"Play money" as a reward system???

Ok, I understand allowance and learning to count money, and learning to save and spend and the whole concept of it all, but this was over the edge and even annoying today!

It was a small class/special ed. so under 10 students.

they each have a wallet for "class money" which they earn ALL DAY LONG or have to PAY if they misbehave.

Ive seen some great reward and discipline systems, but this was just losing its power after a whole day of hearing "you get a quarter for being good at library, you get 50 cents for doing your homework" and then one kid was chatting while I was reading to them and the TA goes "DO you want to PAY ME A QUARTER ???? WELL THEN STOP THAT !!"

Is it me ?????

Does this make ANY SENSE AT ALL ???

I get the whole idea "the most money can buy the best prize from the class store" thing.. but 15 minutes didnt go by all day without mention of a monetary transaction as a method to complete something...

MAybe it bothered me more because it was special ed, and I felt like it made things even more confusing to them...
when she took 4 quarters from one (she needed quarters) and then gave him a dollar bill, he had NO IDEA what just happened, she briefly explained it,

but all he knew was OH COOL I GOT A DOLLAR !!

there didnt seem to be a system in place, just yelling and threats of different amounts for different reasons.

Does this sound like the norm? Maybe its just not my style and completely annoyed me ?




ETA: I Can see something like this working well in a middle or high school, get caught in the halls, "pay a fine", etc. but in a special ed class of 1st, 2nd and 3rd graders, who can barely read or add 2+2... it just seemed overwhelming and needless.

Message edited 11/15/2007 8:24:05 PM.

Re: "Play money" as a reward system???

I knew a teacher that did that, but he had an auction later in the year. He would bring in random items and describe them. The kids couldn't see what he was talking about and they would bid their money to get the items.

Re: "Play money" as a reward system???

Money can be a bit much and i think then its all about getting something. I dont know how much i like that. but i have seen tickets used in the same mannor. they trade tickets for prizes on fridays. But I think its not as bad as money in which you are giving different amounts.

I do frogs, each child is assinged a frog, i have them on magents on a closet door. they start everyday on green and throughout the day if they misbehave or dont folow rules etc.. they are told to move their frog (if they are on green they move to yellow if on yellow they move to red) Yellow is a warning and red is a note home. Students have to physically move their own frog. Students have to color in their weekly chart in their HW folder so moms and etc see it and know how they behaved.

But we always allow students to move back to green if they are working hard to do the right thing after making a mistake

It really works and the parents are really involved in it too. they tell us that their child was very upset when they came home because they colored in a yellow frog. the parents like it too because they can see how their child did each day and they use it at home as well for rewarding their children.

If students have consistantly good days I choose them to pick from the prize box

I work in NYC and was really happy to see how much my parents liked the frog idea!

Re: "Play money" as a reward system???

My major issue with that system is the use of punishment for misbehaviors...I worked in an ABA program previously and we were strictly against punishments of any kind...My students earned tokens but could not lose them no matter what...I would rather that they not earn something rather than take away from them.

Re: "Play money" as a reward system???

whoa... that is crazzy. talk about taking it to the extreme.... i think that is over the top.

also, with special ed. kids you should be reinforcing the positive... not taking away what they are able to earn. also, it seems like in that room, the system takes over the room. a good plan should not take over your day or be too confusing for the kids.

Re: "Play money" as a reward system???

I can understand why you'd feel that way. It just seems to me like a system that's teaching the wrong values at a pretty young age. Success shouldn't be all about money... and neither should failure...

Re: "Play money" as a reward system???

Re: "Play money" as a reward system???

actually my first year teaching I had a really really (really!) rough class. This is something I did.


I never ever ever took anything away from them. Everytime they were following the rules they got a check. At the end of the day the checks would be counted up and they would get $.01 for each check.

The kids really responded well to it- every day we would exchange the coins for bills etc. They all knew their coin values in a short time. They learned how to "save" their money for bigger prizes.

To be honest- it really worked for them. They were a 12:1;1 class as well!