We all know that positive reinforcement is the BEST way to motivate and engage students at any level. At the elementary school level, it is extremely effective for a teacher to allocate points to students in their classroom and grant them the ability to trade in their points for small prizes like candy or toys. As students grow older and begin to move from classroom to classroom this method becomes a bit more disjointed. Once they’ve reached high school they are even less interested in the potential prizes that are being offered. This has a pretty negative effect on Teacher and Student Relationships in general. The only remedy is finding a PBIS rewards system that works at the high school level.
So if positive reinforcement is in fact the best method, how do we implement it in a way that actually works? There are two factors to creating a PBIS rewards system that functions in the middle and high school environments.
- Fairness
- Social Recognition
So what does this mean? Where does fairness play a role in positive reinforcement and rewards? What we see when teachers hand out tickets and point to individuals is that there is a discrepancy between what each teacher decides “merits” a “ticket” and what volume each teacher is giving out. Some educators might decide that every time a student is on time for a class they receive a ticket, others might hand out 1 at the beginning of the semester and forget about the program altogether after the first week. This leads to a lack of student motivation and effort on the basis of equality. Students who never cross paths with the generous ticket giver will feel discouraged and quit trying altogether. Whereas other students who frequently cross paths with enthusiastic educators will have a lower bar in order to achieve a ticket.
The second factor in a successful PBIS Rewards and Tracking system at a young adult level is social recognition. Don’t get us wrong, all students love trading in points for fun prizes, but studies show that as our brains mature we move away from personal wants, and toward peer recognition.
How can Minga help implement fairness and social recognition at our school? When using the Minga App that all students have access to they can earn points by participating in polls, engaging in challenges, and attending events. Select teachers can manually assign students points by scanning their Digital Student ID Cards. This keeps track of exactly who gives out points and for what. The peer recognition aspect is demonstrated in our Leaderboard, which every student can have access to depending on their school’s preference. You can also assign guidance to students who may not be exhibiting star behaviour and customize this feature to take away points if you choose. All of this is easily accessed in 1 dashboard where you can see all stats in regards to praise, guidance, and points.
To spice things up, even more, check out our last blog post that talks about creating teams that earn points collectively which helps students practice collaboration.
How does this help create meaningful teacher and student relationships? Once you’ve established this new media of kudos and trust, students will be far more inclined to participate knowing that they can receive praise and guidance from you. Minga’s PBIS and Tracking module is a game changer for teacher and student relationships.
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