Crazy Teaching Idea: Making Money By Working Hard In School

I don't like to manipulate students too much with the "carrot and stick" approach. But I think a little bit is healthy. Everybody needs a goal to shoot for. Besides, kids go CRAZY for POINTS! It doesn't matter how young or old the kid is nor what the points are actually for--competition drives people. It makes life a game.

My students already get preparation points. For bringing in their homework folder, for getting out the right folder. For having three sharp pencils ready to go before class. ( I need to get kids spending more time sharpening pencils when it's NOT class time!)

My students also really need a LOT of Math help. Mainly they need practice in the concept of dollars and cents and decimals to the hundredths place. So my new project is to combine the two. Usually, every student in the group gets a sticker for every ten points and then they go back to zero. Now I want them to get points towards a goal.

Step 1: Students choose a goal: outdoor recess time, indoor recess time, extra math game time, extra art time, extra choice time.

Step 2: I announce the price of the goal, say $56.13

Step 3: I announce how much each point is worth. For example, each point is worth $0.25.

Step 4: So, how much is ten points worth? $2.50. We write this on the board. "Fine, everytime your group gets ten points, your team captain gets to take $2.50 from the bank and deposit into the classroom account. "

Step 5: Planning. "So, class, how many times do we need to earn $2.50." Maybe I'll ket students struggle with this a bit. Or I'l give them strategies: 1. Round it: $3 X ? = 55. Well 3 x 15 = 45, 3 X 3 = 9, so about 18 times. 2. Use a calculator $56.13 / $2.50 = 22.

Step 6: Dividing up the work. "Ok, class, how many times does each group need to earn $2.50? " There are 5 teams so that's 4-5 times per team.

Step 7: Negotiate: 'Well, that's a lot, so I'll cut that in half. What's $56.13 ? ( try half of 50)" $ 25!. Ok the goal is $25!

Step 8: LONGER term planning. I could make a menu/catalog of prices on the wall. Students could decide to cash in at any time or save money for a longer term goal!


Whoa! This is complicated! I'm not sure if I really want to devote this much class time!

Peace!