Motivate

We have been having a serious motivation issue in the CS Principles class this marking period. While they are in the room everything gets done, but once they are out the door...it is like homework causes a rash - avoid at all costs. Traditionally grades plummet the marking period after exams, but this is getting ridiculous.

So I have been working on some ways to motivate/nag and see if things improve.

Last Friday before we did the chalk algorithms I had them all text one fact about methods to my e-mail address. This is a sneaky way to capture their text numbers so I can send out reminders.

I am also going to try these:

[Source]

 This tutorial shows you how to make scratch cards, similar to lottery tickets. My thinking is they can get one of these for doing 5 homeworks in a row.

The hard part is coming up with prizes. I am thinking of doing some gift certificates to the book store - candy sells anything. I never do extra credit, but I might make a few to let them roll a die for bonus points. I'll have to search Oriental trading Co for more ideas. They need to be worth working for, but also not break the bank...