Key to any teacher’s bag of tricks is positive reinforcement—or as it’s called in the outside world, bribery. Whether it’s based on performance or based on behavior, all effective teachers know when to dangle the carrot from the stick.
Perhaps in no other time of the year, other than May/June, do students need some added incentive to stay focused than during the holidays. Between Halloween dances, Thanksgiving break, and finally the end-of-the-year holiday break, students have a tough time keeping their heads in their books or their eyes on their iPads.
Here are some ideas that don’t require loading the kids up with sugar or wasting a class day on a party.
Earn a positive call/text home
Positive reports to parents are something you should be doing anyway, but by using them as a positive reinforcement, it gives the students something tangible to keep track of and work toward. When you introduce the program, let them know that these calls/texts will be occurring right before school lets out for the winter break, and that any positivity coming from school might make a big difference on whether they receive a new video game system or a lump of coal from Santa.
Invest in stickers
It may be shocking to the uninitiated, but even high schoolers get excited at the prospect of stickers. The difference being that younger students like wearing stickers themselves while older students would rather give them to someone else (so keep the backing on). It’s positive reinforcement that doesn’t cost much, doesn’t load them with sugar, and is easily trackable.
Charge time
Let’s just stop pretending students aren’t using their phones in class. They do, and when they do they are spending precious battery power. Battery power is quickly becoming currency in middle and high school and they will often ask you if they can use your plugs to charge up. Start attaching a positive reinforcement to that privilege. After all, if a student is missing their homework, why should you do them any favors? The kids will quickly start flying right once they realize your room can be a fueling station.
Positivity across the subject areas
Administration always wants the subject areas to work together in multidisciplinary ways. Get together with a buddy who works in your grade level for a multidisciplinary lesson that can be done together, combining your classes. But hold it over the kids’ heads as a reward, since they will get to see their friends from other classes that they don’t normally get to work with. It’s not a “party”, per se, but it accomplishes a similar goal.
The Next Level
Have you had success with any other positive reinforcement ideas? Educate us in the comments below.
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