4/16/04

I began thinking about an incentive program for Study Club as we got closer to Spring Break, and the students began to go more and more off task. Ronda, one of my former computer instructors, had a simple incentive thing going to get the students to complete her computer projects. After they had done a certain amount of work (determined by "points"), each student would get some trinket that she picked up at a dollar store. For the students, it was a really big deal. In my all too brief experience in the corporate world, I saw a variety of clever things done to get folks to do what they were supposed to do. Most of these clever things had to do with money or something that cost money. If that is the what you have to do to get adults to perform, why not do the same thing with students? I thought for some time about what the incentive program should look like, and here are my collected thoughts. I came up with a description of the incentive program that went live about a week before Spring Break. It has made a positive difference. Having a really cool thing as a reward is key. My friend Sam and I are working on something that is very cool and cannot be bought anywhere as a reward for the students that earn $10.00 of Study Club Money.

5/11/04

Dave proposed the idea of producing actual "Study Money." The idea sounded good to me, and so we began a long discussion about how to go about it so that the result could not be duplicated. Dave worked on producing paper currency in PhotoShop and came up with this result (actual size):

Dave also came up with an elegant solution for generating unique serial numbers using JavaScript to assign the numbers and layout the money for printing. He also used different colored paper to print each of the denominations. Here is an example of a finished product:

Now "the thing of it is this": Study Club Money is very effective. Students who have been relatively unmotivated up to now have begun to get with the program because there is a tangible reward (even if it is nothing more than "Monopoly money"). This last weekend, my friend Sam and I came up with a working version of the "really cool thing" that could be obtained when a student had reached the $10 level. (details to follow) But today I came up with a reward that will certainly appeal to those who want something right now. I ordered $20 worth of plastic lacing this morning in 12 different colors. In my former life as a summer camp director, I found plastic lacing to be both mother's milk and oxygen for folks this age. Will be a happy time when they have the opportunity to spend their money on something that they really want.

Study Club Money has also provided a bit of a stick for those who choose to goof off rather than do what they are supposed to do. Dave has been handing out fines for those who are not on task and being disruptive. Paying a fine using money that you have earned has a sobering effect. It usually works for adults as well.

5/25/04

So this past weekend, Sam and I went to work on producing the final version of the "really cool thing" I had promised for those who had earned $10 of Study Club money. This is what we finally produced:

This is a modified version of a thing that is being sold in surf shops in Santa Cruz. The thing that is being sold in the surf shops allows you to stand on the board and roll back and forth on the cylinder. Unfortunately it is too easy to roll off that thing and land on the floor. I wanted something that was challenging but not subject to physical harm. By bolting the cylinder to the board, the physical demands were focused on balance. And having the "ski poles" to help balance provides just enough assistance to help you get up to speed so that you can work on doing it without them. Here is a picture of David using the poles: