Desperate times call for desperate measures is a phrase often used when the regular interventions just don’t work. Mystery Motivator is a method that works successfully for many students that need that extra touch of motivation.
Meet With Student -- Learn What Motivates Him
Sit down and visit with the student and discuss the one behavior that is causing him problems in school. It could be blurting out, not finishing assignments, leaving the room without permission, or making noises to disturb other students. Whatever is the most disruptive behavior, target that one behavior and let the student know that you are there to help him.
Then, select small incentives that can be used to motivate the student. How do you know which ones to select? The student will tell you. Here are some suggestions of motivators used in the past:
- Early lunch pass
- Lunch with the teacher
- A Subway kids meal
- Something from the “drawer”
- A fun pencil
- 2 questions removed from homework assignment
- Evens or odds on an assignment
- Play Shoots and Ladders for 10 minutes
- Play UNO
The Strategy
What makes this behavior management plan work so well is the mystery surrounding the incentives. From the list that the student selected, pick the top 4 or 5 choices. Tell the child that at the end of each day, the teacher will evaluate the day. If the student was successful with the selected goal, the student may see what the "magic incentive" is for the day. If he was not successful, the student does not get to learn the identity of the incentive. He will never know what he could have had! The mystery of what’s behind the door adds to the success.
Set Up
Take two blank calendars with only the dates. Have a key at the bottom.
#1 Pencil
#2 Drawer
#3 Eat with teacher
#4 Shoots and Ladders
#5 Early lunch pass
Incentive Key and Changeables
Take one calendar and pencil in an incentive number for each day of school. Now take the second calendar and with the invisible ink pen that comes with a package of Changeables by Crayola, place the same numbers in each box. The clear ink dries and is invisible until the student takes one of the colored Changeables markers and the number appears magically before their eyes within the date box for that day. The calendar with the invisible ink is the only one the child will see.
Gradually Reduce Incentives
After a month of having an incentive daily and becoming successful, start having four incentives a week instead of five. Leave one spot each week blank. The following month, reduce the incentives to three a week. Discontinue the program when the child has formed a new habit. For the days when the student is successful but there is no incentive appearing, you may give him a “high five” or a “way to go.” Some teachers give the student a small mint.
Behavior Record Keeping
Keeping each monthly calendar is all the record keeping required. The number of colored boxes equals the number of days the student was successful. If the child is ill or gone from school, write absent in the box so you know whether the child was not present. At conferences, the calendars are evidence of progress. Some parents have taken the Mystery Motivator idea home to get children to do chores and stop arguing.
So, if you have some difficult students that don’t seem to have any motivation to improve behaviors, try this one. You will most likely be pleasantly surprised.
Source unknown.
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