I love using my prize wall for classroom management for a few reasons!
ONE:
My prize wall is a space-saving and time-saving classroom management system. I had a big treasure box that was always stashed behind my desk or in some corner of the room for quite a few years. NOW, I have a couple shoe organizers that I fill with toys and hang over the cabinets behind my desk. They are so convenient and out of the way.
It also really helps that the students can see what they want in an organized way rather than having to rummage through a box of trinkets for minutes at a time. (The minutes add up!) My students are only allowed to buy from the store at pack-up time and they have to be packed up and ready to go home first! I try to give a few extra minutes at the end of each day for “shopping”.
TWO:
This one is a given, but my students really want to earn those tickets for the prize wall. I give out tickets for a number of behaviors and choices, but here are some examples of some positive behaviors that I give tickets for:
- Being kind to others
- Helping a friend
- Having a good attitute
- Listening
- Following directions quickly
- Perserverance
- Keeping a clean desk (like the “desk fairy,” only they know the ticket came from me)
AND THIS IS MY FAVORITE REASON TO GIVE TICKETS:
- I give tickets for implementing new skills, doing the “extra” work, and showing their work.
Example:
Last year my students were getting a little lazy with their opinion writing towards the end of the year. I told them that if they started adding more details and more descriptive sentences explaining why they felt a certain way, that I would give them not ONE, but TWO tickets.
OH MY GOODNESS… You would have thought I promised them gold. Not every student, but many of them started going above and beyond to add the details to their work.
THREE:
You can combine this prize wall (or any token economy system) with your teaching about growth mindset. I do it often! Yes, I know it seems counter productive to teach students to be intrinsically motivated and then offer an extrinsic reward for positive behaviors and choices, BUT what I have realized in my years of teaching is that it really is not about the reward itself!
Most of the toys on my prize wall are pretty cheap. Even the higher priced stuff, is not too expensive or fancy.
I REALIZED… My students want the feeling they get when they see that prize in their hand and know they earned it. They want to show that prize off to their parents at the end of the day. More than half of my students will end up using their tickets to buy stuff for their siblings or a friend and it is the sweetest thing. I realized they don’t care about the rewards all too much… they care about the feeling they get earning that reward. They like feeling proud and having something to show for it.
(Please note: The shoe holders, tickets, and prizes linked below contain affiliate links. I do receive a very small commission at no additional cost to you when purchasing through these provided amazon links. However, these are all items I have personally purchased from amazon for my classroom prize wall incentives.)
For my prize wall, I bought two over the door shoe holders. I ended up cutting about three rows off the bottom of both of mine, but if you have a place to hang the whole thing, you do not need to cut them at all.
After I added the prizes to the shoe holders, I added the little ticket price printables so students would know how much the prizes cost. I had each one of them use their 1:1 device to take a picture of the store, so they could look at it to remember prices instead of having to ask me. (If your students are lucky enough to have 1:1 devices, it is helpful!)
My students each have their own envelope/wallet for the year and they keep all of the tickets they earn in their “wallets”. My students also write their name each of the tickets they earn.
I have found some pretty good prices on amazon for prizes in bulk, found some of the smaller ticket items at the dollar store, and you can occassionally find some pretty good prize items in the Target dollar spot. I have also had parents who have asked to donate to our classroom get some things for our prize wall.
Here are some links to some prizes I have added to my prize wall:
9 Responses
Thank you for sharing! I’ve been doing tickets in a similar way for nearly 20 years! I’ve always had a “mystery treasure bag” but I was ready to mix things up. This will really work for me. I always appreciate EVERYTHING you share. Many thanks!
Thank you so much! (I just found my comments and figured out how to respond) I am so glad you love this idea! Hope it has been working well!
This is awesome! Reminds me a lot of using desk pets in my classroom. My kids love earning pet bucks to spend. Great idea!
I bet they enjoy that! Desk pets are awesome! I love the shoe holder as a space-saving way to display rewards easily too!
I love this idea! I’ll be a first year middle school teacher this fall and I’ve been trying to come up with a reward system. I was thinking “prize box” but I love the organization of this one. Thank you for sharing!
It has been so much nicer than having them rummage through a prize box! Hope it works well for your middle schoolers!
I love this idea!!!! I would like to implement this coming school year. I am having difficulty finding the prize wall labels on TPT. Thanks!!!
Hi Steph,
Thank you so much! I just fixed the link so you should be able to click and make a copy to your Google Drive now!
Thank you so very much!!!!