Robert Pondiscio at The Core Knowledge Blog has some suggestions for a California calculus teacher who is offering product placement on student tests to cover printing expenses that were shaved from his school’s budget. The cost to place an ad is nominal--$10 on a quiz, $20 on the chapter test, and $30 for one on the final--and he’s made more than enough to cover his printing costs and to help others in his department. But Mr. Pondiscio says teachers shouldn’t stop there.
Just about every elementary school teacher has taught probability or graphing using a packet of M&Ms. Stop thinking of that as a lesson plan–it’s a product placement opportunity! (Face it, Mars Inc., Skittles or Reese’s Pieces would work just as well. What’s a captive audience of twenty-five 3rd graders worth to you?) Endorsement deals! (”Ticonderoga…the official No. 2 pencil of Room 501″)