Motivation

For the past 8 years I have used  my version of the "classroom economy" as a way to motivate students to achieve academically and behave appropriately.  My version consisted of awarding students "Owl bills" for doing the right thing, ie: turning in homework, passing AR tests, helping a friend, receiving compliments from other adults.... you get the picture.  I also took away "Owl bills" for making poor choices or being irresponsible. 

Students saved up their money and each semester I held a HUGE Auction of items I purchased and items parents donated.   Overall, this method worked well.  It was a lot less cumbersome than having to purchase items for a "classroom store."   Like I said, my method was simple and easy to maintain.  

The negative aspects of my method was the cost and need to store lots of items both at home in my classroom.      Costly?  Yes.  Through the years, less parents donated and the burden of supplying auction items fell on me and my ever shrinking paycheck.  Space hog?  Yes.  I had several totes full of larger items in my garage and smaller items I kept at school.  I can't remember the last time I actually had space to fit my car in my garage.   

So... this summer I decided to make a change.  "Owl Bills" took flight and not one auction item was purchased.  This year, my method of motivation will be through student scratch off tickets.  Here is how it will work.  

1.  Student does the right thing - receives a ticket (like a theater ticket)
2.  Student signs the ticket and it is deposited in a canister.
3.  Periodically, (probably on Fridays) I will draw 5-10 tickets out of the canister.  These students will receive a scratcher ticket that I made.  (You can buy scratcher stickers - 500 stickers for $20.00 - that should last me at least 2-3 years. )
4.  And here is the best part:  the items they win cost me zip - zero!  Examples:  sit in teacher chair for the day, wear a hat for the day, sit where you want for the day, do half an assignment, receive one free test question answer, etc... 

Here are some pictures of my scratcher tickets. 

I made owl, balloon, and chevron themed scratcher reward cards - each with 20 different rewards plus some blank ones that can be customized.   Plus, I included a full page poster of each of the rewards for display.   Here is a link to my teacher pay teachers store if you would like to look at them.  : )  Scratch Off Reward Cards and Posters.