Encourage Your Pupils to be on Time

The early bird catches the worm’. The world is run by those who show up on time’. There are many old-fashioned sayings about the importance of being punctual. Unfortunately getting students to show up for school on time and to not dawdle while walking  between lessons will forever be a persistent pain teachers have to deal with.

This post will look at some of the strategies teachers have employed to encourage better punctuality in their pupils and also provide some ideas on how you can reward the ‘early birds’ in your class.

By Making a Video

Savanna Oaks High School in America got their students to direct a video outlining their tips for getting to class on time, including advice such as “Dont chat to your friends in the corridor in between classes.”

lights-camera-action On the surface, this filming assignment may just look like a bit of fun, where pupils get to incorporate humour, some over-the-top acting and a cool soundtrack. However, the deeper learning message from this video project will still hopefully come through. Additionally, pupils will want to share their starring role with their friends online, spreading the word about the importance of being on time throughout the whole school without you needing to prod them!

To reward the pupils that make a big effort with directing, performing or editing a video about punctuality, we have used the School Stickers Custom Sticker Maker to create the bespoke reward sticker you see below. You can alter the background and centre images, text and shape of the sticker to tie in with any theme you like, so why not give it a go?

By rewarding punctuality

Teachers on the TES forums regularly discuss their tactics for improving punctuality and one technique that many recommend is rewarding the students that are always on time, as a means of encouraging punctuality in others.

Let parents know that their kids are doing well with a postcard home.For example, one teacher mentioned that their school has a Nintendo Wii. The class with the best punctuality for the week will then get a chance to play on it during a Friday afternoon lesson. User aw27 says that as a teacher, the announcement of which class gets to play Wii is the most exciting part of their weekly assemblies, with pupils and teachers awaiting the results on tenterhooks.

However, if your school doesn’t have its own gaming system, School Stickers has a range of praise postcards specifically designed to show pupils that you appreciate their punctuality. These could be awarded as a class-wide incentive. The text can even be customised to feature your own unique message.

 

By Dealing with ‘Arrogant Lateness’ 

Dr Bill Rogers has created a video for Osiris Educational around the subject of ‘Arrogant Lateness’, where a student who comes in late sometimes shows a sense of ‘bravado’ and thus disturbs the rest of the pupils working quietly in the lesson.

Reward kids that have great punctuality

Dr Rogers recommends tips for managing this kind of latecomer, which includes not asking them why they are late and just guide them to an empty seat.  He also recommends that teachers do not ‘indulge’ the pupil’s attention-seeking behaviour and to instead wait until the end of the lesson to talk to the student.

To show that punctuality is important to you as a teacher and to encourage persistent latecomers to get better at timekeeping, School Stickers has a range of punctuality praise stickers, which come in a variety of colours and designs.

If you have any more strategies for improving pupil punctuality or ideas for rewards, please share your ideas below!

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