Motivational+Ideas

Friday Reading Share Day... To motivate students to practice good reading skills during independent time let them know that someone will be chosen to share a book each Friday. Do not tell the students who will be chosen to present their book. They will really have to work hard to comprehend what they are reading independently all week incase they get chosen to present a book. Let Them Evaluate Themselves Have self-evaluation sheets either at the end of the day or end of the week. Students will take pride in feeling out an honest evaluations of themselves. They will be motivated to fill out a sheet about themselves. Marbles in a Jar To motivate the class as a whole the marble jar is perfect. The end goal would be a full jar of marbles. The teacher only puts one marble in the jar when the WHOLE group of students are doing an exceptional job at any one task. This will motivate them to work together to recieve a marble. Red Nose Rewards Take a piece of yarn the width of your classroom and hang above you. The yarn should start on one end of the room and stretch across it horizontally to attach to the other side of the classroom. One one side of the yarn, attach the sign that reads "The North Pole". On the other side, attach a blown up red balloon. This is the "red nose" that Rudolph wants to reach. The North Pole is where Rudolph starts. Attach your Rudolph to the yarn with a paper clip, or some other way that will allow the reindeer to slide along the yarn. As students are on task, working quietly, etc., simply move the reindeer from the "North Pole" towards the "red nose.": Moving it in small increments works the best. The desired goal is to reach the nose, so as misbehavior is happening, start moving the reindeer back towards its "home." As you move it forward, say things like, "I appreciate the way ______ is working so quietly," or "I like how I saw _____ get out a book to read when she was done with her math." Students will pick up right away what is expected of them. The best part is this: When the reindeer reaches his "red nose", pop the balloon to find a "surprise" in it. (Before tying your balloon, slip in a piece of paper with a class prize like: extra 10 minutes of recess, or class treat, or class homework pass, etc.) Keep the element of surprise just that...a prize that the kids don't know, but can't wait to find out! Once the prize is won, simply blow up another balloon, slip in a paper with the surprise written on it, and start over again!

Kids often seem to get rowdy during the merry season, this keeps them on track towards Christmas break.. ..  Take a piece of yarn the width of your classroom and hang above you. The yarn should start on one end of the room and stretch across it horizontally to attach to the other side of the classroom. One one side of the yarn, attach the sign that reads "The North Pole". On the other side, attach a blown up red balloon. This is the "red nose" that Rudolph wants to reach. The North Pole is where Rudolph starts. Attach your Rudolph to the yarn with a paper clip, or some other way that will allow the reindeer to slide along the yarn. As students are on task, working quietly, etc., simply move the reindeer from the "North Pole" towards the "red nose.": Moving it in small increments works the best. The desired goal is to reach the nose, so as misbehavior is happening, start moving the reindeer back towards its "home." As you move it forward, say things like, "I appreciate the way __is working so quietly," or "I like how I saw__ ___ get out a book to read when she was done with her math." Students will pick up right away what is expected of them. The best part is this: When the reindeer reaches his "red nose", pop the balloon to find a "surprise" in it. (Before tying your balloon, slip in a piece of paper with a class prize like: extra 10 minutes of recess, or class treat, or class homework pass, etc.) Keep the element of surprise just that...a prize that the kids don't know, but can't wait to find out! Once the prize is won, simply blow up another balloon, slip in a paper with the surprise written on it, and start over again! Start Out With Class Tickets In Order To Motivate At the start of each day, each student is given 3 tickets. If a child misbehaves, isn’t paying attention, or breaks a class/school rule, take a ticket from that child. Students can have a ticket taken during lunch time, recess, or at specials. At the end of the day each child turns in the tickets they have left from the day. I record this information. At the end of the week students who have earned the required number of tickets can pick a prize from the treasure box. I also use these tickets as raffle tickets on occasion if I have extra prizes or treats. I have found with this system that I am rewarding good and appropriate behavior and not always focusing on the unacceptable behavior.





Weekly Raffle  On Fridays have a drawing for students who have earned raffle tickets for outstanding behavior. Use rewards such as: Sit at the teacher's desk for the day Island Boy/Girl of The Week <span style="display: block; font-family: Impact,Charcoal,sans-serif; font-size: 150%; text-align: center;">
 * <span style="display: block; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12px; text-align: center; text-decoration: inherit;">15 minutes playing an educational computer game
 * <span style="display: block; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12px; text-align: center; text-decoration: inherit;">Be the "caller" for multiplication bingo
 * <span style="display: block; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12px; text-align: center; text-decoration: inherit;">Make up a math problem for the other children to solve
 * <span style="font-family: inherit; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-size: 12px; text-decoration: inherit; text-decoration: inherit;">Stay out for a longer recess with a friend
 * <span style="font-family: inherit; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-size: 12px; text-decoration: inherit; text-decoration: inherit;">Choose your seat for the day
 * <span style="font-family: inherit; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-size: 12px; text-decoration: inherit; text-decoration: inherit;">Read out loud to the class