Organizing my Class Store

Hello friends!

Today I'm linking up with Kristen & Elizabeth for their final Optimum Organization Linky.  I have gotten sooooooo many awesome ideas from these all summer long and I'm excited to finally be able to contribute something back.

Yesterday, I made a trip to IKEA in search of some finishing touches for my room, especially a way to store/organize all of my Class Store items.  Last year, I kept them in bins that I got really sick of pulling out and putting away each week.  But now that won't be a problem thanks to this beauty:

It is called IKEA PS and it is intended to be a mobile wardrobe.  It comes in black or white and would be a great addition for anyone who doesn't have a lot of closet space in their room.  When I first looked at it, I thought it would be a great way to store center supplies or materials for weekly activities due to its five spacious shelves, but I quickly realized that it would best suit me for storing my Store.

Here's what I love about it: it's on wheels.  From the back, the shelves are hidden, but if you pull on that handle it easily spins around and Voila!  Store galore!

It is extremely lightweight (9lbs) and spins like an ice skater.  I'm a little afraid that it spins too easily and some of my more enthusiastic buddies might accidentally topple it, but I think its gonna be the absolute organization solution I needed.

You can't actually see in these pictures, but I do have two dishpans stored on each shelf, so they're pretty deep.  I think I'm going to make some cute bunting to hang on the outside so it doesn't look so blah.  Great organizational find, right?

I use a classroom economy inspired by Beth Newingham.  Each student in my class rotates through a different job each week.  I choose the jobs based on what I know I need help with, but we decide the pay scale for the jobs as a class during the first couple weeks of school.  In addition to being paid for their classroom job, My students can earn credits and debits each day based on their status on the clip chart (credits for clipping up, debits for clipping down), as well as random rewards throughout the day whenever I feel we need a little "boost."  For example, I might give credits to the first two kids to pull out all the materials needed for a math lesson or to the entire class after receiving a compliment from another teacher.  Students record these by making a T chart in a small notebook (I buy these at Walmart each year - $0.88 for 4) and at the end of the week each child totals their tally marks along with weekly pay in order to receive a paycheck from me.

Students can cash in their paychecks at the Bank to receive Wild Bucks, which can then be saved or spent at the Store.  Families are invited to send in small "treasures," but I also supplement with cheap items as well.  I've found that party favors are great bang for my buck, as well as scouting the clearance items in the Target and Michael's dollar bins.  I also have coupons for items such as Lunch with the Teacher, Sit by a Friend, and Use a Teacher Chair.  Students can even work together to purchase really big ticket items such as a popsicle party or game day.

Last year was my first year doing the classroom economy full force.  I like that my kids learned a lot of economic principles first hand.  For example, each student pays $30 "rent" at the beginning of the month to cover their desk & chair usage.  As the year went on, I started charging late fees for students who did not have the full amount to pay on time.  One student who was a habitual spender didn't have any money for January rent, so he owed me the full $30 plus a $10 late fee.  He did not earn many extra credits and it just happened that the weeks of that month he was on some of the lower paying jobs.  By the time February rolled around, he had earned just enough to pay off his $40 debt, but did not have much leftover to pay rent so he went into debt AGAIN.  It took 3 months for him to work his way out and during that time he quickly became the Debt Preacher, educating his classmates on the woes of overspending!

It was also so encouraging to see them work together to earn the bigger items.  One student wanted a Popcorn Party so badly that he created a pledge sheet and had kids sign up to donate different amounts of their weekly paychecks.  He went around each week and collected the money and marked off each student's donations while meticulously keeping track of each and every dollar.  He even gave biweekly status updates to the class.  It was adorable and also satisfying to see how much they trusted this child to faithfully invest their money.

Do you use a classroom economy?  I'd love to hear more about it in the comments below!

Spending more than saving,

Jen