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Real-time Motivation

Camaraderie. Teamwork. And yes, competition! House Points is a classic approach to a thriving school culture.

For some, Harry Potter is the first time we learned about a House Points system. But the tradition actually goes back much further, to some of England’s oldest private schools!

What is it that makes House Points such an effective way to create team spirit and foster character improvement? Students respond to three complementary aspects of House Points:

1. Students are engaged by camaraderie with their team
2. Positive peer pressure helps change students' behavior decisions
3. Staff can build great relationships with kids

Let's back up. What exactly is House Points?

The idea behind House Points is so simple, you can imagine a cave man coming up with it:

Me split kids into teams. Team with most points win.

Oh, it sounds so simple!

Sadly, too many schools launch and then abandon a House Points system.

Consider this: if calculating and updating House Points amounts takes just 10 minutes per day, you’ll find yourself spending nearly an hour per week to run your system.

That’s a full 40-hour work-week per school year of time spent updating your points! A full week you don’t have to motivate, instruct, or just hang out with your students.

So, we created a better way 😀

How It Works

In a House Points system, your team will take the following steps:

1. Split students into Houses.

• 2-4 teams work well, depending on the size of your school
• Team can include students from different grade teams. The more diverse, the better!
• Give each team a fun name. Or, for extra engagement, let the teams create their own names!

2. Track House Points

• Create a centralized tracker so any teacher can award points to the teams
• Include which student earned the point, what time it was earned, and how the student earned the point.
• Update a public display daily with the latest team point totals

3. Celebrate and Reward!

• Build team points culture by encouraging students and coaching underdog teams
• Set a threshold for a winning team celebration. For instance “the first team to reach 1,000 points wins a pizza party!”
• Or, set a fixed end date. For instance, “whichever team has the most teams by Christmas break will earn a hot chocolate social!”

With these three components – House organization, points tracking, and celebration - you can create a thriving House Points system.

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Getting Started

LiveSchool is the leading designer and developer of apps for schools. We turned our skills to designing the perfect House Points app. Here’s how it works.

Step 1: Create Your Houses

Select your students and add them to a LiveSchool roster. Set your roster as an official House in the app. Done! 

Step 2: Display the Dashboard!

That’s right, LiveSchool’s House Points app includes a real-time dashboard ready-made for your projector or hallway TV! Students will be able to see points totals update in real-time, so they can truly make the connection between their choices and the success of their House.

Awarding points to students is simple with LiveSchool. You can track points from any device. Select multiple students – or the whole class – with a click. Even the tracking categories are customizable, so you’ll generate specific data on the positive expectations your students are meeting!

House Points is included with your LiveSchool subscription. 

Want to use House Points without a full subscription? We have affordable options available! 

Get in touch using the button below and we'll have your team up and running in no time!