If you’ve been around here for a while, you know I have a soft spot for the little classroom moments that build big things and have a real, lasting impact. I also feel incredibly passionate about students’ personal growth (I recently earned my Master’s of Education in Social Emotional Learning) and giving them tools to develop their sense of self. A huge part of celebrating their sense of self is being able to identify their own accomplishments, celebrate them, and work toward more!

Those moments of success — no matter how big or small — deserve to be celebrated. And that’s exactly what Accomplishment Animals are all about.

So, what ARE Accomplishment Animals?

If you’ve seen my Success Stickers, this will feel really familiar. A few years ago, I started a weekly routine where every single student shares a success with me. It can be big or small, something that happened at school or way outside our classroom walls. The only “rule” is that it’s their personal success (we’ll talk more specifics in a moment). Then they get to pick out a sticker as a physical little reminder that they can do hard things and that we celebrate our wins loudly and proudly around here.

Well, starting two years ago, I added a new option to the mix, and oh boy, have my students LOVED THIS ONE. Now, my students get to choose either a Success Sticker or an Accomplishment Animal — a sweet little critter that becomes part of their own personal “I accomplished something” trophy collection.

Celebrating student success helps students:

• Build confidence and self-esteem
• Develop a growth mindset
• Feel valued as members of the classroom community
• Strengthen positive teacher-student relationships
• Recognize and reflect on their own progress

I cannot tell you how much my students light up over these!

The philosophy behind them (because there always is one!)

I’ve only ever taught in Responsive Classroom and Love and Logic schools, both of which intentionally deemphasize extrinsic rewards. Since my entire career as an educator has been deeply rooted in this idea, my whole goal as a teacher is to build a classroom community where students are motivated by the satisfaction of learning and growing, by their relationships with teachers and with one another, and by the feeling of contributing to something bigger than themselves. Not by chasing prizes. I never want to create a culture of “do the work, get the prize” that I had worked so hard to avoid.

BUT, here’s the thing. Whether or not it’s a motivator, most kids LOVE these sweet incentives. It brings them literal pure joy. And I have to be super honest (please don’t throw tomatoes), but as human beings, we are all motivated by both intrinsic AND external factors. It’s okay for students to get a taste of both if done right.

That’s when it clicked: I wouldn’t tie these little treasures to compliance, grades, or behavior charts (ew) at all. Instead, I’d tie them to self-reflection, growth, celebration, and perhaps most importantly, an opportunity to intentionally get to know my students even better. With accomplishment animals and success stickers, students decide what constitutes their success. They name it, they own it, and the animal is simply a fun reminder that they’re capable of hard things.

The Bottom Line about Accomplishment Animals

The accomplishment animals aren’t really the point. Sure, they become a tangible reminder of just how many successes they’ve had over the year (I even had one student build a House of Successes and cover it with her animals), but something really cool happens over the course of the year. Kids learn how to share their successes. They learn to identify them, look for them, and take pride in their accomplishments. Believe it or not, this is actually genuinely difficult for many students. 

By the end of the year, my students start noticing their own growth (even tiny moments of growth) instead of waiting for their guardians or me to notice it (or determine whether they’d been successful) for them. And the best part for me, as their teacher? I have learned SO MANY THINGS about my students in these micro moments each week. Even though I spend an average of 15-20 seconds each week hearing each student’s success and having a brief conversation about it, I have learned more than I could have ever imagined during this time. I hear what they spend their time doing at home, their extracurriculars, things they might be struggling with, etc.

How sharing Successes and Accomplishments works in my classroom

It’s beautifully simple, which is exactly why it’s stuck around as one of my all-time favorite classroom traditions:

• Students can share one success a week. They know there are specific times they can do it. For example, if they want to share with the whole class, they can share their success during morning meeting. If they want to share privately with me, they can do so in the morning before the bell rings or during some transitions. These times are all set up ahead of time so that there isn’t any question about when a good time is.
• Equity is REALLY important to me, so students get to choose what their success is. Successes can be academic, personal, big, or tiny. A student who finally mastered long division and a student who was brave enough to apologize to a friend both count. Equally. Often, students share successes from home—sometimes it’s as simple as staying in bed all night without waking their guardians. 🙂 We talk a lot about what success looks like at the beginning of the year, and I ALWAYS share a success from the week to show examples (the kids always love hearing my successes, too!)
• They get to choose their reward — a Success Sticker or an Accomplishment Animal — as a physical reminder of that moment.
• That’s it. No tracking. No earning them. No taking them away. Just a celebration.

