EDUCATOR PERSPECTIVES
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"The City Game is an exciting classroom management tool which incorporates classroom management, financial literacy, social responsibility, and social emotional learning. This is a game you can play within your classroom all year. Students write resumes, are hired for classroom jobs; such as Police Officers, Deputy Mayors, Bank Clerks and more. Students are paid biweekly and pay to rent their desk space. Students often find more of a purpose within their classroom by working a job they are being counted on in order to contribute to their classroom community running smoothly and respectfully. Students can save their money to purchase their desk or spend their money at classroom auctions. Students take part in city council meetings, run by their peers, where they learn new perspectives and empathy. Students literally run the classroom while the teacher is freed up to focus more on teaching. The game reaches those students who tend to struggle most within our Educational system".
~ Negar Puye - Elementary Teacher, Coquitlam, B.C, Canada
Playing The City Game within her classroom since 2018
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'The City Game' is an excellent classroom activity that not only serves as an effective classroom management tool, but also provides students with valuable lessons in financial literacy and responsibility. Through the game, students take on various roles within a simulated city, managing their own finances, making decisions about savings, spending, and budgeting. This hands-on experience helps them understand real-world economic concepts in an engaging and practical way. Additionally, the game encourages teamwork, critical thinking, and decision-making skills, while also fostering a sense of accountability as students navigate the consequences of their choices. I highly recommend "The City Game" to other teachers, as it integrates seamlessly with many areas of the curriculum and supports the development of core competencies such as communication, collaboration, and problem-solving. It’s an engaging and educational tool that can be adapted to suit various age groups and subject areas, making it a versatile and rewarding activity for any classroom".
~Christina Ballarin - Elementary Teacher, Burnaby, B.C, Canada
Has taught the game for a few years
Co-facilitated a Professional Development Day with Zanette
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"The City Game has been the cornerstone of my classroom management for the past three years. It takes classroom economy to a whole new level, providing students with a voice and a sense of ownership in their classroom community. My students especially love the concept of earning a paycheck and paying rent, and they take their jobs seriously. The concept of "Fines and Bonuses" gives them a clear understanding of class expectations. The game empowers them to contribute ideas and make improvements throughout the year, which keeps it dynamic and engaging. Not only does The City Game promote financial literacy, but it also supports classroom management and social-emotional learning in a seamless and easy-to-run way. The culture in my classroom is all thanks to The City Game!"
~ Alexandra Daly - Elementary Teacher, Port Coquitlam, B.C, Canada
Playing The City Game within her classroom since 2021
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“For several years, I have taught The City Game within my classroom. Having moved down to primary, teaching grades 1/2 for the past few years, I have adapted The City Game’s structure. I do still have the kids earning money and I hold an auction at the end of each term. Kids glue money onto ten frames (different colours represent different things: green for speaking in French, pink for being helpful, blue for home reading, yellow for participation and organization and white is their salary.) Then, they add their money and complete a weekly Bankbook balance sheet that helps the kids understand place value. Kids can ask to give money to each other when they see their peers helping out, which helps to create a culture of gratitude. I also really like that the teacher is not the only one to notice all of the positive contributions to our class community. I think the auctions are a fantastic way for kids to learn that objects can have variable value and worth and to learn to be happy for others even when they are outbid by a classmate. I often encourage families to send in preloved items which is an environmentally conscious way to reuse things when possible. I love using this structure and have done so in different ways for grades 1 through 7 in several communities including Burnaby, Burns Lake, Williams Lake and now in Smithers”.
~ Tami Leblanc - Elementary Teacher, B.C, Canada
Taught The City Game in Burnaby, Burns Lake, Williams Lake and Smithers
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"The City Game is an excellent classroom management tool that also integrates financial literacy, social responsibility, and social-emotional learning. During my experience as a TOC, in Zanette's classroom, it made the day run much smoother, as each child had a role and the students held one another accountable. I recently introduced my own version of the City Game in a Grade 2 classroom. The children had rotating jobs, all earning the same pay, but we incorporated key elements like fines, bonuses, and a suggestion box. The suggestion box gave students a voice, allowing for open dialogue about ideas for the classroom. They debated options and voted to reach a collective decision. I’ve seen the City Game increase student excitement and engagement, all while fostering critical thinking and problem-solving skills."
~ Rachel MacPhail - Elementary Teacher, Burnaby, B.C, Canada
Plays the game with her grade 2’s and was a Teacher on Call in Zanette’s classroom.
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"As an education assistant, I found The City Game to be an amazing tool to use in the classroom as it's so easily adaptable for all students. A part I love about the game is how many different jobs there are available for students. There is a job that every student can succeed at and feel confident doing. When the students get assigned a job from the game, it really gives them a purpose and makes them feel included and heard, not only by their teacher but their peers as well. They also learn so many important life skills that they will use in the future such as saving money, paying rent for their desk and staying on track so they do not get a fine. The grade 3 student I supported enjoys doing math, so she was excited to find ways to earn extra money, looked forward to pay day, applied to be a Bank Clerk and even created her own job to collect dual income. This gave her a lot of extra math each week! She was also hired to be a Deputy Mayor, and this allowed her to run our City Council Meetings and to take initiative in new areas she hadn’t had an opportunity to explore before. In previous years and at the start of the year, she did not often want to be in the classroom. However, when she got assigned her jobs, she really wanted to be a part of the game and do as her peers were doing. The City Game truly gave her a voice in our class and helped her make new connections with her peers."
~ Hayley Kidd - Educational Assistant, Burnaby, B.C, Canada
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Carioti, Part 1: "I have been playing The City Game in my classroom for the past 3 years and each year I reflect back on how grateful I am to have come across a classroom management system such as this. The City Game is more than just a classroom economy system, it is a system that will completely evolve your classroom community. Before introducing The City Game to my teaching practice, I tried several techniques like reward systems and classroom contracts but somehow, I continued to find myself addressing the same unfavourable behaviours and classroom conflicts. What I discovered when setting up The City Game early in the school year is that because students decide and agree on specific classroom expectations in the form of ‘Bonuses and Fines’, they clearly learn how to engage in favourable behaviour, and what exactly is seen as unfavourable behaviour. In turn, I have noticed how this explicit list has resulted in less behaviour management in my classroom, especially as the year progresses and a there becomes a greater understanding and acceptance of consequences”. (Continued on next Testimonial).
~ Tianna Carioti - Elementary Teacher, Burnaby, B.C, Canada
Third year playing The City Game within her Classroom
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Continued... Carioti, Part 2: Additionally, I have noticed that The City Game leads students to become eager to take on greater responsibility within the classroom. Clean up time was something I always dreaded before The City Game, as I would run around the room reminding students to help out. But with The City Game, students apply for a job that they are interested in taking charge of, and as the system unfolds, they begin to see how their job in the classroom is valued and needed for their community to run smoothly. Lastly, one of the most important elements to The City Game is the way it promotes students to use their own voices to advocate for themselves and their needs. For example, at City Council Meetings, I encourage students to bring forward suggestions they may have to improve their classroom community, and each week, students look forward to making an impact on how their school year will unfold. This has made my teaching role a lot easier, as it helps me to know exactly what students are wanting to learn and how to engage and motivate them. With all these elements in place, each year my classroom becomes a space where students thrive because they feel heard and valued".
~ Tianna Carioti - Elementary Teacher, Burnaby, B.C, Canada
Third year playing The City Game within her Classroom
