Using Reward Stickers for Teachers: Some Advantages and Disadvantages
Rewards have always been around to provide motivation. They help provide a boost to propel people to achieve certain goals and reinforce positive behavior or attitude. For children in school, one of the common reward systems is the use of school stamps, teacher reward stickers, or children’s stickers. However, teachers should keep in mind that the use of these and other incentives should be handled with care, especially for children. With their young mindset and disposition, what teachers pretend to be a motivational approach could easily backfire and make some children feel bad.
As with other reward systems, the benefit of gifting stickers to children is that they serve as a tangible form of recognition for a job well done. These tokens help reinforce positive results by encouraging repetition of the behavior that was rewarded. This approach might be more meaningful to children as they may not easily understand or relate to their own goals. These simple rewards would then serve as things to look forward to the next time they do something good.
Another benefit of using children’s stickers as a tangible prize is that they are the “safest” to give away, in the sense that they are not considered a bribe. This is something that cannot be said for other rewards such as chocolate, candy, or toys. Reward stickers for teachers are often treated as mini-certificates of appreciation. There is also the advantage that the stickers are usually cheap. They are usually packaged in bulk in stores at an affordable cost, or can even be printed by the masters themselves.
Another advantage of teacher reward stickers is that the rewarded child receives something that they can take home and show to the parents. Therefore, the achievements or good behavior of the child are also communicated to the family members. This could be especially important if the child’s parents are busy and do not have time to attend regular parent-teacher meetings. Simply by having a child display stickers, parents receive feedback and may even be further encouraged to attend the next time there is a conference at school. This helps parents learn more about their child’s performance. Kids stickers can also serve as a reminder to both the student and their parents about to-dos and other school events.
However, as mentioned above, there are certain downsides to this reward method. The first is that some children may feel insecure about themselves if they do not receive as many stickers as others. This is especially true if the teacher displays the stickers on a chart. Rather than promoting healthy competition as needed, this could put some kids off.
However, if the teacher chooses to keep the stickers on a public display, he should make sure that different things can be awarded, not just rewards for aptitude in class.
Another downside to using reward stickers for teachers is that student incentive expectations can increase over time. Rather than focus on the intangible, though more important, values they get from good behavior, such as knowledge and discipline, they may tend to focus more on the tangible rewards they get as the bottom line. To mitigate this, teachers should also use the concept of intangible rewards. It is advisable to consider prizes for the whole group. The teacher can set a goal for the entire class, such as following a consistent “quiet hour” for an entire week. In this way, teamwork is encouraged along with individual behavior.
Teacher reward stickers they are very effective in more ways than one. Teachers can definitely depend on these to improve the school learning environment, especially among very young students. When using reward methods such as children’s stickers or school stamps, teachers should keep in mind that such incentives should be reduced and phased out over time. After all, students shouldn’t depend on awards to keep them doing well. The ultimate goal of these methods is to help students intrinsically motivate themselves, so that they always keep doing their best with or without a reward waiting.