Frequently Asked Questions About Accomplishment Animals

• Where do you buy your Accomplishment Animals?
  • I get them on Amazon! This has been the most affordable option for me. I keep a collection of all the ones I have bought and loved HERE. My students really love picking out their own from a variety collection like THIS ONE, but some teachers have told me their students love Mystery Animals like THIS SET.
• How often do students earn them?
  • Once a week! I don’t track them, so we talk a lot about integrity.
• Do students ever compare collections?
  • Nope! This is a total non-issue because EVERY student gets to share their success and collect a sticker or animal every week. It is completely non-exclusionary, and every student gets to choose their own animal or sticker.
• How do you store them?
  • I have a fun little tin from HomeGoods that I use, and I also use THIS little crate! They like to be able to look through and find their special animals.
• What if a student loses one?
  • This is a hard one, but I don’t let them replace it unless there are extenuating circumstances. You can definitely decide what your procedure is for this, though!
• Do you use them with older students?
  • YES!! I even have 6th graders who come back year after year asking to share their accomplishments with me.
• Are Accomplishment Animals a classroom reward system?
  Not exactly. Rather than rewarding behavior, they are designed to celebrate accomplishments and encourage students to identify and share their successes with their classroom community.

What Counts as an Accomplishment?

One of my favorite things about Accomplishment Animals is that students quickly learn that accomplishments come in all shapes and sizes. Some students share major milestones, while others celebrate everyday victories that are just as meaningful.

Here are a few real-life examples of accomplishments students might share:

• I learned how to ride my bike.
• I scored a goal during the soccer game.
• I finished my chapter book.
• I mastered my multiplication facts.
• I learned how to do a back handspring.
• I made a new friend.
• I earned a role in the school play.
• I tried a food I had never eaten before.
• I learned how to swim.
• I played well in my piano recital.
• I improved my reading level.
• I got my braces off.
• I learned how to solve a Rubik’s Cube.
• I did a Random Act of Kindness
• I worked hard and brought my grade up in a subject that was challenging for me.

Before long, students start noticing and celebrating their own growth. They begin looking for accomplishments to share, and classmates often cheer each other on as they celebrate milestones together.

Connecting to the CASEL 5

If you’re an SEL nerd like me, you’ll love this part. Once I started paying attention, I realized this little weekly accomplishment animal routine I implemented touches almost every one of the CASEL 5 core competencies.

• Self-awareness: This is the heart of it. When a student pauses to name their own success — and decides for themselves whether it counts — they’re practicing recognizing their strengths, their growth, and what they value. That’s self-awareness in its purest form.
• Self-management: So many of the successes my students share are really stories of perseverance. “I didn’t give up.” “I stayed calm when I was frustrated.” “I kept trying.” Celebrating those moments reinforces the exact behaviors — goal-setting, stress management, pushing through — that self-management is all about.
• Social awareness: As students listen to one another share, something beautiful happens. They start cheering for wins that look nothing like their own. They build empathy and learn that success isn’t one-size-fits-all.
• Relationship skills: This routine is connection, plain and simple. We’re listening well, encouraging each other, and building a community where everyone feels safe being proud out loud.

Why I keep coming back

Celebrating successes with success stickers and accomplishment animals has quickly become one of the most meaningful things I do all week. It takes maybe ten minutes total, and yet it does so much of the work of building a classroom where kids feel seen, capable, and proud.

I promise you, the day a student tells you their success is “I didn’t give up” — and reaches for their little animal with the biggest grin — you’ll be hooked too. 🫶

Now go celebrate something hard you did this week, too. You’ve earned it.

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