Student Contributor: A. Lester
A Student Store Dollar is given by the teacher to the students. It’s used to reward students for either doing good on a test or an achievement and they can use it towards the 6th grade student store. It’s helpful in the sense that students can work towards getting one and then use it to get a treat.
In the 6th grade classroom, the students run a store that contains different types of treats. Such as cookies, candy bars, beef sticks, etc. The Student Store Dollars allow them to buy an item from the store. The students receive one when the teacher believes that the student has earned it. This can be in terms of showing integrity in their homework, acting diligently on a task, or if the class has good behavior for a substitute teacher. The Student Store Dollars can be given by any teacher in the school to his or her own students. It is then at their discretion how they decide to hand them out.
This tool aligns with the Three Phases and Theories of Influence by connecting to the Supportive Phase. Since the Student Store Dollars support and guide a student in their work and behavior, it fits best in this category. This tool can also fit into the Corrective Phase because the teacher may use this as a way to help a student do better with homework, classroom behavior, etc. By using this tool, you can help students work harder towards goals in many different aspects as well. Not only does it tailor to extrinsic motivations it can help with a student’s intrinsic motivation as well.
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Tool Source: Keri Hodgson
In my classroom, a 5th grade classroom with 26 students in an urban area, we use class money. I think this is a great tool if used effectively and appropriately. The tool is easy to prepare as it is just fake money and time is taken at the beginning of the year to explain the system and is reviewed when we decide to use it for different tasks. We use class money as a reward when we think a student or the class has gone above and beyond. It is not used for every task a student completes as that would defeat the purpose. Class money really is an incentive to some students as they really care about it and don’t want to lose money or not gain any. An example is like a student will get class money if they get an acknowledgement about something nice they did at our time for that during the end of the day. I think you could use this in your class in many different ways you just have to be careful not to abuse it or rely to heavily on it.