I really wish that I had used this strategy since year one.. but I didn’t until year five!! It is so simple and positive. I got both my tickets and fishbowls from Amazon. I have five different class periods, so I use five different fishbowls. I let students write their names on tickets for positive actions such as participation, being kind, or a great explanation for a strategy. I have my students sit in groups, so sometimes if one table is extra great, everyone at that table can have a ticket. We use IXL for math, and if they get a smart score of 90, I let them have a ticket. I think you get the point- there are many reasons you can award a ticket.

Right now through virtual learning, I am awarding tickets for students who receive a specific SmartScore on IXL math for skillsI have assigned. I am then drawing a ticket for who gets a pizza delivered to their house! So tickets can even be engaging through distance learning.

On Friday’s I pull tickets for candy. (You can of course draw for whatever incentive you want!) Last year I started by only drawing 5 tickets per class period. But as the year went on, I pulled as many as I wanted. I kept the tickets in for 9 weeks since we have four 9-week grading periods. At the start of a new grading period I throw them away and start over. So towards the end of a grading period when there was a LOT in there, I drew plenty.. say 15 or so. My 7th graders love this. They remind me if I forget and they would ask every Friday like clockwork if I was drawing!! I would also tell a substitute that they could tell students to put their name in the ticket jar as a little trick for their sleeve.

This is a very versatile idea. If you teach elementary grades where you don’t change classes, you could have a fishbowl for each table or group. If you use a house system in your classroom, you could have one per house. Or of course, you could have one fishbowl and that’s it.

How would you use this in your classroom? I would love to know!