Classroom LOTTERY: You're a Winner! 
Note: I wrote this during my last year of full-time teaching as a Resource Specialist Teacher in northern CA.
This year, I returned to the classroom after three years as an instructor in teacher education programs at the college level and teaching English as a second language to adults. During the past three years, I had a chance to read more journals and gather ideas to share with new teachers.
Now, that I have my own classroom again, I have a chance to "practice what I preached." One of the classroom management strategies that I had read about and saw being implemented in some classrooms was a classroom lottery system. I have implemented such a system in my classroom. How is it working?
A classroom lottery system is based on my favorite behavior management plan: Catch 'em being good! I am presently a resource specialist teacher in a high school in northern CA. The current resource program is an outdated pull-out program which we are transitioning to an inclusion with support program. It's a strange idea here to many, especially the students who are used to being taken care of and who have learned to not take responsibility for their own learning.
I use play money as lottery tickets. I give them out generously for responsible behaviors such as completing homework on time, peer tutoring, positive personal interactions, good answers and good questions. I give them to substitute teachers to use to reinforce positive behaviors. Students write their names and date on the tickets and put them into a lottery bag, a Ziplock bag for each class period. We have a lottery drawing at least once per week. Sometimes we draw more than one winner depending on the needs of the students.
What can the students win? School supplies, lead pencils and cool pens are favorites. Edibles such as bags of gummies and big candy bars are chosen and often shared with others. Posters for gifts or decorating bedroom walls are available as are puzzles, batteries for CD-players, paints and decals for models, markers, etc. Get to know your students and ask them for suggestions for the lottery box. Sources for these items are department stores like Wal-Mart and the Dollar Store, store and yard sales, and the Oriental Trading Company.
What students really win is improved self-concept. For this moment in time, the student is a winner because she or he has done something right that has been recognized and with the luck of the draw has a chance to choose a reinforcing item for self or someone else. For some kids, it just doesn't get any better than this!
I was convinced that this system would work when 16-year-old David won. He sat down in the middle of the floor with the big plastic container of treasures like a little kid who hasn't had a very good Christmas in way too long.
Using this behavior management system, you can reinforce positive behaviors on the spot without interrupting the instructional flow. I carry the play money in my pocket to have it ready to give out at appropriate opportunities. The more positive behaviors exhibited and reinforced, the more chances the student has of winning. Winning is fun and having a choice of reinforcers is reinforcing in itself giving students power and autonomy.
However, such a system can be expensive. If you're going to implement a classroom lottery system, research your financial resources. Do you have school funds? Can you get a store or a local company to sponsor your classroom behavior management system? If other teachers are using such systems, the students will compare them. You might talk with them about having similar contents to decrease the chances of being set-up for competition.
Almost mid-point in the school year now, the lottery seems to be just a pleasant plus. Students are exhibiting positive personal interactions and responsible behaviors. Good habits have been developed. While the lottery system reinforced these behaviors, it's the positive classroom environment that has been developed that maintains the responsible behaviors that were missing in the beginning.
Please e-mail me with comments or questions about this information and please share your experiences with lottery systems in your classrooms.
