Celebrating Progress with the "Jasers" System in My French Class!

This year, I introduced a new approach to motivate my students to embrace French in a more engaging and consistent way: the Jasers system. Jasers, our version of tokens or billets, have transformed how my students approach speaking French in class, and I couldn’t be happier with the progress we’re seeing!

Co-Creating the System with My Students

One of the first steps we took was to co-create the rules together. This has been key to the system's success! Together, we set guidelines on how Jasers could be earned and lost, ensuring everyone understood the expectations and was genuinely invested. Students are motivated to earn these tokens by actively participating in French conversations and staying engaged.

Motivating Rewards: The French Throne and Group Prizes

To keep things fun, we added two types of rewards. First, the individual reward: the coveted French Throne! Whoever earns the most Jasers by the end of the day gets to sit on the French Throne the next day. This is a comfy chair with a picture of a throne on it—a simple reward, but one that everyone seems to love. 

Then, there’s the whole-class reward. When the entire class accumulates a certain number of Jasers, they unlock a larger prize. I let the students choose their rewards, so they’re especially excited about these treats! They selected options like a free period, a movie day, or even French-themed treats.

Real Progress: French Conversations in Groups

Perhaps the best part of this system is seeing how much more my students speak French together, especially during group projects. In the past, group activities would often devolve into English conversations, which made it challenging to keep immersion consistent. This year, though, I’m hearing more French spoken during group time than ever before. The students are holding each other accountable and are even eager to “earn those Jasers.”

Looking Forward

Seeing my students so engaged, proud of their achievements, and speaking French more than ever has been a huge reward for me, too. The Jasers system has become more than a classroom tool—it’s become a way to build a positive, collaborative environment. I can’t wait to see how much more we accomplish as the year goes on.