Classroom Economy as Classroom Management

In the last five years,  I have tried many classroom management systems.  I have tried sticker charts where they purchase items from a classroom store based on their stickers.  I have tried creating avatars and using a point system that works sort of like a video game achievement system. (You can read about the way I used video games as my inspiration for classroom management here.)

This year I tried www.classdojo.com.  I love Class Dojo.  I think it works really well much of the time, and my students loved creating the little avatars.  I decided to try Class Dojo because since all of my students have access to laptops I have tried all sorts of technology and websites. Because we use the computers off and on all day, I think Class Dojo seemed like less of a novelty for my students. They could not see their points all the time, so it was out of sight out of mind.  I do not have a Smart Board to display for everyone all the time.

I recently decided to try something a little different for our classroom management system.  I felt we needed something more tangible and visible.  Another teacher suggested using a classroom economy.  So I went to www.teacherspayteachers.com and searched free resources on Classroom Economy. I found lots of great resources.

I chose to use the classroom cash from this set because I like idea of Hoot Loot.  Our school mascot is the owls, and my classroom is decorated with owls.

Source: teacherspayteachers.com viaApril on Pinterest

We used the little printable wallets from this set to put our Hoot Loot in.

Source: teacherspayteachers.com viaApril on Pinterest

Laura Candler also has a Classroom Economy pack.  Every thing Laura does is amazing!

I created this little form to track our points or cash flow for the week.

I created different categories and for each category they can have cash added or taken away (debits and credits.)  At the end of the week, they turn in their form.  I give them their hoot loot.  They then can purchase items from a class store.  Any cash they do not spend, they save up in their wallets.  You can get a copy of my classroom account summary form here.  It is a Word Document, so you can make any changes you need to.  How do you run a classroom economy?