7 Ways to Use Tickets in YOUR Classroom

TICKETS!! Tickets have been used in the classroom, in many different ways, for years.  They are cheap, easy, and one roll lasts FOREVER.  They have been time tested and work. Tickets have mainly been used for behavior management, which is a good way, a way that I use in my own personal classroom.  But lets get creative... Here are my top 7 best ways to use tickets in your classroom of any age or grade!!

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1. Bathroom Passes. Each student gets 3-5 tickets at the beginning of the week that they write their names on and keep in their pencil bags/boxes. When they need to go the restroom, they turn in a ticket. Any leftover tickets can be turned in for a prize at the end of the week!! 
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2. Pairing Partners. Using the double roll of tickets (where 2 tickets have the same number)  you can take the fights and guess work out of pairing up partners. If you have an even number of students, lets say 22, you will tear off 11 pairs of tickets and put them in a bowl. Each student will draw one ticket and then whoever has their matching number ticket is their partner! If you have an odd number of kids, lets say 23, add a ticket that is a different color or put a star on the odd ticket out and whoever draws that ticket gets to choose what pair they want to work with! 
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3. Question Tickets.  When doing projects or PBLs it is common for teachers to create and use "question cards" which the kids only get a certain amount of and use them to ask questions. (Read about how I use question cards here!)  Instead of creating and printing off and laminating these cards, just use tickets instead! 
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4. Who will I call on??  Using the double tickets, give each child one side of the ticket and you put the other in a bowl. When it is time to answer a question or to come up to the smart board to do something (my kids ALWAYS want to volunteer to come up to the board to use the pen) you can simply draw a ticket out of the bowl and call out the numbers and see who has the "winning" ticket! It will keep them engaged and on their toes!! 
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5.  Motivation for Assignments/Assessments. Pass out tickets for effort, showing their work, taking their time, and making a certain grade on assignments and assessments. Students will write their names on the back of their ticket and put them in a bowl, or box, or anything! Whenever you, the teacher decided it is time, you can draw tickets for prizes.  The kids will be motivated to work their best because they will earn more tickets and raise their chances of winning awesome prizes.  It will work best if these are special prizes, not prizes the kids already  get for good behavior.
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6. Centers/Stations Assignments.  Using double tickets, each student will get 1 ticket that will match a ticket on a center or station.  That is where they will start for center time! Best part of this is that you could laminate the tickets that the kids get and reuse them each day! 
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7. Behavior Tickets.  This one is pretty obvious, and one way I use tickets in my classroom.  You can read all about it HERE!

Ticket container in my classroom! 

HAPPY TEACHING FRIENDS!!