Auctions: I have three types of auction items. First is the auction of privileges, second is for items I have brought in, and third is the “personal auction” where one or two students may auction something they have brought in. Once a student has committed to a personal auction, they must accept the purchase price arrived at by the highest bid. Usually this is quite lucrative for the seller. All auctions are silent. I carefully describe the item to be sold. Students write their name and their bid on a piece of paper. The person who owns the privilege to collect the slips, collects them, not allowing anyone to peek at the bids. I call out the amounts of each bid and who the bidder was. I also give some feedback as to whether or not it was a reasonable bid and if the bidder has outbid or has been outbid. Most importantly, I check account statuses to make sure bidders are eligible and financially secure enough to pay the bid price.
Marketplace: This is where the credits begin to truly have value. Students are allowed to bring in small, cheap items such as stickers, pens, pencils, erasers and trading cards. They are given 15 or 20 minutes to buy and sell as they wish. They mill about making deals. When the deal is finished, they come to me to confirm the transaction. Both students involved in the deal must be there. They tell me who is buying what from whom. I check accounts to make sure sales are feasible, check the item to make sure it is not too valuable, and comment on the price as far as whether it is fair or if one participant is getting taken to the cleaners. I carefully record the students involved and the amounts. Students must also record the transactions in their ledgers. The best thing about this time is watching the shrewd students buy items at low prices and then turn around and sell them for a profit. There will be students who just don’t get it, as well as those who grasp the concepts deeply. Those that don’t get it will be taken advantage of by students who do. This is OK! That is the way real life is. Better for it to happen in the class where it is pretend than in the real world with real money. When this happens I counsel the student who has blundered so that perhaps next time they won’t. It works to some extent.