Class Banking System
This is a description of my experiences from observing and being a part of the class banking system during my professional placement in a year six classroom. I first describe the context of the banking system, what it is and how it is run. Following this I have rationalised why I think it is relevant as a professional portfolio item, demonstrating how I have developed as a professional, as well as an overview and documentation of student learning. I will conclude with a final reflection on the class banking system. My supervising teacher designed this banking system and was more than happy for me to use his work as a portfolio item. He also provided me with many valuable resources that would assist me with the development of this report. Throughout this report I will refer to my supervising teacher as Mr J.
Context
What is the banking system?
6J’s banking system is a form of token economy run by Mr J to encourage his students to produce high quality work and behave in a positive manner. The banking system itself builds on academic skills, especially in the area of mathematics. These skills include the ability to add, subtract, divide, multiply, round up or down and work out percentages of various amounts of money. The banking system begins in term one and students are each given their own bank book.
Attachment 1 provides examples of students’ bankbooks from this class. Students are allowed to personalise the front cover of their bankbooks.
Attachment 2 provides a picture of the inside front cover of the bank book which requires students to fill in their personal details, which helps prepare them for opening up an account in the future. Attachment 2 also displays the inside back cover of the bank book, which lists some of the possible bonuses and fines that may be given to the students. Both pictures also display the interior section of the bank book which is where students record their savings. There are six columns that need to be filled out by the students in regards to each fine or bonus and these are Date, Code, Deposit, Withdrawal, Balance and Signature.
Several students are assigned the role of class bankers for the term, which requires them to pay each student in the class the amount that they have earned. The students are paid with paper money that Mr J designed himself and are similar to the Australian 5, 10, 20, 50 and 100 dollar notes. The notes are personalised so that they are more relevant to the theme of the class banking system. An image of one of Mr J’s 50 dollar notes is displayed below.
How do the students of 6J earn their money?
How do the students of 6J lose money / obtain fines?
What do students do with their money?
The money students earn is saved in their bank accounts and accumulates until the end of the last week of term. In this week Mr J holds an auction for the students, where they can use the money they have saved to buy desirable objects, such as Mp3 players and drawing books. The students offer prices that they find appropriate for each item, and ones that they can afford. The highest bidder wins the item and pays for it with the money out of their bank. Students are aware that the more money they have, the more they can spend at the end of term auction. Any money that is not spent at an auction is carried over to the student’s bank account for the next term.
What is a token econonmy?
Rawlings, Skouteris and Whitechurch (2007) define a token economy to be “a form of behaviour therapy in which the desired responses are reinforced with tokens” (p. 307). In Mr J’s classroom, the desired responses are the positive behaviours expected of his students, which were listed earlier on in this report. The tokens are paper money, which are deposited into each student’s bank account at the end of each week. Tokens can also be taken away from students, in the form of fines, when undesired behaviours occur. These behaviours were also listed above. Rawlings et al. expresses that people start learning quite early on in life that desirable objects can be replaced by neutral tokens (paper money) and these tokens can be exchanged with the desired objects at a later time. This suggests that it would be appropriate to run a token economy in a primary classroom as children are already exposed to similar occurrences in their everyday lives.
Rationale:
How this item demonstrates my development as a beginning teacher:
By observing Mr J implementing his banking system with his class and seeing firsthand how it operates, I have been provided with a possible pedagogical strategy to use when I become a qualified classroom teacher. Not only did I observe Mr J’s practice, I also queried him on what motivated him to put the system into operation in the beginning and where all of the ideas for it derived from. Mr J sees the banking system as a way to prepare his students for their future, by incorporating every day activities into his teaching. The banking system is also a way of teaching his students various skills related to the current curriculum, especially in the area of mathematics. It is also a pedagogical approach (behaviourism) that he uses to control his students’ behaviour and is one that I am also familiar enough with to adopt in the future. Mr J has provided me with enough resources and examples to begin my own form of banking system that I can personalise to suit my own and my students’ needs, during my development from beginning teacher to teaching professional.
Overview of student learning:
When Mr J first introduced taxation and interest to his banking system, most students had trouble understanding the concepts and how they were relevant to their lives. Questions like “Why do we have to pay tax?” were asked. These questions provided Mr J with opportunities to explain that everyone who earns an income must pay tax to the Government, so that the Government have enough money to cover all of their expenses.
The senior students at the school where I undertook my placement were studying Civics and Citizenship during my time there. When Greg Hunt came to the school to talk to the grade sixes about Parliament, he asked them if they knew how the Government were able to pay for all of their expenses. Most of the students from 6J put their hand up, while the other classes who were yet to learn about taxation did not. A student from 6J confidently described what taxes are and their purpose to Greg Hunt and the rest of the year level. Greg Hunt was quite please by this student’s response and said that it was the best answer he had ever heard from a year six student. Mr J’s banking system clearly had had an impact on his students’ learning, and it was evident that their knowledge of the topic wouldn’t have been as extensive without it. This can be seen when you compare these students’ knowledge on taxation with the other year six students’ knowledge on the topic. It was because the students of 6J had experienced taxation first hand, that they could explain what it was so well.
