Teaching Economy in 4th or 5th grade

I am not a licensed elementary teacher. Subbing this year has shown me so much about the workings of the lower grades. I have tried to piece together how teachers work with state and national standards, and it's a bit confusing. One aspect is teaching financial and economic literacy. In several classes I have been in, part of the reward/consequence system involves "payment" and "fines."

Here are the methods I have seen in action:
Method Ja
background: This is a fifth grade class with GLAD influence.

• students have jobs they get paid for. Some jobs are paid better than others (teaches that resources are allocated differently)
• Students make wallets where they keep their money.
• Students are fined for misbehavior and not turning in homework. They must take home their fine and get it signed and then pay the teacher out of their wallets. 
• Students may buy privileges from the BANKER (one of the classroom jobs) 
• examples include comfy toes, teacher chair, teacher desk, seat bump, computer time, etc.
• loans can be given and interest is collected. 

Method Je

background: This is a fourth grade class with GLAD influence. 

• students start with 5 fuzzies. They can be taken away for misbehavior.
• Fuzzies can be turned in for raffle tickets.
• raffle tickets buy objects students may need (pencils, spiral notebooks, emergency bathroom passes, etc.) or want (sharing time, extra recess, homework pass, lunch with teacher, etc.) (teaches the difference between need and want at a financial level.)
• students are responsible for their own tickets, BUT teacher has set up baggies in each cubby to hold tickets and fuzzies. 

At some point during the school year, students should be prompted to write about their experience with the fuzzies or job scenarios. This would likely be done without the students even knowing it was an assessment for economy standards. 

Teaching Note-taking

So far, my two main goals of teaching have remained the same. 1) Expose students to a variety of topics in an effort to lead them to what they are passionate about. 2) Give students study tips and life lessons to make post-high-school life easier.

A great tool to give students is note-taking skills.  The following is how I could teach note-taking.

This video. Is awesome.

http://collegeinfogeek.com/lecture-notetaking-systems/

show at the beginning of the year and explain that we will be taking all the different types of notes throughout the year. Plus, it gives students a way to see that I'm cool- I love Streetfighter, especially Blanka!

Use different lessons to outline the strengths of each style of note-taking. At the end of a lesson using  a different style of note taking, have students write an exit ticket on how they would compare the style of notes to other ones they have used before.

Also, a quick note on Cornell notes, the same idea (exit ticket points) could be given for having students complete the Cue and Summary sections of the Cornell notes before leaving class.

H5- Honor student potential for roles in greater society

[caption id="attachment_318" align="alignright" width="288"] Representing my college on college day.[/caption]

H5-Honor student potential for roles in greater society. Teacher candidates prepare students to be responsible citizens for an environmentally sustainable, globally interconnected, and diverse society.   Every student has a future ahead of them. Whether that is a full-time job out of high school or college, each life that passes through my classroom is going somewhere. Most of the students where I am doing my internship will go to college to figure out what they will do with their lives. This week I was able to talk to students about my the decision process I went through in picking a school, career, etc. The sophomores and juniors took the PSAT and PLAN tests this week to practice for the real tests they will soon be taking. Because of this, school was on a shortened schedule. Students visited each period for only twenty minutes. Teachers were encouraged to share their "college story" with students. I was so thankful that I got to participate in this day. I was able to emphasize in every class how important it is to find what you love to do and go for it. By participating in conversations about college with my students, I met HOPE standard H5. Each student has the potential to do whatever they can set their minds to and I made this sentiment clear in each period. This experience showed me how nervous students are about what comes next in their lives. They need teachers and other role models to talk with and gain perspective on what is best for them. I have known for awhile that I hope to help students discern where to do go with their lives, but today gave me a glimpse of what that is like. When students feel like their teachers are willing to participate in conversations about their future, a bond is created. Students are able to see how school, education and what we are trying to do as teachers is beneficial to their futures. I would like to find ways to continue this conversation with students as they get closer to deciding where they may want to attend college or get closer to having to make decisions about the next part of their lives. One way I could do this is by working in time during our teaching schedule to communicate about the future. One way to facilitate this communication would be to periodically incorporate questions about the future into warm-up activities.