Dr.GARY SCREATON - CLASSROOM ECONOMIES

Dr.Scranton almost resigned because of school politics, but - When home for the Break, I pondered what to do about my class. One thing was certain, the children knew the power of money. So, I decided to use that knowledge to a more constructive use than satisfying the wants of my charges. “Why not a classroom economy?” I asked myself. And so my brainchild. I returned to school and announced that the children were going to be paid for coming to school and learning. Ah, but I wasn’t going to give the real money. They could earn class dollars for a trip at the end of the year. Each child who earned enough money could “buy” a ticket and go on the trip—and have a full week away from the classroom as a reward for their saving.We set up a classroom economic system. Kids opened bank accounts in the class bank and earned extra money by creating businesses! Just like Mom and Dad.The results were amazing! Not only did the children find ways to “merge” their business enterprises: cookie sales, desk cleaning, running errands even an insurance business was started.Interestingly, the most successful business was created by the one student I had who came from the nearby subsidized-housing project. He created the desk-cleaning business. Just like many parents students opted to “hire” their cleaning out. He  earned more money than any child in the class.Teachers are a necessary catalyst, I believe, but to make learning happen not to decide all the learning that will happen.