Awards, Recognition, and Rewards

I've always been a strong believer in using recognition and rewards to motivate kids to succeed.  I've heard a lot of criticism over the years because we recognize kids for doing what they ought to be doing in the first place.  One of my first faculty meetings as an assistant principal I asked everyone to be on time.  It was a resonable request and most of the teachers complied.  After all, later that day I was serving BBQ to the staff and so people were in a fairly good mood.  As people arrived to the meeting on time I handed them a spherical prize wrapped in foil.  When it was time for the meeting to begin I stopped passing out prizes.  Teachers arriving late knew that everyone else had received this shiny ball of a handout and many requested one for themselves.  I informed them that these round prizes were like a trophy for arriving on time.  We talked about the recognition program I wanted to use with our kids for attendance, behavior, and grades.  I heard the normal grumblings and then the questions: why are we recognizing these kids for doing what they are supposed to do? Bribes don't work!  I explained that rewards work so long as people know the goal, believe that the goal is attainable and the prize is visible. It doesn't have to have any real monetary value but have walk-around value.  Finally, someone asked about the spherical prize that the timely folks had received. I asked the late comers if they wanted the prize too.  Most conceded that they did want  the prize. I explained that the valued prize was simply a potato.  The prize that everyone wanted was inexpensive and most days would have little value.  That day the potato was a special treasure.  The people with the potatoes were asked to put their spherical treasure on the BBQ fire and reclaim them at lunch.  Everyone else had chips with their pork steaks.  The day of the next staff meeting everyone was on time and the BBQ was fun and delicious!