How Celebrating Academic Progress Builds Motivation
When teachers acknowledge the learning journey, they help students gain confidence and develop ownership over their growth—and build a culture of support in the classroom.
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Go to My Saved Content.At Barbara Morgan STEM Academy in Meridian, Idaho, celebrating academic progress is woven into the learning process from kindergarten through fifth grade. Whether students have reached a milestone—or even taken an important step toward a goal—teachers take time to honor that growth publicly. By setting up these routines early in the year, teachers build a culture of ownership, pride, and shared responsibility to help all learners progress.
In Kait Hudson’s first-grade class, this often looks like a “celebration circle,” where students share achievements pertaining to a specific goal, reflect on their journey, and acknowledge both their own efforts and the success of their peers. Hudson believes these moments contribute to a supportive classroom where students develop characteristics like perseverance, empathy, and kindness.
“I use circles to help kids celebrate themselves and each other on a goal that we've met—or progress towards our goal,” she says. “It gets that knowledge mobility to just really be everywhere in the classroom.”
The students gather in a circle and establish how they are celebrating—on this particular day it is with little clappers and an “Oh, yeah!” chant. Students have a chance to step into the circle to speak about where they are in their learning journey, or note a classmate’s progress—but Hudson instructs them to be specific in order to keep the focus on the academic goal at hand.
And not every celebration is about reaching the final goal. Students are encouraged to recognize partial progress and set new intentions for where they want to go next. “Celebrating students that haven’t met the full goal but have met a piece just gives them more power in believing in themselves,” she says. And if a student has met a milestone? Hudson likes to ask, “What are you doing to push yourself? Because learning is never done.”
These regular, intentional moments of reflection help build motivation and excitement for academic progress—while reminding students that learning is a journey worth celebrating.
For more ideas on how to mark milestones in the classroom, read Paige Tutt’s article for Edutopia, “13 Ways to Celebrate Students’ Small Wins and Build Motivation.”