One of the most difficult things in the classroom is finding ways to reward students for good behavior or good academic improvement. Rewards are a great way to reinforce behavior you want them to use throughout the year and continue to develop. Try not to give too many tangible awards though or else the students become too focused on winning these awards. These are some great incentives beyond the usual grades, stickers, and honor roll.
“Most Improved Student” Award
Create an award or certificate that goes to the student the improved the most academically and behaviorally. This can be simple, yet meaningful and can be something done every month, quarter, semester, or year.
Extra Time Coupon
Many teachers give out awards that consist of eliminating a homework assignment. If teachers allow any assignment to be easily eliminated by any student, this devalues all assignments. A great alternative to this is an extra time reward coupon that gives a student extra time on an assignment from a few days to a week. This is great for students these days that suffer from procrastination and then anxiety from the procrastination.
Verbal Praise and Smiles
It is always a great idea to praise students verbally for good behavior and to smile when they do something right.
Bookmarks
Sometimes it is the little things that count for a student. Bookmarks make a great prize for good improvement and can come in designs tailored to your subject.
Calling or Writing Home
One of the best things ever to do for a student is to call or write home with a positive note or message. This can do wonders for your student having even better behavior and creates a positive teacher and parent relationship. Students and parents both want to know when the student is behaving well and doing well in class. Letters go a long way nowadays in the world where nobody ever does them anymore.
Comments on Homework
Not every student wants attention from their peers on how well they are doing or how well they’ve improved in class. Some students don’t even want the attention from their parents that may come if they know their parents were contact with good news. For these students, writing a nice note or a few positive comments on homework assignment really does motivate. They can read this privately and feel a sense of accomplishment without losing face for doing well in class.
Extra Credit Assignment Opportunities
Students love extra credit. In order to earn a chance to even do these extra credit assignments, let students know they must show exemplary behavior and effort towards doing well in class.
