8 Ways to Celebrate Success in Student Writing

Are you looking for creative ways to show your students that you see them and that you value their hard work and their progress? Are you tired of only ever giving kids a letter grade and then never seeing them progress in the ways you had hoped? It's really important to show them you care and that you're proud of them, but it doesn't always just have to be with a gold star. You can provide students with the fuel they need to keep writing by recognizing their efforts and giving them an audience for their work.

Here are 8 ideas to get you started:

1. High Five/Thumbs Up/Fist Bump 

Thanks to the current pandemic, high fives and fist bumps may not be kosher, but you can still get the idea across with an air high five, a thumbs-up, or a big smile that raises your eyebrows in an approving manner (thank you, masks, for making this such a challenge). 

2. Publishing Party 

When your students have finished a writing unit or when all of them have finished at least one piece of writing, you might consider having a publishing party! Take a class period for students to share their work orally or visually with their classmates. You could make it an after-school affair and invite students from other classes, family members, friends, other teachers, etc. You could even provide treats if you're feeling generous ;) Virtually, you could hold a Zoom party online, where students use technology to read or share their work with a live, albeit virtual, audience. (See Further Reading 1).

3. Verbal Affirmations: 

It's always nice to hear that someone thinks you're doing a good job. Especially if words of affirmation are your love language. Whether it be a brief comment in passing or a verbal affirmation in a teacher-student conference, you might consider trying out words of praise and encouragement when students try out a new skill, practice a new writing strategy, or successfully incorporate principles you have discussed in class.

4. Positive note or phone call home: 

I think my teachers stopped doing this once I got to 3rd grade. What a shame! There was nothing like taking a bright yellow, bubble-star-shaped sticky note home to my mom, with a hand-written message from my teacher saying that I had done a good job! Who says notes and phone calls home have to stop with elementary school? High school and middle school teachers can still help teenagers to feel seen and celebrated by praising their work in front of their parents. 

5. Use their work as a good example for the rest of the class: 

You can share excellent examples of diction, word choice, grammatical rules, figures of speech, risk-taking, etc. with the rest of the class. Incorporate these into mini-lessons when you need good examples of specific topics. You might even keep a digital or physical folder or file of high quality student work that you can add to and refer to over the years.

6. Post their work on the wall: 

Though I feel a strong urge to decorate my future classroom with colorful, inspirational quotes, I think it will be even better to highlight the work of my own students on the walls of my classroom. Rather than cutesy, quotes from people your students have never met, show them good writing done by their very own peers! This can help them to feel like their voices matter, and it will help them get to know their peers better through their writing.

7. Publish excellent work to a class blog or a newsletter that is sent home to parents and students: 

Though I'm not sure this will be feasible for me in my first year of teaching, I do hope to eventually create a space where student writing can be published and stored digitally for the enjoyment and learning of other students and for family members and parents who wish to see student work.

8. Encourage students to send their work to publishers or writers or children's magazines: 

This particular method may not be for everyone, but it could be the perfect opportunity for students who really enjoy writing to have the opportunity to publish. It may also be a great way for teachers to encourage promising writers who are hesitant to explore the world of publishing. This article includes a list of several sources/journals/publishers that publish student work! It could be cool to have students write specifically to get published. 


All of these will build writers up and build their confidence. And with all of these, it's important to remember that you don't have to wait until a student has turned in a final product before telling them they're doing a good job. You might congratulate or encourage them after a coaching conference, when a student tries a new strategy in class, when a student takes risks in writing, or when a student edits.

FOR FURTHER READING:

1. Shubitz, Stacey, and Lynne R. Dorfman. “A Community of Writers: The Ingredients for Building and Sustaining Success.” Welcome to Writing Workshop: Engaging Today’s Students with a Model That Works, Stenhouse Publishers, 2019.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Building Writers

So, we know that building community is key, but what does it mean to build a community of writers? As a pre-service English teacher, and as a TA for a freshman writing course, I feel like that phrase, "community of writers" is always getting thrown around by my professors and by readings I've done for class. But what does it actually mean? I have had to start by questioning, "What do we mean by community?" and "What do we mean by writers?" and "How do we bring those two together?"  A community is most often defined as a group of people in close proximity to each other. However, it can also be defined as a feeling of fellowship with others. In my future classroom, I hope to create student communities where fellowship, kindness, support, and courage abound. Ideally, students in a community of writers will learn together, take risks together, and grow together. Students in a community of writers are neighbors. They're friends. They're fa...
Read more

7 Practical Ways to Build Classroom Community

I think we can all agree that building classroom community is an important part of a successful learning environment. The classrooms that have been most effective for me have been those where there is an almost tangible sense of community. These classrooms are safe havens, but they also encourage learning, growth, and stepping outside of our comfort zones. I know that I always feel more willing to share and to take risks when I feel accepted by my peers and my teacher in a classroom setting. From conversations with my little brother, a current high school freshman, I also realized that he and his friends enjoy class time more when they feel that their thoughts are valued and validated. I'm sure they're not the only ones who feel that way. In fact, teaching experts have written that "the most valuable learning occurs in classrooms where a sense of community exists" and that "community encourages rich learning because of the interactions among many individuals, not...
Read more