Every year I wish that my students will come into the classroom on the first day of school with an innate desire to do their best all the time. They often do not. As the year progresses, I am often able to help my students become more intrinsically motivated.
Motivating students often leads to the Prize Box. So many teachers have prize boxes which are a great way to get students’ attention and motivate them in the classroom. While I usually have some sort of prize box, I have found that there are several setbacks with them. The first set back is cost! I spend a lot of money on my students and in my classroom, so the costs add up quick. Even if I can snag things in the dollar bins at Target, that is still $1.00 per prize! I have had former students donate trinkets and little odds and ends to my prize box, but this is not steady. I have found that it can also be hard to guess what will motivate your students from year to year, and less desirable prizes sit in the bottom of the prize box forever. Living out in the “sticks” also can make it time consuming to shop for items for the prize box.
A few years ago I started to try reward coupons with my students and they loved them!
I created my own coupons and tailored them to what has worked in my classroom. I print them on colored card stock or construction paper and store them in a plastic index card container, but you could store them however you want. When students earn a prize, they pick the coupon that they want and they hold on to them in their tool (pencil) box until they want to use them. Once they use them, students turn in the coupon and it goes back in my storage box to be reused. The best part about the coupon system is that the prizes don’t cost anything. Some things have to be set up in advance, like lunch bunches, but otherwise they are a piece of cake to use!
