Do you give prizes? Why or why not?

[peasgoodnonsuch]

I work in public middle school. And I give candy out regularly for after school classes but very rarely in regular class.

Last year, I managed to basically hold out on using candy until the final quarter term. At that point my students were SO tired and ready to be done, it was really the only way to motivate.

In our school we have a stamp system which the kids accumulate in all of their classes when they do something particularly good. At the end of the semester they can turn those stamps into points to boost their grades. It's been a very effective motivator for my low level kids because I'm one of the only teachers who will give them stamps. And, since they're the bottom of the class, they really need them.

[Graumpot]

I have a system where the kids get stickers for answering questions/winning games. When they have 20 stickers they can spin a prize wheel. The prize wheel is divided into sections like candy, cookie (cheap single cookie), chocolate (small chocolate sweet), 5 more stickers, or special prize. The special prize is a big bag of cheap toys, pencils and things.

I have found this system to be very effective for class participation. You do have to manage it so that the weaker students also answer questions and get stickers.

As the prize they get is very delayed they are not constantly begging for anything. The system might sound a little pricey to begin with, but it is actually very cheap to maintain.

[foreverJ]

Maybe this should be a poll??

I considered it, but i like to know reasoning, and i believe polls are no-reply?  If not, my bad.

I think polls are vote and comment, or only vote, if you want :)

[GrenWhit]

I think polls are vote and comment, or only vote, if you want :)

So that definitely falls into the my bad category.  Is there an easy way to add a poll without scrapping the topic and starting over?  I'm not seeing one in the 'modify' window, so I assume its a mod ability at this point?

[eveliens]

I never give out candy in my regular classes. Whatever motivation the KT has in place is what I go with.

After school classes are my domain. Last year I used stickers and other treats as incentives and very occasionally I would give out candy. This year I am going to try the stamp system-- they need 6 skill stamps to get a prize. The prize will probably be better than just a candy or a sticker because it will probably take them most of the semester to earn all 6. I will allow partial badges but the prizes won't be as good. It may work, it may not.

[Morticae]

I give out candy. A lot. Gets the kids excited and focused. Happy students, happy co teacher, happy me, happy school. They have nothing else to motivate them... there's no reward system in place, no grades, no anything. That's the job I take on, unofficially.

[Yu_Bumsuk]

there's no reward system in place, no grades, no anything.

Why? Have you questioned what you can do to change this?

[Gillod]

Stamps. 10 stamps = 3 candy. I'm very explicit about what gets you a stamp. It also gives you some leeway in awarding for things- If a kid knows the answer to a hard question or is the only one listening WHAMMO stamp time. If you were bad and your whole group is supposed to get a stamp NO STAMPU.

Gets 'em every time.

[jessicateacher]

no candy. I'll give it when it's appropriate: halloween, end of year or before exam reviews.

also I find little stationary things are just as popular as candy and better. I just get a pack of pencils from Daiso (the dollar store) sometimes they have english on them and such and use those. kids love em. Then there is no health concerns

why? well, this way they are answering because they want to or because they learned something, or because they just know the answer. Mostly my students don't get involved when they don't understand . . . or they're being moody. so I take that as an indicator of how to adjust my class.

giving candy all the time is expensive, they'll start to expect it, they don't really know how to accept things politely in English- so it makes me feel they are being ungrateful when they say "give me candy"- and it can be really disruptive in  my lessons . . . . . besides the fact they've never heard of a trash can. and my classroom has a no food policy (after I stepped in gum for the 3rd time. EWWWW)

students will participate if they know it's expected of them. my method is to introduce "Volunteers!"  and "partners" I let them practice on there own with their partner but they know afterward that I will ask for volunteers. so they get a break to chat with their friend . . .in english hopefully only a bit of Korean while I co teacher and I get to do some one on one then they have to say it in front of their peers. I pick volunteers many many ways. I could cold call, close my eyes point at random, use a random number generator, or I pull names/ or numbers from a bag. The students seem to see these as pretty fair. and when they called they stamp their feet they whine and then they speak in English cause they know it's expected. and the other students love LOVe it when it's Not them. . . .and perfect revenge . . .let the volunteer choose the next "volunteer" they love that too

also mixing group and partner activities works pretty well.

