Motivating Ideas For Classrooms, From Personalised Stickers For Teachers To Reward Ceremonies

Teachers, especially primary school ones, often find that having a system of rewards in place will make classes run more smoothly as pupils remain motivated and cooperative. There are many different ideas for rewards systems and they do not need to be particularly expensive to have an effect.
The best system is one that offers small, regular awards at a personal level to keep each child feeling motivated, plus one or two larger awards for the whole class to reduce negative competition and encourage the class to work as a team. Here are some great ways that you can use personalised stickers for teachers and other rewards to motivate your class…
1.Sticker Progress Charts
It is a good idea to give each child a personal progress chart at the start of the term. Hand out stickers throughout the term for things such as an excellent piece of work or good behaviour and let the child add it to their chart. As an extra motivating factor, you could offer a small prize such as a 50p toy when a pupil reaches a certain number of stickers.
By letting each child keep their collection of stickers private rather than a public class star chart on the wall, you are helping them to feel proud for the stickers that they have achieved rather than comparing themselves against classmates who have more stickers than they do, which can be very demoralising.
2.Class Votes
A fun task to teach children about the voting system could be to hold a class vote, where pupils can elect classmates for certain rewards. These rewards could be something as simple as stickers, or you may want to download printable certificates of achievement or buy small prizes to make it extra exciting for the pupils.
Think up as many categories as you can, including both academic achievements and non academic ones. Categories could include for example, Best at Art, Best at Maths, Tidies up Most Often, Puts Hand Up in Class Most, Always Does Homework etc. This will give as many pupils as possible the chance to earn a reward, even if they are not a particularly high performer academically. Winning an award will show them that their hard work and effort is in fact noticed by both the teacher and their classmates, encouraging them to continue.
Then get everyone in the class to write down on a piece of paper which of their classmates they think deserves each reward. It is a good idea to double check votes before giving out the rewards to make sure that no one is cheating. Children who win awards will love that their efforts have been recognised and the whole class will learn how voting works.
3.Reward Ceremonies
Every class should have an end of term mini rewards ceremony. Order printable certificates of achievement for the whole class and think of something that each child has done well this term. Be sure to include everyone as pupils who are left out can feel very unmotivated and upset.
Even if a child is not a high achiever in lessons, perhaps they have done something else well such as a sport that they are good at or a one hundred percent attendance record. The ceremony is a fun way to finish the term and all of the pupils will have a confidence boost at receiving a certificate that they can take home and show their parents.
4.Whole Class Rewards
It is a great idea to offer up rewards at a class rather than a personal level too. For example, you may want to offer a school trip or a class spent watching a video as an end of term treat, provided that the class meets certain goals in the weeks beforehand. These should be measurable, achievable targets such as tidying up properly after an art class or everyone being quiet during reading time.
Put up a progress chart on the wall that the whole class can see and add stickers towards the final treat every time the class achieves a goal. Allow for a few slip ups as it would be bad for motivation to make the class miss out on their treat because of one missed target when all others were achieved.
These are just a few ideas on how to use rewards such as personalised stickers for teachers to improve class achievement and behaviour. printable certificates of achievement work well as an extra special treat for a piece of particularly spectacular work, or as an end of term reward for everyone. school council badges and reward badges also help to motivate schoolchildren.