Help me give my students gift cards as incentive prizes during distance learning!
$155 goal
Hooray! This project is fully funded
Hooray! This project is fully funded
Celebrating Hispanic & Latinx Heritage Month
This project is a part of the Hispanic & Latinx Heritage Month celebration because
it supports a Latino teacher or a school where the majority of students are Latino.
My eighth-grade cluster is made up of students from a wide variety of backgrounds. My students continue to work hard each year and thrive in a learning environment that nurtures creativity.
Healthy students learn more!
Over 43% of the students in my cluster are classified as ELL (English Language Learners), and another 30% are classified as special needs. Even with these hurdles, my kids work hard to find success in the classroom. Additionally, over 80% of students receive free or reduced-price lunch. This means that many do not have the basic supplies that we generally take for granted.
My Project
As I begin looking forward to the 2020-21 school year, I struggle to find the right way to help my students work their hardest in this distance learning format. Last year, we engaged in distance learning for 6 weeks. During that time, it was easy for the kids to disconnect from the lessons or just not log on at all. I asked myself what works in the classroom when they need something more than just a pat on the back or a good grade to keep them motivated. The answer was obvious: the prize box.
In school, it's easy to give kids a quick pick from the prize box, but things have changed.
Allowing them to dig through the box isn't going to work when they aren't in school. So, I need something easy to send in the mail. That's why I chose Gift Cards as PBIS incentives. By offering the gift cards I can hold a bi-weekly raffle and send the winner a card in the mail. I tried using stickie hands and erasers, but the cost of postage was much higher than I expected.
I previously got a group of Amazon cards and did bi-weekly raffles. The kids love it. I saw a marked increase in the number of students completing all of their work the week after I hard the first raffle and this trend continues, so now I am expanding the options to include other types of cards.
More than half of students from low‑income households
Data about students' economic need comes from the National Center for Education Statistics, via our partners at MDR Education. Learn more
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As a teacher-founded nonprofit, we're trusted by thousands of teachers and supporters across the country. This classroom request for funding was created by Mrs. Tracey and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.