The Classroom Market

In terms of classroom management I have incorporated a fun money management routine that we use on a weekly basis. Every day if the student is on task and finishes their work for the day they earn $1. At the end of the week they can choose to spend it on one item or save it to buy a bigger item.

For the past 3 years this system has worked wonders because not only does it help with possible behaviors but it also teaches my students basic life skills. Each week they learn to either save or spend their money while also counting it. Last year I had some so into it that they copied me when I would face the bills all the right way that by the end of the year they were doing the same thing. It was awesome to watch!

I choose one student to be the cashier and help the other students pay for their one item. This student is one of those that has mastered their counting skills and loves to help out. I of course found the money off of Amazon and it looks like real money to where I had a few students wanting to take it home. I then found this cash register as well that we have not used yet for adding purchases but they use to open and put the money in.

Each section is then labeled with labels from my clear label stickers post. I have a $5, $15, $25, and $50 section. On top I have a $1 bucket as well with smaller items. Within the next year or two I hope to expand this market more by having students actually set up and label the items in the store like a real life market. Until then this has worked as a great classroom management. The plus side is that all of my students get the chance to practice real life scenarios and have a blast!

Happy teaching :)