Spark Student Motivation: Infinity 500

Good morning! Today, I wanted to link up with Joanne at Head Over Heels for Teaching for her Spark Student Motivation Saturdays! I've blogged about our whole class motivation system before but now that we're up and running I have at least one photo to share... (It was Friday & I forgot to take a few more!)

On our team we give out "laps" each time the entire class has behavior that is above and beyond our expectations. It could be coming in and following directions without being asked, walking quietly in the hallway, getting started on an assignment, etc. We also have set protocol for some instances like if everyone turns in their homework in the class they class earns two "laps" per assignment. Our goal is to have the homerooms compete to earn 500 laps in our Infinity 500 Race. Once students have 50 laps they get a Car cut-out placed on our pictograph in the hallway to represent their 50 laps. 10 cars = party. Our "laps" are just marbles we give our students at the end of a class period or after a compliment from another teacher or principal. We even have a classroom job of a "Car Driver" who is responsible for taking the car (aka index card box from IKEA) from room to room.

 Once a homeroom reaches 500 they earn the exclusive party that no other homeroom earns. Usually it involves a Wii and Just Dance or Mario Cart along with a breakfast of doughnuts. We really like doughnuts on our team!

It's easy to manage and it's usually a great incentive for the homeroom. Laps can be given and taken away, so it's a system for monitoring in class behavior. Students can't dump out their "laps" until they have over 50 (usually 54ish) because taking the cars down can be a pain. The only pitfalls can be that ONE kid who never does homework... if it's always the same kid and there are pending circumstances, I usually overlook that student when giving out the laps for homework. Otherwise, this system has been a great team building motivator for our students for the past 6 years! A week of homework can dramatically change the outcome so no one class is ever "really" in the lead until they cross the finish line!

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