Hi,

This is my first year teaching computers in which the children are on a 3 day rotation. Every week I have every child in the school in my room at some time or another. There are approx. 550! I want to have some kind of program to reward good behavior, but with that many, I can't afford to buy enough for everyone all the time. The school alots us each $175.00 to buy things like candy and stickers, but that still isn't enough to get me through the year. I have already spent way too much of my own money. Does anyone have any ideas about how to do a reward program in this situation. The teacher before me used to draw names at the end of class, but I want them to feel like they have control over whether they will get a prize depending on their behavior and not just luck of the draw. Any suggestions?

Thanks!:D

For what it is worth, I think genuine praise in front of one's peers is still the most potent form and neatly fits the budget too? Maybe you need a theusaurus to find all the different ways of saying "Well done, Johnny!" more than more stickers... just a thought! I work with an all volunteer organization (apart from myself and my assistant) and although we reward the volunteers with candy and lapel pins (lol, an adult form of stickers, I guess!), it's the sincere compliments that go the farthest toward making an impact, from what I see.

Yes telling someone honestly they are doing a good job is the best reward. Too often candy is given, and it actually can form a bad habit, thinking food or candy or sweets is a reward to make you feel better. This in general can lead to bad eating habitls as older chidren and adults.

And often buying something has little value in the long run.

You do not mention what grade(s) you teach. I could give you many answers. I have a child 20, one who is 18, another who is almost 13 and one who is 4.

I agree with praise, but it still depends on what grades you are teaching!!

Yes, I agree. I am very big on praise. I often will have everyone gather around to see something someone has done well and "GOOD JOB!" (or the likes) is repeated so often I catch myself saying that to my husband with the same enthusiasm I give the kids. He thinks it's funny! I would just like to give the kids something because I know they enjoy it. There are many children in our school who have so very little at home and are thrilled to get even a pencil with a big eraser on it. I'm not just talking about candy.

Any suggestions on a program of giving prizes to large group is greatly appreciated.

Hi,
Grades Pre-K through 5th Grade.

Thanks!

Ah, My son is in Pre-K, stickers man, stricktly stickers.

He is SO HAPPY when I pick him up if he has a sticker on. That means the other kids know how well he did.

The other one he loves are those washable tattoos.

That worked with my daughter (now in 7th grade) through 3rd grade. After that was a lot of praise, being the teacher's helper for the day and a GREAT note sent home to Mom and Dad so that the praise would continue at home.

My M-I-L is a 4th grade teacher, and that is what she does in 4th grade. Praise, teacher's helper for the day (or hour if there are a few kids) and a note sent home to the folks. Sometimes even a phone call to the parents to say how she appreciates the good work of the student.

That's a really great idea! I can make some type of special stationery and write a personal note, specifically for that child, not just a "form letter"! I love the helper idea too! There are usually anywhere between 15 and 30 kids in the room at a time, it's really hard to get to them all, so it would reward the child and truly be a help to me! Thanks so much!

Oh, yeah, she gets the "special" kids to run errands for her to the office and such. Or they get to be first in line!

They really have so much fun with stuff like that. Especially the notes, when the parents hear how good they are then they work 2x as hard to make the parents proud again.

Costs little to nothing to "spread the love."

I agree with stickers and notes of praise... little things like that can really hold firm in a little ones mind.

I had a little card for years that was given to me by a K teacher. It disappeared somewhere along the way, but I can still see it in my mind, and won't be surprised if its tucked away in an old box somewhere.

***Intrinsic Motivation***;)

I teach fifth grade in a school that is best known for challenging students. I had three 13 year olds in my class last year. I use a check book system. Students earn points for good behavior, grades, etc and they can spend the points in our grade level store once a month. This system integrates math skills into the rewards and life skills in that they learn about opportunity cost and balancing a check book.
As for the rewards themselves, I write to companies (Matel, Adidas, Nike, Coke) and they usually send some great prizes. It only takes about an afternoon and if you save your contacts in a folder, you can go to the well again next year. You have to be careful in "pricing" the items so that they remain within reach while at the same time being something that is earned.

Hi there,
At my sons school they give out certificates, which are great, they help raise self esteem and are (semi, bar the paper and ink(which hopefully doesn't come out of your pocket!! (",)) free.The titles of the certificates can vary, from biggest improvement, most helpful, listened well. This is also a great way of making a small improvement feel immense, which will encourage some children that need it. They are signed and dated and should have a smiley face sticker somewhere.
Hope its helpful.

Most teachers have a reward system within their own class, so you could also make a "coupon" or "happy note" to send with them when they go back to class. Their class teacher is then responsible for incorporating it into his/her reward system. You won't have to spend ANY money since you usually get free copies, you're working WITH the teacher, and your able to reward individuals.

You can also reward by group. If you group the kids into 4 or 5, the best GROUP gets a reward that week. You'll probably want to keep track of the groups so that it's not the same group every week, but this will help the kids to monitor each other as well.

I've also seen where the kids build up points. Once they get to a certain number of points (which can be reflected with stamps instead of stickers), they then get a prize.

One more... time and priveleges are also a good reward - maybe an extra 10 minutes to play a certain game on the computer either before, during, or after class for example.

Either way, I'm glad you're acknowledging the good; just be careful not to over-do it or it will lose its value and purpose.

Good luck!

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