A topic that begins to show up on a number of team meeting agendas at this time of year is end-of-the-year awards. It's smart to be thinking about these awards early enough to be intentional about them. It's easy to give awards to those kids who have great attendance records and honor-roll level grades, but what about everyone else? My belief is that every student on your team should receive some kind of an award.

Unless you have an inflated grade system, most of your students will not make any honor roll in your school. High academics should, of course, be noted; but for the most part these are students who came to us smart and we enjoyed challenging them. Often they are young people who have supportive parents and who fully understand how to manage the routine of school. They should be congratulated; there is no doubt about it.

But so should those students who brought their Ds up to a B or their Cs up to an A. Those aren't exactly honor roll students, but they are "on a roll," don't you think? What about that student who finally got the idea that homework could be turned in on time? Or the ones who at long last learned how to study for a test or began to take a bit more time with their work?

What about the student whose attendance record improved once he or she realized we could be trusted and that middle school was okay? Figure out an award for these middle schoolers—they've come a long way!

But there are, of course, those students on your team who haven't made such noteworthy progress, or they've taken only baby steps toward responsibility. They're the ones whose names are never called or who never come to mind when it's time to look back over the highlights of the year. My guess is that they are the ones who most need your attention when planning the award ceremony.

Encourage your team to think carefully about these students—there must be something for which they can be given an award that would be genuine—the friendliest smile; the most creative, helpful, or humorous; the one most likely to enjoy (the next) grade or get everyone together over the summer; the best film or TV critic; the best dancer or poet.

Many of our poor performing kids are the ones who are taking care of siblings at home or are great with younger kids; some can cook or know all the words to shows or songs. Start now determining the gifts that these students have.

Great resources for finding the good in students that perhaps you had not noticed are the "specials" teachers. They interact with kids in a different way from the core teachers, and often have wonderful information to share about students with whom we struggle in the regular classroom.

Some schools have team-level awards ceremonies and school-wide ceremonies. Sometimes the all-school ceremony is for those 20% of students who have performed exceptionally well in academics or athletics. It's a ceremony to which parents and the community are invited. Many of your students know they will never be at one of those ceremonies, nor should they be made to attend. Instead, make sure your team honors every student for some real gift that he or she has brought to your team or the school this year. It might make a huge difference for that student next year!

Judith Baenen, a former classroom teacher, speaks and writes about middle grades students and the issues that affect them. She is author of National Middle School Association's HELP, More HELP, and HELP for Teachers.