I was interested to hear a student say something that demonstrated they had begun to understand the concept of interest, and recorded it as an observation immediately. This student had realised that, “The interest we earn is higher each week, because we have more money saved in our account each week.” This statement then lead to Mr J holding a discussion with his class about the benefits of saving money, as opposed to spending it.
As the school term went by, students were able fill out their bank books more independently. I witnessed the first lesson where interest and tax were introduced to the banking system. Most students struggled to understand how the concepts were related to themselves, and how to implement them. Several weeks later and students could independently work out their tax and interest, and explain what each concept was. See Attachment 3 for a comparison of a bank book from first term, where tax and interest were yet to be introduced, and second term, where tax and interest had been introduced. The second image in Attachment 3 also demonstrates how a particular student became to understand tax and interest better. There is evidence of error and correction, where the student had made a mistake and wrote over their work with the correct number. When you look further down at this example, you can see fewer errors were made, which suggests that this student better understood how to work out their tax and interest.
There is a completely different form of student learning that also occurred as a result of the banking system. The system allows students to be aware of their level of achievement within the classroom and in relation to their peers. If unhappy with the amount of money they earn each week, students are able to modify their behaviour so that they can earn more money in the following weeks. Students who are pleased with the amount of money they have earned can continue behaving in the way that they do to keep earning the same amount of money, or further extend themselves to earn even more money. All of the students’ learning can be monitored by examining their bank books and observing whether the amount they earn increases each week.
Final Reflection:
By being a part of Mr J’s class and witnessing his banking system, I have obtained valuable experiences and resources that I am sure will benefit me as a teaching professional. From these experiences, the main thing I have learnt is that there are many possible ways to teach children skills relating to various curriculum areas while carrying out the one activity. From Mr J’s examples, it is apparent that token economies are an effective way to run a classroom, especially if they are relevant to the students’ everyday lives, as well as maintained regularly and kept up to date. Programs like these appear to be beneficial to students’ as they give a sense of responsibility. The student learning displayed as a result of this system is continuous and extensive and the development of such learning can be easily monitored. Mr J has proven to me that his banking system is a success and I look forward to implementing a program like this with my students in the future.
Context
What is the banking system?
6J’s banking system is a form of token economy run by Mr J to encourage his students to produce high quality work and behave in a positive manner. The banking system itself builds on academic skills, especially in the area of mathematics. These skills include the ability to add, subtract, divide, multiply, round up or down and work out percentages of various amounts of money. The banking system begins in term one and students are each given their own bank book.
Attachment 1 provides examples of students’ bankbooks from this class. Students are allowed to personalise the front cover of their bankbooks.
Attachment 2 provides a picture of the inside front cover of the bank book which requires students to fill in their personal details, which helps prepare them for opening up an account in the future. Attachment 2 also displays the inside back cover of the bank book, which lists some of the possible bonuses and fines that may be given to the students. Both pictures also display the interior section of the bank book which is where students record their savings. There are six columns that need to be filled out by the students in regards to each fine or bonus and these are Date, Code, Deposit, Withdrawal, Balance and Signature.
Several students are assigned the role of class bankers for the term, which requires them to pay each student in the class the amount that they have earned. The students are paid with paper money that Mr J designed himself and are similar to the Australian 5, 10, 20, 50 and 100 dollar notes. The notes are personalised so that they are more relevant to the theme of the class banking system. An image of one of Mr J’s 50 dollar notes is displayed below.
How do the students of 6J earn their money?
- Pay for jobs: The students are each assigned a job which they must carry out for one whole school term. For example, one of the jobs is to empty certain bins around the school, another is to take the lunch orders to the canteen and collect them and another is to ring the school bell at the appropriate time of the day. Students are paid weekly for sufficiently carrying out these jobs.
- Rewards for doing the right thing / good behaviour: If a student does something that the teacher is very impressed with, the teacher may choose to give them a bonus.
- Homework / set work bonuses: Students are awarded points for completing set homework and class work. Students are also awarded extra points for getting all of the answers correct in their class work, as well as handing their homework in on time.
- Spelling: If a student gets all of their spelling words correct, they are awarded a bonus.
- Footy tipping: The student who scores the highest score for the round is awarded a bonus.
- Premier’s Reading Challenge: Students are awarded a bonus whenever they satisfactorily complete a Premier’s Reading Challenge activity.
- Student of the week: The student of the week receives a 50 dollar bonus.
- Interest: Students earn 5% interest on their overall savings.
How do the students of 6J lose money / obtain fines?
- Fines for misbehaviour: Students may be fined for calling out or misbehaving.
- Fines for incomplete work: Students may be fined for not completing set work or homework within the assigned timeframe.
- Tax: Students must pay taxation to the Government (Mr J) at a rate of 10% of their weekly earnings.
What do students do with their money?
The money students earn is saved in their bank accounts and accumulates until the end of the last week of term. In this week Mr J holds an auction for the students, where they can use the money they have saved to buy desirable objects, such as Mp3 players and drawing books. The students offer prices that they find appropriate for each item, and ones that they can afford. The highest bidder wins the item and pays for it with the money out of their bank. Students are aware that the more money they have, the more they can spend at the end of term auction. Any money that is not spent at an auction is carried over to the student’s bank account for the next term.
