stickers By Cathy-Dee

With young children they enjoy things like stickers, classroom reward activities, etc., While there are some who argue against extrinsic rewards (saying we should foster intrinsic rewards instead). I would argue that point in saying that we all love extrinsic rewards. Most of us would not be teaching if we were not paid for our efforts. However we also enjoy teaching so we have intrinsic value as well. I think the same is with young children. The stickers give them incentive - but as with any incentive program a teacher needs to watch it's effectiveness first hand. One class might love these stickers all year, another might only respond to them for a month. K, 1 and 2 students may respond more than grade 3 students. I've seen teachers in older grades use them as well.

I've had some of my students go out for remedial work from time to time. Sometimes they get a sticker for good work - it's the first thing they show me when they get back to the room. It's something more tangible for them than just saying you did a good job. Both are important, but since stickers are inexpensive and do offer something tangible for young children why not use them.

As teachers I think we should use every means we have to reach our students.