Celebrating Kids Outside of the School

Every teacher knows the need to celebrate their students’ successes. Whether it’s that a student increased their reading proficiency or comprehension, earned a perfect score on a math test, or has made huge strides with their social and emotional behavior, teachers across the world have found creative ways to celebrate success.

Students need the praise of their teachers. Their self confidence will skyrocket, and they will be more likely to engage themselves and try new and challenging tasks. Plus, the connection being built between the teacher and student will begin to flourish.

There are lots of classroom successes to be celebrated, but we also need to think about what happens to our kids outside of the classroom. They spend a good chunk of the day in our rooms, but they still have lives outside of school.

Let me tell you about a student.

I have this amazing student (all of them are very amazing actually). This student has invited me to two specific events this school year: a Hanukkah celebration and a Passover Seder. I attended both. Oh, my! You should see this student’s face when I walked through the door of their church. This student and I have a secret handshake, but when I walked in, I got the biggest hug ever!

For both events I got to witness this student in their world. I got to celebrate, literally, with this student.

I got to witness this student take all of my chocolate coins in a long game of Driedel. She taught me about the lighting of each candle of a menorah.

For Passover, I listened closely to the explanation from the student’s father, the preacher, and the student of each item of the Seder. I hid the broken piece of matzah and watched as she searched high and low for it. I clapped and smiled as she found the hidden Afikomen.

This student invited me in to her world, and I was thrilled to enter in and celebrate with her.

What does this mean? What happens when we celebrate students outside the classroom?

Deeper relationships.

Relationships matter.

Better relationships with students means so much. They will work harder for you because they know you care. Your classroom behaviors will be better, meaning students will work harder, follow you (instead of just following rules), and they will be calmer and happier.

Students who are celebrated are happier, more confident, more secure, and trusting.

Teachers who celebrate their students in and out of the school work harder for their students.

Yes, they work harder. I’m not saying that teachers don’t work hard, but think about it. Think of the person you know best: your spouse, child, friend. You’d go to so many great lengths to satisfy them and make them feel safe and loved; more than someone you hardly know anything about.

The same is true of our students we celebrate. The more we celebrate them, the deeper the relationships we have, which means the harder we will work for them. The results of that are numerous.

So what are you waiting for? Why haven’t you been to that baseball game? When’s the next ballet recital? The kids may not tell you this, but it means the world to them. For some of them, you may be the only adult who is there to cheer them on. It’s something that they won’t forget, and it touches them in ways beyond our comprehension.