We began by talking about the problems we were having trying to keep track of our Cougar Cash. They recognized that keeping spare cash in their desk wasn't a "safe" plan, and carrying it around in their backpacks wasn't working (it was often MIA when they wanted to make a purchase from the school store), and many of them had too much to store it in the envelope I provided them at the beginning of the year. It was fun to watch their frustration grow from not realizing that they had a problem to realizing how much of a problem they had! We discussed the role of banks in our community. Most seemed to have a vague idea that you got money from a bank, but most had NO idea that a bank only stored money you put in it. That was very enlightening for them. Living in a very economically deprived area, I have experienced the lack of banking "background knowledge" for most of my students.
We discussed how Zefty worked and they were excited to have their own bank account from which they could make deposits and withdrawals. I wasn't entirely sure that they understood the concept, but we were ready to give it a try. Students began collecting their Cougar Cash. I became the 'bank teller' in our scenario. The first student gave me her money. She entered her "deposit" and was quite happy to see $13 in her account. She wasn't quite as happy to turn over her cash, but after showing her what she did, it seemed to be okay with her. Many of the students had the same reaction when it came to handing over the cash. I had one student absolutely refuse. I was hoping it wasn't going to start a mutiny, but the overall response was positive. That was Tuesday.
On Wednesday, one of my more disorganized students had lost yet ANOTHER pencil and after I had warned her that I wasn't going to supply her with another for the remainder of the week, she asked if she could buy one from the classroom store. It wasn't necessarily time for the store, but I agreed to let her "write a check" from her Zefty account. She sat down and we went through the process of logging in and making a withdrawal.
All was good while she printed out her check and handed it over to me. I gave her her pencils. Then she went back to the computer screen. She noticed she had $11 in her account. Not $13. She wanted to know where her money went. I felt like I was on Wall Street on Black Friday as every student near a computer began checking their accounts to see if any of their money had mysteriously disappeared. I explained that when you write a check, it takes money OUT of your account . . . and wow . . . that was a HARD concept to explain to a bunch of money-grubbin' 3rd graders! Ha!
The lessons didn't stop there! On Thursday, the school store was opened and I had a group of students that wanted to buy a ticket for "lunch on the playground" which is an "expensive" item for them to purchase. I had two students print out checks to take to the school store, and they returned with very dejected looks on their faces. The store wouldn't accept the check. Cash only. My bad - I had forgotten to tell the Guidance Counselor about our new money system. I took that time to explain to my students why some stores won't take checks - a quick lesson in Crime 101. These are issues though, that needed to be addressed before the program could be fully implemented.
Both my students and I are finding that Zefty.com has been great for teaching real-world banking concepts and is successful (so far) in keeping students financially organized. Stay tuned for further adventures in banking down here in Tampa, Florida!
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