If you want some more ideas for how to engage students there is a great book called Teach like a Champion by Doug Lemov. It has a whole chapter on how to motivate kids on how to want to learn. None of which involve candy

[negacoca]

 Last semester, I gave out candy to my special class after they collected five stamps. 
The biggest problem was, I usually ate all the candy!   ;)
Oh yeah, and it didn't have an impact on their behavior.

[gilbert.a.h]

there's no reward system in place, no grades, no anything.

Why? Have you questioned what you can do to change this?

I'm in the same spot, however, I am not allowed to grade them or anything like that, so that is why I created a post asking what kind of reward situation might work in my school, as it is TINY and the students can't really speak any English.

[Cranberryopah]

This is someone else’s idea that is working unexpectedly well with my Ss.  I am running a 4 week contest.

I. Each Ss is in a desk configuration dependent team. We have 6 teams.  I write 1 to 6 on the board and lushly give out team points for participation.  After 4 class warnings I speedily give negative points for undesired behaviour. Some kids are tough nuts to crack but by about 20 minutes or 10 minus points they begin towing the line.  No chastisement, just demerits. I keep all points on the board.

II. Each class ends with a team contest... worksheet contest, running dictation contest, bomb game, charades etc., The winning trio of teams each get +5 bonus points. These 5 extra points may or may not put them into the overall winner's circle.

III. After the contest I add the points from part I to the game contest points to find the 3 teams with the highest points overall. The kids in these teams write their names on a piece of paper. I will make a draw in 3 weeks. I keep class sets of winning teams and will draw the names of 5 students per class and give rewards. This so far has almost eliminated begging for candy.

I also give -3 points for messy desk areas at the end of class.   ;)

[bjinglee]

Was curious what, if anything, you give to your kids for prizes. I know a lot of people give candy. I have a system where they earn fake money if they volunteer during an activity and can use it to buy candy at the end of the month.

What do you do? Do you also give out candy or inexpensive trinkets or do you think giving out prizes is a bad idea? 

[LenaFromNYC]

Great question! I haven't arrived in Korea yet, but I've been brainstorming ideas for classroom management and activities. I was wondering the same thing...

Also.. any cheap prizes that I can bring from the US that you can't get in Korea, but that the kids will love?

[baboo74]

Hey all,

When I first started teaching I had my candy ready by my side for students who won games or did a good job in class. After a few years of teaching I have realized that giving candy out may not be the best option. The reason is that I find students will not want to put in any effort in if there is nothing to win. So if you decided for one class not to give out candies, students may not take the activity as seriously and may do it half-ass.

Actually what works for me these days (I work in an elementary school BTW). Instead of giving candies out, the students usually play for "not" getting homework. So, the winners of any of my games do not have to do homework. Trust me when I say, the kids really work hard at NOT getting homework.

Perhaps there is a better way to manage the candy handouts but I think my reward system is better in the sense that it wont cost you a penny and the students work just as hard ( thats just my opinion of course!)

[mikayla]

Teachers give students plus points when they volunteer and that will be reflected on their performace test especially attitude assessment. Sometimes it's good to give out some sweets. Those who are not interested in scores might be stimulated by something to eat.
   

[LenaFromNYC]

I'm thinking about maybe giving points that lead up to end of the quarter prizes.

What do you think about giving away I <3 NYC t-shirts? Would that go over well?

[saulnier13]

Stickers and sticker boards! when they fill up the board I have prizes for them to choose from. So many of my kids last year had a lot of fillings and some had rotten teeth, it was gross. I won't give candy.

[southernman]

I'm at a PS Elementarry, so i let the K co-teachers dish out the candy,  I just give my signature for good work,  surprisingly the kids love it.  Last year at my main elementary ( I taught at 3) I was getting kids asking me for my signature 5 months into my contract at the end of the class.

For winter and summer camps when I'm teaching alone,  I'l say at the beginning of the camps  that if everyone is good and does their work they'll get candy and I'll fork out for a meal on the last day.   It has never cost me more than 100K Korean for the two weeks and i've had great camps

[lara]

i think candy is great definatly do it