Prizes for Positivity and Productivity

Impact to My Classroom

# of Students Impacted: 422

Students that are rewarded for their positive behavior are more likely to repeat that behavior.  Providing students with these simple rewards  made achieving goals more fun.  IT provided students with incentives and motivation to be more positive with their friends and in the classroom.  Rewarding student accomplishments lead to more positive thought and less complaining between students.  When you put positive energy out into the classroom, you attract positive interactions with people, students with other students, and students with teachers and staff.   Giving students rewards for not only acting in positive ways but also improving grades promotes healthy competition among students.  It also implemented a culture of recognition in a structured and meaningful manner that assured the students that their hard work and efforts did not go unnoticed.  The reward was an expression of gratitude because I appreciated their kindness to each other. Giving them physical rewards may be an extrinsic motivator, but it gave some students hope and a promise that doing what is right will be rewarded.  These small rewards were important to class morale.  They encouraged good behavior, improved self-esteem, improved relationships between students and staff.  Students had an increase in productivity and student work had improved quality.  Students had more pride in their work. Teachers usually find motivating students to learn and to participate very hard.  These rewards really helped with classroom management, stimulated learning and motivated good behavior.  Studentse conformed to appropriate behaviors.  They showed interest in the topics being taught and participated in class discussion.   Students volunteered for classroom jobs demonstrating responsible behaviors.  I gave gift cards to students that worked hard to bring up their grades and improved behavior.  Every success helped students be more self-confident.  Being proud of their achievements encouraged them to try to achieve more.  Some students that never did homework suddenly started doing homework.  All these small achievements and recognitions improve outcomes for students and creates a positive, accepting, supportive climate throughout the school and helps encourage students to make good choices in tough situations.  Some students will do anything for attention including acting out in bad ways.  Giving prizes for positivity helped show students that good behavior is the best way to get my attention.  These rewards were a great way to say “well done” that they could show other students (showing off a positive and encouraging others to do the same).  Many teachers struggle to provide these rewards on a limited budget.  Thanks to this grant, teachers could reward students more often.  We also encourage students to point out the positive behaviors of others, nominate them for a prize.