Miss O's Discount Store

I currently have a Student Teacher and I asked her permission to write about her discount store.  The students were about to start the outcome on percentages and we (the student teacher and I) decided that students already have somewhat of an understanding of percentages; hence the discount store.  
Miss O (the student teacher) did some virtual shopping for the students and printed out a picture of the item along with it's price.  The blue papers are the percent discount.  She placed the items around the room and allowed the students to go on a shopping spree.


Here are the "rules" that she gave the students:

1) Each student has $350 to spend.
2) The student must try to have as little money remaining as possible.
3) They may only buy up to 3 of any one item.  
4) When a student decides to purchase something, they must take a copy of the item to staple to their work.  
5) All work and items were to be handed in at the end of the activity.

What went right:
- Some of the students really got into this.  Some were competing to see who get the closest to $0.
- We found some misconceptions that we wouldn't have noticed otherwise.  For instance, some students rounded to the nearest dollar.  What stores do that?  Some didn't even know how to round.
- Once a student was getting low on money, you could hear them thinking aloud, "I only have $20 left and those jean cost $40 with a 35% discount, is that enough?"  Perfect!  Just how we wanted them to be thinking.


What went wrong:
Nothing went horribly wrong, just a few bumps along the way.
- Set up and take down was a little time consuming (totally worth it though).
- One student refused to buy things because he didn't like what was for sale.
- Grading was a nightmare (although, I didn't have to do it, but Miss O did).

Next time:
I may have the students earn their money.  They may earn $25 for each exit ticket they pass in a previous outcome.  Hm...what about the students who don't pass any of the exit tickets?  Well, I could give an automatic $100 to each student.
One problem I see with this is the students who will probably need the most practice will have the least amount of money.  On the other hand, the timing may work out better for me because those students work slower and will have a better chance of finishing the activity before the end of the period.

Does anyone else have conversations with themselves like this?

Miss O's departments:
- Electronics
- Food Court (my favorite!!)
- Shoes
- Sporting Goods
- Men's Clothing
- Women's Clothing

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