Hillcrest Primary School

Students learn teamwork through classroom award

One interesting problem/trend presented to our universal team was the concern that students were working so hard to earn individual incentives that teachers were spending a great deal of time handing out individual rewards, especially when a majority of a class of students were demonstrating appropriate behavior at the same time (e.g. good line basics going from one classroom to another).

Our universal team developed a Classroom Award that could be earned when everyone in the class was observed to be demonstrating safe, respectful, or responsible behavior at the same time. When a class accumulates ten Classroom Awards, they earn a class incentive of their choice (popcorn party, extra recess, sledding, etc.). Use of incentives at the classroom level has resulted in an ever increasing number of recognitions of positive behaviors in our school. An expected outcome was a reduction in behavior infractions when students were moving as a group throughout the building. An unexpected outcome to offering a class incentive was the increase in students assisting each other. It is not unusual to see or hear students supporting each other, modeling appropriate behavior for each other, and even recognizing each other for their efforts to work as a group.

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