Tuesday, February 5, 2013

Teacher Tuesday: Goodwill Hunting



Thank you to Miss Pollard for today's blog about her Trained for Life class.

Over the past few weeks, my Trained for Life students and I have been talking about furnishing an apartment.  

Before Christmas, students participated in “Miss Pollard’s Game of Life” where they had a job, an income and had to find a roommate and apartment that fit their budget.  Students searched for an apartment, and they learned how to fill out applications. 

After Christmas, we’ve been exploring the “What Now?!” aspect:  they have an apartment, but are they going to sleep on the floor?  No!  

The students have been learning how to furnish an apartment with new and used appliances and furnishings. In class, we have been comparing prices to common household items such as sofas and deciding whether or not it is practical to spend $1,000 on a brand new sofa or $35 on a gently used sofa.  We’ve also had interesting conversations about things that we should buy gently used (furniture in good condition, some kitchen furnishings, etc.) and things that you really should just buy new (mattresses, bath towels, etc…)

Last week, we took what we’ve been learning outside the classroom and put it into practice at Goodwill.  Students were divided into two teams (kitchen and living room), and they were given a hypothetical $100 to spend to furnish these areas of their apartments.  Before we left, students came up with a list of everything they though they needed for the area. Their jobs were to find the item, write down the price and compare it to the price of something that is new at Target or a furniture store.  


Students did an excellent job of searching for their items as well as thinking outside the box… “how can I use this item in another way in my apartment?”


In the coming weeks, we are going to take another trip to Walmart to price compare their findings from Goodwill and decide from which store it is cheaper to purchase home furnishings.  



Shepherds College - Guiding Your Transition to Appropriate Independence. Please visit us at www.shepherdscollege.edu.

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