Today on the Consumerism Commentary Podcast, Jay talks with Shannon
Nutter-Wiersbitzky about My Classroom Economy, a model classroom curriculum designed by Vanguard. Shannon is the Director of Market Research at The Vanguard Group.
They discuss many aspects of bringing a real world economy model into the classroom, where students earn salaries and have to pay rent, and the temptations of spending versus saving and earning even more.
Vanguard’s My Classroom Economy: S07E08 / 164
Table of contents
[00:00] Introduction from Jay Frosting
[00:32] Interview with Shannon Nutter-Wiersbitzky
– [00:43] Simulating an economy in school with jobs, rent and more
– [02:13] It integrates with a curriculum and lasts all year
– [03:51] Salaries are different and jobs have qualifications
– [04:23] Examples of bonuses and fines
– [05:30] Introducing bigger risks and investments in higher grades
– [07:51] Teaching long-term thinking to a short-term society
– [09:01] Is it possible to fail the program?
– [10:02] Taxes are introduced in grade 7 and then get more robust
– [10:38] Developing the program with Rafe Esquith
– [11:48] Kids don’t have to start the program in Kindergarten
– [12:29] The program is free and doesn’t even need registration
– [13:41] Can kids pay each other with classroom dollars?
– [14:40] Matching the program with standards developed by JumpStart and Common Core Curriculum
[15:12] End
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Theme music by Mindcube.
Updated June 18, 2012 and originally published June 17, 2012. If you enjoyed this article, subscribe to the RSS feed or receive daily emails. Follow @flexo on Twitter and visit our Facebook page for more updates.
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Luke Landes founded Consumerism Commentary in 2003 and has been building online communities since 1990. Luke, also known as Flexo, has contributed to PC World Magazine, US News, Forbes, and other publications. 
