Tuesday 19 June 2012

My Classroom Rewards Banking System

There are a great number of classroom rewards programs, ranging from stars for great work and/or behaviour, class claps and behaviour coupons (available from this great blog).

However, in the midst of all these wonderful incentive systems, I think I have settled on what I am going to introduce to my 5/6 class in terms three and four.

I've settled on a 'money' system, outlined below:
Pay day and rewards redemption is Friday.
$20 per week for:
- All homework and home reading completed
- Full attendance
$5 for outstanding work in a particular session
$2 extra for positive behaviour as identified at the discretion of Ms Kap

Rewards
$25  write a post on our class blog
$50  make your own Xtranormal movie
$50  30mins free time on the iPad or netbook
$50  free pass from homework
$100 (and consistently well-written posts on our class blog) earn your own blog
$250 whole class PE game with YOU to thank for it (you can pool money with friends to pay for this one)

It's still in its early stages so I will adapt it over time and in all likelihood post some improvements to it over the following months. I'm putting up coloured posters outlining these T&Cs on a wall in the classroom. It took me a while to figure out how to keep track of all the money for individual students and to ensure that I could have a relatively straightforward but also trustworthy source to ascertain each students' bank balances.

I'm a bit of an Excel expert so I decided to set up a spreadsheet where I can easily enter one formula and add all the weekly pay to each student in a split second, and then simply delete that addition for those who did not quality for weekly pay. I'll alter students' balances on Friday when they redeem rewards and record the nature of the record in the column below to ensure that is delivered prior to the next Friday's redemption. I've set up a formula row for the cost of the reward so, when I enter that, it will deduct the payment according to the nature of the reward entered and give me their closing balance.


What rewards system do you use or are you thinking about implementing in your classroom?

2 comments:

Beth Cregan said...

I used a similar system to this when I had a Grade 3/4 class and they loved it. We had bank books ( well it was the 90's LOL) and I had stamps with particular dollar amounts so all the kids had to do was stamp their bank books when the tasks were done. The responsibility to do this was theirs. On Friday afternoons, we had our class auction. I asked local business yo donate possible items of interest and friends/family donated things they didnt want. It was junk mostly but that never mattered. The kids could use their money to be part of the auction. It was great fun. I met one boy about ten years later and the thing he remembered was the reward system we used. Whatever you decide - try and keep it as simple as possible or it will become another task to complete in a busy week. The most successful thing about a system like this is that the kids immediately recognise that you care about them and that you have their best interests at heart. The spin off effects are greater than just shaping behaviour. It builds a tremendously positive classroom atmosphere. Good luck with your system- I look forward to hearing all about it.

Anna Kapnoullas said...

That sounds like an amazing rewards system Beth. I'll look into my local organisations and try to source some prizes as that would be a great addition to my system. Yes, I was worried about the administration time. I'm planning on nominating students as 'class bankers' on a rotational basis and, if that proves too difficult, to use Monopoly money. I love the use of banks books! Thanks for sharing,
Anna