I'm sure you've all been anxiously awaiting to hear how Earning 4 Learning (trademark pending) has been going. Well, we just wrapped up day two of the program, and it's been pretty much going as I thought it would:
1. There have already been 2 reported incidents of theft from teachers. Teachers who had stacks of bills that were stolen by students. And we know who the perpetrators are, because they're telling all the other students how they've already "earned" $600 scholar dollars. Yeah right Carl, dream on.
2. I would place student buy-in currently somewhere between 60-75%. Which is pretty good to start with - I think a lot of the students don't see the current value. So, that's a place for us to focus on and figure out how to get their buy-in. I have some ideas, and I'm excited to hear from the rest of the staff.
3. A number of teachers are already giving up on the program because the results aren't showing. Did I mention that it's day 2? Since when did the world change in two days? There's a reason why we told everyone from the start that we're going to stick with the plan NO MATTER WHAT for two weeks.
4. Students have had their money stolen, and are wanting to be reimbursed for money they lost. It's a tough lesson to learn, but in the real world - that's how life works. I get my laptop stolen in real life, nobody is going to buy me a new one. As Katey said - you wouldn't flaunt your fat wad of cash down on Third Street, why in the world would you even begin to think it's safe to do so at our school?
5. A number of students have become walking money banks/drains. This means that the students who don't care about their money pass it along to the students who care a LOT. So, these students who care a lot have been getting tons of cash, and a number of students who don't care have nothing. They probably don't mind yet, but they will soon.
There have been a number of unanticipated things I've taken note of:
1. The number of students bringing pencils has gone way, way up. However, there seems to have been a inverse trend with uniforms. The number of students in free dress and hats today was appalling.
2. I witnessed my first "Cash-for-scholar-dollars" transaction today. A student gave $5 to another student for 50 scholar dollars. That made me happy - our money has real value!
3. We had a student cohort hijack the faculty lounge during class yesterday and attempt to make their own copies on the copy machine of money. The ring leader should be suspended, but at the same time, I admire their ingenuity. Just the wrong application of it.
4. There are teachers hiring students to clean the school. Seems like a good idea, until you start to overhear students talking about how they're just going to continue to trash the school yard so they can keep getting paid.
5. The inventory of the school store is not being depleted nearly as quickly as I had anticipated.
6. The money that I'm handing out isn't going nearly as quickly as I had anticipated. We figured that if each student earns on average $7 per period, it comes out to be about $50 per student per week. At that rate, I thought I'd need about $4000 to get through a single week. As of today, we've gone through two full days of the program, and I think I've only given out about $400. And I've been handing it out at every possible opportunity I have. I personally think this is a good thing, if we can still invest the students, not hand out as much money as we'd considered, and still have pretty solid results.
Overall, I'm happy with the program so far. There are a lot of tweaks that need to be made, and more organization from the staff so Katey and I don't feel like we're doing everything (I know we aren't, but I need this system to be in a place where if I don't do something, it will still survive). I feel the next big challenge is going to be to continue to persuade the staff to stick to the plan, and not give up hope. A difference can be made, we just need to find the right pressure points with our students.
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