Spark Student Motivation: Way to Go- Postcards!

If you read my blog, you know I love motivating my students to do their best. I also love letting their parents know how their children are doing. One of our school wide goals is to promote teacher/parent communication. I whipped up a quick post card design and sent them off to be printed. These cards quickly became a huge hit with the teachers, students, and parents.

I wanted the cards generic looking so every teacher, in our school, could use them. I grabbed a picture of the school and put it on the front. I also used our school sign, mascot, and PBIS traits to make it personalized. The back has plenty of room for a note from the teacher and the student's address.

Teachers send these out for a number of reasons...growth, improvements, recognition, achievements, or really anything. I made it a habit to send a few out every Friday. I put a star next to the student's name in my grade book, when I send them a card, so I can keep track of who received one and who did not. We are lucky because if we put these cards in the "interoffice mailbox", they will provide the stamp and mail them to the student for us. So it is a free way to recognize students for doing awesome, make them feel important by receiving mail, and let the parents see that you care.

You should see the students after they receive one of these postcards. The grin from ear to ear, thank me, and then show me their best behavior... hoping they will get another postcard soon. I've even received thank you emails from parents, telling me how excited their child was to receive mail and how proud they were of their child. One of my students even told me that they earned dinner out at a restaurant from the positive report sent home. haha

Vistaprint Tips: Are you familiar with this printing service? If not, you need to check it out. They have AMAZING customer service and are always available to help. Before ordering anything...you need to search "Vistaprint coupon codes" in Google or your favorite search engine. 

Personally, I like using the website retailmenot.com for coupon codes. I've always had good luck with them.

The above picture is what you should look for. I always try to score free shipping too because that can always be a deal breaker. I think we ended up with 500 postcards for $18.00 for the school. I was excited for that deal and so was my principal (who graciously paid for them).

Let me know if you have any questions, I'd love to help you out designing, finding coupons, or ordering your postcards! For more ways to motivate your students, check out Joanne's linky for the week. She is always so creative!