Here we are, in part three of the series on a Classroom Economy.  If you missed what to do on Day One or Day Two , just go read them and come back.  I will be waiting here for you.  :)   Day Three: Today, the focus is on expenses and fines.  Students are ALWAYS curious about this part, and holding them off until the third day of school is sometimes hard.  However, I really want to focus on the positive, so I tend to keep this part on the back burner for a little bit.  On the first few days of school, the kids are usually in the honeymoon phase.  They are very well behaved and on-task, so keeping the fines discussion until day three generally tends to be OK. By this point, they have *seen* the expenses and fines.  I have them posted in my classroom and they are on the Register Cards I give them.  But I haven't actually explained them in full detail (other than in the overview on day one, when I skim through it.) So we start ......

Yesterday, I posted about how I begin the Classroom Economy on the first day of school (or whatever first day you wish to do it on really.)  Today, I am going to tell you what I do on the second day.  :) Day Two: Now that the kids have a little bit of experience with the whole credit/debit thing, the first thing we do in the morning is hand out money to those who are in class on time.  Before I do this, I show them in my register (the same as the kids'....I just put mine on the ELMO for everyone to see) how to record the new dollar that was just handed out.  Then the kids do the same. On this day of class, we focus on "Earnings".  You see, I want the students to earn lots and lots of money.  That way, they can "pay" for the things they need (and want) later on.  If they have a big bank roll, it makes life a lot easier for them in class (hey, that's the same in life isn't it??) Click here to access this file (and a few others with it) So......

One of my most favorite things I do to manage my class is my classroom economy.  It is something that gets instant buy in from my students and allows me a chance to teach many different standards, all while keeping the students focused on their learning tasks at hand.  I have written about it several times here on the blog, but I wanted to share with you how I set it up the first few days of school. Day One: On the first day of school, I start my math block by explaining that in this class, things will run sort of like how they do in the real world.  We will be conducting a classroom economy.  What that means is that everything you do in class will either earn you classroom money or cost you classroom money. This is where the kids usually start to look at each other and squirm around in excitement. I then hand out the check register to the students, which is attached to a postcard with all of the classroom fines, expenses, and earnings. If you are inte......

My goal as a teacher is to be there as a facilitator of learning, while my students basically take care of everything else.  Don't get me wrong.  I am in charge in my room, but I want my students to be independent enough to keep the classroom running like a well oiled machine. (a dictatorship disguised as a democracy ;) )  One way I do that is by having classroom jobs that truly are a reflection of classroom needs. At the beginning of the year, I sit down and think about all of the jobs that I, as the teacher, simply do not want to do or will just forget to do.  Those are the things that I make sure my students are responsible for!  By putting the kids in charge of these tasks it 1) insures they will get done (since my baby-fried brain just can't remember things anymore!), 2) frees me up to just teach and 3) allows the kids the opportunity to learn some responsibility. The jobs in my classroom last one month.  Students apply for them at the end of the p......

One of the hardest parts of setting up my classroom economy was the store.  I kept thinking of all the logistical nightmares that came with running a store AND the real money I was going to have to spend buying knick knacks for it.  It honestly was the major reason I held out so long on actually having an economy in my room. When I finally gave in and implemented an economy in my room, I thought I would just do the "cost of living" thing.  Kids had to earn money to pay rent, buy their way to the bathroom, etc... At first, that worked.  But then, the economy lost steam.  Kids didn't care if they had money or not. And why would they?  I work so that I can pay my rent.  But I also work to have money to go to the movies or out to dinner.  That is the incentive for me.  The kids needed the same incentive.  So I created a store that didn't cost me a lot of money, but that would provide the kids with something to actually earn their money f......

Since I first started teaching, I have always had classroom jobs.  I really feel like the classroom needs to be "run" by the students (well, as self-sufficiently as possible) and classroom jobs are a HUGE part of this. When thinking of jobs, I decided that I wanted the students to be responsible for a majority of the tasks in class that didn't involve actual imparting of knowledge (that would, of course, be my job ;) )  I also wanted them to do things that I would forget to do (I am a notorious "tell it to me and I forget the second I turn around" person...my students have been on more than one sunglasses hunt in my teaching career ;) )  So here is the list of jobs that I have in my room. (click on it for an upclose version you can print out) How do I actually assign jobs, you ask?  Well, each month, my students fill in a job application.  At the beginning of the year, I gave them a postcard I made on  _______ (who wants to fill in the blank???  ......

My wonderful teaching partner, Mrs. Simon, introduced me to her classroom economy a few years ago.  After avoiding it and pushing it aside, I finally sat down and implemented it in my classroom...and I am SO glad I did!  It is such a motivator for my students, is very little work for me, and teaches some great concepts (budgeting, responsibility, math skills, and teamwork -- just to name a few) How It All Works When the students enter the room, they begin to earn classroom cash for performing their job as a student.  Just as I earn money to teach (although I do love it, I also get compensated for it), the students earn money for getting to school on time, turning in homework, being on task, and performing classroom jobs .  They also earn money for proper behavior (in the form of getting green cards, table points, etc...).  In turn, students will also lose money for being off task or neglecting their student duties. One of the classroom jobs in my......