How to Create a classroom rewards System that Motivates Teens Efficiently & Inexpensively
Tried & Tested Classroom Rewards Systems
Over the years, I’ve experienced many different rewards systems, some school-wide and some within my own classroom.
We’ve tried tickets, stamps, electronic points systems, prize stores, raffles, and more. I’ve tried digital management systems like Class Dojo, points, class competitions for pizza parties, etc.
Each of these systems has its faults.
Class Dojo left me feeling constantly tied to my tablet and unable to circulate.
Whole class rewards neglected amazing students who weren’t able to achieve the rewards they deserved because of classmates.
With stamps, some days I just felt too exhausted to keep walking around the classroom!
All along, I felt my wallet getting lighter and lighter as I spent my personal funds trying to keep up with prizes for students.
After all this, I always came back to the same system. It is cheap, easy, and effective. I call it the “Friday Fish Tank of Fun!”
Mrs. Ogden's Rewards System: The Friday Fish Tank of Fun!
General Explanation
Students earn tickets, which I collect each day. On Fridays, I pull a few tickets to win a prize.
Why do I call it the Fish Tank of Fun? Because I was too cheap to buy a container for the prizes, so I repurposed an old fish tank that I found in the science closet. It’s perfect! The kids can see the prizes through the glass, it’s big enough to dig through and light enough to move around as needed.
The GOAL
Your prize bin needs to have something for everyone. I’ve never had a student who couldn’t find at least one thing that they wanted in my prize bin because the variety is so fun.
Step 1: Generating desirable prizes without breaking the bank!
Nothing is more demoralizing than watching your bank account emptying faster than your income can keep up with. One of my highest priorities for my rewards system was keeping costs as low as humanly possible.
So, here are all my secrets for collecting free prizes:
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Declutter your Home
Get rid of all those free happy meal toys and party favors your kids keep bringing home! Clean out your pantry. Look for soon-to-expire food items like peanut butter, granola bars, chips, cans of soup, ramen noodles. Go through your closet and give away clothing, accessories, and jewelry that you aren’t using anymore.
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Declutter your Classroom Storage Rooms & Ask Colleagues to Do the Same
You wouldn’t believe the random assortment of stuff that is jammed in all those old closets. CTE, art, and science teacher closets are like a treasure trove at my school. Look for old books, school shirts, posters, stickers, etc.
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Wield the Power of Social Media
This is where I get the majority of my prizes. Twice a year, I post on Facebook asking for random prize donations from family & friends. You’ll be surprised by how many people will take it as an opportunity to declutter their home without having to go to the donation center! Give them a list of popular items so they know what types of things to look for. I usually offer to pick it up, which increases my odds of greater response.
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Raid the Stock Room for Office Supplies
Highlighters, binders, granola bars, sticky notes, drawing pads, hand sanitizer, even weird stuff like rolls of tape. My kids love to use the prize bin as a way to get organized.
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Freebies
College and career fairs, free Sephora samples (and similar), water bottles, writing utensils, hats, backpacks/bags, random toys. Bank on these opportunities when they pop up! My prize bin has lots of random freebies from my husband’s work with their engineering company logo on it. Free publicity, am I right?!
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Privilege Passes
These are my favorite because they require NO energy from me. I simply print out coupons for privileges like: sit by a friend/in my chair/by my dead-shark-in-a-jar-named-Bob, extra hall pass, early lunch, positive phone call/postcard home (click here to get those free postcards), homework pass, listen to music, whole class seating rearrangement, whole class break, etc.
If you would like a free editable copy of my “privilege passes” please submit your email at the end of this post! These are so easy to print on sticky notes, which my students love!
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Local Businesses
This is the one that requires the most effort, so I only do it once a year. Reach out to friends or parents who own local businesses and ask for gift cards or other free swag. College admissions offices will load you up! You just have to email them. We have a 7-Eleven across from our school, and they have always donated coupons for free mini-Slurpees when I ask. I’ve also had great responses from other drink shops like Fiz, Thirst, Starbucks, and ice cream shops. Occasionally, I’ve even had gift cards donated for the trampoline park, local bowling alleys, and arcades!
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The only items I buy
Candy, soda, chips, gum, and snacks. I keep a small stock of these items and slowly add them to the fish tank. Buy them all in bulk from Costco/Sam’s Club/WinCo! I purchase these with my department budget. The cost is low enough that it doesn’t put too bad of a dent in our funding (about $10 to $20 per month).
