With a new school year revving up, most students cringe when they hear the words “first day of school.” After two glorious months of summer vacation, it’s hard to snap back into the routine of homework, studying and tests. But kids don’t have to associate that impending sense of doom with returning to school, especially if, as a teacher, you create programs like student of the week: a reward system for your kids to celebrate themselves and their accomplishments. Who knows, they might even enjoy putting in some extra work for just a little extra recognition.
You can think about student of the week activities like an extended version of show-and-tell. It’s about you as a teacher and your class as a whole getting to know more about your student and their classmates. So how do you go about brainstorming student of the week ideas or setting up a student of the week program?
Tack it up on the bulletin board.
Start by creating a bulletin board that you can use to feature the student of the week. It’s kind of like a billboard advertising that special student. Star students for the week can bring in a poster they’ve created to capture who they are best. They can make a photo collage and use other props to explain their interests and hobbies. It’s also a good idea to have them fill out a little “Who I am” questionnaire so that the other students can learn even more about them. Include everything from their favorite movie and sport to afterschool hobbies and foods they enjoy. Maybe even throw in a hidden talent(s) section and a future “What I want to be when I grow up” fill-in-the-blank question.
Send the Student of the Week To-Be home with a letter.
Sending the student home with a letter to their parents allows for parental consent and to help in the planning process. You know moms and dads can't wait to help when it comes to spotlighting their children.
Get other students involved in the celebration.
One of the best things about student of the week is it gives other students in class a chance to celebrate and say nice things about the featured student. For a teacher, nothing beats witnessing your students getting along and complimenting each other with sayings like “David is really good at soccer,” or “Jessica is so nice and fun.” Consider cutting out stars so the class can write nice sayings or having your class write short letters to your star student.
Give 'em a little something extra.
They are the student of the week after all, so spoil them a little. Give them some extra privileges throughout the week, i.e. bring in their favorite book, serve as a leader, pick a day where they can bring in pets or perform an activity (musical instrument, skateboard trick, etc.). And of course, make sure you’ve got some special treats to pass out in honor of their star student status. Maybe they even get out of one allotted homework assignment.
Give them a takeaway.
Send them off with something to remember their fifteen minutes of class fame and fortune. Think about creating fun congratulations certificates to hand out to star students who successfully exemplified student of the week. There are several easy templates out there. Check out these helpful student of the week templates and products on Quill.com!
Finally, send the student home to his or her parent with a nice letter about how well they handled being the star for the week and thanking them for their help in making Student of the Week a successful program in your class.
Krista Wolfe
Quill.com Contributing Writer
Krista Wolfe is a marketing project manager for Quill.com where she writes to help small businesses, teachers and healthcare professionals make more informed decisions on office essentials. She also writes on our new community blog, Café Quill, about a wide range of business matters such as leadership, productivity and work-life balancing. Krista lives in Chicago and you can find her on Google+ or LinkedIN.