This is a trick I learned while working as a substitute in the US.

Sometimes kids need motivation.  Awe, heck.  Lots of times kids need motivation.  Whether it be motivation to behave or do good work, they still need it.  In an ideal world, that motivation would come from within.  But this isn’t an ideal world.

At the beginning of the term, I was having real problems with the behavior of students in Dewey Class and Einstein Class.  I had never tried the Start Student Bag as an ESL teacher, but it did work well for me when I was a sub.  The idea is to reinforce the good behavior rather than punishing the bad behavior.  Way back when I was an undergrad in the Psychology department, I learned that reinforcment is generally a more effective way of changing behavior, as opposed to punishment.

So how does the Star Student Bag work?  Well, you need a small bag, some strips of paper and some prizes.  When a student is doing something good (behavior, participation, work) you give him or her one slip of paper.  The student writes his or her name on the paper and places it in the bag.  At the end of a specified time period, you draw a predetermined number of slips out of the bag and those students get a small prize.  Prizes I’ve used include stickers, erasers, pencils, bookmarks and pens.  I never spend more than about a dollar a student.  I find a good rule of thumb is to have one prize for each four students.  My classes usually have 12 or 13 students so I generally give out four prizes.  As to when to give out prizes, I do it once a week because my classes only meet for 25 minutes.

Star Student Slip (pdf)

Star Student Slip (odt)

Star Student Slip (doc)