Real life check. Here’s a look at my disorganized fish tank of prizes. Keeping it neat was a losing battle! 🙂You can see I’ve got some t-shirts, socks, trampoline park passes, toys, office supplies, and lots more buried under that top layer! All of these items were collected at no cost to me!
Step 2: Tickets!
I like to print my own because it’s cheaper, and kids can’t be sneaky and buy identical ones. BUT if you want to save yourself the hassle of having to cut out tickets, here is a giant roll on Amazon for under $10. It comes in lots of different colors too, which could be handy!
If you would like a free download of my ticket template, please submit the form below. I am choosing an email format here so that your students cannot find and download these on their own. You will also receive my privilege passes in the same email.
Q&A:
How often do you give tickets?
Constantly. All day. Every class. Every time I see a positive behavior that I want to encourage.
- See a kid having an “I get it!” moment? Give them a ticket.
- Hands raised to participate? Ticket!
- Are students working well as a team? Tickets!
- Notice exceptional work while grading? Tape a ticket to it!
- See somebody throw their garbage into the actual garbage can? SOOOO MANY TICKETS!!
How do you get your students to care about earning tickets?
Show them the prize bin! Get them interested and thinking about items they want to work for!
Get them invested by asking for suggestions on what items students would like to see added to the prizes! They are so funny and creative when it comes to this. One year they were obsessed with Top Ramen and insisted I add it to the bin!
Also, be sure to pre-teach clear expectations for how they can earn tickets during class. Here are the Reward System Slides I use to introduce it to my class.
Isn’t it annoying to have to cut out tickets and carry them around all the time?
For me, it’s been the least annoying of the different systems that I’ve tried. I keep tickets in my pockets, teacher apron, and stash them secretly in drawers so they are always easily accessible for me.
My TA’s cut them for me and keep me in constant supply, but I’ve also traded kids a ticket or two for cutting them for me during class (great for kids who need to move or love to be helpers!)
If you don’t have a teacher apron, YOU NEED AN APRON. Seriously, it will change your life. And your classroom!
SPOILER ALERT! This teacher apron is #2 on my list of Top 5 Must-Have Classroom Products for Better Classroom Management. Click here to see the other 4!
Step 3: Complete Your First Drawing!
My favorite thing about this reward system is its FLEXIBILITY.
- Use it as often as you need. I pull 3 to 5 winners every Friday in each class. That ends up being no more than 20 prizes a week for me. For tough classes, I’ll pull one each day instead. If a class has a stellar day, I’ll do a few extra drawings. Dump the tickets as frequently or infrequently as you want. I usually keep it for a whole term.
- Use it for whatever class or student needs it most that day. Sometimes you have a kid who struggles hard. Fake it and call their name when you’ve seen improvement in them.
- Use it for YOU when you need a pick-me-up! If I feel especially negative during class, I’ll pull a few tickets and it helps refocus my mind on the positive.
- Use it for fun! Spice it up on holidays! I like to add mystery presents in December. Just wrap a few prize items in a couple of layers of newspaper. If they choose the mystery present, they’re not allowed to trade once they unwrap it! They LOVE THIS GAME.
- Amp it up to celebrate success! For end-of-semester celebrations, I like to give big prizes. These are usually more pricey donated prizes that I’ve set aside throughout the year. I save all their tickets from the year, and pull a few big winners!
Student's Favorite Rewards
Here are a few fun stories about experiences I’ve had with this rewards system. (All student names have been changed for privacy.)
“Kevin’s” Tiny Jar of Honey
7th grader Kevin was overall a good student but was more interested in social activities than academics. When I displayed the fish tank to his class, Kevin noticed a tiny sample-size jar of honey that I got as a freebie from somewhere. For some reason, Kevin REALLY wanted that tiny jar of honey! He said it spoke to him.
Kevin waited WEEKS to get lucky and win that tiny jar of honey. Finally, his day came! I pulled Kevin’s name as the winner. Having that small jar in mind kept him motivated to earn tickets in class, helped him resist distractions, and created a fun topic of conversation that brought our whole class closer together.
“Daniel’s” Watermelon Yearbook
I decided to raffle off some “big” prizes on the last day of school. Daniel had struggled with attendance so he hadn’t been present enough to earn very many tickets in my class. But when I set out a full-size watermelon, he stoically declared, “I need that.”
And then I pulled his name. I didn’t even cheat!
