CLASSROOM INCENTIVES SYSTEM

An incentive system for the classroom will distinguish between incentives for the
whole class of students and incentives for individuals. The system will furthermore
identify separate incentives to reward academic achievements and appropriate
classroom discipline.

Whole class incentives

Assignments
When the whole class has come to the end of a lengthy unit, or has just completed
a major project such as a research paper, they may be allowed to watch a subjectrelated film for the class period on the following day. This would be contingent
upon all the class having achieved a certain benchmark for grades during the unit,
or all having turned in their research project by the due date. This reward would
rely on the cooperative effort of the class to achieve the required benchmark.
Watching a film would be considered an extrinsic reward to the achievements
required to obtain the reward. The purpose of such a reward, with respect to the
classroom environment, would be to allow students to have a quiet, passive class
period, free from the stress of typical classroom expectations. It would not be
expected that this incentive would be used very often during the school year, and it
would not have to be offered to all of the separate classes, but would be used
judiciously as deemed appropriate.

Behavior
Efficient management of the time schedule during a class period is critical.
Periodically, study-related games should be planned near the end of a lesson. For
lesson-planning, the time allowed for the games should be considered flexible time
in case more time were needed to complete the other activities required of the
days lesson. Such games might be more effective for lessons requiring more
mundane seat work rather than lessons that already involve substantial discussion
or group activities. The class should be informed that if they are able to complete
all of the lessons other activities efficiently, then the entire class could play the
game planned for the end of the period. Again, this reward would rely on the
cooperative effort of the class in order to meet the requirements to play the game.
The game would be considered an intrinsic reward because the time allowed for
the game would be dependent upon the class managing their time and doing their
work efficiently during the rest of the lesson. Additionally, the content of the game
would be selected to reinforce the material being studied during the lesson.

Ideally, a game would provide for a change of pace during the lesson and promote
a positive classroom environment.

Individual Incentives
Assignments
With respect to major research projects required by the course, the primary
incentive for students would be to allow a very wide latitude and a great degree of
independence in the selection of their research topic. It is hoped that allowing
students to select topics in which they have a high level of interest would motivate
them during their research, and encourage them to make a connection between
their own interests and the subject of the course. This incentive would be
considered intrinsic to the assignment since it is offered to the student at the
beginning and is integral to the completion of the assignment. It is also cooperative
in the sense that the teacher and the student would cooperate together to develop
topics for research. Hopefully, ensuring students were motivated with their
individual projects would contribute to an overall positive classroom environment.
In the same vein, an additional incentive might be to allow collaborative work on
projects between two or three students, depending on certain conditions. This
incentive, however, should be more strictly controlled by the teacher, and the
students should be held to a higher standard of achievement.
For day to day work, encouraging comments and prompt feedback should be
provided to all students as incentives to continue doing well in the class. However,
what fun is being a teacher if you dont give out plenty of stickers for good work?
Students with high grades, and also students showing marked improvement,
deserve to get gold stars and scratch and sniff stickers. These rewards are certainly
extrinsic and competitive, but would hopefully lend a lighthearted climate to the
classroom environment.

Behavior
With respect to individual behavior, all students would be expected to act
respectfully and responsibly in accordance with the classroom rules. Should
individual students periodically ask for special privileges, such as being allowed to
visit the library, then the students conduct and the status of his or her work should
be taken into consideration in allowing the privilege.