North Carolina

Charging third graders for rent? Teacher's financial lessons go viral on TikTok

Shelby Lattimore, a North Carolina math teacher, uses a classroom system that requires her students to "pay rent" for their classroom essentials, including their own desks.

North Carolina - Third-grade teacher Shelby Lattimore.
NBC News

Third grade teacher Shelby Lattimore said she hopes her classroom economy can help bridge the financial learning gap for her students.

After third grade math teacher Shelby Lattimore delivered the day’s  announcements, the “class banker” distributed everyone’s wallets — clasped envelopes decorated with animals, stars, hearts and cars scribbled in marker and filled with the faux money they’d earned this year.

Lattimore asked the class if they knew what inflating a balloon meant. They answered in the affirmative.

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“I am inflating your rents,” she responded, drawing a chorus of grunts, complaints and “nos” throughout the poster-covered classroom.

Lattimore has gone viral on TikTok and Instagram for her creative take on teaching financial literacy — using a classroom system that requires her students to pay rent for their classroom essentials, including their own desks.

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Every week, viewers watch as her third grade math students collect “Miss Lattimore Bucks” for their classroom jobs.

Read the full story on NBCNews.com here.

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