Looking for New Ways to Mix Up Banzai in your Classroom?

What to Do After Completing Life Scenarios?

Your students have just entered the world of finance. What’s next?

Assign Group Projects

Research different aspects of a budget (insurance companies, buying a car, groceries, opening a checking account, interest rates, buying a house, etc).

“The students were very interested and found that you can get insurance for weddings and we then got to discuss how and why that might be important. Groups can look into how each process works and share tips to the rest of the class in a presentation.”

Put the Parents in the Hot Seat

Have students interview their parents about how personal finance has influenced their life. They can present to the class or write a paper on what they discovered.

“With the parents being involved, the students have more of a buy into learning as I present from the Banzai program.”

Writing Reflections

Have your students write a short reflection after each scenario and compile them after completing Life Scenarios.

“I incorporated student writing reflections on the modules after they covered it. I enjoyed reading students response to the material after they learned it through the computer modules.

“Once they are done with the game they have to write a reflection on how life went with them and then we redo the Game.”

Game Over! Did They Win?

At this point, students have learned valuable lessons about having insurance, car maintenance, taxes and so much more. Saving for college can be tough!

Setting Challenges

Create some challenges within the game such as offering a prize for the student who can save the most money for college.

“We set up a challenge to see who could start out with the worst decisions and then still bounce back and try to win. They had a great time!”

Final Project Option

Teachers have used Banzai as a final exam/project for the class. This could keep students motivated to focus on learning during the Banzai course.

“I used Banzai as the final in my Personal Finances classes. It was excellent! It was a great way to tie together all of the subject matter that was taught throughout the semester.”

Discuss Future Careers

Finance is a valuable skill employers look for when recruiting. Talk about various jobs that use finance as well as why companies will invest in employee education.

“Beyond the learning about budgeting, the supplemental materials allowed me to strike up many conversations about real-life struggles, questions, and inequities in the current systems. We also talked about why a company would invest in them and pay them to learn these skills.”

What Happens Now?

Banzai may be over but that doesn’t mean the learning has to be!

Guest Speaker

A Representative from your sponsoring bank or credit union will come to your class and talk about various financial topics and present certificates for completing Banzai. (We have some you can print)

“They especially enjoy having the representative from our local credit union come and talk about the program, especially the $25 incentive to finish the program and open their first bank account.”

Letter to Parents

Students can write to their parents explaining what they’ve learned, tell them their goals, or thank them for working so hard and paying the bills!

“A couple weeks ago the students wrote letters to their parents explaining what they have learned through the program. Most students wrote about the importance of budgeting and putting money aside for life’s unexpected situations that arise.”

LIFE

Play the board game LIFE after completing Banzai to incorporate the concepts students learned through Banzai.

“Once we are completely done with Banzai the first time, we then play the board game LIFE to incorporate some of the decision making that they had to utilize through Banzai.”

Create a Class Game

Create a class competition where students receive points when they make good choices in their REAL life. For example: 5 points for putting $10 into a savings account rather than going to a movie. This takes the Banzai lessons into their real life. They can share their success stories in class.

“They learned to budget what their parents gave them and to decide to either go to the movies and spend all their allowance, or save it for something they wanted.”

Field Trip

Depending on your time and budget, you can take your class on a field trip to your sponsor’s location, insurance company, college campus, etc.

“We then visit apartments and car dealerships while applying for jobs and create our own personal budgets for life based on their decisions and they have to ensure that they are under budget once their budgets are made so that they can save for any major life event that may happen to them.”