As a counselor, my clinical framework is a person-centered/behavioral approach. Basically, I believe that my clients are the experts about their own lives. The services I prepare are tailored to them- person-centered. In addition,I believe all behavior serves a function to meet a need/desire. Rewards or consequences serve to reinforce or punish a behavior- Behaviorism. So, as a behaviorist, I use positive reinforcement with my students to reinforce “good” behavior. Because of the therapeutic relationship with my clients, I don’t enforce consequences for behavior. I reward good behavior and encourage my students to make the right choice, knowing that if they choose to make a “bad” choice, the school already has consequences in place (lose some recess, silent lunch, ISS, OSS, etc.). (This post does contain affiliate links. See our disclosure page for more information.)
My technical job title is a behavioral specialist, but-essentially- I’m a therapist who works with children diagnosed with a mental disorder within the school setting. This leads most people to say “So, you’re a school counselor?” Sort of. I’m a counselor who works in a school, but I don’t work with the whole school. Right now, I have three students that I provide behavioral support to, and I can work with up to 8 every day. I see my clients for individual and group counseling, but I also provide classroom support and develop interventions for teachers when I’m not there.
As much as I believe in positive reinforcement, I don’t make enough money to pay for a lot of rewards for my students, so I’ve had to be a little bit more creative. First, I have a point system with my kids, so they are always working to earn points. Then, I have a board of rewards with different point values. For most of my students, they can earn 20 points a week as they work towards different behavior goals. To encourage positive peer relationships, my students can combine points for some bigger rewards. If you sign up for our newsletter at the bottom of the page, you will gain access to our resource library which includes the point stars used on my board.
Positive Reinforcement Rewards
Crayons and paper
A package of paper and crayons will last a while, and some kids love to color.
Price: 1 point for paper and 1 point for crayons
Paint with watercolors
Along with buying construction paper, I’ve also printed out coloring pages from online. I ask my students about their favorite shows and movies and try to find coloring pages for them to paint. My job provides me printer paper and ink, and it only takes me a few minutes to find an appropriate page through a Google Image search. I bought a $2 watercolor paint set, and it’s lasted me a year so far.
Price: 1 point for paper and 3 points for paint
Play-doh
Play-doh can create a disaster if you have carpet in your office, but if you have tiles, it’s a great sensory activity for kids to engage in. I bought several tubs of play-doh with some simple tools for my students to play with.
Price: 5 points
Legos or blocks
Another great reward for encouraging gross/fine motor skills, developing spatial reasoning, encourage creativity, and positive peer relationships with other kids. Some friends donated partial lego and building block sets to me when I first started working with young kids. My lego set doesn’t build the helicopter it was designed to be, but my students have made several unique designs with my lego set.
Price: 5 points
Basketball
Every school I’ve worked in has a basketball court. I coordinate with the P.E. teacher and my students’ teacher to find out when I can use the gym to play some one-on-one with one of my students.
Price: 10 points
Bubbles
Bubbles are cheap and last forever too. I love using bubbles as a therapeutic tool for deep breathing and problem evaluation, but they are just a fun activity as well. Bubbles are one of my rotating rewards because the weather does have to be nice to really enjoy the activity. Offering bubbles in January wouldn’t make much sense in Virginia.
Price: 5 points
Board Games
I’ve adapted several games for therapeutic purposes (feelings jenga), and I use them a lot in my sessions with kids. Sometimes, I let my groups choose what they want to play as a reward with or without therapeutic add-ins. I keep Jenga, Uno, Mad Gab as quick games but have also brought in Ticket to Ride, Rummikub, and Clue at the end of the year. All of these games encourage kids to use problem-solving skills and cope with not always winning.
Price: 5-10 points
Beads
Beads can be super cheap and used to make jewelry, keychains, or magnets. I change the bead craft on a bi-monthly basis to encourage my students to try hard and save for a pricier reward.
Price: 15 points
Football/Frisbee/Volleyball at recess
A lot of classes take a bag of balls out with them for recess, but I make sure to buy really a nice football, unique frisbees, or other other outdoor games for my kids to share with their classes. These items can be a little pricier, so I scour clearance sections after Christmas and Summer seasons to find discounted items.
Price: 10 points.
Snacks
At the middle school, my students were always hungry….like always. At first, a coworker and I started a snack drawer where are student could pick what they wanted. However, many of the items went stale after a while. Instead, we started just purchasing a monthly snack choice (whatever was BOGO at Food Lion). We bought granola bars, trail mix, slim jims, etc. Shopping sales helps lower the cost of this reward, and the kids get excited about trying something new.
Price: 10 points
Additional Advice about Positive Reinforcement
Goals must be Measurable and Achievable
With setting behavior goals, it has to be something measurable and achievable. A lot of time we tell kids “make good choices” or “be respectful.” How do you measure those statement as goals? When I started working with a new student, I asked her teachers about her problem behaviors. The response: “she’s just lazy and won’t do anything.” I couldn’t develop a goal that said “Client will not be lazy,” so I asked her teachers what’s two small things that need to change to have a better day.
They said she’s never prepared for class and never does her homework. Okay. I could develop a goal for those behaviors. I started rewarding her with 1 point for being prepared for her reading class (grab her reading bag and a pencil) and 1 point for doing her homework. She is now prepared for class and has completed her homework 4 out of 5 days a week. Two weeks after starting this intervention, I asked her math teacher about adding in her math class into the reward system. Her teacher told me that once my student started coming prepared for reading class, she came prepared for all of her classes.
Bonus Points
The school I work at also does color-coded behavior charts. All of my students earn points for having “green,” “blue,” or “purple” days. Some of my students can also earn bonus points for a “perfect” week. However, I don’t offer bonus points unless they are meeting their goals 3-4 days a week. If the goal is unattainable or hard to achieve, kids will just give up. Start with easy, measurable goals and work towards harder ones. Once my 2nd grader met her two goals on a consistent basis, she was eager to add a new goal because she knew she could do it.
There will be tantrums.
When my students don’t meet their goals (and sometimes they will decide that they don’t care if they earn a point), they later think I’m punishing them by not giving them the lost point in my office, but I don’t give in to crying, demands, or pleads. Doing so would only inadvertently reinforce an unwanted behavior: “If I whine, I get what I want.” My students have the option of staying in my office to talk, pick a story to read, pay for a smaller reward, or they can return to class. I’ve had students throw objects in my room, flip over chairs, and storm out; but they eventually learn that I won’t give in and that behavior no longer serves a function.
Rotating Rewards
My rewards board is a poster board with velcro dots, so I can easily change point values and reward options. My kids with ADHD love anything novel and will work extra hard for new rewards. When the same reward is always available, I’ve had kids say “I don’t care, because I’ll get it tomorrow.” If the rewards change on a weekly or monthly basis, it encourages them to earn the reward before it disappears.
Have you used positive reinforcement in a school setting? Tell me about your experiences in the comments!
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