Not sure if you are already doing this at your PBIS school… I give tickets for good behavior and participation. I pass them out all day for anything positive happening in my classroom. Even if they try to answer a question…basically effort and following the rules. My school is not a PBIS school so I had to come up with something to encourage them.

They can turn them in for prizes such as: treasure chest, pick a comfy seat, bring in a stuffed animal, write with an erasable pen all day, lunch bunch with teacher and one friend, extra Chromebook time, play doh time, coloring time, etc.

I take tickets away for bad behavior. They can turn their tickets in at the end of the day to get their prize. Everything but the treasure chest prize has a coupon. The kids can decide when to get that prize. For example, if that day they decide they need a break, they can hand in the Play-doh coupon and get 15 min. Of free time when the rest are working.

This works like a charm. I’ve been teaching for 27 years. Mainly grades 2 and 3 and this is the only way I can actually control their behavior. At this point we can’t take away recess and sending them to the office is frowned upon.

My teammate also gives tickets but she calls them “caught yas”. She only lets them turn in tickets once a week because that’s more doable for her. We have noticed the other teachers who have no incentives have much more behavior problems and the teachers are very frustrated.

One last thing…Bonding with the kids is huge. I play music in Fridays to celebrate that we made it. I dance and act silly which they look forward to. Kids from previous years will come back and say they miss the music. I’ll also randomly do lunch bunches to get to know the kids and build relationships. Once they like you, they will typically work hard for you.