Skip to main content

Classroom Incentive System



Two years ago I started my classroom reward system using loyalty punch cards from Vista Print. 
The system has worked really well and the kids are really into getting their next "Punch"

Year #1

 Year #2

A few punching facts/tips:


The items on the card are only suggestions on how kids can get punches. 

 Sometimes in class I will say things like, "For a punch, who can tell me...."and give punches on the fly. 

Students are responsible for their punch cards. If they don't have their card, they don't get a punch. IOUs are too hard to keep up with. It's a good lesson in responsibility for the kids.

Some days I make someone my "Puncher" and they are in charge of punching people's cards during class. This has worked great and kids have not (so far) abused the position.

If you are going to do a punch card system invest in some hole punches of various shapes...and rotate the order that you use these shapes also. I don't have to tell you that kids can be sneaky!

Amazon link:  3 different shapes

Classroom Jobs

One of my favorite things to do is have kids get punches for completing classroom jobs.

Because all the schools I have been at have bus waves at the end of the day, I always had 20 minutes of time to kill. I decided to fill that time with a classroom job system. 

I place jobs that need to be completed each day on the board and if kids want to complete them they take the one they will do off the board. When the job is complete they get a punch. 

Prize Box
Once kids get their punch cards filled in they turn them in for a chance to go in the prize box. 

I got my box from Target and I think it is pretty cute...so do my dogs. 
 

I have filled the box with items from the Dollar Tree and sales from Wal Mart (especially after holidays). Last summer I even ordered some free samples from places and got to include some make up, and gourmet candy, which was fun. 











Comments

Popular posts from this blog

1,000 Pens update

My 1,000 pens came in the mail! I thought I would show you guys what they look like! Want your own cheap box of 1,000 pens? Click Here   To read that blog post On a side note I found an awesome recipe that I made tonight with Basil from my garden. I liked it so much I thought I would share it with you! Tomato, Mozzarella, Quinoa, and Basil Salad

Say what? Inference Oops

So I got my first cold of the teaching season. It is too early in the year to call in sick because I am trying to keep my routines and authority in place. I have been barreling through with this cold all week.  We started learning about inference this week. For the most part it has been going well.  We read "Made out of Meat" and then made inferences about the story.  The story is a conversation between two beings and their discussion about these beings they have just encountered who are, "Made out of meat."  The reader needs to infer that the being having a conversation are aliens and the beings made out of "meat" are humans. An adaptation of the story if you are interested: At the end of the story the aliens decide that they are going to, "Pretend like no one is home," and leave without making contact.  One of the inference questions I asked my students was, "Why were the aliens going to pretend like no one is home?" One block of my s...

Survivor Symbolism

So I have been watching old episodes of "Survivor" lately and it dawned on me that it would be a good way to do a quick review of symbolism along with a little activity.  At the start of every single tribal council the host, Jeff Probst, says, "Fire represents life on the island." I plan to ask my students why they think "Survivor" chose fire to symbolize life and how it symbolizes life.  I found a supercut of all the times that JP said, "Fire represents life" and plan to show part of it to my kids (Or all of them if I feel like really hitting the point home). I will then discuss with them the fact that at the end of each tribal council after someone is voted off the island they snuff out their torch. I will ask students what the symbolism of this is, why they snuff out the torch, and repeat the fire represents life phrase.  Here is a supercut of "The tribe has spoken"  As a quick little review activity I will ask students to come up wi...