From the Inbox— Have you ever done a student raffle?

Dear Reader,

Have you ever done a student raffle?

I've long used participation points as a way to reward students with prizes and privileges in class. It's been very successful over the years.

I've modified my system over the years, but you can read about the basics here:

https://www.immediateimmersion.com/participation-done-right

https://www.immediateimmersion.com/participation-and-standards-based-grading

I'll write an updated blog post soon!

But I'm always looking for ways to change things up and I learned about a student raffle from a colleague at our weekly TGIF dinner.

This is how it works.

Instead of spending their points in my "Profe Store" they can turn in their points for our twice-monthly raffle. It is completely up to them how they want to spend their points they've earned: either at the Profe Store or in the raffle or a combination of both.

I collect any points that they want to enter in the raffle into a container, mix it up and pull out two names to win a prize.

What are my prizes? I buy candy, small bags of snacks, and small bags of cookies. These are the things my students like. I buy them in bulk either at Costco, boxed.com, or Amazon.

I hold the raffle every other week and it gives something for kids to look forward to. Some kids dump all their points in the bucket and others only one or two, but it's always fun. It's even funnier when the kid who only put in one point wins when another kid who put in 30 doesn't.

Do any of you do anything similar? I'd love to know! I'm always looking for new ways to keep my classroom a positive, safe place! Let me know what you do in the comments!