Punished by Rewards

I haven't read the book by Alfie Kohn, although Amazon is whisking it my way any moment. I know the basic idea though, that in classrooms rewards mostly do more harm than good, and set our kids up for many problems down the road. I, like most relatively new teachers have used rewards in my classroom, sometimes extensively. This year, I'm using a minimal amount of rewards. I'm also trying very hard not to use arbitrary punishments- like taking away recess. I decided this year that I will not take recess away from my students.

It's exhausting. The kids and i are both learning entirely new ways of doing things, a way that none of us are used to and I'm having a hard time keeping it up. I don't have tickets or candy or prizes to offer them to do what I ask. So I have to make them see that it's in all of our best interests for them to just do it. They would be quicker to respond if i offered prizes, like they're used to. And it's tempting to slide back into it while I stand at the front of the room waiting for them to comply. i also know that as I get less and less sleep planning for this job I get more irritable and that makes me want things quieter than perhaps is reasonable to ask a class of 31 5th graders for.

We're two weeks into the school year, about to be 3. I'm hoping that it gets a little easier to do what I think is right.