My project needs 25 checkbooks for students to write checks and maintain balances with calculators. My project also needs 2 dozen ball point pens that students will only use to write in their checkbooks.
FULLY FUNDED! Ms. S.'s classroom raised $426
This project is fully funded
Celebrating Hispanic & Latinx Heritage Month
This project is a part of the Hispanic & Latinx Heritage Month celebration because
it supports a Latino teacher or a school where the majority of students are Latino.
Show me the work, I'll show you the money.
I consider my past third and fourth grade teacher, Mrs. Johnson, an example of excellent teaching, a role model, and a mentor. I strive to provide my students with an academic experience similar to the experience I had in third and fourth grade. I was in a multilevel enrichment program, so I had the same teacher in both third and fourth grade. The dynamics of my elementary school education have made me believe in the value of teaching students for two years.
Following these beliefs, when I learned a fifth grade teaching position would be open at my school next year, I requested to be moved so I could teach my students again. My principal agreed, and next year I will engage in my third year of teaching as the fifth grade girls teacher at Powell Elementary school in the Columbia Heights neighborhood of Washington DC. My classroom consists of 80% English Language Learners, their native languages include Amharic, Thai, French but the majority of my students are native Spanish speakers, because my school has gender-split classrooms in the upper grade, all of my students are girls.
One of the clear memories I have from third and fourth grade is using Lenny Loot in the classroom. My teacher had a pet iguana named Lenny, and Lenny Loot was our classroom currency. Its design was based off the dollar bill, but a picture of a smiling iguana replaced the face of George Washington. We were paid for behaving, participating in the class, and for fulfilling responsibilities through classroom jobs. We kept our own balance book, and could buy goods from the classroom store with our cash.
I feel the behavior plan I have used for the past two years is tailored to a fourth grade classroom. Both my students and I have grown beyond the current behavior system, and need an innovative plan that will make my students feel independent and give them a sense of responsibility. I would like to frame my behavior management plan around a classroom bank system. Instead of giving my students cash, I want to pay them in checks for their weekly behavior, as well as their help in the classroom through classroom jobs. The students will maintain their checkbooks, and I will keep a spreadsheet of student balances. I will also quiz them biweekly about their account balances.
I believe one important function of education is the provision of an understanding of how to function in society. Understanding banks, checking accounts, and budgeting is essential to becoming a successful and functioning member of today's world. In addition to providing my students knowledge about money management and the real world skills of writing checks and maintaining organization, balancing their checking accounts will be constant practice in place value, addition and subtraction.
In order to successfully implement a behavior management and incentive system based off checking accounts and banking, I need checkbooks for each of my students. The checkbooks I am requesting come with a calculator, which students will be allowed to use sporadically. We have no calculators in the classroom where I currently teach, so these calculators will not only provide support when students are determining balances, but will also be beneficial during math game time, and for checking math worksheets. I am also asking for a ball point pen for each student. I will impress upon my students that this is their checkbook pen because checks must be written in ink. I think empathizing the importance of this special pen will help students understand the importance of keeping their checkbooks neat and organized, and writing clear and exact checks.
Incorporating personal checking accounts into my classroom next year will help my students learn important life skills, and give them an opportunity to practice their basic math. I clearly remember balancing my Lenny account in fourth grade, deciding exactly what I wanted to purchase from the school store, and saving until I was able to purchase the goal item. I think my students would take away the same type of memorable and meaningful learning by using checking accounts in the classroom. I also believe these checking accounts would benefit our classroom environment and provide a powerful incentive for student behavior and participation.
More than a third of students from low‑income households
Data about students' economic need comes from the National Center for Education Statistics, via our partners at MDR Education. Learn more
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