High Standards, High Rewards

Hey there Party People!

This semester has been a wild ride with a lot of learning and teaching involved. One of my favorite things I started up with my student teaching was a club for students with straight As. I called it “The Admiral’s Club”. Students were given a welcome letter, a crystal for a trait they’d expressed wanting more development in, and a flight ticket. At the end of the semester, they would need to give back the flight ticket on the date written on it. Upon submitting the ticket, they were given a certificate as well as a Visa gift card.

When starting at Washington, it soon became “The General’s Club”. Students were given the same items in their welcome packages with a twist! Every 2-3 weeks students also got other items during their continued membership based on a theme.

With themes like “Pen to Paper” and “Inner Peace”, students are given gifts and prizes! For “Pen to Paper”, students got paper related gifts tailored to their interests such as journals and sketchbooks. With “Inner Peace”, they got a pass to use on any assignment less than 30 points.

The amounts of money for gift cards should be equal for all members but of course the total pot could vary based on the teacher and funds. I personally fund this class club so gift cards tends to be $25-$50 based on how many students are involved total by the end of the semester. While students can join at any point prior to the last week of the semester, they can also be kicked out if their straight A status drops for longer than 2 weeks. They may rejoin later but a second welcome package will not be given. 

What are you doing to motivate and celebrate your high achieving students? Let us know in the comments!