Special Educators Resource Room

126. Rethinking End of Year Celebrations: Spotlighting Real Progress

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End-of-year awards season is here—but what about the students whose biggest wins don’t show up on a checklist?

In this episode, we’re flipping the script and talking about creative, meaningful ways to celebrate real student growth—even when it doesn’t come with a certificate or percentage score.

You’ll hear:

  • What counts as “progress” (spoiler: it’s more than grades)
  • Low-prep, high-impact ideas for celebrating student wins
  • How to involve families in small, powerful moments
  • A mindset shift to carry into the end of the year

🎯 Plus, grab even more ideas on the blog: End of Year Awards in Special Education


If you're a busy special education teacher looking for tips, tricks, and resources to save you precious time, I've got you covered! I'm here to help you regain your confidence in the classroom and feel calm and collected as a special educator.

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Speaker 1:

Hey there, welcome back to Special Educators Resource Room Podcast. I'm Jennifer from Positively Learning. Today we're talking about something that shows up every single May, usually sparks a little bit of side eye from special educators everywhere. We're talking about end of year celebrations. You know the ones I mean Most improved in reading, math, superstar, perfect attendance, best behavior, whatever that even means. And while I fully believe in celebrating students, I also know that for many of the students we support, these traditional awards just don't tell the full story. In fact, they can unintentionally overlook some of the biggest, most meaningful growth that's happened all year long. So today's episode is all about flipping the script. We're going to go beyond the checklist and look at creative, intentional ways to celebrate student progress, even when it doesn't come with a certificate or a percentage. Hey, special educators, I'm Jennifer from Positively Learning. Welcome to the Special Educators Resource Room. If you're like me, you're always looking for ways to save time and streamline your work. That's why this podcast was created to give you the systems and solutions you need to get your time back. Tune in for tips, tricks and tools that will help you manage your workload and make the most of your time. Whether you're brand new or experienced. All are welcome in the Special Educators Resource Room. Before we dive into this new information, I want to mention that I'm going to put a link to a blog post in the show notes. This blog post is all about end of year awards and it includes 50 creative ideas plus a link to episode 77 that we did last May end of year awards creative ideas for special educators. So be sure to click on the link if you're interested in mixing it up this year.

Speaker 1:

Now, moving forward, let's start here. What counts as progress? Really? Progress isn't always a number. It's not always tied to accuracy, completion or checkboxes on a data sheet. Sometimes progress is tolerating a loud assembly without having a meltdown, walking into a classroom without needing a prompt or engaging in peer interactions without adults facilitating. These are huge moments, but they're not always going to get those most improved awards, and sometimes even students don't realize how big of a deal it is until we take a moment to recognize it with them. And that's why I think we need to expand what we're celebrating, because when we only recognize the most academic or the most typical progress, we're missing opportunities to show our students and their families just how far they've come.

Speaker 1:

I want to think about some simple, creative ways to celebrate growth, because progress isn't always going to fit into a category. So here are some few very low prep, meaningful ideas that I've either seen or I've used myself. Number one progress spotlights. So these are going to be the quick in the moment recognitions. You could jot them down on a sticky note, hand it to a student, post it on a wall, put it in their folder. It could be you used your quiet voice during story time today or you followed your whole visual schedule independently. You can also think about visual trackers. This is where students are coloring in squares or they're adding stickers when they meet mini goals, and it's very individualized. This is especially great for showing persistence or building confidence or stamina over time.

Speaker 1:

You might want to also think about end of week wins, like a look what I did moment every Friday. Maybe it's going to be private between you and a student, or maybe they're going to be able to choose a photo or a task and they're going to share it in a slideshow. It doesn't have to be a whole ceremony, just a consistent habit, and this is going to reinforce growth. Another idea is to snap a photo to capture the moment when something big happens. This could be the first time students sort items independently or wait their turn in small group. You can pair it with a sentence like today you rocked your sorting task with no prompts. You could print it or you could send it home to make the win feel real. One more low prep idea is family notes. So one of the best things I ever did was keep a small wins log for each student. Just a quick note I could pull from when it was time to send a positive update home. You don't need to do this for every student every day, but maybe one per week. It's very doable, very powerful.

Speaker 1:

Now, these kinds of celebrations aren't about being flashy or public. They're about being seen, and that kind of recognition is something every student deserves. And let's add to that, how can we bring families and caregivers into the celebration? Because you already know this, families don't just want to hear about goals and benchmarks. They want to know that their child is known, appreciated and understood. And that's what you do best. When we include families and caregivers in those little wins, especially ones that they might not be seeing at home, it's going to build trust and build collaboration. So here's a few fast ways to do that, so you can take that photo of a completed task with that quick caption Jordan initiated the whole routine today.

Speaker 1:

Or you can use apps like Seesaw or Remind and you can send a one sentence note, or you could print it out in a simple weekly summary with one or two observations or proud moments. You don't need to overdo it, it doesn't need to be flashy. You just want to focus on something that can be consistent and sustainable. So let's let go of perfection. Even one positive message every few weeks can shift how families are feeling, how they feel about the IEP team and their child's school experience. And, honestly, it's going to help you too, because when you're drowning in all that paperwork and behavior notes, having these small celebration moments are going to help you stay focused and remind you of the important work that you're doing and keeping with this idea.

Speaker 1:

I know this time of year is exhausting and I know that if you're only measuring success on what's documented in an IEP data tracking sheet, it can feel discouraging, but the truth is you have been helping students grow in ways that no checklist could ever capture. They're building trust, they're stretching their communication, they're gaining confidence and you have been guiding that. So please take a minute this week to reflect on what went well. Notice the progress that isn't going to live in a spreadsheet, because when you can take a moment to see it, you're more likely to celebrate it with students and they start to internalize this growth too, because progress is progress even when it's quiet, even when it doesn't come with an award, even when you are the only person who saw it happen.

Speaker 1:

Here's one thing to try this week let's make it very simple. Choose one student, just one, and celebrate a win that's not connected to a test score or a progress monitoring percentage. Maybe you're going to write it down and show the student. Maybe you're going to email the family. Maybe you're just going to say it out loud to them. Hey, I noticed that you used your words when something was frustrating. Today. That was awesome. That moment matters. And then, if you want to take it one step further, start a wins list in your planner.

Speaker 1:

This is, for you, something to flip through on the hard days. Not every student is going to get a perfect attendance certificate or make the honor roll, but every student deserves to be celebrated for something that they've worked hard to achieve. So let's be the ones to see it. Let's be the ones to say I noticed that. Let's be the ones who show students and their families that progress in all its forms is worth cheering for.

Speaker 1:

Thank you so much for joining me today in the Special Educators Resource Room. If you try out one of these ideas this week, I would love to hear about it. So send me a message or tag me at Positively Learning. I truly love seeing the incredible things you're doing. So keep going, keep noticing, keep celebrating, and I will talk to you soon in the Special Educators Resource Room. Thanks so much for tuning in, and I'm dying to ask what'd you think? Be sure to hit the follow or subscribe buttons that you never miss an episode. You can find the show notes and links for everything mentioned in this episode at positivelylearningblogcom. See you next week for more special education solutions.