“I am curious about student achievement awards. I am wondering what you and other teachers do. Do you give out awards based on years in lessons (i.e. 3 year award) or perhaps awards based on level of achievement (i.e. completed Faber level 2A etc.)? Maybe some teachers simply give out a participation certificate. This will be the first time I am doing a recital and I want to give the students some kind of year end award. I don’t do an incentive program (yet) and I want to make sure if I start something, it is something that the students will feel a sense of pride and achievement for receiving.”
This is actually a pretty thought-provoking question for me! I’ve never given achievement awards based on years of study or completion of levels, but I can see how something like that might be a good motivator for a student. Some of my students participate in a yearly Music Progressions evaluation program that is comprised of 10 levels. Those who participate receive a certificate each year, but I can’t remember a student ever caring about the certificate (I often find these crumpled in the bag months later). I think it would be kind of cool to have an award of some sort that was progressive from year to year. Extra incentive to stick with piano study through the hard times!
My year-end rewards are almost always tied to our practice incentive theme. And they are usually completely different from year to year. For example, this year the students who earned the specified number of Complication Coins can use them to purchase a custom-designed studio t-shirt. 
You can see a list of other year-end rewards I’ve used on this post about Practice Incentives and Rewards.
My mental wheels are really spinning now, though, and I’m curious to know if other teachers give some sort of progressive award based on years of study or level completion. What do you do in your studio? I’d love to get some new ideas!
Remember, if you have a question you’d like to contribute to next week’s Monday Mailbag, leave it in the comments below or send me an e-mail sometime this week with Monday Mailbag in the subject line!
I have to start off by saying that I am cheap, and I love baseball card plastic protectors. Having said that, I can tell you that I give all sorts of “certificates” at the recital, and that they are all the size of a baseball card! The sheet protector just moves from binder to binder as we complete a year. If the students get a lot of awards, then they have a lot of sheet protectors. As a side note, my composer appreciation cards are also the size of baseball cards. I give everyone who participates a performance certificate. I have “Step” cards for each level advancement, I have Composing cards for students who actually notate an original composition, I have a card for completing a level of Scale Olympics (they also get a composer statue for that because it is a big thing), I have a card for exceptional memorization for the year as well. These certificates are independent of the yearly theme. In addition to that, I will have a certificate specific to the year’s theme if goals were met. Some students walk away from the recital with 7 or 8 cards for the year. When I present the cards, I start with the students just receiving the participation cards, and then give the awards based on how many certificates the students receive. (so the student receiving the most awards will end up being honored all by himself). Does that make sense?? The children seem to enjoy all of the cards, and I can customize them with the yearly logo to make them look a little different, but in all honesty, the template stays the same from year to year, and I can print nine on a page, in color, without too much expense.
I have done a Bach2Rock party in October for the past three years. I furnish all of game prizes –enough for each student to walk out the door at the end of the party with a minimum of 4 prizes. Parents furnish refreshments. The kids dress up — either Bach or Rock-n-Roller — and we do nothing but play games. Most of the games are designed for ages 4 to 18 so the little kids get to play with the big kids.
I do present MTNA certificates (Year of Study) which is given to every single student who performs in the spring recital (since not all students participate in the festivals or other programs). I present ribbons and medals for those who competed in the fall festival, then those students who participate in the spring auditions receive their plaques, etc. I encourage participation in the MTNA Music Achievement Award program and award small pins for those who complete 9 goals between Oct-April. Students who ‘stick it out’ in lessons for 5 & 10 years receive trophies; I also honor 1 student with the outstanding achievement in music study trophy (and their name gets on the giant plaque). There are also awards (small gift bags) for those top students (one from each day) for ‘Flash Card Mad Minutes” (this year they’re all girls again, so I’ll visit Bath & Body Works and get them goodies). Yes, there is an expense, but I tack that into their annual registration fee (which also covers the cost of the Piano Explorer, studio newsletters, and assignment notebook). Families love the awards; the kids look forward to the day when they earn that 5 or 10 year trophy. I give a small monologue about the 5-year honorees, and they get their chance to do a ‘rebuttle’ and ‘roast the teacher’ at the 10-year. I have to tell you though, the students usually don’t have much to say at the 10-year honoring!
Some students notice those certificates and it does provide an incentive (for some) to be ‘up there’ getting an award next time.
Gail I absolutely love your ideas! I checked into the MTNA Music Study Award Program and am going to use it! I love the idea of doing it “in conjunction” with MTNA. I think it makes it feel even more special. I also looked into MTNA’s Music Achievement Program and am going to implement this next year. I told all my students I wanted them to participate in one outside musical event this year but I didn’t feel like there was a lot of accountability or feeling of “achievement”. The Achievement Program makes it very specific and can encourage expanding their musical horizons. Also love the 5 and 10 year idea – Thanks so much for all the info, I feel inspired!
I do Piano Achievement Awards for students every year. I keep “points” (tally marks) in their assignment books and when they reach 100, they have earned a trophy that they will receive at the recital. Students who earn 200 points earn a larger trophy, and so on. My goal is for every student to earn a trophy, so it is super easy for them to get points. I give a point simply for coming to lessons! They get points for brining all their materials, recording practice times, completing theory pages, memorizing pieces, learning a new scale or 5 finger pattern…things we focus on all year anyway! Students can get “bonus points” by participating in extra events such as a festival or state theory test and for performing for a group (school, church, etc). I often have “double points week” where students get two points per theory page completed rather than one, and they always get extra points after a group lesson for bringing back an activity we did (such as a composer worksheet) or telling me about something we talked about. When it’s nearing recital time and I see that some students might not quite make it to the 100 points, I give them the option of trying to memorize a few more pieces, complete a few more theory pages, or even do a short report on one of their pieces or a composer or something else music related. Students are also presented with certificates and medals they earn from participating in festivals, contests, state theory tests, etc. In addition to the piano achievement award, I always recognize the student who has memorized the most pieces. If students haven’t quite made it to 100 points, they get some kind of certificate (first recital, completing major scales, or simply completing another year of piano study!) I want everyone to be a winner!
I award trophies based on years of study with me. 1 and 2 years gets a small trophy, 3 and 4 years gets the next size up, and then 5+ years gets a custom trophy each year. I have found that some students stay motivated to continue study for another year to get that bigger trophy.