What is a token econonmy?
Rawlings, Skouteris and Whitechurch (2007) define a token economy to be “a form of behaviour therapy in which the desired responses are reinforced with tokens” (p. 307). In Mr J’s classroom, the desired responses are the positive behaviours expected of his students, which were listed earlier on in this report. The tokens are paper money, which are deposited into each student’s bank account at the end of each week. Tokens can also be taken away from students, in the form of fines, when undesired behaviours occur. These behaviours were also listed above. Rawlings et al. expresses that people start learning quite early on in life that desirable objects can be replaced by neutral tokens (paper money) and these tokens can be exchanged with the desired objects at a later time. This suggests that it would be appropriate to run a token economy in a primary classroom as children are already exposed to similar occurrences in their everyday lives.
Rationale:
How this item demonstrates my development as a beginning teacher:
By observing Mr J implementing his banking system with his class and seeing firsthand how it operates, I have been provided with a possible pedagogical strategy to use when I become a qualified classroom teacher. Not only did I observe Mr J’s practice, I also queried him on what motivated him to put the system into operation in the beginning and where all of the ideas for it derived from. Mr J sees the banking system as a way to prepare his students for their future, by incorporating every day activities into his teaching. The banking system is also a way of teaching his students various skills related to the current curriculum, especially in the area of mathematics. It is also a pedagogical approach (behaviourism) that he uses to control his students’ behaviour and is one that I am also familiar enough with to adopt in the future. Mr J has provided me with enough resources and examples to begin my own form of banking system that I can personalise to suit my own and my students’ needs, during my development from beginning teacher to teaching professional.
Overview of student learning:
When Mr J first introduced taxation and interest to his banking system, most students had trouble understanding the concepts and how they were relevant to their lives. Questions like “Why do we have to pay tax?” were asked. These questions provided Mr J with opportunities to explain that everyone who earns an income must pay tax to the Government, so that the Government have enough money to cover all of their expenses.
The senior students at the school where I undertook my placement were studying Civics and Citizenship during my time there. When Greg Hunt came to the school to talk to the grade sixes about Parliament, he asked them if they knew how the Government were able to pay for all of their expenses. Most of the students from 6J put their hand up, while the other classes who were yet to learn about taxation did not. A student from 6J confidently described what taxes are and their purpose to Greg Hunt and the rest of the year level. Greg Hunt was quite please by this student’s response and said that it was the best answer he had ever heard from a year six student. Mr J’s banking system clearly had had an impact on his students’ learning, and it was evident that their knowledge of the topic wouldn’t have been as extensive without it. This can be seen when you compare these students’ knowledge on taxation with the other year six students’ knowledge on the topic. It was because the students of 6J had experienced taxation first hand, that they could explain what it was so well.
I was interested to hear a student say something that demonstrated they had begun to understand the concept of interest, and recorded it as an observation immediately. This student had realised that, “The interest we earn is higher each week, because we have more money saved in our account each week.” This statement then lead to Mr J holding a discussion with his class about the benefits of saving money, as opposed to spending it.
As the school term went by, students were able fill out their bank books more independently. I witnessed the first lesson where interest and tax were introduced to the banking system. Most students struggled to understand how the concepts were related to themselves, and how to implement them. Several weeks later and students could independently work out their tax and interest, and explain what each concept was. See Attachment 3 for a comparison of a bank book from first term, where tax and interest were yet to be introduced, and second term, where tax and interest had been introduced. The second image in Attachment 3 also demonstrates how a particular student became to understand tax and interest better. There is evidence of error and correction, where the student had made a mistake and wrote over their work with the correct number. When you look further down at this example, you can see fewer errors were made, which suggests that this student better understood how to work out their tax and interest.
There is a completely different form of student learning that also occurred as a result of the banking system. The system allows students to be aware of their level of achievement within the classroom and in relation to their peers. If unhappy with the amount of money they earn each week, students are able to modify their behaviour so that they can earn more money in the following weeks. Students who are pleased with the amount of money they have earned can continue behaving in the way that they do to keep earning the same amount of money, or further extend themselves to earn even more money. All of the students’ learning can be monitored by examining their bank books and observing whether the amount they earn increases each week.
Final Reflection:
By being a part of Mr J’s class and witnessing his banking system, I have obtained valuable experiences and resources that I am sure will benefit me as a teaching professional. From these experiences, the main thing I have learnt is that there are many possible ways to teach children skills relating to various curriculum areas while carrying out the one activity. From Mr J’s examples, it is apparent that token economies are an effective way to run a classroom, especially if they are relevant to the students’ everyday lives, as well as maintained regularly and kept up to date. Programs like these appear to be beneficial to students’ as they give a sense of responsibility. The student learning displayed as a result of this system is continuous and extensive and the development of such learning can be easily monitored. Mr J has proven to me that his banking system is a success and I look forward to implementing a program like this with my students in the future.
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