Empower your students with a classroom that THEY manage.
You want a classroom culture where students are engaged & empowered.
But HOW do you give students more ownership in their classroom experience, particularly when you already have so much on your own plate…
- organizing the classroom
- ensuring the agenda is up on the board
- making sure your tech is ready everyday
- communicating with parents
- motivating students
- incorporating movement into class
- remembering birthdays
- taking attendance
- making your coffee
- and of course, teaching
But what if you didn’t have to do all this?
What if your class was run and managed eagerly by your students, all while they learned valuable 21st century skills?
In 2014, I started what’s called a CLASSROOM ECONOMY
I turned many of my teacher tasks into student jobs. Students applied for the jobs they were interested in and then got paid in classroom money. They used that classroom money to pay rent on their desk, pay classroom fines for any misbehavior, and buy items in our monthly class auctions.
It not only created an engaging classroom culture by empowering students to take ownership in THEIR classroom, it freed up time for me to do the things that only I could do as the teacher all while teaching students valuable 21st century skills.
WHAT YOU GET WHEN YOU ENROLL
- Lifetime access
Once enrolled, you’ll get lifetime access to all the materials and resources. - 2.5 hours of video instruction
The course is broken up into 15 lessons, each with it’s own short instructional video. - Assignments
Every lesson will have a homework assignment for you to complete that will help you tailor the classroom economy to your context. - Fully customizable resources
All of my completely editable Google Docs and Forms that I use in my classroom economy will be provided. - Private Facebook group
You’ll get access to the private Facebook group of other ’21st Century Classroom Culture’ educators
WHAT YOU’LL LEARN
The course is broken up into 4 modules to help you begin to start teaching your students about money.
- MODULE 1 | Set-Up
You’ll learn exactly what a classroom economy is, you’ll brainstorm which class jobs you’d like to incorporate (I give you a ton of ideas), and you’ll decide what your classroom fines will be as well as what behaviors and actions can earn students bonus money.
- MODULE 2 | Applying & Hiring
You’ll learn what to share on day 1 when you introduce the students to the classroom economy, you’ll create the job application form for students to fill out, you’ll learn what to consider when hiring students, and you’ll get your online classroom banking system all set up.
- MODULE 3 | Training & Routines
You’ll train students by creating a checklist for each student to follow as they perform their job, you’ll learn how manage the fines and ensure students are paying them, you’ll learn how to conduct ‘bonus money day,’ and how to set up the classroom auction.
- MODULE 4 | Ending the Year
You’ll learn how to set students up to purchase their desk as an asset so they no longer have to pay rent, you’ll get ideas of what to do when students go into debt, and you’ll brainstorm ways to create a memorable final experience in the classroom economy.
HOW THE COURSE WORKS
Each module is broken up into several lessons.
- Each lesson has an instructional video that you will watch.
- You’ll be given resources in the form of Google Doc templates that you can customize.
- Each lesson will have an assignment for you to complete to tailor the classroom economy experience to your context.
TESTIMONIALS
“Thom helped give me the courage to try a classroom economy with my 5th graders by showing me how he implements it in his classroom. I really appreciated his thorough explanations, and it transformed my classroom into a fun, experiential learning environment.”
-Aaron Riedl
Thom’s course on Classroom Economy provided very practical advice on how to start, implement and maintain a classroom economy for middle school students. His videos are short and sweet and provide easy to follow instructions. Because of his course, I was able to start my economy very quickly. I highly recommend this course. My students love this system and have learned the value of a dollar.
-Tatiy Webb M.Ed
I love how Thom has outlined all the steps with videos and digital examples of the documents. What started out as something to engage my students has actually provided many insightful moments into the lives of my students! I cannot wait to see the creativity my students will bring to their jobs! The classroom economy is one of the best teaching resources I have EVER purchased.
-Cindy Garwood
PITCHING YOUR ADMIN
Before you decide to purchase the course on your own, talk to your administration. Here’s a letter you can share with them to request financial support.
Many admin have PD funds for teachers and you don’t get what you don’t ask for. Even if you think they’ll say no, just ask. When you make the ask for this PD course, instead of asking “Can I have this”, tell them “This is why I need this, and this is how it will positively impact students”. Here are a few talking points (that are also included in the support request letter):
- Google your state’s financial literacy standards and say how this course will help you address those standards with an ‘experiential-learning’ model. (If your state doesn’t have specific financial literacy standards, use the National Standards in K-12 Personal Finance Education by JumpStart)
- Additionally, the classroom economy serves as a classroom management tool (through the use of classroom fines) that you’ll be able to implement with all of your classes and students. You’ll also receive guidance on how to incorporate the fines with students on behavior plans.
- Learning how to teach financial literacy will enable you to become a more effective teacher and a more valuable asset to the school.
- By becoming a more effective teacher, you will improve the outcomes of your students.
- The course provides many resources that are modifiable Google Docs, which is less lesson planning time on you and more time and energy to put towards building relationships with students and teacher self-care.
- When they say yes, bring your laptop to them so you can sign in with your own username and password but pay with the school PayPal or with credit card. Purchase orders are also available.
YOU AND YOUR STUDENTS SPEND A LOT OF TIME TOGETHER IN YOUR CLASSROOM
Why not create make it a place where your students are engaged and empowered?
Why not give yourself more time by giving students more ownership of the class?
Why not learn step-by-step how to set up a classroom economy to avoid years of mistakes and inefficiencies?
Why not start building 21st century classroom culture with you students today?
INSTRUCTOR
Thom Gibson
Thom Gibson is a two-time teacher of the year educator in Austin, TX with over 10 years of classroom experience. He’s taught middle school math, robotics, physical science, esports, and YouTube Video Production. Outside of education, he’s a practitioner of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, a chicken wing (and ranch) connoisseur, loves to run, and is actively involved in his church.