On the Reservation

During our field trip to Family Dollar and Denny's today, this is what my resource math class learned by not being in the classroom:

- Count your money before you shop. And always get a receipt.
- When you buy more than you can afford, you have to put something back.
- When something is advertised as 2 for $1, you can buy TWO of them for just $1!
- Four quarters equals $1, four quarters equals $1, four quarters equals $1...
- When you have $10 of school money to spend, make sure you buy plenty of Hot Cheetos, sunflower seeds, fruit punch...
- ... and watches, tape players, batteries, toothpaste and toothbrushes.
- Even if you can't read, you can find what you want in a menu by looking at the pictures.
- If your double-Western cheeseburger is too big to fit in your mouth, squash the burger down with your hands and cut it in half.
- Always say "please" and "thank you."
- Cheesecake tastes pretty good. But good old banana splits are better.
- Stack the dirty plates before you leave the table
- It's OK to use a calculator at a restaurant to add up your bill, and to calculate tax and tip. Grown-ups don't always like to regroup or borrow either.
- If you don't stay within your budget, you're staying behind to do the dishes.
- Word problems really do happen in real life.