Classroom Incentives

Do you ever feel like you are just handing out bribes to get your students to work and show the correct behavior? 

Do you get frustrated that the students expect a REWARD when they should just DO THE WORK? 

These are common struggles for teachers when trying to reinforce positive behaviors with students in their classrooms.
So.......how can you make it work better? 
Step back and look at your students in your class. What really motivates them? Is it another new pencil or a piece of candy? Would they rather have quality time with you at lunch or sit at your desk during instruction? Think outside the box with your rewards and incentives. Every prize does not need to be a tangible reward. There are so many ways to use classroom incentives without spending any of your money or using little prizes. 
I like to do Friday Lunch Parties in my classroom. My students know if they did not earn any checkmarks during the entire week, they can eat lunch with me and spend recess in my class if they choose. They LOVE this! We eat, talk, sometimes watch a movie, listen to music, have a dance party, etc. This is also a way to build those relationships with your kiddos and get to know them better. During our remote learning the past few months, I missed our Friday lunches the most. So, what did I do? We had a lunch party over Google Hangout and ate our lunch, played a few games, and just took time to talk and catch up.  It was absolutely wonderful!
Some other ideas that are quick and easy to use for classroom incentives are :
1. Give tickets throughout the day for good behavior and have a drawing at the end of the day to sit at the teacher's desk, bring a stuffed animal to school, or eat lunch in the classroom with a friend the next day. 

2. Earn Compliments: When other teachers recognize your class is doing the behaviors you expect in your classroom and tell you, the class earns compliment points. When they earn a set amount of points, the class can pick a type of reward party such as: bring your device to school, PJ day, extra recess, or a movie break. 
3. If you are working on a specific skill like walking in the hallway, you could try to using the "Mystery Walker" tool. When you line up your students, you pull a chip out of the bucket with a student's name on it. The class does not know who you chose. You watch that child all the way to the location you are going and if they showed the skills you were looking for, they can earn an extra ticket toward the raffle or earning classroom cash. This is such an easy and fun way to reward a behavior you are working on. 

Now...it is still ok to give the occasional piece of candy, little toy, or sticker. Some kids are just really motivated by those types of things.  Just try to remember to incorporate other types of incentives with those students too. You don't want them to think they get a prize for everything they do in the classroom. Remember: Praise and positive words work with everyone!

There are so many ways that teachers can find to reward their students that do not involve giving them a toy or candy every day. Be creative! Think outside of the box!  I would love to hear your ideas.