Hidden Treasures

Intrinsic Motivation
Definition: Intrinsic motivation refers to motivation that comes from inside an individual rather than from any external or outside rewards, such as money or grades.

The motivation comes from the pleasure one gets from the task itself or from the sense of satisfaction in completing or even working on a task.

When I picked my son up from school this afternoon he was beaming! He excitedly relayed the highlight of his day -going to the treasure box! He understood that his behaviors had earned him a special treat from his teacher. Have I mentioned that my son just started middle school? 6th grade? 12 years old this December? All important factors because your children won't be sharing stories about going to the treasure box....this year.

Let me be clear, it's not that I'm anti-treasure box. I get the appeal of having a box filled with cheap toys. I desire to be an effective teacher so naturally I've kept a treasure box before....until I realized how it worked or should I say didn't work.

In my experience, week after week, the same bunch of children celebrated with a trip to the treasure box, while just as certain the "other bunch" were denied the celebration...week after week.

I realized no behaviors were changing through the transaction of the treasure box. The children who had behaved generally did so because they knew it was expected behavior. The ones who didn't weren't "bad kids", but simply had forgotten ever so briefly how to behave at some point during the week and were punished with denial to the treasure box.

I want success for my Rockets.
I want ALL of our children to learn expected behaviors. I just recognize that at this young age they don't always remember why they did or DIDN'T visit the treasure box. I DO love to give treats- this week alone we've already made cookies, received stickers and silly bands. The difference you'll find is that when your child receives a treat, you can know that everyone received the same treat. You can also know the treat was just because I love them rather than attached to any behavior. I expect my Rockets to behave because it's the right way to behave, NOT because of a cheap toy at the end of the week.

I do have a "treasure box". Ask your Rocket what EXTREMELY valuable items are placed into my treasure box each day. It's something I know you'll find to be valuable too!