Class Incentives

Picture this:

There is one month left of school, the classroom (sans A/C) has a temperature of what feels like 90 degrees, and suddenly the final unit that you have to teach this year feels more daunting than climbing to the top of Mount Everest. What is a teacher to do?

In addition to finding myself in this situation, I also had a 6 month old at home (and I was 12 weeks pregnant). I truly wondered how I was going to make it. After a night of reflecting in my journal, I realized that it was my job, as the teacher, to change the narrative.

I showed up the next day with each class' name on the white board, and the title of "STREAK PARTY" above the class names. I knew from the initial glances at the board, I had captivated the class.

Then I explained the purpose and the rules. For this incentive, it is a "one for all, all for one" meaning that we have to work together to focus in class. If the class remained focused, they earned a star. If the class was off task, the stars got erased. At the end of the streak, the class with the most amount of stars earned the streak party for that marking period. The winning class determined what they would like (within reason) for their party. My favorite streak party was Baby Shark themed with brownies as dessert.

About a few weeks into the streak competition, there was a noticeable shift in the class focus, the class energy, and the motivation. I could overhear students in the hallway chanting "keep the streak" and students politely redirecting each other when they were off task. Another positive to the streak party that I had not thought of was that my advanced classes and my regular ed classes were all part of the same competition that was not based on academics, but rather based on focus and class unity.

It has been 2 years since my initial implementation of streak parties, and the power of the star was remained the same. What classroom incentives have worked in your classroom?