Miss Anne's Adventures as a Kumon Instructor

Recently, a new thread appeared on the Kumon Instructor's forum in regard to creating a decorative wall to recognize student achievement. Here's the original post:

"I (am) thinking of doing a wall decoration of Math and Reading study levels with the students' names placed on the corresponding study levels. I am hoping that would motivate my students to work harder and see their names move up, but am also concerned that may be a cause of embarrasment for some students (such as older students with low starting levels). Can anyone offer advice? Thanks."

As I am a huge fan of this concept, I (of course) responded to her request for advice with this post:

"The 'Wall of Success' in the parent waiting are at my Center includes only student names (no age or grade references). As students pass each achievement test, they move their own "dot" up to the next level. (The dots are attached to the wall using poster putty, so they are easy to straighten after class.)
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We add sparkley star stickers around the perimeter of each child's dot for each time they achieve ASHR. Gx5 students get a special border around their dots, as do students completing Level J.
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I have not had any of my older students express any concerns about the dot wall. On the contrary, they are very excited about moving their dots up to where their friends are as quickly as possible... Many supportive conversations between older students have also occured, such as "Oh yeah. I remember starting in Level A, too. You can do a lot of Level A pages in 20 minutes! Just wait until you get to Level G. It will be SO easy for you!"
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I hope this information encourages you to create your own 'Wall of Success'. Ours is a very motivating tool for both students and parents."

Since I my response was published on Monday afternoon, I have received over 50 e-mail requests for pictures!!! So... I'm posting theme here :-)

Here's a closer look at the borders around the dots of my Gx5 students. If you look closely, you'll also see some ASHR stars on many of the student's dots. (The red text is a note that even my staff members have dots!)

Several other Instructors also posted responses to the original request for advice. I would love to see pictures of everyone's "Wall of Success" ideas. If you send me your pictures, I'll be happy to post them.

Wishing you an amazing day!

~~~Miss Anne