- Lady Gaga and Justin Bieber are the most popular musicians with pupils
- Usain Bolt and Bradley Wiggins the most popular Olympians
- Twilight and Harry Potter are the films with the most popular characters
School Stickers launches new range of celebrity inspired avatars for its online classroom behaviour management tool ‘Classroom Carrots’ to engage older pupils
School Stickers has launched a range of exciting new celebrity inspired avatars designed to engage older pupils in its classroom behaviour management tool, Classroom Carrots, by using images they can identify with.
School Stickers surveyed its teachers to find out which inspirational personalities their older students look up to and engage with. The research found that role models ranged from musicians such as Lady Gaga and Justin Bieber, to Olympic athletes like sprinter Usain Bolt and cyclist Bradley Wiggins. Pupils also identified with actors from the Twilight films, including Kirsten Stewart and Taylor Lautner, as well as characters from films and books such as Edward Cullen, Harry Potter & Hermoine Granger, Superman and James Bond.
School Stickers used this research to create a range of avatars for older pupils. While not based on particular individuals, pupils can now choose their avatar from a wide range of images – anything from a singer to an athlete, vampire to witch or wizard, or superhero to spy.
With Classroom Carrots’ interactive system, each student is assigned their very own avatar, so when rewards are given out for good behaviour or work, teachers simply drag and drop the virtual stickers onto the relevant image. Immediately the pupil’s name and reward flash up on the classroom whiteboard or computer. Pupils are then given the matching physical sticker, and if requested, an email can automatically be sent to parents to keep them informed. Hundreds of teachers have signed up since it launched in October 2012.
Teachers report that younger pupils engage with simple avatars such as animals or aliens, but that older pupils prefer more personalised inspirational images, which is why School Stickers created this new range.
Neil Hodges, Managing Director of School Stickers, the leading providers of classroom rewards and the creators of Classroom Carrots said, “We listen to our teachers and are continually looking for innovative ways to help them encourage and motivate students. We believe that these new avatars will help make classroom rewards even more relevant for older pupils. Celebrities like sportspeople and entertainers can resonate with younger people in a unique and positive way, and we wanted to harness this to improve students’ behaviour and motivation.”
Michelle O’Reilly, teacher at Cedars Academy, Gateshead said, “We have been using Classroom Carrots since it launched last year, and pupil feedback has been overwhelmingly positive, but I did ask if it was possible to have some avatars more suitable for older pupils. I recently showed these to my pupils and they love them. They immediately started discussing which one they wanted, and I’m sure it will make a real difference to maintaining pupil engagement.”
Teachers can customise the rewards given through Classroom Carrots to fit with the aims of their school or classroom and the rewards are automatically recorded, so teachers can easily create reports, and give feedback to pupils, other staff, and parents, saving valuable time and effort managing and reporting classroom achievement. Classroom Carrots is free to all schools and the only cost is for the stickers which start from just £8.99 a pack.
