How to Manage Student Rewards

Hello everyone! I don’t know about you– but I LOVE rewarding students for good behavior, positive attitudes, effort, and other fine qualities all teachers admire! Today I want to share some ideas for managing the rewards you give to students! (Please note this post contains some affiliate links for Amazon)

First off, make sure your reward system matches your management style. For the past 5 years I’ve used ClassDojo in my room– and I love it! Here is a post I wrote a few years ago about how I use it in conjunction with a classroom economy. Basically I hand out “Dojo Dollars” every Friday based on how many points my students have earned.

Then they can use those dollars to pay for prizes and rewards.

I had to decide what types of rewards to put on each poster– you don’t want your best rewards to be worth $5! Make them save for it! I usually switch the prizes up every year based on popularity or if I get tired of it… Here are the posters I use:

Sometimes I forget what the student has paid for– so this year I am going to give them a coupon after they pay. Then they can trade the coupon in whenever they want to use it! Here is how I will manage my coupons:

1) I bought an “Iris Photo Keeper” from Amazon (you can also get them from Michaels and other craft places). I created labels, printed, and hot glued them to the boxes to help me keep track.

2) I had to figure out how to sort my coupons…

3) I decided to stick with the point system– so I sorted the coupons by my point system:

Below you can see an example of some of the coupons that will go in the “10 point” box. The best coupons go in the “50 point” box!

I also love the holidays– so I provide a “holiday tub” for students to purchase a prize from (I usually made this cost 5 Dojo Dollars) I store them in small sterilite tubs with latches (found also at Walmart, Big Lots, Target, etc.)

Then, whatever was leftover I could easily save for next year. Also, after each holiday be sure to stock up on the little toys, pencils, erasers, etc. that go on sale (Hobby Lobby, Mardels, Walmart, Target are excellent places to look) and save them for next year!

What types of rewards do you use with students? Click here or on the picture below to visit my reward coupons in my TPT store. The preview has a full list with explanations– most of the rewards don’t cost anything!