremony in my classroom and every student was recognized for their academic performance as well as for all the unique qualities they brought to our class community this year.
As I was preparing for yesterday’s event, I got to thinking about how hard our students work each day not only to make progress toward their IEP goals, but also to keep up with their regular ed peers in mastering the curriculum expectations. Some grow by leaps and bounds, and yet, when compared with their regular ed peers, these students’ improvement and growth is not enough to warrant an award during the Honor Roll assemblies. Despite their efforts and perseverance, these students’ names will never be called for public recognition because, when we hold them accountable and compare their results with the norm, they are still performing at lower levels. And that’s alright. But these students are, the majority of time, the ones that need that positive recognition the most! Some of these students spend entire award ceremonies watching from the sideline the same few peers being repeatedly recognized. It is heartbreaking to witness the sadness in their eyes, and it is almost impossible to come up with a good answer when they ask: “Mrs. Sylvander, I worked so hard in Math this year, and you said I mastered my goal. How come nobody called my name?”
No student should have to ask that question! It is our duty as educators to seek what’s special about each and every one of our students and celebrate their uniqueness! If our special needs students don’t make the Honor Roll, we can still focus on so many other positive aspects like character traits, growth mindset, most improved in academics, social skills or behavior, and recognize them for that!
If you have the option of skipping the school wide ceremony, you can opt for hosting a more private one in your classroom instead. You can make it fun or serious. Regardless, it will convey a positive message to your students and families, and it will bring a happy, up-beat closure to the school year.
Here are some ideas of what you can do: (1) encourage students to write notes to each other and share their favorite memories by talking about their favorite moments this year; (2) showcase your students best efforts by displaying their portfolios or by creating a slide show with snippets of their activities and special moments; (3) recognize students by saying a few positive words about each one, how they overcame this year’s struggles, and what they contributed to the class family, as well as by handing them awards in recognition of their efforts; (4) host a party with snacks, balloons, and music. You will make the end of the year memorable for your students and their families, and will send them off on a positive note. They will feel appreciated. honored. recognized. seen. LOVED!
Check out my End of The Year Award packet here. There are 338 different awards to choose from, with boy and girl versions, as well as Caucasian and African-American kids. The packet includes Most Improved and Best categories, as well as specific special needs categories such as progress toward IEP goals in various areas like academics, fine and gross motor skills, Speech, self-care skills, executive functioning skills, potty training, and more.
