Cut up pieces of construction paper into rectangles, large enough for children to write their names on. Each day, if their homework is completed, they get to place on ticket in a jar. At the end of the week, one name will be drawn to win a prize. The students know that the more times they complete their homework, the more chances they have of winning.
This game can be changed to fit any behavior you want to change. Some ideas to adapt this game to are:
- Tickets for students working on class work, quietly at their desks.
- Tickets for students who are prepared for class.
- Tickets for students that have put away their belongings and are ready for the day to begin.
- Tickets for students that are following classroom rules.
As you can see, this game is very adaptable and brings about great changes in the behavior of the students.
Caught Being Good
My younger children’s school adopts this throughout the entire school. Any teacher can hand a student a caught being good ticket. It could be a teacher who sees a child helping someone in the hallway or someone that is just sitting quietly in class. All teachers are prepared, with tickets in their pockets at all times. Each time a student receives a ticket, they put their name on it and put it in a jar in their classroom. Every Friday, all of the jars are collected and there is a drawing of three names to win a prize. The prizes are having lunch with the principal, extra computer time, or actual prizes. The students look forward to the drawing and are encouraged to behave whether they are at recess or in class, as they never know when someone will hand them a “Caught Being Good Ticket.”
Social Recognition
We all remember when teacher’s placed our names on the board, or if not ours, then other student’s names for misbehavior. As the day went on, names were added as students talked in class, created a disruption or otherwise caused a problem. Reverse this and begin your day by putting the names of the students that are working on the board. Create pride in the students. Let them be recognized for their good behaviors rather than recognizing those that are not behaving. While we ask students to behave, more often than not, it is those that do not behave that are awarded the teacher’s attention.
