How I Use Whole Class Incentive Charts
Over the years, I’ve tried many different types of reward charts, stars in jars, incentive games, tallies, Madame vs the class…
What I find is that what works for one class doesn’t necessarily work for another.
This year I have a particularly challenging group and it was clear that we needed a system to reward the positive, while still acknowledging the poor choices as well to help us learn from them.
I whipped up one of these charts with a bat theme on a Tuesday in October in an effort to bring something new to them since what I was using had no buy in. To my surprise, they took to it super well. I write this in March and they’re still motivated by it (knock on ALL the wood).
Earning tokens: The “Oui, oui!” “Non, merci” (Yes please/no thank you) system
The name rolls off the tongue in French, but I’m sure you can find some other name for it in English!
I simply add tally marks for positive and negative behaviour all day.
Sometimes I tell them I’m doing it and why (good or bad) and sometimes I just do it and they may or may not notice.
At this point, students will also ask if they can add a mark depending what’s happening around the class.
They “win” a token for their chart when they have a more positive day than negative.
What happens if they don’t win? (there are more tallies on the poor behaviour side)
They don’t get a token and we try again tomorrow.
We do a little debrief before the bell at the end of the day to talk about if they won or not and why, then what we can do tomorrow.
What do they win?
That’s totally up to you!
Personally, rewards do not cost Madame money. The only one that costs me money is a January win that gets a hot chocolate party where I make hot chocolate in the crock pot for them. It’s a pretty cheap way to make them very happy.
Normally things like extra outside time, extra centres time, PJ day, bring a stuffy, bring a board game, no math day, movie afternoon etc. are all free, simple things that they’re quite happy to receive as rewards.
Do I ever take tokens off the chart?
Normally, no. I did one time and that was after some very poor decisions made by the group. Not only did they not win that day, but one of their consequences for the behaviour was removing one token.
Are there deadlines or cut offs to win?
Yes, sometimes. That’s how it went for the first chart actually. They had to get 10 tokens before the end of the month. I believe there were 13 school days left so they had 3 buffer days.
You don’t have to have a deadline to fill up the chart, but it does keep them accountable and focused on achieving their goal. It’s easy to forget the goal when they could take 2 months to complete it.
What about the kids who always do the right thing?
This is a whole group system. We win together, we lose together.
This encourages leaders to lead by example and encourage their peers to make positive choices. I don’t give tallies when one or two kids do something positive, this is a group effort. Instead, I take the time to verbally praise those kids and show them my appreciation for their positive choices.
What about the kids who have IEPs?
You know your students and class composition best so that’s up to you to decide.
In my class a diagnosis or IEP does not mean that you can’t make positive choices so everyone is involved.
I realize that some accomodations need to be made in some circumstances. For example, there is one student in our class whose behaviour is not considered. They have their own goals that they’re working towards and my expectations of them are not the same as the others. Remember, fair is not equal. That child does get to enjoy the reward with the rest of the class.
Do I have to make this whole group or do it for a whole day?
Absolutely not! It’s your chart, it’s up to you.
In previous years, I have really targetted an issue that we were trying to get better at.
For example:
cleaning up after lunch
listening quietly to announcements
walking in the hall quietly
showing kindness
smooth transitions
listening at the carpet
performing a procedure well
pushing chairs in
no blurting etc
Anything you want to focus on can be the focus of your chart.
You can use them for table groups or for individuals too.
Looking for charts that are ready to go?
I have seasonal and holiday sets for you to print and go.
For durability, I laminate my charts and tokens. I attach them by sticking a Velcro dot to the game board and token. If you don’t have this, you can always use sticky tack.