Somehow Daniel won that watermelon despite his attendance struggles, and he was so proud of it that he had his friends sign his watermelon instead of his yearbook!
I really do believe that God had a hand in that moment. He sees what I can’t always see these kids need.
“Justin’s” Positive Phone Call Home
Justin was a tall, gangly, social 15-year-old boy who was just oozing with tons of ‘tude. He was far more interested in girls and friends than his schoolwork and was always sweeping his long hair back out of his eyes, trying to catch the eye of anyone who would pay attention to him.
When Justin won the class drawing, he had no interest in the “kids prizes” but he chose a “positive phone call home” from my privilege passes. I explained to him that I would call his parent and share only good things with them about him!
When Mom picked up that phone and heard who was calling, I could already hear the dread in her voice. I proceeded to share Justin’s ability to be a positive leader for his peers, his great sense of humor, excellent grades, improvements he had made with his electronic use, and everything positive I could think of. Mom was SHOCKED and extremely happy.
Keeping it strictly positive was not easy for me, but it meant so much to both Justin and his parents! It helped me to recognize his strengths, and he was never disrespectful to me ever again in class. For more on this topic, look for my upcoming blog post “5 Ways to Connect with Unconnectable Students/Parents.”
“Brittany” & Bob
A few years back, a student gave me a baby shark specimen that had been preserved in a jar. My students affectionately named him “Bob” and folded tiny paper tombstones with funny sayings that they would leave next to him in a little shrine.
One day I got the brilliant idea to use Bob as a reward! I added some “Sit by Bob” coupons to the prize bin, so students could choose to have the shark-in-a-jar on their desk for a class period.
Brittany was very enthusiastic about science, and every time she won the prize drawing, she would choose to sit by Bob. Her enthusiasm for this prize was so great that it became a very positive competition between her and other students. They all wanted to win and get the “Sit by Bob” prize!
I think I have Bob to thank for the amazing behavior improvements I saw in that class. He was truly a blessing!
How using this rewards system changed me and my classroom
ANOTHER SPOILER ALERT! Building relationships is #1 in my Top 4 Secrets of Successful Junior High Teachers and this system is a huge part of that. (Follow the link to check out the other 3 secrets!)
My Fish Tank of Fun has opened the door for so much positivity in my classroom. Rewarding students for positive behaviors helps my mind to stay focused on all the good things happening every day and helps me let go of the negative (even when it is plentiful).
It is a mental training exercise that will change your life and your classroom.
My rewards system has also allowed me to connect with students in new ways that help me understand their needs better. It has helped me learn about my students’ interests, skills, humor, home life, strengths, weaknesses, and so much more. I’ve personally had so many positive moments, talking one-on-one with students while they pick out their prizes.
As I observe what is most motivating to each student, I can better provide what they need to be successful in the classroom and their futures. For some students, it is a physical prize. For some, it’s the time spent talking to me while they pick it out. Others thrive on the positive attention of winning in front of their peers. Learn what type of positive attention your students desire most, and use it!
Finally, this system enhances positive culture in the classroom by creating opportunities for us to laugh together as a class. The randomness of objects and variety of student interests in them has been the subject of many humorous positive moments with my class. When “Daniel” won his watermelon, the entire class gave him a standing ovation.
Appropriately, this rewards system has provided me with some of the most rewarding moments in teaching.
I hope you will make the changes today to create a more positive classroom environment for yourself and your students. For more classroom management ideas, click here!
Share your classroom rewards system!
Now let’s hear from you! What are some of your most rewarding experiences with classroom reward systems? What has worked well in your classroom? How have you helped a student by recognizing and rewarding positive behaviors?
Please comment below, and be sure to fill out the contact form to get my free ticket template! 🙂
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Oh my goodness! Incredible article dude!
Thank you so much, However I am having problems with your RSS.
I don’t know the reason why I am unable to join it. Is there anybody getting similar RSS issues?
Anybody who knows the solution will you kindly respond?
Thanx!!
Hi Gwendolyn, thank you so much for your feedback! I will look into this issue and get it fixed! For now, I can manually add you to my mailing list so you will get my newsletter! Were you able to get the email with the free downloads for my tickets?
I wanted to thank you for this wonderful read!!
I certainly enjoyed every bit of it. I have you bookmarked to check out new things you post…
Thank you so much for your feedback! I’m so glad you enjoyed this post and hope it will be helpful for you in your classroom! I have lots of great stuff in the works so be sure to subscribe to my page so you get all the free resources! 🙂
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