Third grade art teachers have implemented rewards for students to motivate them in class. The results have been very positive, with kids working as hard as ever for a star.When a student cleans their workspace, pushes themselves in class, or helps others, they receive a prize. This technique has been well received by the kids because they enjoy having a reward for their good work.

“We won one star because we were behaving very well,” Alicia Vieira a third grade student said, “and when we get to ten stars we get an awesome party.” Susana Gallego added, “that’s why when we have 9 stars we put in [twice] the effort to get the 5th star,” Vieira stated.

So far, only the art teacher has opted for this reward-based dynamic, but the children would like this to change. They argue that this would improve their academic performance in other subjects.

“I want to be able to win stars and stuff in other classes as well. If our [classroom] teacher had the stars too, I would definitely work harder in his class. More opportunities to earn stars, more parties for me!” Gallego said.   

The English teacher, Ms. Duque, is looking forward to implementing a similar method, through Dojo points to get the kids more motivated because the program is fun and interactive. The idea is that Dojo points will grant the students extra recess or other fun rewards if they behave well.

“Ms Duque invented something, the strategy to get extra recesses based on the amount of points on dojo class”

The extra motivation could help students, but this method could spoil them too. Although they’re at a young age, it is their duty to go to school to learn regardless if they are rewarded or not.

“When they give us stars we try our best because we know we’ll be recognized, but when we know they won’t, we don’t work as hard,” said Vieira.