Incentives For Teenagers

Author: admin

19 May

I’m all about incentives for little kids, but can’t seem to figure out what to do about my teenage students. I mean, if I myself feel ridiculous putting a sticker on their page or giving them points for practicing, how must they be feeling! Any suggestions for me on how to motivate teenagers without behaving all silly-like?

Filed under: Incentives, Problems- Help me!

2 Responses for "Incentives For Teenagers"

vanessa May 20th, 2008 at 9:40 am 1
when I was a teenager and taking piano lessons my teacher would bribe me with fun music to play. Music from popular movies, top 20 artists, things like that. She would spend the 3/4 dollars on some sheet music that she knew I would be really excited about.
I remember she got me the Forest Gump song and….ha ha From a Distance by Bete Middler too.
Stengel99 July 28th, 2008 at 8:19 am 2
Vanessa’s idea sounds great. I think as students get older, we need to move away from extrinsic rewards like candy or stickers and move toward intrinsic rewards. For example, if a student wants to play a certain piece, they need to master certain new skills first, like being able to play the scale of the key of the piece, count any difficult rhythms, etc. I think the concept of delayed gratification also applies; doing the difficult or “boring” tasks before getting the treats.
I’ve been thinking about this issue a while, so maybe I’ll take your cue and write a post about it. Good question!!!