Teaching Kids Dollars & Sense

Dan Gasteazoro is an Active Allowance member. Dan is also a Grade 4 teacher at Glacier Hills Elementary in St. Paul, Minnesota.

And wow….what a creative teacher! Not only does Dan use the site for his family — he also figured out a novel way to use Active Allowance for his grade 4 class. He tells us it really helps him engage the children and teach them a wide range of subjects in a fun way. Dan agreed to share his experience:

I started using Active Allowance in my class last April. My “Eureka moment” came when I figured out how to use your site to connect responsibility and reward in a classroom setting without actually “paying” a monetary allowance. I invented an in-class “economy” — with great success!

I created “teams” of kids. Since it was near the end of the year, the kids knew each other well enough (and I them) that I could create groups based on capabilities, temperaments, etc. In this way, I was able to have a little bit of everything (the good, the bad and the ugly!) in each group.

I wanted the use of checklists to pay dividends based on their behavior. I also wanted them to be able to track their successes (or failures) in the virtual world, so the points-to-dollars functionality of the site and the virtual “Bank” were also really useful.

Instead of allowing them to spend “real” money…e.g. what my son gets to do at Target … they kept a team bank account of “money” that could be spent within the walls of our classroom only.

Examples of how they could spend their accumulated wealth:

1. Every Friday I bring in fresh-baked cookies (or some other treat) that they must all collaborate on as a team (4-5 students) to purchase.
2. I have a project utilizing trading cards that they must decide how they divide their wealth and purchase cards they like or need to complete their particular collection.
3. They are free to become entrepreneurs and earn or spend at their free will (as long as the team is in agreement).
4. I open a “store” that students can buy really cheap items (erasers, pencils, etc.).
5. Buy privileges in the room, e.g. free pass to front of line, invite a friend.

I was able to link social studies (economics - barter, negotiations, buying/selling) with mathematics (algebra, mental math, financial planning) to language arts (students kept journal accounts of sales and negotiations, barters, etc.) to computer (Internet banking, account management).

I could no doubt think of other connections I made that just weren’t planned. One good connection invariably led to another and another and another…

Next school year

I’ve spent my summer brainstorming many other ideas. Since I won’t know my students quite as personally as I did when I began using Active Allowance in April, I will begin the upcoming school year with individual accounts (instead of Team). All students will have the same responsibilities checklist - we will, as a class, brainstorm what those responsibilities are.

I feel this is an awesome opportunity for me to be able to introduce classroom expectations in a fun way that will engage all the students. At the same time, I want to paint the much-needed, crystal clear picture that while fun is the undercurrent of all I do in my classroom, I also mean business!

The opportunities I offer to “purchase” rewards will be spread farther apart to start to ensure they are focused on setting a goal and meeting it. Gradually I will move back to the team concept but not until the year is in full swing and I know my kids well.

Whew! This is one very lucky Grade 4 class. Hats off to Dan for going above and beyond to find new ways to teach his students, probably without their even realizing they’re learning …. and doing it as part of everyday school life!

If you’re a teacher, be sure to check out Dan’s web site.

And if you’re the parent of a child in the early grades, please forward this link to your child’s teacher. It might be just what she/he’s looking for!

This entry was posted on Sunday, July 27th, 2008 at 7:34 pm and is filed under Active Allowance Tips, ideas, members. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.