Here are a few tips on structuring a school-wide economy so that it is easy for teachers and engaging for students!
Tip #1: Use the admin account to run your school store, paychecks, and bills.
Now, the only thing teachers are responsible for is sending bonuses! 🎉
Store: Add school store items under the admin account, such as tickets to the quarterly celebration or school swag. Teachers can then customize their own classroom store with class-specific items, such as sitting in the teacher's chair for the day, or homework passes, however, this is optional.
Jobs: Hire every student as a "Student" (as this is their main job, of course) so that everyone receives a paycheck. Individual teachers can then add jobs to their classroom if they'd like, such as attendance monitor, however, this is optional.
Bills: Use the admin account to send school-wide bills, like rent and utilities. This way, teachers don't have to worry about it!
✨Pro tip: Utilize school jobs, such as School Council, to increase student responsibility and leadership opportunities! These can all be run through the admin account.
Tip #2: Start out small.
ClassBank (formerly ClassEquity) is completely customizable, so don't feel like you need to jump into all economy features at once! The meat and potatoes of ClassBank are bonuses and the store, so if your school would prefer to start with just those two components, then feel free to skip jobs and bills altogether! (Although see above for an easy way to incorporate them).
On top of your school-wide settings, teachers have the option to include individual classroom store items and jobs if they'd like. However, if they are new to the classroom economy system, encourage teachers to start out small and just focus on sending bonuses! Once teachers master the positive reinforcement routine, they can then add on to their economy when they are ready.
Tip #3: Norm on bonuses.
Align your bonuses to team or school-wide values so that students have consistent expectations and structure across classrooms. On top of providing students with clear expectations, norming on bonuses also helps collect data on student behavior. Worried that teachers will be overwhelmed with a whole new system? Start by picking just one bonus for teachers to focus on sending. Norming on bonuses combined with our customized school analytics will allow you to make better data-driven decisions to support your students and improve school culture!