Making Money in the Classroom

If you were to tell your class 5 students that they could make money in the classroom, what do you think their responses would be? If I were to say this to you, dear educator, what would your response be? “Are you talking about play money? Paper money? Print money? Really?” Do you think students will ask you how they could make money? Do you think they would probably tell you a thing or two about how they are already making money outside the classroom but could do it in the class too? 

So, let’s get on with making some money, legally, in class. This could be done in classes 3 and up, but for consistency, let me consider class 5 as our experimental group. 

Let’s say you teach Sanskrit to class 5. Your lesson for the day is based on a Subhashita, the eloquent form of wise poems. The aim is not just to teach the Subhashita, but also to teach children how to make money in the class. You have 40 minutes to do this. Spend three minutes distributing 2 rupee coins to all 30 students in the class, and tell them that for every ‘work’ they do during that period, they will get a coin. And for every ‘work’ they extract from others, they have to pay a coin. Let me be realistic – you will need another 3 minutes to explain this crazy act and answer all the questions that may come up. Then you can go about teaching the poem. And finish it 5 minutes before the bell. 

If nothing else, each student has still made Rs.2 for listening to you, spellbound! 

Can you think of the many transactions that may have taken place in the class?