A Best Day In Education

MY BEST DAY - 2022-2023

I have so many great days in education, but one of the recent BEST days I’ve had was when I had the opportunity to teach a new course during the 2022-2023 school year. I was teaching a Foundations of Financial Skills course that was geared towards our school's special education program. Throughout the semester the course objective was to teach students about money, how to earn and spend money, open bank accounts, and the basics of economics.

One ongoing activity we had each week was that each student would have a classroom job for the week. They would select the job from a list and each job paid a different amount of money. At the end of 9 weeks students would have to count up the money they earned, pay bills, and then they could decide how they wanted to spend their discretionary income. The students were so excited about this activity. This activity gave me the opportunity to watch them use the financial skills they learned and put them into real world simulations.

I opened a store in the classroom where I had a variety of items the student could purchase. The items included things like school supplies, fun treats and candy, school apparel and gift certificates. As soon as the students saw the store they were SO EXCITED. The special education teachers, classroom aides, and administrators came in to see the activity and see all the skills the students had learned. Not only was it a FUN experience for everyone, but to see the students smile and enjoy this time with their peers was definitely one of the many BEST days I’ve had as an educator.