Rereading Harry & Rosemary Wong’s book, “The First Days of School,” inspired me to start a Facebook discussion about student motivation and engagement. It’s one thing to effectively track student progress in a way that they can SEE, it’s another thing to keep that momentum going. Sharing progress with parents at conferences is great, but it isn’t often enough. These free certificates for sharing student progress can be sent home each time a student masters another level. You could wait until they’ve reached level 3, 4, or send them home after the post-assessment. Students can color the numbers in to designate the level they’ve reached. Different students need different amounts of external incentive, so see what works with your class!
The great thing about these certificates is that they will double as homework passes, which every kid can get excited about!! I found these to be very effective for getting parents to engage in classroom activities or events as well, because the kids put pressure on them to get the freebie. 🙂 The certificates indicate that the teacher has to approve the homework choice; I usually allow them to use it for one overnight practice assignment, not projects or packets. This practice can also be justified with administrators if the student has already shown mastery (on their post-test) of the content! Win-win-win all around. 🙂
You can find these FREE certificates by following this link.
Thank you to Kerri G. for her recent comments regarding the