Small Rewards That Can Have a Big Impact on Student Behavior

Should students be rewarded for doing what is expected? Let’s break down what rewards are and how they can be used most effectively in the classroom. 

Rewards serve as reinforcers for positive and expected behavior. Reinforcement is a strategy used to strengthen a behavior, by adding something desirable after a specific behavior occurs. This increases the likelihood that the same behavior will happen again in the future. 

Incentive or reinforcement systems are beneficial when creating positive school culture and a motivating environment. Rewards help students learn routines and expectations and are one of the proven approaches to aiding in teaching and shaping behavior. 

Rewards are present in everyday life. We earn a paycheck for going to work, points for using credit cards, cash back for shopping at specific stores, and coupons for spending a specific amount of money. Students also benefit from extrinsic rewards for engaging in desired behaviors. 

Rewards can really be anything: a tangible item, an interaction, an experience, and much more! There are a couple of ways to make sure your rewards go a long way.

Making Small Rewards Matter

Small rewards can be meaningful if they are specific to your students. Ask your students what they are interested in earning. This can be done through class discussions, surveys, or polls. Making sure that students are excited about the rewards being offered will increase motivation to engage in behavior that earns rewards. 

It’s also important to remember that student interests will change throughout the year, so check in with them often and update your rewards!

Keeping Small Rewards Clearly Defined and Attainable

What good is a reward if you don’t know how to earn it or you are never able to access it? Meet your students where they are and consider the behaviors you want to see more of, and the behaviors you would like to see less often. 

Teachers can meet with their class to discuss behaviors that are helpful and harmful to their classroom environment, define them clearly, and make a plan to address them. 

For example, criteria can be set to increase the rate of specific, desirable behavior like hand raising, class participation, or turning in assignments. 

Planning Small Rewards to Target Big Behaviors 

Rewards may also be used to target a reduction in other unwanted behavior like getting out of seats and walking around the room or speaking out of turn. 

Let’s consider a scenario: The class identifies that increasing the frequency of raising a hand and waiting to be called on and asking for hall passes as a behavior to decrease. 

The teacher then collects data to determine how often each behavior is happening so appropriate goals can be set. In her baseline test, she finds that raising a hand and waiting to be called on happens seven times in a 55-minute class period. Students are asking for hall passes 12 times total during that same class period. 

The goals that are set for each behavior should be attainable and realistic. With that in mind, she sets the goal of raising a hand and waiting to be called on at 9 times for a class period and the goal for reducing the frequency of total hall passes is set for 10 times during a class period. 

She wants to reduce hall passes overall. She also wants to improve the frequency of those that follow the correct classroom procedures. These goals can gradually change to continue to move toward a goal of increase or reduction. Little wins can add up to big results.

Timing Your Small Rewards for a Big Impact

Consider the schedule of reinforcement and how frequently rewards are being provided. Rewards should be predictable and consistent. When first implementing an incentive system, rewards should be provided more frequently and gradually fade as students begin to demonstrate expectations more readily.

Reward criteria and the schedule of reinforcement can be modified to ensure all students can access rewards. Think about equity vs. equality. 

Different behaviors may be more difficult for some students to perform depending on their ability and individual needs. Some students may need additional support to be successful, like a token economy, additional visuals, or the use of effective prompting. 

Reinforcement should be provided immediately after the specific behavior occurs. Students will connect positive behaviors with rewards, increasing their motivation. 

Teachers should name the behavior, provide verbal praise and deliver a point or token to help students associate that behavior with something good! 

Planning Small Rewards 

While Target is a fan favorite of educators (and let’s face it, non-educators alike) rewards don’t actually have to cost you anything! 

Rewards that allow for meaningful time with preferred staff or peers help to build relationships and community in the classroom and can be more reinforcing in the long run! 

You need to target your student's interests. For rewards to hold their value, they must be individualized and meaningful to students. 

Pay attention to what your students talk about, movies, characters, preferred places, and hobbies. Teachers can also engage students in interviews or class polls to identify rewards that will be meaningful. 

Small Reward Ideas

Food

Examples: Ice cream Sunday party, food-themed party, snacks, or even a chance to pie a teacher.

How it Works: It's easy! Add these to your LiveSchool store. You can get specific with the type of snacks in the store, or you can just have a Snack as the reward and let students choose from the events when it makes sense for your class.

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Treasure Box

Examples: Toys, movie posters, stickers, phone cases, and AirPod skins.

How it Works: Students redeem their points for a trip to the treasure box. It’s a special treat for students to enjoy...and show off. ;)

Privileges

Example: Play games with a friend, art contest, picnic lunch, free dress, classroom DJ, extra recess, dance party, movie night,  homework pass, or create the seating chart.

How it Works: There are many ways to run these rewards!

• Add them as items in your LiveSchool store. As students collect points, they can save up to spend here.
• You can also set monthly goals for students to work toward in LiveSchool. The highest-earning students can then receive the reward.
• Use the LiveSchool randomizer to select a student at random each week to receive these.

Supplies

Example: Books, school supplies and merch, or maybe even a special pen.

How it Works:  Whether your students want to show off their school spirit or just make sure they're prepared for class, this is the reward for you. You probably already have school merch. Such as sweatshirts, hats, t-shirts, and more. But what about binders or pencils with the school colors and mascot? 

Not working with a big budget? We put together 10 completely free rewards for your classroom that are sure to kickstart engagement in your lessons.