Going out of Town? Try a Contest!

In celebration of the upcoming Memorial Day's long travel weekend, enjoy this post about keeping your students on track to graduate with contests!

My husband and I love to travel (30 countries and counting!). Since I teach in an Independent Studies environment, I don't get summer breaks like in a traditional school. So we do have to modify our time by taking advantage of my school's limited week-long winter, spring and summer breaks. Sometimes this means I'll be away, but my students will still be attending school.

You ever heard of the saying:

"When the cat is away, the mice will play"?

Sometimes that situation happens. I'm simply not around so students mistakenly think they don't have to come in or they take advantage of the situation.

This isn't a detriment for me, though. It's a detriment for students. They end up slowing down their pace towards graduation and time lost can really add up. 

If I know I'm going to be away, I conduct contests. You can do contests any time of the year. You can conduct contests if you:

• are going to be away for a long period of time.
• at the start of the new school year to set the tone of the class.
• when you know school attendance will be slow (April, January or October tend to be my slowest school periods).

I give students at least two weeks heads up by sending out flyers, email blasts and telling them in person. I give a definitive start and end date and requirements they need to meet, like completing 8 credits a learning period or attending all school appointments on time. 

One of my favorites is a contest competition against themselves: If my students can complete a minimum of 8 credits, they win automatically. 

While I'm out of town, I pick up some school-related souvenirs, like notebooks, erasers, pencil sharpeners, cool notepads. All of these souvenirs represent the country I visited.

Contests don't always have to be for when you're out of town. You can use it to instill some joy in your class any time!

What contests or other positive reinforcements can you do to get your students involved? Let me know in the comments section below!

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